Perfect
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Paul Rhys
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By:
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Rachel Joyce
About this listen
A spellbinding novel that will resonate with readers of Mark Haddon, Louise Erdrich, and John Irving, Perfect tells the story of a young boy who is thrown into the murky, difficult realities of the adult world with far-reaching consequences.
Byron Hemmings wakes to a morning that looks like any other: his school uniform draped over his wooden desk chair, his sister arguing over the breakfast cereal, the click of his mother's heels as she crosses the kitchen. But when the three of them leave home, driving into a dense summer fog, the morning takes an unmistakable turn. In one terrible moment, something happens, something completely unexpected and at odds with life as Byron understands it.
While his mother seems not to have noticed, eleven-year-old Byron understands that from now on nothing can be the same. What happened and who is to blame? Over the days and weeks that follow, Byron's perfect world is shattered. Unable to trust his parents, he confides in his best friend, James, and together they concoct a plan...
As she did in her debut, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce has imagined bewitching characters who find their ordinary lives unexpectedly thrown into chaos, who learn that there are times when children must become parents to their parents, and who discover that in confronting the hard truths about their pasts, they will forge unexpected relationships that have profound and surprising impacts. Brimming with love, forgiveness, and redemption, Perfect will cement Rachel Joyce's reputation as one of fiction's brightest talents.
©2013 Rachel Joyce (P)2013 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
- By Terri Kirk on 07-13-12
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Revenge
- Eleven Dark Tales
- By: Yoko Ogawa
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith, Johanna Parker
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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An aspiring writer moves into a new apartment and discovers that her landlady has murdered her husband. Elsewhere, an accomplished surgeon is approached by a cabaret singer, whose beautiful appearance belies the grotesque condition of her heart. And while the surgeon's jealous lover vows to kill him, a violent envy also stirs in the soul of a lonely craftsman. Desire meets with impulse and erupts, attracting the attention of the surgeon's neighbor - who is drawn to a decaying residence that is now home to instruments of human torture.
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Maybe, more Gray then Dark?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 10-28-14
By: Yoko Ogawa
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The Poison Tree
- By: Erin Kelly
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Successful journalist Erin Kelly has electrified readers and critics alike with her debut novel The Poison Tree. In this scintillating work, Karen and her daughter Alice have established a safe, happy life free from the madness of Karen’s past. But when Karen’s former lover Rex is released from prison, her old associations intrude upon the present - and threaten everything she holds dear.
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I couldn't stop listening the book.
- By Gladys on 07-29-15
By: Erin Kelly
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Crooked Heart
- A Novel
- By: Lissa Evans
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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When Noel Bostock - aged 10, no family - is evacuated from London to escape the Nazi bombardment, he lands in a suburb northwest of the city with Vera Sedge - a 36-year-old widow drowning in debts and dependents. Always desperate for money, she's unscrupulous about how she gets it.
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Surviving The Blitz In WWII Great Britain
- By Sara on 04-24-16
By: Lissa Evans
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The Blind Assassin
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Margot Dionne
- Length: 18 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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For the past twenty-five years, Margaret Atwood has written works of striking originality and imagination. In The Blind Assassin, she stretches the limits of her accomplishments as never before, creating a novel that is entertaining and profoundly serious. The novel opens with these simple, resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister drove a car off the bridge." They are spoken by Iris, whose terse account of her sister Laura's death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental.
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Good book, TERRIBLE audio!
- By Whitney on 04-27-09
By: Margaret Atwood
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The Secret Keeper
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 19 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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England, 1959: Laurel Nicolson is 16 years old, dreaming alone in her childhood tree house during a family celebration at their home, Green Acres Farm. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and then observes her mother, Dorothy, speaking to him. And then she witnesses a crime.
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Kate Morton (and Caroline Lee) does it again!
- By Maria on 10-20-12
By: Kate Morton
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The Road Home
- By: Rose Tremain
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
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Winner of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2008, The Road Home is the best-selling story of Lev, a middle-aged migrant from Eastern Europe, who moves to London in search of work after losing his wife and job. Lev's London is awash with money, celebrity and complacency. The world Tremain creates is both convincing and poignant.
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OK - nice narration - good characters
- By bea on 02-21-11
By: Rose Tremain
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Evergreen Falls
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A long-forgotten secret, a scandalous attraction and a place where two women's lives are changed forever. 1926: Violet Armstrong is one of the few remaining members of staff working at the grand Evergreen Spa Hotel as it closes down over winter. Only a handful of guests are left, including the heir to a rich grazing family, his sister and her suave suitor. When a snowstorm moves in, the hotel is cut off and they are all trapped. No-one could have predicted what would unfold.
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Soooo Boring
- By Merford on 10-09-19
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The Bell Jar
- By: Sylvia Plath
- Narrated by: Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful but slowly going under - maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.
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A must-read for every woman
- By Julie W. Capell on 05-06-16
By: Sylvia Plath
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A Change of Climate
- A Novel
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Sandra Duncan
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Ralph and Anna Eldred are an exemplary couple, devoting themselves to doing good. 30 years ago as missionaries in Africa, the worst that could happen did. Shattered by their encounter with inexplicable evil, they returned to England, never to speak of it again. But when Ralph falls into an affair, Anna finds no forgiveness in her heart, and 30 years of repressed rage and grief explode, destroying not only a marriage but also their love, their faith, and everything they thought they were.
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Beautifully written
- By Patricia S. on 10-11-15
By: Hilary Mantel
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The Year of the Runaways
- By: Sunjeev Sahota
- Narrated by: Sartaj Garewal
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Thirteen young men live in a house in Sheffield, each in flight from India and in desperate search of a new life. Tarlochan, a former rickshaw driver, will say nothing about his past in Bihar, and Avtar has a secret that binds him to protect the choatic Randeep. Randeep, in turn, has a visa wife in a flat on the other side of town: a clever, devout woman whose cupboards are full of her husband's clothes, in case the immigration men surprise her with a call.
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Maybe easier to read than to listen to.
- By Eric on 06-15-16
By: Sunjeev Sahota
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Brick Lane
- By: Monica Ali
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Sastre
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Abridged
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Nanzeen's inauspicious birth in a Bangladeshi village imbues in her a sense of fatalism that she carries across continents. Married off to a man old enough to be her father, Nanzeen moves to London and cares for her family. But gradually she begins to question whether fate controls her or whether she has a hand in her own destiny. She discovers both the complexity that comes with free choice and the depth of her attachment to her husband, her daughters and her new world.
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A truly wonderful book!
- By A M on 11-24-03
By: Monica Ali
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What listeners say about Perfect
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Happy iPad User
- 05-18-16
Not Harold Fry
Rachel Joyce proves herself a word master and creative writer in this novel. She continues exploring the obsessions people harbor, yet this is very different from Harold Fry. That is what makes it so intriguing. There are two parallel stories which can be a little confusing if you aren't paying attention. The stories meld together at the end in a surprising way. The narrator is spot on with his different voices enlivening the story.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-26-18
Outstanding!
The narration of this audiobook deserves a standing ovation! Characters come alive through accents, modulations, and drama. I felt as though I was watching a play. Excellent!!
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- Linda Bottom
- 04-22-15
Compelling
This is my second Joyce listen. While I like her style and find her stories interesting, Perfect was sometimes difficult to listen to because I could see the train wreck coming. But I was compelled to keep listening - I found I HAD to. I like that she does have a resolution at the end - thankfully. After a break from her, I will listen to another of her books. Cannot say enough about the narrator - outstanding. Over the top!
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7 people found this helpful
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- Cristi-Lael
- 04-28-15
very good, but it gave me anxiety.
It took me months and months to finish this book. I stayed it last fall, but my father in law's health went south and he ended up moving in with us and then passing away in January. Because of everything that went on, my anxiety levels would shoot through the roof when I tried to listen to this book. So I put it away for a long while. However, I'm very glad I came back and finished it. She's a wonderful author and tells wonderfully human tales. The narrator did a fantastic job as well.
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6 people found this helpful
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- maria
- 08-19-17
Beautifully Done!
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the writing style. I was amazed at the consistent and crazy use of metaphor and simile and I was touched by its dark beauty, albeit disturbing at times. There were points when the woven tale slowed down a tad too much, encumbered by descriptive and perhaps unnecessary detail. However that is being picky. Thanks and appreciation go to The author for writing it.
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- SuZ
- 06-02-21
Perfect...
The story is beautiful and tragic, read by wonderful narrator. No saccharin contained here, Perfect is not a fantasy.
What it does is provide glimpses into the life and mind of a lonely soul. A different prospective, definitely worth the time.
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- Kelly E. Waits
- 04-02-16
A beautifully crafted and written story
I had read Joyce's debut novel and wanted to explore more of her work with Perfect. Reading it was an evocative and emotional journey. The characters and story were rich with detail. Paul Rhys had just the right tone for this piece. I was so impressed with everything about this book and it will stick with me for a long time.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Pianangel
- 07-24-21
Masterful writing
Ms. Joyce is able to bring you through her writing to the people and places of a small country village in 1972. The narration is clear and voicing of the different characters very varied, making it easy to identify who is talking, especially in the differing accents of the various women characters I love how Ms. Joyce is able to paint with words! She is truly an expert of her craft!
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- Linda
- 06-08-21
Astounding. A perfect novel!
Like many others I found myself a bit lost about a third of the way through. Critics on the Amazon website urge readers to stay with it. I am so grateful. This book is a great story with lots of activity and numerous characters who are so well drawn that they are easy to remember.
This book is also a deeply serious look at the abstract concepts of guilt, responsibility, alienation and existence. All this is a fascinating story. Well told story.
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- Em
- 04-08-14
Oh Wow!
A heads up: it took me a long time to get in to this book. If you’re in need of a quick fiction fix, this might not be the place to start. I spent two-thirds of the book grumbling to myself that as intriguing and unsettling as this story is, it just wasn’t living up to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry for me. But I’m so thankful I stuck with it – Rachel Joyce delivers in spades. It’s not so much that she gives a clever, tidy wrap-up (though there is a twist near the end), but she creates an utterly complex ending that somehow feels completely familiar. How is it that the history of your life moves along in a zig-zaggy, random, and seemingly unremarkable fashion, but then somewhere along the way it feels as if it was pre-destined all along? This instinctual belief is both incredibly universal and totally flawed – and Rachel Joyce captures it all.
She beautifully renders the earnestness with which children approach the issues of adulthood, and the inherent misunderstandings that arise when these two worlds collide. She heartbreakingly depicts the damage that is caused when children aren’t just loved simply and wholeheartedly. I just can’t stop thinking about this book and reflecting on my own childhood in the context of it. And in the final chapters there is a scene of reconciliation that takes place in a suburban café that feels like it maybe happened in the background as Harold Fry and his entourage marched on by. Where Joyce’s first book contains elements of individual triumph, Perfect simmers with anxiety until reluctantly, gratefully finding peace and forgiveness.
Paul Rhys was a solid choice for narrator, and I think it was probably necessary to choose a man to read, but I didn’t always love his female voices, so I’m pulling one star off for this.
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31 people found this helpful