Quiet Time Audiobook By Derek B. Miller cover art

Quiet Time

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Quiet Time

By: Derek B. Miller
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
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About this listen

From the acclaimed author of Norwegian by Night and The Girl in Green comes the story of a family navigating the social media age.

Robert and Mkiwa Livingston are happily ensconced in their tranquil life in Geneva, Switzerland, when Robert's best friend, Gabriel, drops dead from a brain aneurysm, sparking a mid-life crisis. Nostalgic for the New England of his youth, Robert begs his wife for a chance to go back to his native America and the life he left behind. Mkiwa is certain that Robert's yearnings are a recipe for disaster, but she reluctantly surrenders her job as a high-powered human rights lawyer, while their two daughters, Beatrice and Lindia, say good-bye to their circle of international friends and the only life they've ever known.

As the Livingstons settle into their new home in Marblehead, Massachusetts, they - along with the rest of the country - become engrossed in a popular TV show called Quiet Time, about a family who decide to give up all electronic devices and smartphones for one year. The chatter at Marblehead High, normally trained on the show’s latest episode, switches abruptly to Beatrice when she’s caught on video deftly disarming a would-be gunman during an active shooter drill. She and her family soon find themselves at the center of a social media frenzy as real life and Quiet Time start to overlap and collide. When Lindia goes missing, the past and present - not to mention fiction and fact - become entangled and confused, forcing the Livingstons to pull together to restore both sanity and the family itself.

At its heart, Quiet Time is a story about growing pains - in adolescence and mid-life - and what it means to be a family in a world that feels both hyper-connected and relentlessly alienating. At turns comedic, suspenseful, and poignant, Derek B. Miller pairs his immersive, signature storytelling gifts with Bahni Turpin’s singular voice to bring this astounding Audible Original to life.

©2020 Derek Miller (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.
Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt
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About the Creator

Derek B. Miller is an American novelist and international affairs professional. He is the author of Norwegian by Night, The Girl in Green, American by Day, and the forthcoming How to Find Your Way in the Dark.

About the Perfomer

Bahni Turpin is a Los Angeles-based actress with many television and film credits in addition to being an award winning narrator. She is honored to have been awarded an Audie for Best Female Narrator, 2015, Audible Narrator of the Year, 2016, and American Library Association’s Voice of Choice for 2017. In 2018, Bahni won best female narration again, and was also inducted into the Audible Hall of Fame. She is a two-time Odyssey Award winner, and was also named as one of Audiophile's Golden Voices for 2019.

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I loved this story and connected with it! From the uprooting of family from one country to another with teens in tow, to finding some form of sanity in the most unexpected situations. Not because Mkiwa is Kenyan like me, but mostly because the career and social disruption is so relatable. I love how this story is written and the orator is phenomenal.

Well done team!

This story is so real

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Do yourself a favour, and listen to this book.
Smart, stimulating, well narrated.
Perhaps his best book.

Wonderful

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Everyone of all ages should hear this story. There's a point of view for all of us from characters that you will understand and with whom you will empathize.

Excellent

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Liked the view of online connectivity that I really don’t understand but am trying to deal with

Interesting characters viewing America as immigrants.

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A probing look at our shrinking world and cultural influences that shape and challenge youth and adults alike spurred by technology and forces beyond any one person’s control. Interesting and thought provoking.

Allegory and Reality

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long chapters that have nothing to do with the story. maybe I'm missing metaphors, but I lost interest in the story. the reader was awesome though

starts out good. becomes preachy and boring

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Thoroughly enjoyable. This narrator never disappoints. I’ve never traveled to Massachusetts, but I want to now! Such a creative and thoughtful story.

Loved it!

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I have really enjoyed Derek Miller's work in the past. Unfortunately, I didn't make it past the first hour this time. The narrator sounds like a volunteer reading to children at the library, emphasizing each sound in every word with a tone meant for the very young. Maybe some day I can actually sit to read this one, but I'll never be able to listen to this version.

The narrator...

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There were way too many storylines - each might have been a good story on its own, but combined they were all left underdeveloped. The dialog between characters was often over analytical and way too formal to be realistic.

Too many threads

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