The Flatshare Audiobook By Beth O'Leary cover art

The Flatshare

A Novel

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The Flatshare

By: Beth O'Leary
Narrated by: Carrie Hope Fletcher, Kwaku Fortune
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About this listen

"Carrie Hope Fletcher and Kwaku Fortune bring genuine emotion to this London rom-com with their impeccable narration about an unlikely friendship." (AudioFile magazine)

"Boasting Carrie Hope Fletcher's no-nonsense British accent and Kwaku Fortune's mild Irish brogue...the audio version brings this butterfly-inducing romantic read to life." (Paste)

This program includes a bonus interview with the author.

What if your roommate is your soul mate?

A joyful, quirky romantic comedy, Beth O'Leary's The Flatshare is a feel-good audiobook about finding love in the most unexpected of ways.

Tiffy and Leon share an apartment. Tiffy and Leon have never met.

After a bad breakup, Tiffy Moore needs a place to live. Fast. And cheap. But the apartments in her budget have her wondering if astonishingly colored mold on the walls counts as art.

Desperation makes her open minded, so she answers an ad for a flatshare. Leon, a night shift worker, will take the apartment during the day, and Tiffy can have it nights and weekends. He'll only ever be there when she's at the office. In fact, they'll never even have to meet.

Tiffy and Leon start writing each other notes - first about what day is garbage day, and politely establishing what leftovers are up for grabs, and the evergreen question of whether the toilet seat should stay up or down. Even though they are opposites, they soon become friends. And then maybe more.

But falling in love with your roommate is probably a terrible idea...especially if you've never met.

Praise for The Flatshare:

"With likable main characters, spot-on dialogue, a fun premise, and plenty of drama, there's a lot to like in this sweet story. A warm, enchanting love story, perfect for fans of classic rom-coms." (Kirkus Reviews)

"The Flatshare is a huge, heartwarming triumph." (Josie Silver, number one New York Times best-selling author of One Day in December)

©2019 Beth O'Leary Ltd. (P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.
Romantic Comedy Women's Fiction Feel-Good Funny
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Critic reviews

The Flatshare is a huge, heartwarming triumph.” (Josie Silver, number-one NYT best-selling author of One Day in December)

Editor's Pick

Way more than fluff
"When I first heard about Flatshare it was billed as a light and happy beach listen about roommates who fall in love through post-it notes, and I thought "Perfect! I'll take this one on vacation." But wow this was not what I expected. Don’t get me wrong—there's a lot of joy here, but despite the rom-com premise, Beth O'Leary's debut is way more than fluff, and her two leads are both incredibly complex characters, with uniquely developed baggage. Actor and first time narrator Kwaku Fortune (is there a better name?) delivers a fabulous performance of what was doubtless a difficult role: Leon is so much a man of few words that he often simply drops needed articles and pronouns, but Fortune's deft treatment rounds out his awkwardness into something real and relatable. Carrie Hope Fletcher on the other hand brilliantly embodies Tiffy - a character so sparkling and bold that you almost miss the fact that her ex-boyfriend is continuing to gaslight her. So yes, take this one to the beach and revel in its sweetness and the heartwarming love story, but stick around for the depth and intelligence that emerges from the amazing performances." —Emily C., Audible Editor

Unique Premise • Emotional Depth • Excellent Narration • Well-balanced Humor • Thoughtful Subplots
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I loved the story - the characters were engaging and I never wanted to stop listening! the narrator voicing Tiffy was just perfect - she brought to life all of the character's quirkiness, confidence, and spontaneity. Leon's chapters were a lot quieter and more terse, which made it especially enjoyable to hear his narration style change when Tiffy started moving into his life. The secondary characters were well drawn, but I wouldn't say either narrator gave any of them distinctive voices. I definitely got invested in their stories too though! overall, a very enjoyable read.

sweet story, excellent narration

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Tiffy’s parts are okay - the choice to use a phone effect on voices makes them hard to hear (especially when I’m listening while driving).

Leon’s parts...yikes. He’s not bad, but his mic picked up all sorts of extra sounds. Lip smacking, big breaths...chewing? I don’t know, but it was definitely distracting.

But the paperback or ebook instead.

Amazing Book; Less Than Incredible Narration

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very cute storyline. Narrator did a great job going back and forth with the voices

great fun light read

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I thoroughly enjoyed this story! O'Leary wrote a funny, relatable story about flatmates who got to know each other through post-it-notes, met under hilarious circumstances, each dealt with difficult personal issues and ultimately found friendship and acceptance in one another. I needed this light, refreshing read. The narrators were superb.

Light, refreshing read

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sweet, charming, fun story. the characters were well lived in and the pace was perfect.

fun

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I am in love with her character's! This story pulls you in then shakes you up as if to say, "You know you love me!" and I can do nothing but agree. just buy this book it is so worth it.

This story is beautiful!

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This book is light hearted and funny. I thoroughly enjoyed listening. I look forward to reading more by Beth O’Leary.

Thoroughly enjoyed

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I must admit it took a few beats for me to get into this novel. But once Tiffy and Leon agree to share a flat with offset hours, the story picks up with them communicating basically through post-it notes. Keep in mind that they don’t actually meet until almost halfway into the story. There are not as many laughs as I thought there would be but it is a solid story.

This is an Audible Dramatization so there are other things happening within the recording besides a straight read. For example, if someone is supposed to be talking on a phone the character is going to sound as if they are slightly muffled because they are on a phone.

Sweet Meet Cute with a Bit of Seriousness

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I am going to start this review with this: I almost never listen to fiction (I am mostly a very-dense-nonfiction reader), and when I do choose a fiction book, I often get annoyed with it and DNF. Not this time!

This book was like a breath of fresh air. Characters that have depth and realism, imperfect like all of us but who are also genuinely likeable. A two-narrator format that actually works, that even makes you look forward to the next chapter so you can get the other person’s perspective on what’s currently happening. Secondary characters who aren’t stereotypes or caricatures, but rather realistic people who feel like they have stories of their own going on behind the scenes. The relationship buildup is so frustratingly gradual, but in a good way, like there’s no rush to get to where all books like this tend to end, so the author wants you to enjoy the journey to get there just as much as the final destination. And absolutely no romanticizing toxic behaviour (just the opposite, in fact) or shock-value traumatic surprises (I hate books that do that).

I didn’t listen to the half-hour interview with the author at the end of the book (I just don’t personally like any sort of meta, book-club-discussion lit-analysis stuff, to be honest, so I turned it off), so I can’t comment on that. Mostly I was annoyed that it wasn’t another epilogue — I would have loved to hear the same day from Leon’s perspective after Tiffy’s version was done — but that’s my only complaint about the audiobook.

Honestly, the amount I enjoyed this book was a huge surprise for me — it was a really wonderful story that was very hard to pause, even when I needed to charge my headphones in order to listen more. Five stars are well-deserved!

Enjoyable and Satisfying Beyond My Expectations

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You know from the beginning that the characters will end up together but it's an entertaining listen.

Predictable but fun.

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