
The Heart of Winter
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kimberly Farr
-
By:
-
Jonathan Evison
About this listen
A Seattle Times Bestseller
One of The Washington Post’s 10 Noteworthy Books for January
One of The Los Angeles Times’ 10 Books to Add to Your Reading List in January
One of The Seattle Times’ 24 Books to Look Out for in 2025
One of Kirkus' Best 20 Books to Read in January
The extraordinary new novel by Jonathan Evison, about a married couple in their golden years, from when they met across big ups, deep downs, and survive-it-all, opposites-attract love
Abe Winter and Ruth Warneke were never meant to be together—at least if you ask Ruth. Yet their catastrophic blind date in college evolved into a seventy-year marriage and a life on a farm on Bainbridge Island with their hens and beloved Labrador, Megs. Through the years, the Winters have fallen in and out of lockstep, and from their haunting losses and guarded secrets, a dependable partnership has been forged.
But when Ruth’s loose tooth turns out to be something much more malicious, the beautiful, reliable life they’ve created together comes to a crisis. As Ruth struggles with her crumbling independence, Abe must learn how to take care of her while their three living children question his ability to look after his wife. And once again, the couple has to reconfigure how to be there for each other.
In this bighearted and profound portrait of a marriage, Jonathan Evison explores seventy years of big moments in subtle ways, elegantly braiding the Winters’ turbulent history with their present-day battles, showing us how the oddly paired college kids became parents, fell apart and back together, and grew into the Abe and Ruth of today. Endlessly heartwarming and moving, The Heart of Winter is a reminder that true love lives in small, everyday moments.
©2025 Jonathan Evison (P)2025 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Broken Country
- By: Clare Leslie Hall
- Narrated by: Hattie Morahan
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.
-
-
Excellent storytelling
- By A.E.C. on 03-15-25
-
Wild Dark Shore
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte McConaghy
- Narrated by: Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.
-
-
Stunning
- By MrsForbes1120 on 03-27-25
-
Cross My Heart
- A Novel
- By: Megan Collins
- Narrated by: Gail Shalan, Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rosie Lachlan wants nothing more than to find The One. A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, she’s working at her parents’ bridal salon, anxious for a happy ending that can’t come soon enough. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect, ostensibly to learn more about Daphne. But Rosie has a secret.
-
-
formulaic, banal & insipid
- By Maryclaire Collins on 03-28-25
By: Megan Collins
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
-
Pictures of You
- A Novel
- By: Emma Grey
- Narrated by: Kristy Best, Nic English
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the global breakout bestseller The Last Love Note comes the story of a young woman struggling to piece her life back together in the wake of a tragic accident, and the man who gives up everything to help her. When Evie Hudson wakes in an unfamiliar hospital room, she thinks she’s fresh out of a teenage party with her best friend, Bree. Except, Bree isn’t around anymore and high school was years ago. Evie had just survived the crash that killed her husband, Oliver—whom she can't remember either.
-
-
Intricate, thought provoking but still a fun ride.
- By cnrkrc on 12-01-24
By: Emma Grey
-
Three Days in June
- A Novel
- By: Anne Tyler
- Narrated by: J. Smith-Cameron
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit. But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
-
-
Simple, Enjoyable, performed 5 stars
- By PM on 02-14-25
By: Anne Tyler
-
Broken Country
- By: Clare Leslie Hall
- Narrated by: Hattie Morahan
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.
-
-
Excellent storytelling
- By A.E.C. on 03-15-25
-
Wild Dark Shore
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte McConaghy
- Narrated by: Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.
-
-
Stunning
- By MrsForbes1120 on 03-27-25
-
Cross My Heart
- A Novel
- By: Megan Collins
- Narrated by: Gail Shalan, Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rosie Lachlan wants nothing more than to find The One. A year after she was dumped in her wedding dress, she’s working at her parents’ bridal salon, anxious for a happy ending that can’t come soon enough. After receiving a life-saving heart transplant, Rosie knows her health is precious and precarious. She suspects her heart donor is Daphne Thorne, the wife of local celebrity author Morgan Thorne, who she begins messaging via an anonymous service called DonorConnect, ostensibly to learn more about Daphne. But Rosie has a secret.
-
-
formulaic, banal & insipid
- By Maryclaire Collins on 03-28-25
By: Megan Collins
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
-
Pictures of You
- A Novel
- By: Emma Grey
- Narrated by: Kristy Best, Nic English
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the global breakout bestseller The Last Love Note comes the story of a young woman struggling to piece her life back together in the wake of a tragic accident, and the man who gives up everything to help her. When Evie Hudson wakes in an unfamiliar hospital room, she thinks she’s fresh out of a teenage party with her best friend, Bree. Except, Bree isn’t around anymore and high school was years ago. Evie had just survived the crash that killed her husband, Oliver—whom she can't remember either.
-
-
Intricate, thought provoking but still a fun ride.
- By cnrkrc on 12-01-24
By: Emma Grey
-
Three Days in June
- A Novel
- By: Anne Tyler
- Narrated by: J. Smith-Cameron
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit. But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
-
-
Simple, Enjoyable, performed 5 stars
- By PM on 02-14-25
By: Anne Tyler
-
Statistically Speaking
- By: Debbie Johnson
- Narrated by: Louise Williams
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On paper, Gemma's life is just like any other successful, single thirtysomething. Her students adore her. She lives in a cute beachside cottage next door to the world's sweetest neighbor, Margie. And she's definitely caught the eye of Karim, the resident hot PE teacher at her school. But every day of her life, she can't get one thing out of her mind: the baby she gave up for adoption when Gemma was just sixteen years old. This is the year that Baby--the only name Gemma has for her little girl--will turn eighteen. And it might be the year she actually meets her daughter face-to-face.
-
-
I love these characters
- By Player Mom on 12-15-24
By: Debbie Johnson
-
Good Dirt
- A Novel
- By: Charmaine Wilkerson
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart, that's exactly what they get.
-
-
Moments of brilliance
- By MyLastRomanceNovel on 03-01-25
-
This Is a Love Story
- A Novel
- By: Jessica Soffer
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For fifty years, Abe and Jane have been coming to Central Park, as starry-eyed young lovers, as frustrated and exhausted parents, as artists watching their careers take flight. They came alone when they needed to get away from each other, and together when they had something important to discuss. The Park has been their witness for half a century of love. Until now. Jane is dying, and Abe is recounting their life together as a way of keeping them going: the parts they knew.
-
-
A waste of time — not worth the credit
- By E. Zimmerman on 03-12-25
By: Jessica Soffer
-
The Case of the Missing Maid
- Harriet Morrow Investigates, Book 1
- By: Rob Osler
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rough-around-the-edges Harriet Morrow has long been drawn to the idea of whizzing around the city on her bicycle as a professional detective, solving crimes for a living without having to take a husband. She seizes the chance when the prestigious Prescott Agency hires her as its first woman operative. The move sparks controversy—with skeptical male colleagues, a high-strung office secretary, and her boss, Mr. Theodore Prescott, all waiting for her to unravel under the pressure.
-
-
Fun and Entertaining
- By Sherwood on 02-24-25
By: Rob Osler
-
Show Don't Tell
- Stories
- By: Curtis Sittenfeld
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch, Curtis Sittenfeld, George Newbern, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her second story collection, Sittenfeld shows why she’s as beloved for her short fiction as she is for her novels. In these dazzling stories, she conjures up characters so real that they seem like old friends, laying bare the moments when their long held beliefs are overturned.
-
-
Weak
- By Anonymous User on 03-02-25
-
Time of the Child
- By: Niall Williams
- Narrated by: Dermot Crowley
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from the town. His eldest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father’s shadow, and remains there, having missed one chance at love – and passed up another offer of marriage from an unsuitable man. But in the Advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy’s lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care.
-
-
A slower start than This Is Happiness but then….wonderful.
- By Georgia Burns on 12-01-24
By: Niall Williams
-
The Fall Risk
- A Short Story
- By: Abby Jimenez
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Connor Crais
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, and Charlotte and Seth are not looking for romance. Armed with emotional-support bear spray, Charlotte is in self-imposed isolation and on guard from men. Having a stalker can do that to a person’s nerves. Just across the hall and giving off woodsy vibes is Seth, a recently divorced arborist. As in today recently. Heights, he’s fine with. Trust? Not so much.
-
-
More of a dramedy
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 03-03-25
By: Abby Jimenez
-
The Lost Passenger
- A Novel
- By: Frances Quinn
- Narrated by: Heather Long
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An immersive historical drama about a young mother who starts a new life with her son in New York after faking their deaths on the Titanic—the U.S. debut of acclaimed British novelist Frances Quinn.
-
-
Recovery
- By Linda S Moore on 03-18-25
By: Frances Quinn
-
I'll Come to You
- By: Rebecca Kauffman
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A modern story of family, I’ll Come to You chronicles intersecting lives over the course of one year—1995—anchored by the anticipation and arrival of a child. With empathy, insight, and humor, Rebecca Kauffman explores overlapping narratives involving a couple whose struggle to become pregnant has both softened and hardened them; a woman whose husband of forty years has left her for reasons he’s unwilling to share and the man who is now attempting to woo her; and a couple in denial about a looming health crisis as well as their son who is fumbling toward middle age and can’t stop lying.
-
-
Richly developed Characters
- By QueeneB21 on 01-24-25
By: Rebecca Kauffman
-
A Home for the Holidays
- A Novel
- By: Taylor Hahn
- Narrated by: Anna Caputo
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For wedding singer Mel Hart, the holidays have always retained a certain magic. Her mother, Connie, always managed to pull off spectacular Santa hijinx that convinced Mel to keep believing in Santa way longer than other kids. Those moments meant everything to Mel because the rest of the year, life was unpredictable because of her mother’s alcohol use. But two weeks before Christmas, Mel gets a call from the hospital: her mother has died.
-
-
Cozy, heartwarming read!
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-24
By: Taylor Hahn
-
We Would Never
- By: Tova Mirvis
- Narrated by: Rachel F. Hirsch
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one appears more surprised than Hailey Gelman when she comes under suspicion for the murder of her soon-to-be ex-husband Jonah. Hailey—nicknamed Sunshine by her mother for her bright outlook and ever-present smile—has always tried to do what is expected of her and is regarded as the family peacemaker. But is anyone, including Hailey, who she has always seemed to be? The months leading up to Jonah’s death have been fraught, including a bitter separation and a messy custody battle over their young daughter, Maya.
-
-
Boring and long
- By Placeholder on 03-13-25
By: Tova Mirvis
-
The Sunflower House
- A Novel
- By: Adriana Allegri
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik, Dallin Bradford, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a sleepy German village, Allina Strauss’s life seems idyllic: she works at her uncle’s bookshop, makes strudel with her aunt, and spends weekends with her friends and fiancé. But it's 1939, Adolf Hitler is Chancellor, and Allina’s family hides a terrifying secret—her birth mother was Jewish, making her a Mischling. One fateful night after losing everyone she loves, Allina is forced into service as a nurse at a state-run baby factory called Hochland Home. There, she becomes both witness and participant to the horrors of Heinrich Himmler’s ruthless eugenics program.
-
-
I love everything about this book
- By Dream-Catcher on 03-26-25
By: Adriana Allegri
Critic reviews
"Jonathan Evison, the brilliant American storyteller, has written a novel for the ages. Abe and Ruth Winter are in a long marriage, having experienced all the joy and pain that comes from living in a lifelong partnership. Ruth is a resplendent character, a mother and wife with dreams of her own, while Abe has to reinvent himself when the worst happens. Love, forgiveness and redemption built the soul of this story. A must read."—Adriana Trigiani, author of The Good Left Undone
“One of our very best writers, Evison expertly details the hopes and dreams, sacrifices and tragedies of family life.”–Bill Kelly, Booklist (starred review)
“A savvy portrait of love and devotion. . . . [Evison] affords this aging couple a dose of realism and dignity that’s often lacking in novels.”–Kirkus (starred review)
Related to this topic
-
Hitchhikers
- By: Ben H. Winters
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie has always had high hopes for her future. But the reality of her life just isn’t measuring up. She loves her fiancé, Greg–doesn’t she? She’s going to get her degree and open her own business–won’t she? Then, a strange old woman shows up outside her house, and she seems to know a lot about Annie. An awful lot. Annie could tell the old woman to get lost. Yet there’s something about her Annie just can’t shake. And what she learns could change her life forever–but is it the life she envisioned?
-
-
The ever present battle between past and future.
- By Kindle Customer on 03-14-25
By: Ben H. Winters
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
The Art of War
- By: Sun Tzu
- Narrated by: Aidan Gillen
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 13 chapters of The Art of War, each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu. In spite of its battlefield specificity, The Art of War has found new life in the modern age, with leaders in fields as wide and far-reaching as world politics, human psychology, and corporate strategy finding valuable insight in its timeworn words.
-
-
The actual book The Art of War, not a commentary
- By Nemo71 on 12-31-19
By: Sun Tzu
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
-
Starship Troopers
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids. Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job.
-
-
The definitive version!
- By Kristopher G. Hesson on 10-03-24
-
Say No More
- By: Caroline Overington
- Narrated by: Anna Skellern
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who is Audrey Hoedemaker? It's a question her sister Maureen has heard more times than she can count, and she doesn't know what the short answer would be. Little sister, troubled teen, backpacker, musical theatre coach, con artist, childcare worker. Murderer. A tragic, traumatic childhood casts a long shadow on the Hoedemaker sisters. Maureen has worked hard to move beyond the violence of the past and build a good, honest life for herself. Audrey, however, just can't seem to do the same, careening from one state of chaos to another.
-
-
Seriously, that was the ending?
- By alicia in athens on 02-13-25
-
Hitchhikers
- By: Ben H. Winters
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie has always had high hopes for her future. But the reality of her life just isn’t measuring up. She loves her fiancé, Greg–doesn’t she? She’s going to get her degree and open her own business–won’t she? Then, a strange old woman shows up outside her house, and she seems to know a lot about Annie. An awful lot. Annie could tell the old woman to get lost. Yet there’s something about her Annie just can’t shake. And what she learns could change her life forever–but is it the life she envisioned?
-
-
The ever present battle between past and future.
- By Kindle Customer on 03-14-25
By: Ben H. Winters
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
The Art of War
- By: Sun Tzu
- Narrated by: Aidan Gillen
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 13 chapters of The Art of War, each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu. In spite of its battlefield specificity, The Art of War has found new life in the modern age, with leaders in fields as wide and far-reaching as world politics, human psychology, and corporate strategy finding valuable insight in its timeworn words.
-
-
The actual book The Art of War, not a commentary
- By Nemo71 on 12-31-19
By: Sun Tzu
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
-
Starship Troopers
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids. Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job.
-
-
The definitive version!
- By Kristopher G. Hesson on 10-03-24
-
Say No More
- By: Caroline Overington
- Narrated by: Anna Skellern
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who is Audrey Hoedemaker? It's a question her sister Maureen has heard more times than she can count, and she doesn't know what the short answer would be. Little sister, troubled teen, backpacker, musical theatre coach, con artist, childcare worker. Murderer. A tragic, traumatic childhood casts a long shadow on the Hoedemaker sisters. Maureen has worked hard to move beyond the violence of the past and build a good, honest life for herself. Audrey, however, just can't seem to do the same, careening from one state of chaos to another.
-
-
Seriously, that was the ending?
- By alicia in athens on 02-13-25
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Small World
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: William DeMeritt
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathan Evison’s Small World is an epic novel for now. Set against such iconic backdrops as the California gold rush, the development of the transcontinental railroad, and a speeding train of modern-day strangers forced together by fate, it is a grand entertainment that asks big questions. The characters of Small World connect in the most intriguing and meaningful ways, winning, breaking, and winning our hearts again.
-
-
Falls Short of an Ambitious Story
- By warren on 09-26-22
By: Jonathan Evison
-
Again and Again
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eugene “Geno” Miles is living out his final days in a nursing home, bored, curmudgeonly, and struggling to connect with his new nursing assistant, Angel, who is understandably skeptical of Geno’s insistence on having lived not just one life but many—all the way back to medieval Spain, where, as a petty thief, he first lucked upon true love only to lose it, and spend the next thousand years trying to recapture it.
-
-
Nothing is What it Seems
- By Matt on 11-07-23
By: Jonathan Evison
-
West of Here
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the rugged mudflats of the Northwestern frontier to a rusting strip mall, West of Here is a conversation between two epochs. In his eagerly awaited second novel, Jonathan Evison tells the stories of the people who first inhabited the mythical town of Port Bonita in Washington State from 1887-1891. Moving ahead more than a century to 2005-06, he introduces those who live there now and must deal with the damage done by their predecessors.
-
-
Very disappointing
- By MEMcL on 02-25-11
By: Jonathan Evison
-
Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Benjamin Benjamin has lost virtually everything - his wife, his family, his home, his livelihood. With few options, Ben enrolls in a night class called The Fundamentals of Caregiving taught in the basement of a local church. There Ben is instructed in the art of inserting catheters and avoiding liability and how to keep physical and emotional distance between client and provider. But when Ben is assigned to 19-year-old Trev, he discovers that the endless mnemonics and service plan checklists have done little to prepare him.
-
-
Unlike!
- By Pamela Harvey on 01-02-13
By: Jonathan Evison
-
Lawn Boy
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Mike Muñoz, a young Chicano living in Washington State, life has been a whole lot of waiting for something to happen. Not too many years out of high school and still doing menial work - and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew - he knows that he's got to be the one to shake things up if he's ever going to change his life. But how?
-
-
CATEGORY AND SUMMARY MISLEADING
- By Gretchen on 05-01-18
By: Jonathan Evison
-
The Float Test
- A Novel
- By: Lynn Steger Strong
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kenner siblings are at odds. Jenn is a harried mom struggling under the weight of family obligations. Fred is a novelist who can’t write, maybe because she’s lost faith in storytelling itself. Jude is a recovering corporate lawyer with her own story to tell, and a grudge against her former favorite sister, Fred. George, the baby, is estranged from his wife and harboring both a secret about his former employer and an ill-advised crush on one of his sisters’ friends. Gathered after a major loss, each sibling needs the others more than ever—if only they could trust each other.
-
Small World
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: William DeMeritt
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathan Evison’s Small World is an epic novel for now. Set against such iconic backdrops as the California gold rush, the development of the transcontinental railroad, and a speeding train of modern-day strangers forced together by fate, it is a grand entertainment that asks big questions. The characters of Small World connect in the most intriguing and meaningful ways, winning, breaking, and winning our hearts again.
-
-
Falls Short of an Ambitious Story
- By warren on 09-26-22
By: Jonathan Evison
-
Again and Again
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eugene “Geno” Miles is living out his final days in a nursing home, bored, curmudgeonly, and struggling to connect with his new nursing assistant, Angel, who is understandably skeptical of Geno’s insistence on having lived not just one life but many—all the way back to medieval Spain, where, as a petty thief, he first lucked upon true love only to lose it, and spend the next thousand years trying to recapture it.
-
-
Nothing is What it Seems
- By Matt on 11-07-23
By: Jonathan Evison
-
West of Here
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the rugged mudflats of the Northwestern frontier to a rusting strip mall, West of Here is a conversation between two epochs. In his eagerly awaited second novel, Jonathan Evison tells the stories of the people who first inhabited the mythical town of Port Bonita in Washington State from 1887-1891. Moving ahead more than a century to 2005-06, he introduces those who live there now and must deal with the damage done by their predecessors.
-
-
Very disappointing
- By MEMcL on 02-25-11
By: Jonathan Evison
-
Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Benjamin Benjamin has lost virtually everything - his wife, his family, his home, his livelihood. With few options, Ben enrolls in a night class called The Fundamentals of Caregiving taught in the basement of a local church. There Ben is instructed in the art of inserting catheters and avoiding liability and how to keep physical and emotional distance between client and provider. But when Ben is assigned to 19-year-old Trev, he discovers that the endless mnemonics and service plan checklists have done little to prepare him.
-
-
Unlike!
- By Pamela Harvey on 01-02-13
By: Jonathan Evison
-
Lawn Boy
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Mike Muñoz, a young Chicano living in Washington State, life has been a whole lot of waiting for something to happen. Not too many years out of high school and still doing menial work - and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew - he knows that he's got to be the one to shake things up if he's ever going to change his life. But how?
-
-
CATEGORY AND SUMMARY MISLEADING
- By Gretchen on 05-01-18
By: Jonathan Evison
-
The Float Test
- A Novel
- By: Lynn Steger Strong
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kenner siblings are at odds. Jenn is a harried mom struggling under the weight of family obligations. Fred is a novelist who can’t write, maybe because she’s lost faith in storytelling itself. Jude is a recovering corporate lawyer with her own story to tell, and a grudge against her former favorite sister, Fred. George, the baby, is estranged from his wife and harboring both a secret about his former employer and an ill-advised crush on one of his sisters’ friends. Gathered after a major loss, each sibling needs the others more than ever—if only they could trust each other.
-
Legends of the North Cascades
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dave Cartwright used to be good at a lot of things: good with his hands, good at solving problems, good at staying calm in a crisis. But on the heels of his third tour in Iraq, the fabric of Dave’s life has begun to unravel. Gripped by PTSD, he finds himself losing his home, his wife, his direction. Most days, his love for his seven-year-old daughter, Bella, is the only thing keeping him going. When tragedy strikes, Dave makes a dramatic decision: the two of them will flee their damaged lives, heading off the grid to live in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.
-
-
Beautiful
- By Chris on 02-21-22
By: Jonathan Evison
-
What Happened to the McCrays?
- A Novel
- By: Tracey Lange
- Narrated by: Stephanie Németh-Parker, William DeMeritt
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Kyle McCray gets word his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, he returns to his hometown of Potsdam, New York, where he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. Kyle left suddenly two and a half years ago, abandoning people who depended on him: his father, his employees, his friends—not to mention Casey, his wife of sixteen years and a beloved teacher in town. He plans to lie low and help his dad recuperate until he can leave again, especially after Casey makes it clear she wants him gone.
-
-
Real and moving
- By John P. Holderer on 03-06-25
By: Tracey Lange
-
Homeseeking
- By: Karissa Chen
- Narrated by: Katharine Chin, Kenneth Lee
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Haiwen is buying bananas at a 99 Ranch Market in Los Angeles when he looks up and sees Suchi, his Suchi, for the first time in sixty years. To recently widowed Haiwen it feels like a second chance, but Suchi has only survived by refusing to look back. Suchi was seven when she first met Haiwen in their Shanghai neighborhood, drawn by the sound of his violin. Their childhood friendship blossomed into soul-deep love, but when Haiwen secretly enlisted in the Nationalist army in 1947 to save his brother from the draft, she was left with just his violin and a note: Forgive me.
-
-
What a beautiful story!
- By Jennifer Davis on 01-25-25
By: Karissa Chen
-
All About Lulu
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: Michael Mish
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weakness has always been a concern for William Miller. Growing up vegetarian in a family of bodybuilders will do that to a person. But William is further weakened by the death of his mother, the arrival of a new stepmother, and his irrepressible crush on his new stepsister, Lulu. As Lulu faces down her own challenges, William watches his life shift into tumult and despair. Once Lulu departs for college, Will goes into the world to find himself....
-
-
A good listen
- By Carolyn B. Meredith on 01-22-11
By: Jonathan Evison
-
I'll Come to You
- By: Rebecca Kauffman
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A modern story of family, I’ll Come to You chronicles intersecting lives over the course of one year—1995—anchored by the anticipation and arrival of a child. With empathy, insight, and humor, Rebecca Kauffman explores overlapping narratives involving a couple whose struggle to become pregnant has both softened and hardened them; a woman whose husband of forty years has left her for reasons he’s unwilling to share and the man who is now attempting to woo her; and a couple in denial about a looming health crisis as well as their son who is fumbling toward middle age and can’t stop lying.
-
-
Richly developed Characters
- By QueeneB21 on 01-24-25
By: Rebecca Kauffman
-
This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: Susan Boyce
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With her husband Bernard two years in the grave, seventy-nine-year-old Harriet Chance sets sail on an ill-conceived Alaskan cruise only to discover through a series of revelations that she's been living the past sixty years of her life under entirely false pretenses. There, amid the buffets and lounge singers, between the imagined appearance of her late husband and the very real arrival of her estranged daughter midway through the cruise, Harriet is forced to take a long look back, confronting the truth about pivotal events that changed the course of her life.
-
-
Why I Didn't Like This Story
- By Kathy in CA on 10-02-15
By: Jonathan Evison
-
The Lotus Shoes
- By: Jane Yang
- Narrated by: Catherine Ho, Katharine Chin
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1800s China. Tightly bound feet, or "golden lilies," are the mark of an honorable woman, eclipsing beauty, a rich dowry and even bloodline in the marriage stakes. When Little Flower is sold as a maidservant—a muizai—to Linjing, a daughter of the prominent Fong family, she clings to the hope that one day her golden lilies will lead her out of slavery. Not only does Little Flower have bound feet, uncommon for a muizai, but she is extraordinarily gifted at embroidery, a skill associated with the highest class of a lady.
-
-
The Lotus Shoes, a must read!
- By sherry on 02-11-25
By: Jane Yang
-
Audition
- A Novel
- By: Katie Kitamura
- Narrated by: Traci Kato-Kiriyama
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two people meet for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant. She’s an accomplished actress in rehearsals for an upcoming premiere. He’s attractive, troubling, young—young enough to be her son. Who is he to her, and who is she to him? In this compulsively enjoyable, brilliantly constructed novel, two competing narratives unspool, rewriting our understanding of the roles we play every day–partner, parent, creator, muse–and the truths every performance masks, especially from those who think they know us most intimately.
By: Katie Kitamura
-
The Capital of Dreams
- A Novel
- By: Heather O'Neill
- Narrated by: Paige McKinney
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sofia Bottom lives in Elysia, a small country forgotten by Europe. But inside its borders, the old myths of trees that come alive and faeries who live among their roots have given way to an explosion of the arts and the consolations of philosophy. From the clarinetists to the cabaret singers, no artist is as revered as Sofia’s brilliant mother, the writer Clara Bottom. How can fourteen-year-old Sofia, with her tin ear and enduring love of ancient myths, ever hope to win her mother’s love?
By: Heather O'Neill
-
Sweet Fury
- By: Sash Bischoff
- Narrated by: Sash Bischoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A twisty, thought-provoking novel of construction and deconstruction in conversation with the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald and told through the lens of the film industry, Sweet Fury is an incisive and bold critique of America’s deep-rooted misogyny.
-
-
Awesome…but
- By Beth on 02-27-25
By: Sash Bischoff
-
The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf
- By: Isa Arsén
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Isa Arsén
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Up-and-coming stage actress Margaret Shoard has just taken a bow as Lady Macbeth, the role she has always believed was destined for her. At home, she plays wife to her best friend Wesley, even if she doesn’t hold his sole attention romantically. After a public breakdown threatens all she holds dear, Margaret’s doctor prescribes her uppers—just a little help to get through the days.
-
-
Unputdownable
- By Maren’s Reads on 01-08-25
By: Isa Arsén
-
How to Sleep at Night
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Harris
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Ethan and Gabe. A devoted couple for years, they have successful careers, an adorable daughter, and a house in the New Jersey suburbs. Sure, they may have drifted to different ends of the political spectrum, but their marriage still has its spark. Then one night Ethan makes an announcement: he wants to run for Congress as a Republican—but only if he has progressive Gabe’s blessing.
By: Elizabeth Harris
What listeners say about The Heart of Winter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Maren’s Reads
- 01-19-25
A beautiful story about a lifetime love
A beautifully written and beautifully performed. This will be in my top reads of 2025.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dave LaMond
- 02-26-25
Beautiful Love Story
I loved every aspect of this glorious novel. Perhaps it’s my past middle age status but I honestly would have loved this book at any age.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- IDraper
- 02-22-25
Such a beautiful story!
You will experience every feeling, love all the characters, and wish the book never ended.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rebecca Ripley
- 03-03-25
Beautiful enduring marriage story
I can’t recall the last book I read about an enduring marriage with such well developed characters. I loved this story of Abe and Ruth Winter, a beautiful look into a long marriage with ups and downs and so many in between moments. It goes through both heartbreaking and heartwarming moments of lives intertwined across the decades. The author, Jonathan Evison, does such a wonderful job of writing about everyday moments, big and small, that create a life. Marriage, early love, parenting, pain, loss, and especially the struggles of aging. It was lovely and made me think of my own marriage story through time.
"To hold his hand was to be felt, to be tethered to something solid amidst the vast confusion of the universe."
The audio was performed superbly! I especially enjoyed the location and back/forth chapters of past/present.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sarj
- 01-13-25
Wow!
Dating,marriage,,parenting, pivotal moments with characters and events that touch your heart. It feels like you are part of their lives.
Jonathan Evison is a talented, remarkable, author.
A beautiful novel.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Leo’s mom
- 03-01-25
Real Life and all of its highs and lows
The story is simply stunning in how well it highlights marriage and the challenges of a healthy relationship.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- yo
- 02-14-25
Stereotypical characters, yawn
I really wanted to like this book, but didn’t. The narration was excellent, the storyline plausible, and the writing mediocre; the net result was a meh from me.
The two main characters weren’t terribly likable which didn’t help. What was supposed to be a 50 plus year marriage and love story made me scratch my head and wonder why they got married and moreover, why they didn’t divorce. That aside, what I disliked the most about the book was the lazy stereotypes. For example, the descriptions of Abe and Ruth in their rocking chairs on the front porch drinking prune juice, oh please. And their comments about the ‘youngins’ with their new fangled techie ways.
I wish I would’ve stopped reading the book halfway through but I kept hoping it would get better and I tend to finish every book. This just wasn’t my jam.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Megan Shriver
- 03-11-25
Mundane
This book felt repetitive and mundane. Like it wanted to read like an Elizabeth Strout gem but came nowhere close.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!