The Presence of Absence
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Narrated by:
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Philip Battley
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By:
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Simon Van Booy
About this listen
As a writer lies dying, he has one last story to tell: a tale of faith and devotion, a meditation on what lies beyond this life, and a prayer of gratitude that may lead to rebirth.
"Language is a map leading to a place not on the map," announces a young writer lying in a hospital bed at the beginning of The Presence of Absence. As he contemplates his impending physical disappearance and the impact on his beloved wife, he realizes, "Life doesn't start when you're born . . . it begins when you commit yourself to the eventual devastating loss that results from connecting to another person."
Infused with poetic clarity and graced with humor, Simon Van Booy's innovative novella asks us to find beauty—even gratitude—in the cycle of birth and death. Stripped of artifice, The Presence of Absence is a meditation between the writer and the listener, an imaginative work that challenges the deceit of written words and explores our strongest emotions.
Simon Van Booy is not only a master storyteller but a writer whose fiction is rich with philosophical insights into things both mapped and undiscovered. The Presence of Absence parts the darkness to reveal what has been just out of sight all along.
©2022 Simon Van Booy (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Kentucky, back in 1933, Carol's daddy lost his 13-year-old daughter in a game of cards. Award-winning author Simon Van Booy's spellbinding novel spans decades as he tells the story of Carol and the people in her life. Incidents intersect and lives unexpectedly change course in this masterfully interwoven story of chance and choice that leads home again to a night blessed with light.
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Incredible!
- By Laissie on 09-24-21
By: Simon Van Booy
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The Sadness of Beautiful Things
- Stories
- By: Simon Van Booy
- Narrated by: Simon Van Booy, Alana Kerr Collins, James Fouhey, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Over the past decade, Simon Van Booy has been listening to people’s stories. With these personal accounts as a starting point, he has crafted a powerful collection of short fiction that takes listeners into the innermost lives of everyday people. From a family saved from ruin by a mysterious benefactor to a downtrodden boxer who shows unexpected kindness to a mugger, these tales reveal not only the precarious balance maintained between grief and happiness in our lives but also how the echoes of personal tragedy can shape us for the better.
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Heartwarming tales
- By David Kaplan on 10-13-18
By: Simon Van Booy
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Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things
- By: Simon Van Booy
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When 12-year-old Gertie Milk washes up on the island of Skuldark, she finds that all of her memories are gone. Home to helpful Slug Lamps, delicious moonberries, and a ferocious Guard Worm, the island is full of oddities, including a cozy cottage containing artifacts from every corner of history. It is there that Gertie discovers she has been chosen as the next Keeper of Lost Things, tasked with the mission of returning objects to history's most important figures right when they need them most.
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Plodding
- By Amazon Customer on 09-10-20
By: Simon Van Booy
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Father's Day
- A Novel
- By: Simon Van Booy
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
At the age of six, a little girl named Harvey learns that her parents have died in a car accident. As she struggles to understand, a kindly social worker named Wanda introduces her to her only living relative: her uncle Jason, a disabled felon with a violent past and a criminal record. Despite his limitations - and his resistance - Wanda follows a hunch and cajoles Jason into becoming her legal guardian, convinced that each may be the other's last chance.
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Heartwarming
- By RueRue on 07-16-21
By: Simon Van Booy
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Sipsworth
- By: Simon Van Booy
- Narrated by: Christine Rendel
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Following the deaths of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to the English village of her childhood after living abroad for six decades. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss. Helen retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit. Then, one cold autumn night, a chance encounter with an abandoned pet mouse on the street outside her house sets Helen on a surprising journey of friendship.
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A charming antidote for your troubles.
- By Pamela J Wollum on 07-02-24
By: Simon Van Booy
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A Rough Way to Go
- By: Sam Garonzik
- Narrated by: Victor Warren
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this all-consuming, suspenseful story, a stay-at-home father with something to prove finds a wealthy Wall Street investor's body washed up on the shore—and decides to take the investigation into his own hands…
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Excellent murder mystery
- By T. Lynch on 08-04-24
By: Sam Garonzik
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Night Came with Many Stars
- By: Simon Van Booy
- Narrated by: Courtney Patterson
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Kentucky, back in 1933, Carol's daddy lost his 13-year-old daughter in a game of cards. Award-winning author Simon Van Booy's spellbinding novel spans decades as he tells the story of Carol and the people in her life. Incidents intersect and lives unexpectedly change course in this masterfully interwoven story of chance and choice that leads home again to a night blessed with light.
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-
Incredible!
- By Laissie on 09-24-21
By: Simon Van Booy
-
The Sadness of Beautiful Things
- Stories
- By: Simon Van Booy
- Narrated by: Simon Van Booy, Alana Kerr Collins, James Fouhey, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Over the past decade, Simon Van Booy has been listening to people’s stories. With these personal accounts as a starting point, he has crafted a powerful collection of short fiction that takes listeners into the innermost lives of everyday people. From a family saved from ruin by a mysterious benefactor to a downtrodden boxer who shows unexpected kindness to a mugger, these tales reveal not only the precarious balance maintained between grief and happiness in our lives but also how the echoes of personal tragedy can shape us for the better.
-
-
Heartwarming tales
- By David Kaplan on 10-13-18
By: Simon Van Booy
-
Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things
- By: Simon Van Booy
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When 12-year-old Gertie Milk washes up on the island of Skuldark, she finds that all of her memories are gone. Home to helpful Slug Lamps, delicious moonberries, and a ferocious Guard Worm, the island is full of oddities, including a cozy cottage containing artifacts from every corner of history. It is there that Gertie discovers she has been chosen as the next Keeper of Lost Things, tasked with the mission of returning objects to history's most important figures right when they need them most.
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Plodding
- By Amazon Customer on 09-10-20
By: Simon Van Booy
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Father's Day
- A Novel
- By: Simon Van Booy
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the age of six, a little girl named Harvey learns that her parents have died in a car accident. As she struggles to understand, a kindly social worker named Wanda introduces her to her only living relative: her uncle Jason, a disabled felon with a violent past and a criminal record. Despite his limitations - and his resistance - Wanda follows a hunch and cajoles Jason into becoming her legal guardian, convinced that each may be the other's last chance.
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Heartwarming
- By RueRue on 07-16-21
By: Simon Van Booy
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Sipsworth
- By: Simon Van Booy
- Narrated by: Christine Rendel
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the deaths of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to the English village of her childhood after living abroad for six decades. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss. Helen retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit. Then, one cold autumn night, a chance encounter with an abandoned pet mouse on the street outside her house sets Helen on a surprising journey of friendship.
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A charming antidote for your troubles.
- By Pamela J Wollum on 07-02-24
By: Simon Van Booy
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A Rough Way to Go
- By: Sam Garonzik
- Narrated by: Victor Warren
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this all-consuming, suspenseful story, a stay-at-home father with something to prove finds a wealthy Wall Street investor's body washed up on the shore—and decides to take the investigation into his own hands…
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Excellent murder mystery
- By T. Lynch on 08-04-24
By: Sam Garonzik
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The Lost Colony
- By: Irina Shapiro
- Narrated by: Jess Nahikian
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Jamestown promises to be a history lover’s dream, a reality series featuring 15 contestants who will spend six months living in 17th century conditions, their ability to adapt and overcome daily hardship judged by millions of TV viewers. Supplies will be replenished, and a medical officer will be on hand to ensure everyone’s well-being. Lucrative cash prizes will be awarded at the end.
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Should be made into a movie !!!
- By Nana on 05-31-23
By: Irina Shapiro
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Percival Everett by Virgil Russell
- A Novel
- By: Percival Everett
- Narrated by: André Santana
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A story inside a story inside a story. A man visits his aging father in a nursing home, where his father writes the novel he imagines his son would write. Or is it the novel that the son imagines his father would imagine, if he were to imagine the kind of novel the son would write?
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A Classic in Nonsense That Makes Sense
- By Andre on 11-07-24
By: Percival Everett
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The Passage
- Wonderland Series, Book 1
- By: Irina Shapiro
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the spring of 1685, Lord Hugo Everly, ardent supporter of the Protestant upstart the Duke of Monmouth, vanishes without a trace just before the Monmouth Rebellion, leaving future generations forever baffled as to what might have become of him. In 2013, while visiting Everly Manor as part of her job as a location scout for a film production company, Neve Ashley stumbles onto a secret passage that leads her into the 17th century and straight into the path of the ill-fated lord.
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Spoiler !
- By mary m burnside on 02-26-17
By: Irina Shapiro
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Really Very Crunchy
- A Beginner's Guide to Removing Toxins from Your Life Without Adding Them to Your Personality
- By: Emily Morrow
- Narrated by: Emily Morrow
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Are you tired of being bombarded by toxins at every turn? Do you want a more natural, "crunchy" approach to the world (with or without the beige aesthetic)? Well, grab your kombucha and join Emily Morrow on a journey to a more wholesome existence with Really Very Crunchy: A Beginner's Guide to Removing Toxins from Your Life without Adding Them to Your Personality.
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I am not really very crunchy but now that I know more, I will do more!
- By Simon W. on 03-28-24
By: Emily Morrow
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Witchcraft
- A History in Thirteen Trials
- By: Marion Gibson
- Narrated by: Rose Akroyd
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Offering a striking, dramatic journey unspooling over centuries and across continents, Witchcraft is a “well-rounded insight into some of the strangest and cruelest moments in history” (Buzz Magazine), giving voice to those who have been silenced by history.
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Clever and Current
- By Jolie E Bremner on 04-29-24
By: Marion Gibson
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Look on the Bright Side
- By: Kristan Higgins
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett, Christina Moore, Xe Sands
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Lark Smith has always had a plan for her life: find a fantastic guy, create a marriage as blissful as her parents’, pop out a couple of kids, and build a rewarding career as an oncologist. Things aren’t going so well. For one, the guy didn’t work out. Theoretically, she’d love to find someone else, but it hasn’t happened. Two, she’s just been transferred out of Oncology for being too emotional. (Is it her fault she’s a weeper?) Three, her parents just split up. Deviating from the plan was … well, not in the plan. A potential solution comes from the foul-tempered surgeon Lorenzo Santini.
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Enjoyed the book but not the narration
- By Dee on 06-14-24
By: Kristan Higgins
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The Haunting of Ashburn House
- By: Darcy Coates
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Everyone knows about Ashburn House. They whisper its old owner went mad, and restless ghosts still walk the halls. They say it's the dwelling place of something cruel and sinister. But when Adrienne, desperate and in need of a place to stay, inherits the crumbling old mansion, she only sees it as a lifeline...until darkness falls.
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Very Gory compared to Craven Manor
- By Mrs B on 12-01-23
By: Darcy Coates
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Young Jane Young
- A Novel
- By: Gabrielle Zevin
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Young Jane Young's heroine is Aviva Grossman, an ambitious congressional intern in Florida who makes the life-changing mistake of having an affair with her boss - who is beloved, admired, successful, and very married - and blogging about it. When the affair comes to light, the congressman doesn't take the fall, but Aviva does, and her life is over before it hardly begins. She becomes a late-night talk show punchline; she is slut shamed and considered a blight on politics in general. How does one go on after this?
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DNF not for me
- By em g on 01-15-18
By: Gabrielle Zevin
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October in the Earth
- A Novel
- By: Olivia Hawker
- Narrated by: Jackie Zebrowski
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Del Wensley, wife of the most celebrated preacher in Harlan County, tries to mind her place. Until her husband’s infidelity pushes an already strained marriage to a breaking point. Clinging to her last hope for self-respect, Del turns her back on the rigid life she’s known. A coal train is rolling through the valley. With her eyes wide open to the unfamiliar, and to the freedom she craves, Del takes to the rails.
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Remarkable and Well-Done
- By Kentucky Bohemian on 01-07-24
By: Olivia Hawker
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The Baker's Secret
- A Novel
- By: Stephen P. Kiernan
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Only 22, Emma learned to bake at the side of a master, Ezra Kuchen, the village baker since before she was born. Apprenticed to Ezra at 13, Emma watched with shame and anger as her kind mentor was forced to wear the six-pointed yellow star on his clothing. She was likewise powerless to help when they pulled Ezra from his shop at gunpoint, the first of many villagers stolen away and never seen again. In the years that her sleepy coastal village has suffered under the enemy, Emma has silently, stealthily fought back.
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Help is really on the way
- By Georgia on 07-15-17
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Bleak House
- By: Charles Dickens, Marty Ross
- Narrated by: Thandiwe Newton, Ambika Mod, Mackenzie Crook, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Story
London. A city drowning in fog. Amid that fog, a man with no name dies above a strange junkshop. Threads of mist and intrigue weave around a court case with no resolution, linking great country houses with the lowest slum in the city, mingling the high-born with a boy who sweeps the filthy streets, enshrouding devious plots and sudden murder, bringing together two extraordinary women – Lady Dedlock and Esther Summerson - who seem to have nothing whatsoever in common but who will find themselves inextricably linked.
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What can one say - it’s Dickens!
- By Patsy on 09-29-24
By: Charles Dickens, and others
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Constituent Service
- A Third District Story
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Amber Benson
- Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ashley Perrin is fresh out of college and starting a job as a community liaison for the Third District–the city’s only sector with more alien residents than humans. Ashley’s barely found where the paper clips are kept when she’s beset with constituent complaints–from too much noise at the Annual Lupidian Celebration Parade to a trip-and-fall chicken to a very particular type of alien hornet that threatens the very city itself. And if that’s not terrifying enough, Ashley is next up at the office karaoke night.
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Short and fun!
- By Andrew on 10-04-24
By: John Scalzi
What listeners say about The Presence of Absence
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Andre
- 12-28-22
Beautiful Medication on the Presence of Absence
This novella, "The Presence of Absence," is a beautiful meditation on loss and finding immortality in the memory of the loved ones left behind. The language is poetic and metaphoric as the dying writer grips with his mortality. He does not see death as an end but as a transition of life energy. The book invigorated me and made me contemplate my life. I would recommend this book.
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Overall
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- Catherine
- 08-26-24
Wonderful in every way!
Prose that’s both lyrical and precise, full of love and compassion and hope, deeply spiritual in a somehow very grounded way.
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Overall
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- SuzB
- 01-30-23
I am a dunce -
I am sorry. I so tried to listen. I must be a dunce. Hey ho you asked for two more words.
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