The Tie That Binds Audiobook By Kent Haruf cover art

The Tie That Binds

Preview
Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Tie That Binds

By: Kent Haruf
Narrated by: Danny Campbell
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

From the best-selling author of Eventide, The Tie That Binds is a powerfully eloquent tribute to the arduous demands of rural America and of the tenacity of the human spirit.

Colorado, January 1977. Eighty-year-old Edith Goodnough lies in a hospital bed, IV taped to the back of her hand, police officer at her door. She is charged with murder. The clues: a sack of chicken feed slit with a knife, a milky-eyed dog tied outdoors one cold afternoon. The motives: the brutal business of farming and a family code of ethics as unforgiving as the winter prairie itself.

Here, Kent Haruf delivers the sweeping tale of a woman of the American High Plains, as told by her neighbor, Sanders Roscoe. As Roscoe shares what he knows, Edith's tragedies unfold: a childhood of predawn chores, a mother's death, a violence that leaves a father dependent on his children, forever enraged. Here is the story of a woman who sacrifices her happiness in the name of family - and then, in one gesture, reclaims her freedom.

©2010 Kent Haruf (P)2017 Random House Audio
Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup

Critic reviews

"An impressive, expertly crafted work of sensitivity and detail.... Powerful." ( Los Angeles Times Book Review)
"[A] fine first novel that dramatically and accurately explores the lives of people who work the land in the stark American Middle West." ( The New York Times Book Review)
"Kent Haruf writes so wonderfully...His characters live, and the voice of his narrator reverberates after the last page: humorous, ironic, loving." ( The Christian Science Monitor)
All stars
Most relevant  
gravelly breaking voice so devastatingly appropriate to the narrator. among the best I have heard.

stupendous narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This was an Amazing Story and an amazing performance. I highly recommend listening to it.

Loved this book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I love Kent Haruf, but this one is so dark and so graphic that the beauty of the perfectly honed language, the delicate (though sometimes stark) observations for which he is noted can only infrequently shine through. I found myself skipping ahead again and again so as not to get sucked into a negative funnel, and finally gave up. Really a shame, because I consider Haruf a totally superb writer.

Pretty Dark

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Very descriptive characters. The ending left me wanting to know more. As if it were a true story.

Good narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you're looking for fluff with a happy ending, don't bother! However, if you're inclined to read about loyalty, persistence and an all-encompassing sense of obligation, you should read this book, or listen to it. Excellent character development and storyline! I once read it and have now enjoyed the audio version.

Kent Haruf delivers

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is my least favorite of Kent Haruf’s books. It’s too dark. Nevertheless, I couldn’t stop listening until the end. Good writing is a pleasure to listen to.

Couldn’t stop listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is a very well read performance of a softly-gripping tale told over hot drinks on a spring Sunday in Colorado.

Breakout freshman novel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Worth the listen. Great narration. Glad I listened to it. Not a usual story as it is told by the neighbor who is her friend.

Sweet Story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You know it’s bad when, in an effort to find something good to say, you settle on narration.. I get it, the author wanted to emphasize, and draw out the disparate quality of the town and one of the characters. Setting and character development matter. Still I’d argue that having a plot ought to count for something.

Something Like, Our Town, Meets watching Paint Dry

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The characters were the heart and soul of this fine novel. The detail with which the feelings are drawn and the plot enhances make for a powerful description of some fine people. Despite the sadness, the difficulties endured with selfless devotion highlight fine qualities some special people have that are not altered by their suffering .

Wonderful novel.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews