Preview
  • The Tie That Binds

  • By: Kent Haruf
  • Narrated by: Danny Campbell
  • Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (111 ratings)

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

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

Publisher's summary

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
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

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)

What listeners say about The Tie That Binds

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    63
  • 4 Stars
    33
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    65
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    51
  • 4 Stars
    26
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Kent Haruf delivers

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.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved this book!

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

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

stupendous narration

gravelly breaking voice so devastatingly appropriate to the narrator. among the best I have heard.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful novel.

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 .

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Breakout freshman novel

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

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sweet Story

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.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Something Like, Our Town, Meets watching Paint Dry

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 went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Pretty Dark

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.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good narration

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

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Sad, No Real Conclusion and Pointless

I get it that this author has a way with words . . . I agree, he does. But he doesn't have a real beginning, a plot or an end. I'm not sure what is proven by a countless laundry list of gross mistreatment by a man, who has no regard for his wife and children. A man who NEVER changes, yet is cared for by a daughter who misses her own chance to LIVE, just to care for him. A bunch of abused people, sad stories and no regrets for pitiful choices. Ugh

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful