Unfinished Desires Audiobook By Gail Godwin cover art

Unfinished Desires

A Novel

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
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 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Unfinished Desires

By: Gail Godwin
Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.50

Buy for $22.50

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

From Gail Godwin, three-time National Book Award finalist and acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Evensong and The Finishing School, comes a sweeping new novel of friendship, loyalty, rivalries, redemption, and memory.

It is the fall of 1951 at Mount St. Gabriel’s, an all-girls school tucked away in the mountains of North Carolina.

Tildy Stratton, the undisputed queen bee of her class, befriends Chloe Starnes, a new student recently orphaned by the untimely and mysterious death of her mother. Their friendship fills a void for both girls but also sets in motion a chain of events that will profoundly affect the course of many lives, including the girls’ young teacher and the school’s matriarch, Mother Suzanne Ravenel. Fifty years on, the headmistress relives one pivotal night, trying to reconcile past and present, reaching back even further to her own senior year at the school, where the roots of a tragedy are buried.

In Unfinished Desires, a beloved author delivers a gorgeous new novel in which thwarted desires are passed on for generations–and captures the rare moment when a soul breaks free.

©2010 Gail Godwin (P)2010 Random House Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction

Critic reviews

"A large, roomy story of love, loss, fidelity, secrets, rivalry and faith in the lives of a charming, flawed troupe of characters…. Provocative and rewarding."—Boston Globe

"This rich world…draws and holds the reader from the first to the final pages of the work. " —Denver Post

"Tender but clear-eyed …Godwin’s South has always been a place where charm and good manners can barely conceal the emotional drama pulsing beneath the surface…Recalls the fraught family bonds of Godwin’s best novels…"—San Francisco Chronicle
All stars
Most relevant  
I loved the story, it was surprising and the ending was lovely 😍. I would recommend it!

great

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I did finish it but it was a chore. I think I should have read the book and maybe I would have appreciated it more. Or maybe not.

Not Good For Audio

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

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes - interesting, well told, great narration

What about Kimberly Farr’s performance did you like?

If I'm not thinking about the narration while listening, that is a good thing. In this book, all I thought about was the story. It was flawless.

Very Good Listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I generally enjoy Gail Godwin's work. However, in this case, while the recording is fine, the work itself is too repetitive - several lines of dialog are repeated verbatim in multiple scenes. I cannot recommend this title.

Repetative

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

What did you love best about Unfinished Desires?

Wonderfully written story, compelling narrative.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Probably Maude. She is trying to find her own way in the world and figure out who she is. She is smart and vulnerable.

Which scene was your favorite?

Any scene that focuses on the girls.

Who was the most memorable character of Unfinished Desires and why?

Maude. I found myself hoping something would happen for her.

Epic novel of friendship, loss and betrayal

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