Download the New Releases Audiobooks in Fiction, Contemporary

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Title: The Things We Keep

Author: Sally Hepworth

Narrator: Therese Plummer, Barrie Kreinik

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-19-16

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 287 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Anna Forster, in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease at only 38 years old, knows that her family is doing what they believe to be best when they take her to Rosalind House, an assisted-living facility. She also knows there's just one another resident her age, Luke. What she does not expect is the love that blossoms between her and Luke even as she resists her new life at Rosalind House. As her disease steals more and more of her memory, Anna fights to hold on to what she knows, including her relationship with Luke.

When Eve Bennett is suddenly thrust into the role of single mother, she finds herself putting her culinary training to use at Rosalind House. When she meets Anna and Luke, she is moved by the bond the pair has forged. But when a tragic incident leads Anna's and Luke's families to separate them, Eve finds herself questioning what she is willing to risk to help them.

Members Reviews:

Beautiful story and skilled narration

This is original, poignant, and beautiful. It's a story that celebrates love in all its forms. The narration was superb!

Thumbs up!

This is a sad and yet wonderful story about love and those who effect out world.

Heartbreaking, Humanizing, and Real

The Things We Keep is a beautiful work on the tenacity of life through hardship. It's characters are memorable and relatable - despite their unique circumstances. However, this book is not for the faint of heart. It is a stark and poignant look at tragedy in forms both familiar and unfamiliar. I cried several times - and at one point I had to pause the audiobook and walk away, because I could not handle what was unfolding ahead of me.

In terms of performance, the Berrie Kreinik and Therese Plummer do a wonderful job. Our three viewpoint characters have distinct voices, performed with a level of nuance that you will find yourself completely immersed.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to everyone, especially those who know or wish to understand better the mentally ill. This will open your eyes to the value of human experience in all forms, to the rich lives that those society so often dismisses continue to live.

Pure perfection

This is one of those rare novels that takes you full circle and ties up all of those lose ends.

It is a story about loss. Loss of possessions, loss due to suicide and the devastating loss due to Alzheimer's Disease. It is also a tale about bravery, perseverance and love.

This little treasure has it all!

Barrie Kreinik and Therese Plummer give a brilliant performance which enhances this book even more, if that is possible.

Five stars and not to be missed.

Sweet

Very sweet book about love and loss combined with an emotion tied to the horrible disease called Alzheimer's.

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Title: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

Author: Katarina Bivald

Narrator: Fiona Hardingham, Lorelei King

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-19-16

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 772 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A debut novel to charm all listeners that shows beyond all doubt that it's books, along with love, that make the world go round.

It all began with a correspondence between two quite different women: 28-year-old Sara from Haninge, Sweden, and 65-year-old Amy from the small town of Broken Wheel, Iowa. After years of exchanging books, letters, and thoughts on the meaning of literature and life, Sara, mousy, disheveled, who has never been anywhere in her life - has really lived only for her work in a beloved bookshop, which has just closed its doors for the last time - bravely decides to accept her unknown friend's invitation to visit. But when she arrives, she finds her house empty, the funeral guests just heading home....

Sara finds herself alone. And what choice do the inhabitants of Broken Wheel have but to take care of their bewildered tourist? And what choice does Sara have, faced with a town where nobody reads and her desire to honour her friend, but to set up the perfect bookshop with all the books she and Amy shared - from Yann Martel's Life of Pi to Iris Murdoch and Jo Nesbo, to Bridget Jones and Doug Coupland's All Families Are Psychotic to Little House on the Prairie? And then watch as the townsfolk are, one by one, transformed in unexpected ways....

In the glorious tradition of 84 Charing Cross Road, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, Will Schwalbe's The End of Your Life Book Club, Jane Austen, and movies such as You've Got Mail and Love Actually, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend is a big-hearted, witty book about books, friendship, love - and always being open to the unexpected.

Members Reviews:

Disappointed - no depth & poor narration

I was disappointed in this book. While the characters were generally likable, they had no depth and the story was predictable. I love to read books which explore a characters love of books. Generally these types of stories make me feel "at home". I find myself in the characters. But this book didn't give me that lovely feeling. And I never fell in love with any of the characters. I always wanted the author to let me know them more. Sometimes when I am left wanting more it is a good thing, because I am anxious for a sequel. Not here - in this book. Here, I simply wanted more in this book.

Additionally, I found the narration confusing. The characters are Midwesterners and Swedish. The accents used seem to be British. Why?

Not Quite of Its Time

This book is, I think, quite intentionally very, very similar in theme and style to "84 Charing Cross Road" and "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." There's a literary correspondence and eccentric characters in a small town. Love of reading and sharing that enthusiasm bring people of different backgrounds and inclinations together.

I jumped into the action assuming it was taking place several decades ago. To my surprise, early on a cell phone is used. We're contemporary, in other words, and it doesn't quite make sense.

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Title: Shopaholic to the Rescue

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Narrator: Clare Corbett

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-27-15

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 504 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Sophie Kinsella returns with another laugh-out-loud Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adventure: a hilarious road trip through the American West to Las Vegas.

Becky is on a major rescue mission! Her father has vanished from Los Angeles on a mysterious quest with her best friend's husband. Becky's mum is hysterical; her best friend, Suze, is desperate. Worse, Becky must tolerate an enemy along for the ride, who she's convinced is up to no good.

Determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has disappeared, help Suze, contain Alicia, and reunite her fractured family, Becky knows she must marshal all her trademark ingenuity. The result: her most outrageous and daring plan yet!

But just when her family needs her more than ever, can Becky pull it off?

Members Reviews:

Best shopaholic story yet

When I read the last book before this one, I was really disappointed at Becky's character as well as the way it ended. This book totally made up for it though. I love how Becky is more grown up in this book, as well as the plot of the story. Don't let the previous book stop you from reading this one. It's so good. This book was more on track with the previous books in the series, I was not a fan of the last book, but this really shows how Becky has grown, and the Humor is just as great as before. I loved how this book was more focused on her helping to fix things with others, rather than fixing scrapes she's gotten herself into. This is definitely a better change for character development and growth.

Always great to hear a Becky story...

Always great to revisit Becky et al. But this round felt a little played out. Hated the cliffhanger in the last book and was looking forward to this one. As always, a fun story but a little far fetched, well more then usual.

Lousy Sequel

I've read all the Shopaholic books and this is by far the worst one yet

Disappointing

I have listened to all of Sophie Kinsella's novels and have loved them. My daughter and I love listening on road trips. Unfortunately, This last Shopaholic installment was not the least bit humorous and did not hold our attention, as the usually hilarious story lines and hijinks were missing. We were bored with the story and switched to a different book on our most recent trip.

That was awful! :-(

What would have made Shopaholic to the Rescue better?

First of all the narration with all the different voices (from one person) was SO annoying. Especially for the little girl and the men.

Any additional comments?

I've read and LOVED all of S.K.'s books, but this one was horrible. I just kept waiting for it to get better as it had all the great reviews. Honestly, a waste of time. Even for a fun no thinking type of book which is what I was in the mood for after 2 heavy ones I just read.

Just my opinion, of course.

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Title: The Covenant

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: James A. Michener

Narrator: Larry McKeever

Format: Unabridged

Length: 58 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-08-15

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 156 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

James A. Michener's masterly chronicle of South Africa is an epic tale of adventurers, scoundrels, and ministers, the best and worst of two continents, who carve an empire out of a vast wilderness.

From the Java-born Van Doorn family tree springs two great branches: one nurtures lush vineyards, the other settles the interior to become the first Trekboers and Afrikaners. The Nxumalos, inhabitants of a peaceful village unchanged for centuries, unite warrior tribes into the powerful Zulu nation. And the wealthy Saltwoods are missionaries and settlers who join the masses to influence the wars and politics that ravage a nation.

Rivalries and passions spill across the land of The Covenant, a story of courage and heroism, love and loyalty, and cruelty and betrayal, as generations fight to forge a new world.

Critic Reviews:

"A prodigious endeavor.... Nowhere else could an American reader unfamiliar with South Africa get so full an understanding of its problems in so engaging a form." (

The New York Times Book Review)

Members Reviews:

Amazing story, narrator is horrible

I am a huge fan of Michener. I read all his books as a young person and love his writing style and the historical sweep of his novels. For years I searched on Audible hopeful that the books would appear in an audio version. I could hardly contain my excitement when they began to appear. However, I think this will be the last book I download. The narrators reading style sounds like he is reading a book aloud at the library to a group on a Saturday afternoon. His voice is flat and unimaginative. The worst part is that he did absolutely no research on the correct pronunciation of common South African words. His butchering of the Afrikaans language is grating on the ears and completely destroys the narrative for me. I am so sad that this authors amazing work was put in the hands of this narrator.

Defense of the narrator

Any additional comments?

I felt I had to do this review after reading so many negative comments about the narrator. I read this and most of Michener's works years ago and was thrilled that they were now available on Audible. I nearly didn't get this book because of the reviews of the narrator, but because I liked the book so much I decided to take the plunge.

Indeed, at first I wasn't impressed by the narration and I even tried increasing the speed to 1.25 as someone suggested but that just sounded silly. However I stayed with it and found that after awhile I really started to get into the narrator's voice. It was kind of like having your father or an old uncle reading a book to you. He has a rich baritone and his enunciation is perfect. I know that in these days of more highly theatrical performances in audiobooks some might find this one lacking. But the vocal inflections of the different characters are there, they're just more nuanced than some other performers. The more I listened, the more I came to appreciate this narrator's excellent job in reading this book. I will not hesitate to buy other Michener books read by this narrator.

Narrator

Any additional comments?

To fix the issue with the narrator just set the playback speed to 1.25x.

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Title: Caravans

Subtitle: A Novel of Afghanistan

Author: James A. Michener

Narrator: Larry McKeever

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-04-15

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 200 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

First published in 1963, James A. Michener's gripping chronicle of the social and political landscape of Afghanistan is more relevant now than ever. Combining fact with riveting adventure and intrigue, Michener follows a military man tasked, in the years after World War II, with a dangerous assignment: finding and returning a young American woman living in Afghanistan to her distraught family after she suddenly and mysteriously disappears. A timeless tale of love and emotional drama set against the backdrop of one of the most important countries in the world today, Caravans captures the tension of the postwar period, the sweep of Afghanistan's remarkable history, and the inescapable allure of the past.

Critic Reviews:

"Brilliant...an extraordinary novel.... The old nomadic trails across the mountains spring into existence." (The New York Times)

"Romantic and adventurous.... [Michener] has a wonderful empathy for the wild and free and an understanding of the reasons behind the kind of cruelty that goes with it." (Newsday)

"Michener has done for Afghanistan what...his first [book] did for the South Pacific." (The New York Herald Tribune)

Members Reviews:

How to ruin a great book

Would you try another book from James A. Michener and/or Larry McKeever?

I would gladly and eagerly try another Michener book if narrated by someone other than Mr. McKeever.

What did you like best about this story?

It gave me a bit of understanding of the people and place called Afghanistan.

What didnt you like about Larry McKeevers performance?

It was almost painful to hear. The cadence seemed all wrong and the affect flat.

Did Caravans inspire you to do anything?

It inspired me to turn it off several times because of the narration, but I kept coming back because I enjoyed the story.

Any additional comments?

I hope to listen to other Michener books, but only if they are read by someone else.

Terrible narration

It's a great story but the performance is unbearable. Speeding it up to 1.5 speed was the only way I was able to make it through.

Bland narrator, annoying hippy

The narrator was not horrible, but his monotone wore on my nerves. The story itself is fascinating and insightful on the cultural identity crisis of Afghans. However, the pivotal character is an infuriating regressive hippy.

Great story

Very educational. This is a chance to learn about Afghanistan and why it is what it is today. Totally recommend it for anyone interested in that part of the world.

An old favorite revisited

Loved this book when it was first published. Love it now. Also fascinating to hear what characters hoped would be the future of Afghanistan all those years ago.

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Title: The Days of Abandonment

Author: Elena Ferrante

Narrator: Hillary Huber

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-07-15

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 478 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

An IndiBound best seller, The Days of Abandonment shocked and captivated its Italian public when first published. It is the gripping story of a woman's descent into devastating emptiness after being abandoned by her husband, with two young children to care for. When she finds herself literally trapped within the four walls of their high-rise apartment, she is forced to confront her ghosts, the potential loss of her own identity, and the possibility that life may never return to normal.

Members Reviews:

monotone narrator and monotonous story

This isn't worth $1, and certainly not worth a credit. I've skipped from chapter to chapter hoping to find good character development, some sort of joy in being alive, or something worth listening to. I haven't found it yet.

Quick (not bad) listen ....

To be brief, this novel is not about chains of events or mystery of any kind. Rather it is a swirls of deep emotions and self pity and literally decomposition of a human soul.

Woman goes crazy when husband leaves her

The main character, Olga, disgusted me. I wanted to stop listening halfway through but plowed through hoping that some great insight would emerge. It didn't. I was sick of listening to her meaningless, self-pitying introspection. Sure her husband did her wrong....so why was two-thirds of the book devoted to pining after him? The narrator was the only redeeming factor in this audiobook.

Maybe it's you

Divorce is terrible. I've played its victim in various roles. That's why I was interested in this book. But this lady's complete lack of rationality is indefensible. Sickening in fact. (Spoiler alert.) To turn on your children and dog like that just means you're a bad person. I don't care what you're going through. To victimize the innocent is never justifiable. What your husband did is despicable. But you're no better.

Strange story!

Almost stopped listening, but forced myself to listen to the end. Seemed like a very weak female character.

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Title: The Mountain Story

Author: Lori Lansens

Narrator: Corey Brill

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-30-15

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 222 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From New York Times best-selling author Lori Lansens comes a harrowing survival story about four strangers who spend five days lost in the mountain wilderness above Palm Springs.

Four go up the mountain, but only three will come down.

On the morning of Wolf Truly's 18th birthday, he boards the first cable car to head up the mountains just a few miles from his sun-bleached trailer home in the desert community outside of Palm Springs. Armed with nothing but the clothes on his back, Wolf's intention that morning was to give up on life - specifically at the mountain site of his best friend's tragic accident one year ago. But on that shaky ride up the mountain, fate intervenes and Wolf meets three women that will leave an indelible imprint on the rest of his life. Through a series of missteps, the four wind up lost and stranded among the forested cliffs - in sight of the desert city below, but unable to find a way down.

As the days pass without rescue, we come to learn how each of them came to be on the mountain that morning. And as their situation shifts from misadventure to nightmare, the lost hikers forge an inextricable bond, pushing themselves, and each other, beyond their limits.

Reminiscent of John Krakauer's modern classic Into the Wild and Cheryl Strayed's number-one best-selling Oprah-endorsed Wild, Lori Lansen's The Mountain Story is a deeply affecting novel that pays homage to the rugged beauty - and utterly unforgiving nature - of the wilderness, and considers the question: What price are you willing to pay not only for the ones you love, but for a complete stranger?

Members Reviews:

Couldn't put it down!

This was an extremely well told story. You almost feel like you're right there with them!

Awesome story

This is one of the best Ive listened to! Get it! You wont be sorry!

One of my favorites I've listened to

I love this book. Of the almost hundred I've head in audible, this is in my top ten. Really engaging narrator, beautiful writing and kept me guessing and deeply invested through the end.

Very engaging. Beautifully interwoven narrative with threads the reader was eager to follow! Couldn't stop listening!

Very engaging. Beautifully interwoven narrative with threads the reader was eager to follow! Couldn't stop listening!

Grabbed me and held me to the end!

What did you love best about The Mountain Story?

Story of loss, love, and how healing can occur even at the darkest of moments. One of the few books I've read that handles moving back and forward in time seamlessly. Beautiful story, tied up perfectly in the end.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Wolf-sympathy for the difficult life he lead.

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Title: All the Single Ladies

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Dorothea Benton Frank

Narrator: Robin Miles

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-09-15

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 544 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The perennial New York Times best-selling author returns with an emotionally resonant novel that illuminates the power of friendship in women's lives and is filled with her trademark wit; poignant and timely themes; sassy, flesh-and-blood characters; and the steamy Southern atmosphere and beauty of her beloved Carolina Lowcountry.

Few writers capture the complexities, pain, and joy of relationships - between friends, family members, husbands and wives, or lovers - as beloved New York Times best-selling author Dorothea Benton Frank. In this charming, evocative, soul-touching novel, she once again takes us deep into the heart of the magical Lowcountry, where three amazing middle-aged women are bonded by another amazing woman's death.

Through their shared loss, they forge a deep friendship, asking critical questions. Who was their friend, and what did her life mean? Are they living the lives they imagined for themselves? Will they ever be able to afford to retire? How will they maximize their happiness? Security? Health? And ultimately their own legacies?

A plan is conceived and unfurls with each turn of the tide during one sweltering summer on the Isle of Palms. Without ever fully realizing how close they were to the edge, they finally triumph amid laughter and maybe even newfound love.

Members Reviews:

Delightfully Decadent

Sometimes a book finds you at just the right time; this was that book for me. DBF transported me to a lovely town with heart-warming characters who I enjoyed following their journey through the ups and downs of life. While I loved this book, reading too many books like this will ruin the feeling. Novels like this are meant to be enjoyed like truffles, only one or two every now and then. Too many too often and the decadent richness turns sour.

Tried to like it.

I really wanted to like it as this author was recommended to me by a friend. I had to make myself finish it. I thought I could relate as the ladies were approximately my age. What I found was a group of judgemental, self-righteous gold diggers. Not the strong independent southern belles we hear so much about. I just couldn't like any of the characters and had predicted the end by the third chapter. Just wasn't for me.

If you love the Lifetime Movie Channel....

What would have made All the Single Ladies better?

At least a somewhat plausible storyline and better editing.

What was most disappointing about Dorothea Benton Franks story?

Audible needs a subcategory or label for books that would be great for straight-to-Lifetime Movie Network (or Hallmark Movie Channel, or whatever) stories, so that I can avoid them in the future. This was just dreadful. I found myself rolling my eyes all the time. Can't believe I stuck it out to the end. Too predictable. Too silly.

What does Robin Miles bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

The narration was the only thing that saved this audiobook. I'm sure I would have given up early on if I had been reading the print version. She did a great job with all of the various characters, saving them from becoming complete stereotypes. The only reason I didn't give her five stars was that she read some parts as if she were constantly winking at the reader.

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Title: Dinner with Buddha

Author: Roland Merullo

Narrator: Sean Runnette

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-02-15

Publisher: HighBridge, a Division of Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 642 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The author of Breakfast with Buddha brings his characteristic whimsy to a new novel about New York book editor Otto Ringling and Mongolian monk Volya Rinpoche, who embark on a road trip from Rinpoche's meditation center in North Dakota to the glitter and glitz of the Las Vegas strip.

What prompts the trip is Otto's recently altered life, having lost first his wife then his job, and then seeing both his children leave home for lives of their own. With Rinpoche's guidance, he hopes to find a new meaning in his life and a new direction. But what begins as a quietly contemplative journey becomes much more as the two men travel through the heart of the American Midwest, witnessing the decimated lives of so many American natives and giving Otto new perspective on the trials he is experiencing in his own life.

Along with these inner awakenings for Otto, there is also a very real hint of menace in the novel, as men show up who may be looking to make sure that the world never knows of the existence of Shelsa, the eight-year-old daughter of Rinpoche and Otto's sister, Cecilia. Shelsa has consistently shown that she has the markings and the instincts of a spiritual leader, leading to speculation that she may be the new Dalai Lama.

Contact me for any questions: [email protected]

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Title: The Wife

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Meg Wolitzer

Narrator: Dawn Harvey

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-07-15

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 60 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Meg Wolitzer brings her characteristic wit and intelligence to a provocative story about the evolution of a marriage, the nature of partnership, the question of a male or female sensibility, and the place for an ambitious woman in a man's world.

The moment Joan Castleman decides to leave her husband, they are 35,000 feet above the ocean on a flight to Helsinki. Joan's husband, Joseph, is one of America's preeminent novelists, about to receive a prestigious international award, and Joan, who has spent 40 years subjugating her own literary talents to fan the flames of his career, has finally decided to stop. From this gripping opening, Meg Wolitzer flashes back to Smith College and Greenwich Village in the 1950s and follows the course of the marriage that has brought the couple to this breaking point - one that results in a shocking revelation.

With her skillful storytelling and pitch-perfect observations, Wolitzer has crafted a wise and candid look at the choices all men and women make - in marriage, work, and life.

Members Reviews:

Would rather have read this in print

Brilliant story, but the director and reader made a few hammy choices (drunken conversation, accents, general aggrieved tone) that distracted me from a sense of the authors voice.

Sexy, confrontational, colorful

Terrific book, beautifully written by Meg Wolitzer, taking readers on the journey of a marriage. Dawn Harley does an outstanding job interpreting and vocalizing the prose.

Worst book I've ever read

No joke. This book was terrible. I can't recall one that I've ever read that was a worse way to spend my time. The characters were unlikeable, the story was slow and was entirely painful. 7 hrs of my life I will never get back.

Boring

This book just drugs on and on. I did not glimpse any new insights while listening to it. A talented woman gives all to not-so-talented husband, sacrificing her needs. He is unfaithful and vane, and she spends a lifetime catering to his needs. Then she decides to leave him. So what?! I failed to finish this book, stopped listening after 4 and 1/2 hours. I just didn't really care about the main characters.The narrator did a decent job, but cannot save the book.

great performances by the read er

As a fan of Wolitzer once again she drew me in to the lives of these interesting people. Excellent reader, perfect for this story.