The Whispers

Author Ashley Audrain
Narrator Jill Winternitz
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Publish Date 20 July 2023
Run Time 10 hours and 18 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Family life fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Interior life, Psychological thriller, Thriller / suspense fiction.

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

The second novel from the author of THE PUSH, 2021's most explosive Sunday Times bestseller!

'Utterly addictive' Paula Hawkins on The Push

***

One morning on Harlow Lane, four families' lives are changed forever.

Whitney Loverly can only sit by her son's hospital bed after he falls from his bedroom window in the middle of the night. She refuses to speak to anyone.

Back at home, the Loverlys' neighbours must reckon with their own roles in the tragedy - their selfless best friends who live across the street, the ambitious Goldsteins who desperately want a family of their own, and the quiet elderly couple who spend their days people watching on the front porch.

But what happens next, when over the course of a week, the hidden and explosive truths that connect these families must come out?

Exploring envy, motherhood and the intuitions that we silence, this is a novel that asks what happens when good people make bad choices.

Perfect for fans of Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere and Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies.

Praise for THE PUSH:
'Set my nerves jangling in both horror and recognition' Lisa Jewell
'Gripping' Guardian
'Sustains the suspense expertly' Sunday Times
'Keeps the reader hooked' Grazia
'Jet-black' Abigail Dean
'Provocative, compulsive' Vogue
'Riveting, thought-provoking' Daily Mail
'Bold' Heat

©2023 Ashley Audrain (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

Thought-provoking and gripping, this is worthy of all the praise coming its way

HEAT, Book of the Week

The Whispers is spellbinding, a shimmering, visceral ride through the dark side of family, of community, of womanhood and mothering. Nobody delves as deep into the guts of motherhood as Ashley Audrain, she really is in a league of her own

Lisa Jewell, Sunday Times #1 Bestselling Author

A punchy page-turner about motherhood, sacrifice and the huge expectations that are forced on to women

Good Housekeeping

I absolutely loved this book

Miranda Cowley Heller, bestselling author of The Paper Palace

Enticing, nuanced, and unflinching, The Whispers opens a secret portal into the private lives of women in suburbia. A narrative portrait of motherhood and marriage, of loneliness and longing, of loss and desire, this is a novel where the characters are so recognizable, it's nearly impossible to feel they are strangers. Rather, through the course of the deeply thrilling and provocative pages, one comes to feel they're as real as neighbours, colleagues and friends. A truly masterful novel

Nita Prose, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Maid

Riveting ... a fearless deep dive into the real internal lives of women. The Whispers is a brilliant, deeply affecting novel you won't soon forget

Shari Lapena, bestselling author of The Couple Next Door

Rage unites these women - rage that is expertly, subtly and powerfully rendered by Audrain . . . and, after Audrain has lulled you into a sense of resignation over her characters' fates, she delivers a sucker-punch ending you'll have to read twice to believe

New York Times

A chilling story and a beautifully observed exploration of what it means to be a woman, highlighting the sacrifices involved and the often frightening choices that have to be made. The knowledge that something awful is looming lends the narrative a compelling sense of unease that builds to a thickening dread as Audrain ratchets up the tension. A quietly revelatory and unnerving novel that works on so many levels - I couldn't put it down

Sarah Pearse, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Sanatorium

A dark, unflinching family drama. A pageturner

Grazia

A beautifully written, twisty and thought-provoking novel about the demands of modern women, motherhood and how our own past shapes us. The Whispers is packed with suspense, tension and unforgettable characters and I couldn't read it fast enough. I adored it!

Claire Douglas, number one bestselling author of The Couple at No.9

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