A Spot of Bother
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Simon Vance
-
By:
-
Mark Haddon
About this listen
George Hall is an unobtrusive man. A little distant, perhaps, a little cautious, not quite at ease with the emotional demands of fatherhood or of manly bonhomie. “The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely.” Some things in life can’t be ignored, however: his tempestuous daughter Katie’s deeply inappropriate boyfriend Ray, for instance, or the sudden appearance of a red circular rash on his hip.
At 57, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden and enjoying the freedom to be alone when he wants. But then he runs into a spot of bother. That red circular rash on his hip: George convinces himself it’s skin cancer. And the deeply inappropriate Ray? Katie announces he will become her second husband. The planning for these frowned-upon nuptials proves a great inconvenience to George’s wife, Jean, who is carrying on a late-life affair with her husband’s ex-colleague. The Halls do not approve of Ray, for vague reasons summed up by their son Jamie’s observation that Ray has “strangler’s hands.”
Jamie himself has his own problems—his tidy and pleasant life comes apart when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to Katie’s wedding. And Katie, a woman whose ferocious temper once led to the maiming of a carjacker, can’t decide if she loves Ray, or loves the wonderful way he has with her son Jacob. Unnoticed in the uproar, George quietly begins to go mad. The way these damaged people fall apart—and come together—as a family is the true subject of Haddon’s hilarious and disturbing portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely.
A Spot of Bother is Mark Haddon’s unforgettable follow-up to the internationally beloved best seller The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Once again, Haddon proves a master of a story at once hilarious, poignant, dark, and profoundly human. Here the madness—literally—of family life proves rich comic fodder for Haddon’s crackling prose and bittersweet insights into misdirected love.
©2006 Mark Haddon (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
- By: Mark Haddon
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen-year-old Christopher Boone has Asperger's Syndrome, a condition similar to autism. He doesn't like to be touched or meet new people, he cannot make small talk, and he hates the colors brown and yellow. He is a math whiz with a very logical brain who loves solving puzzles that have definite answers.
-
-
A Different View of the World
- By Alan on 05-19-04
By: Mark Haddon
-
The Porpoise
- A Novel
- By: Mark Haddon
- Narrated by: Tim McInnerny
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a bravura feat of storytelling, Mark Haddon calls upon narratives ancient and modern to tell the story of Angelica, a young woman trapped in an abusive relationship with her father. When a young man named Darius discovers their secret, he is forced to escape on a boat bound for the Mediterranean. To his surprise, he finds himself travelling backward over 2,000 years to a world of pirates and shipwrecks, of plagues and miracles and angry gods.
-
-
Smart and complex
- By martini on 08-04-19
By: Mark Haddon
-
Remarkably Bright Creatures
- A Novel
- By: Shelby Van Pelt
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland, Michael Urie
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
-
-
Hidden gem, incredible narration!
- By Christine T on 05-17-22
By: Shelby Van Pelt
-
The Great Unexpected
- By: Dan Mooney
- Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joel lives in a nursing home, and he’s not one bit happy about it. He hates being told when to eat, when to sleep, when to take his pills. He’s fed up with life and begins to plan a way out when his new roommate, a retired soap opera actor named Frank, moves in and turns the nursing-home community upside down.
-
-
Really enjoyed this
- By Carmen K. Pollic on 04-10-23
By: Dan Mooney
-
Hello Beautiful
- A Novel
- By: Ann Napolitano
- Narrated by: Maura Tierney
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all.
-
-
Book was great, performance terrible
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-23
By: Ann Napolitano
-
Killers of a Certain Age
- By: Deanna Raybourn
- Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer, Christina Delaine
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for 40 years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.
-
-
Insulting to “older” women
- By JWB35 on 02-26-23
By: Deanna Raybourn
-
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
- By: Mark Haddon
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen-year-old Christopher Boone has Asperger's Syndrome, a condition similar to autism. He doesn't like to be touched or meet new people, he cannot make small talk, and he hates the colors brown and yellow. He is a math whiz with a very logical brain who loves solving puzzles that have definite answers.
-
-
A Different View of the World
- By Alan on 05-19-04
By: Mark Haddon
-
The Porpoise
- A Novel
- By: Mark Haddon
- Narrated by: Tim McInnerny
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a bravura feat of storytelling, Mark Haddon calls upon narratives ancient and modern to tell the story of Angelica, a young woman trapped in an abusive relationship with her father. When a young man named Darius discovers their secret, he is forced to escape on a boat bound for the Mediterranean. To his surprise, he finds himself travelling backward over 2,000 years to a world of pirates and shipwrecks, of plagues and miracles and angry gods.
-
-
Smart and complex
- By martini on 08-04-19
By: Mark Haddon
-
Remarkably Bright Creatures
- A Novel
- By: Shelby Van Pelt
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland, Michael Urie
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
-
-
Hidden gem, incredible narration!
- By Christine T on 05-17-22
By: Shelby Van Pelt
-
The Great Unexpected
- By: Dan Mooney
- Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joel lives in a nursing home, and he’s not one bit happy about it. He hates being told when to eat, when to sleep, when to take his pills. He’s fed up with life and begins to plan a way out when his new roommate, a retired soap opera actor named Frank, moves in and turns the nursing-home community upside down.
-
-
Really enjoyed this
- By Carmen K. Pollic on 04-10-23
By: Dan Mooney
-
Hello Beautiful
- A Novel
- By: Ann Napolitano
- Narrated by: Maura Tierney
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all.
-
-
Book was great, performance terrible
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-23
By: Ann Napolitano
-
Killers of a Certain Age
- By: Deanna Raybourn
- Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer, Christina Delaine
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for 40 years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.
-
-
Insulting to “older” women
- By JWB35 on 02-26-23
By: Deanna Raybourn
-
Lessons in Chemistry
- A Novel
- By: Bonnie Garmus
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison, Bonnie Garmus, Pandora Sykes
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
-
-
Making my 3 adult daughters read this
- By Teresa H. on 04-07-22
By: Bonnie Garmus
-
Someone Else's Shoes
- A Novel
- By: Jojo Moyes
- Narrated by: Daisy Ridley
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope--she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in. That’s because Sam Kemp—in the bleakest point of her life—has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag—she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat.
-
-
Bad language
- By Kerbear on 02-25-23
By: Jojo Moyes
-
Things My Son Needs to Know About the World
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Things My Son Needs to Know About the World collects the personal dispatches from the front lines of one of the most daunting experiences any man can experience: fatherhood. As he conveys his profound awe at experiencing all the “firsts” that fill him with wonder and catch him completely unprepared, Fredrik Backman doesn’t shy away from revealing his own false steps and fatherly flaws, tackling issues both great and small, from masculinity and midlife crises to practical jokes and poop.
-
-
Not my favorite Frederick Backman book
- By Frog on 06-16-19
By: Fredrik Backman
-
Happiness Falls (Good Morning America Book Club)
- A Novel
- By: Angie Kim
- Narrated by: Shannon Tyo, Sean Patrick Hopkins, Thomas Pruyn, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything—which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.
-
-
A mixed review, but recommend
- By Andrea B. on 09-07-23
By: Angie Kim
-
Good Eggs
- A Novel
- By: Rebecca Hardiman
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Gary Furlong, Siobhan Waring
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a home aide arrives to assist a rambunctious family at a crossroads, simmering tensions boil over in this “witty, exuberant debut” (People) that is an “absolute delight from start to finish” (Sarah Haywood, New York Times best-selling author) perfect for fans of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Evvie Drake Starts Over.
-
-
This story will lift you up
- By Anita on 03-26-21
By: Rebecca Hardiman
-
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
- A Novel
- By: Benjamin Stevenson
- Narrated by: Barton Welch
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate. I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that.
-
-
Good book
- By Wowhite on 09-05-23
-
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle
- By: Matt Cain
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every day, Albert Entwistle makes his way through the streets of his small English town, delivering letters and parcels and returning greetings with a quick wave and a “how do?” Everyone on his route knows Albert, or thinks they do—a man of quiet routines, content to live alone with his cat, Gracie.
-
-
What a Treat!
- By C. Beaton on 06-24-22
By: Matt Cain
-
The Deal of a Lifetime
- A Novella
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana
- Length: 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It all begins with a father telling a story to his son on Christmas Eve. But this isn't your typical Christmas story. The father admits to his son that he's taken a life but he won't say whose - not yet. One week earlier, in a hospital late at night, the man met a five-year-old girl with cancer. She's a smart kid - smart enough to know that she won't beat cancer by drawing with crayons all day, but it seems to make the adults happy, so she keeps doing it.
-
-
Novellas Are Horrible!!!!!
- By 3xcharm on 12-28-17
By: Fredrik Backman
-
I Found You
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Helen Duff
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a windswept British seaside town, single mum Alice Lake finds a man sitting on the beach outside her house. He has no name and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside. Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, 21-year-old Lily Monrose has been married for only three weeks. When her husband fails to come home from work one night, she is left alone in a place where she knows no one and with the police telling her that her husband never existed.
-
-
Foul language
- By Carolyn D Mitchell on 03-04-20
By: Lisa Jewell
-
An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club)
- A Novel
- By: Tayari Jones
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden, Eisa Davis
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to 12 years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding.
-
-
So many “WTF” moments
- By Kristen R King on 05-04-18
By: Tayari Jones
-
Two by Two
- By: Nicholas Sparks
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At 32 Russell Green has it all: a stunning wife, a lovable six-year-old daughter, a successful career as an advertising executive, and an expansive home in Charlotte. He is living the dream, and his marriage to the bewitching Vivian is the center of that. But underneath the shiny surface of this perfect existence, fault lines are beginning to appear, and no one is more surprised than Russ when he finds every aspect of the life he took for granted turned upside down.
-
-
I Am Stunned At The Good Reviews!
- By Wendi on 10-17-16
By: Nicholas Sparks
-
The Time Traveler's Wife
- By: Audrey Niffenegger
- Narrated by: Fred Berman, Phoebe Strole
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clare and Henry have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was 36. They were married when Clare was 23 and Henry was 31. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.
-
-
One of my favorite books
- By Joey on 01-13-08
Critic reviews
"No bother at all, this comic follow-up to Haddon's blockbuster (and nicely selling book of poems) is great fun." (Publishers Weekly)
Related to this topic
-
Secret Smile
- By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Miranda's sister Kerri has a new boyfriend. He's a handsome charmer who seems to dote on Kerri. But Brendan isn't the man he says he is. Miranda should know. She broke off her own affair with him just a few weeks ago when she found him reading her diary.
-
-
I want my 9 hours back
- By Ashley on 07-19-23
By: Nicci French
-
The Brightest Star in the Sky
- A Novel
- By: Marian Keyes
- Narrated by: Caitriona Keyes
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Brightest Star in the Sky follows seven neighbors whose lives become entangled when a sassy and prescient spirit pays a visit to their Dublin townhouse with the intent of changing at least one of their lives. But what will this metamorphosis be and who will the sprite choose?
-
-
Terrible sound quality, worse narration
- By Jan on 02-23-10
By: Marian Keyes
-
He Will Find You
- By: Diane Jeffrey
- Narrated by: Claire Trusson
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kaitlyn Best is stuck in a rut. So when she discovers she's pregnant after a one-night stand with Alex, her school crush, she throws caution to the wind and accepts his offer to make a new life together in the depths of the Lake District, far from her home...and her demons. But Alex is not what he seems. And when Kaitlyn's world begins to crumble before her eyes, she realises she barely knows the man she has agreed to spend the rest of her life with.
-
-
OMG! Such a capturing story
- By Mike & Dakoda on 08-22-18
By: Diane Jeffrey
-
The Things We Never Said
- By: Susan Elliot Wright
- Narrated by: Kate Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1964, Maggie wakes to find herself in a mental asylum, with no idea who she is or how she got there. Remnants of memories swirl in her mind - a familiar song, a storm, a moment of violence. Slowly, she begins to piece together the past and the events which brought her to this point.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Anonymous User on 01-18-22
-
The Darkest Secret
- A Novel
- By: Alex Marwood
- Narrated by: Beverley A. Crick
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Real estate mogul Sean Jackson is throwing himself a splashy 50th birthday party, but trouble starts almost immediately: His ex-wife has sent his teenage daughters to the party without telling him; his current wife has fired the nanny; and he's finding it difficult to sneak away to his mistress. Then something truly terrible happens: one of his three-year-old twins goes missing. No trace of her is ever found. The attendees of the party, nicknamed the Jackson Associates by the press, become infamous overnight.
-
-
Wow
- By Christina on 09-14-16
By: Alex Marwood
-
Hero: A Simon Serrailler Short Story
- By: Susan Hill
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey
- Length: 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Simon Serrailler was a rookie constable with the Met, he did something reckless in the course of a night's work which caused a man's death. But his act was praised by his colleagues, and he was called a hero. Years later, now a detective chief superintendent who has been badly injured in the course of duty, he receives a medal for bravery at Buckingham Palace while recollecting that fateful night of his early career, when chance disguised itself as bravery.
-
-
This 'story' makes no sense to me
- By Pamela Donaldson on 05-10-17
By: Susan Hill
-
Secret Smile
- By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Miranda's sister Kerri has a new boyfriend. He's a handsome charmer who seems to dote on Kerri. But Brendan isn't the man he says he is. Miranda should know. She broke off her own affair with him just a few weeks ago when she found him reading her diary.
-
-
I want my 9 hours back
- By Ashley on 07-19-23
By: Nicci French
-
The Brightest Star in the Sky
- A Novel
- By: Marian Keyes
- Narrated by: Caitriona Keyes
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Brightest Star in the Sky follows seven neighbors whose lives become entangled when a sassy and prescient spirit pays a visit to their Dublin townhouse with the intent of changing at least one of their lives. But what will this metamorphosis be and who will the sprite choose?
-
-
Terrible sound quality, worse narration
- By Jan on 02-23-10
By: Marian Keyes
-
He Will Find You
- By: Diane Jeffrey
- Narrated by: Claire Trusson
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kaitlyn Best is stuck in a rut. So when she discovers she's pregnant after a one-night stand with Alex, her school crush, she throws caution to the wind and accepts his offer to make a new life together in the depths of the Lake District, far from her home...and her demons. But Alex is not what he seems. And when Kaitlyn's world begins to crumble before her eyes, she realises she barely knows the man she has agreed to spend the rest of her life with.
-
-
OMG! Such a capturing story
- By Mike & Dakoda on 08-22-18
By: Diane Jeffrey
-
The Things We Never Said
- By: Susan Elliot Wright
- Narrated by: Kate Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1964, Maggie wakes to find herself in a mental asylum, with no idea who she is or how she got there. Remnants of memories swirl in her mind - a familiar song, a storm, a moment of violence. Slowly, she begins to piece together the past and the events which brought her to this point.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Anonymous User on 01-18-22
-
The Darkest Secret
- A Novel
- By: Alex Marwood
- Narrated by: Beverley A. Crick
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Real estate mogul Sean Jackson is throwing himself a splashy 50th birthday party, but trouble starts almost immediately: His ex-wife has sent his teenage daughters to the party without telling him; his current wife has fired the nanny; and he's finding it difficult to sneak away to his mistress. Then something truly terrible happens: one of his three-year-old twins goes missing. No trace of her is ever found. The attendees of the party, nicknamed the Jackson Associates by the press, become infamous overnight.
-
-
Wow
- By Christina on 09-14-16
By: Alex Marwood
-
Hero: A Simon Serrailler Short Story
- By: Susan Hill
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey
- Length: 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Simon Serrailler was a rookie constable with the Met, he did something reckless in the course of a night's work which caused a man's death. But his act was praised by his colleagues, and he was called a hero. Years later, now a detective chief superintendent who has been badly injured in the course of duty, he receives a medal for bravery at Buckingham Palace while recollecting that fateful night of his early career, when chance disguised itself as bravery.
-
-
This 'story' makes no sense to me
- By Pamela Donaldson on 05-10-17
By: Susan Hill
-
Conversations with Friends
- A Novel
- By: Sally Rooney
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Frances is a cool-headed and darkly observant young woman vaguely pursuing a career in writing while studying in Dublin. Her best friend and comrade-in-arms is the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi. At a local poetry performance one night, Frances and Bobbi catch the eye of Melissa, a well-known photographer, and as the girls are then gradually drawn into Melissa's world, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman's sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband, Nick.
-
-
Interesting point of view; glad I listened!
- By Amazon Customer on 08-23-17
By: Sally Rooney
-
The Perfect Lie
- By: Emily Barr
- Narrated by: Jilly Bond, Penelope Rawlins, Julia Franklin
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Lucy Riddick, Venice has always been the dream destination, the ideal place to lose herself. And now she needs to do just that. The secret she's been keeping has finally caught up with her and Lucy needs to disappear - fast. But what if, when she sets foot in Venice, Lucy finds the one thing she has been running from?
-
-
Fun and Absorbing
- By Jen Griffin on 10-15-15
By: Emily Barr
-
The Scent of You
- By: Maggie Alderson
- Narrated by: Zara Ramm
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tale of perfumes, exploring life, love, loss and forgiveness - Maggie Alderson's new best seller. Are you still married if you haven't seen your husband for months? Polly's life is great. Her children are away at uni, her glamorous mother - still modelling at 85 - is happily settled in a retirement village, and her perfume blog is taking off. Then her husband announces he needs some space and promptly vanishes. As Polly grapples with her bewildering situation, she clings to a few new friends to keep her going.
-
-
Okay for a light read
- By Robin on 10-26-17
By: Maggie Alderson
-
After the Party
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Helen Duff
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this irresistible novel from the author of Then She Was Gone, Jem and Ralph discover the power of starting over after 11 years together have left them drifting apart.
-
-
Bitter, Anti-Christian Stereotyping Detracts.
- By Gretchen on 11-23-18
By: Lisa Jewell
-
Obsession
- By: Amanda Robson
- Narrated by: Stephanie Racine, Helen Keeley, Thomas Judd, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carly and Rob, Jenni and Craig. Two couples, four friends. Betraying each other. Wanting each other. All of them have access to prescription drugs through the medical practice where they work, and all of them are fighting their own demons. But can any of them be trusted? And when the lies begin, can they ever be silenced?
-
-
Your old time religion
- By patricia williams on 01-23-18
By: Amanda Robson
-
The Third Wife
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Joe Jameson
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the early hours of a summer morning, a young woman steps into the path of an oncoming bus. A tragic accident? Or suicide? At the center of this puzzle is Adrian Wolfe, a successful architect and grief-stricken widower, who, a year after his third wife's death, begins to investigate the cause. As Adrian looks back on their brief but seemingly happy marriage, disturbing secrets begin to surface. The divorces from his two previous wives had been amicable, or so it seemed; his children, all five of them, were resilient as ever, or so he thought.
-
-
Not a mystery
- By Susan on 07-06-18
By: Lisa Jewell
-
The Playdate
- By: Louise Millar
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Single mother Callie has come to rely heavily on her best friend Suzy. But Callie suspects Suzy's life isn't as simple as it seems. It's time she pulled away - going back to work is just the first step towards rediscovering her old confidence. So why does she keep putting off telling Suzy about her new job? And who will care for her rather frail daughter, Rae, while she is gone?
-
-
Very Good
- By Delah on 05-03-12
By: Louise Millar
-
Us: A Novel
- By: David Nicholls
- Narrated by: David Haig
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that seduces beautiful Connie into a second date...and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades later, they live more or less happily in the London suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce. The timing couldn’t be worse. Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world’s greatest works of art as a family, and she can’t bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead is for the best anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie. Narrated from Douglas’s endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who’s always felt like a stranger.
-
-
Great novel - my favorite in years
- By Mark on 07-21-15
By: David Nicholls
-
Walking Back to Happiness
- By: Lucy Dillon
- Narrated by: Jilly Bond
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Juliet’s been in hiding - from her family, from her broken life, but most of all from the fact that Ben’s not around anymore. Her mother, Diane, has run out of advice. But then she insists Juliet look after her elderly Labrador and it becomes apparent that Coco the dog might actually be the one who can rescue her daughter. Especially when it leads to her walking dogs for a few other locals too, including a spaniel, Damson, who belongs to a very attractive man.... Before she knows it, Juliet realizes she has somehow become the town’s unofficial pet-sitter.
-
-
Great Read - makes you appreciate what you have
- By Leisha on 12-10-12
By: Lucy Dillon
-
Putney
- A Novel
- By: Sofka Zinovieff
- Narrated by: Michelle Ford
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spirit of Zoë Heller’s Notes on a Scandal and Tom Perrotta’s Mrs. Fletcher, an explosive and thought-provoking novel about the far-reaching repercussions of an illicit relationship between a young girl and a man 20 years her senior. Masterfully told from three diverse viewpoints - victim, perpetrator, and witness - Putney is a subtle and enormously powerful novel about consent, agency, and what we tell ourselves to justify what we do, and what others do to us.
-
-
One of the greatest stories of all time!
- By Valarie on 06-17-20
By: Sofka Zinovieff
-
Land of the Living
- By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abbie Devereaux lies flat on her back, her arms and legs tied down, her head covered with a hood. She senses the eyes that watch her. She feels the unknown hands that touch her in the dark. She knows she has been kidnapped but has little memory of her recent past. And she knows that all she has to do is stay alive, even though everything she is experiencing tells her she won't.
-
-
A good yarn
- By Jacque on 09-15-15
By: Nicci French
-
Sister Sister
- A truly absorbing psychological thriller
- By: Sue Fortin
- Narrated by: Helen Keeley
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alice: beautiful, kind, manipulative, liar. Clare: intelligent, loyal, paranoid, jealous. Clare thinks Alice is a manipulative liar who is trying to steal her life. Alice thinks Clare is jealous of her long-lost return and place in their family. One of them is telling the truth. The other is a maniac. Two sisters. One truth.
-
-
Wow, that was intense!
- By Wayne on 04-21-17
By: Sue Fortin
What listeners say about A Spot of Bother
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Jingle
- 06-27-11
absolutely hysterical!
great imagery and the narrator is spot on. i never laugh out loud at books....this is the exception.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Book Club Gal
- 09-29-06
Bother with this one
Bother with it. This very nicely written and excellently narrated novel details the events of yet another dysfunctional British family as the days peel away toward the matriarchal daughter's second wedding. The father, George, is rapidly deteriorating into a pleasantly numb malaise, while his wife sleeps with an ex-colleague, his gay son's relationship falls apart and his daughter veers away from then back to marriage.
A good read with wonderful descriptions and details of this family's life. Oddly, the story occasionally drifts into nearly graphic sex, focusing mostly on Jamie's gay relationship. On the whole, however, full of laughs and pathos and insights. Read it, especially for the narrator's brilliant voice characterizations.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Kathy
- 11-17-09
Very dry very funny
Enjoyed this thoroughly. Notwithstanding the main character's life is falling apart and he is experiencing some life-wrenching events, many of the descriptions are laugh out loud funny. Very different from Curious Dog but equally well done.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- martini
- 11-19-20
One of my top 10 favorite books! Of all time.
I listened to this book when it came out and have listened to it probably every year since then. I LOVE this book - story, narrator, the whole enchilada! Each time I listen, I hear it in a new way. Some years it is sad watching George go through his anxiety, some years I cannot stop laughing at the absurdity of the whole situation! Last year I hosted our daughters wedding at our home... funny! Different characters speak to me when I’m going through different things and I have found all of them to be so real and flawed and wonderful. Anyone who has had anxiety throw them for a loop will recognize the circular thinking and ridiculous logic. And the book/narrator just puts it out there... it’s not judging, solving or explaining, it’s just telling it as it rolls through the characters heads. Hilarious, sad and comforting. “A wonderful, wonderful” book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cindy
- 11-28-22
Wonderful
Lots of fun and Mr Vance does a fabulous narration. I have listened many times and continue to enjoy it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Matthea
- 04-18-08
Fun and poignant
I wasn't sure what to expect after listening to The Curious Incident, which I *loved*, but Harmon delivered on this one, too. Narrated from several characters' viewpoints, the listener gets inside a British family's joys and flaws, laughing and sympathizing the whole way through. When my iPod runs out of whatever's new in the car, I've returned to this story with pleasure. Enjoyable.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Mary McKinney
- 01-17-11
Wonderful Characters, Sweet Story
Although "A Spot of Bother" can't compare to Hadden's fabulous "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" it is still an entertaining and endearing story. This book reminds me a lot of the work of Nick Hornby with it's quirky British characters and laugh-out-loud details.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Loves2Read
- 06-23-19
Hilarious and Poignant
I couldn't stop listening to this book because I had to know how it all worked itself out.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jess
- 08-03-17
morose characters lacking development
for being a book centered on drama, it was surprisingly mundane.
Highlights: The author kneads the tension and discomfort of the characters methodically.
Low points: no character development.
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
- Johnna
- 07-24-08
Excellent!
This is a great story from beginning to end. Highly recommended.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!