Preview

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.

Birnam Wood

By: Eleanor Catton
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

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

Birnam Wood is terrific. As a multilayered, character-driven thriller, it’s as good as it gets. Ruth Rendell would have loved it. A beautifully textured work—what a treat.” (Stephen King)

“One of the finest writers of our time.” (Jonathan Ruppin, The Independent)

The Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries brings us Birnam Wood, a gripping thriller of high drama and kaleidoscopic insight into what drives us to survive.

Birnam Wood is on the move....

A landslide has closed the Korowai Pass on New Zealand’s South Island, cutting off the town of Thorndike and leaving a sizable farm abandoned. The disaster presents an opportunity for Birnam Wood, an undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic guerrilla gardening collective that plants crops wherever no one will notice. For years, the group has struggled to break even. To occupy the farm at Thorndike would mean a shot at solvency at last.

But the enigmatic American billionaire Robert Lemoine also has an interest in the place: He has snatched it up to build his end-times bunker, or so he tells Birnam’s founder, Mira, when he catches her on the property. He’s intrigued by Mira and by Birnam Wood; although they’re poles apart politically, it seems Lemoine and the group might have enemies in common. But can Birnam trust him? And, as their ideals and ideologies are tested, can they trust one another?

A gripping psychological thriller from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its drama, Austenian in its wit, and, like both influences, fascinated by what makes us who we are. A brilliantly constructed study of intentions, actions, and consequences, it is a mesmerizing, unflinching consideration of the human impulse to ensure our own survival.

©2023 Eleanor Catton (P)2023 Audible, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

About the Creator

Eleanor Catton is the author of the international bestseller The Luminaries, winner of the Man Booker Prize and a Governor General’s Literary Award. Her debut novel, The Rehearsal, won the Betty Trask Award, was short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize, and was long-listed for the Orange Prize. She is also the screenwriter of Emma, a 2020 feature film adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel. Born in Canada and raised in New Zealand, she now lives in Cambridge, England.

About the Performer - Saskia Maarleveld

About the Performer

Saskia Maarleveld is an award winning audiobook narrator of over 500 titles. Growing up in New Zealand and Europe, she can often be heard narrating in a variety of accents. She now lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband and kids.

What listeners say about Birnam Wood

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    305
  • 4 Stars
    179
  • 3 Stars
    152
  • 2 Stars
    60
  • 1 Stars
    30
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    399
  • 4 Stars
    135
  • 3 Stars
    49
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    7
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    251
  • 4 Stars
    138
  • 3 Stars
    105
  • 2 Stars
    66
  • 1 Stars
    42

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

Captivating tale, masterfully told

I lost a week to this book and don’t regret a minute of it. It was exciting, thought-provoking, modern, and thoroughly entertaining. Fabulous narrator.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

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

Catton’s narrative will leave you stunned!

Intricate character revelation joined with head-spinning plot twists and breakneck action. A heady brew to say the least. A foreboding overwhelms you as you read on (or listen). The connection to Shakespearean tragedy is clear. The Audible narrator is outstanding. Highly recommended!

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

Fantastic listen

Twists and turns I never saw coming…Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen…it didn’t.

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

Exquisite storytelling.

The author handles levels of story without confusing me. She clearly develops each character’s motivation so all of their vulnerabilities and choices make perfect sense. I am stunned by her story and writing ability. Thank you, Eleanor.

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
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Shallow. Unbelievable, characters.

I was drawn to the up-to-date background of this book. I was so disappointed in the ending. Some of the behavior of the characters seemed incongruent. I was literally depressed at the end of the story.

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
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting but sorry if anguished plot

the mystery part of this book kept me listening, but the plot wasn't very pleasurable and the end of the books in gratuitous to me.

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
    4 out of 5 stars

On the Fence

There were aspects of this that were fascinating. I found both girls to be complex and real and credible. The male characters were either buffoons, monomaniacal egomaniacs or straight up psychopaths. Tons of detail about some aspects then pull a ripcord and out? Ultimately the whole thing feels unfinished. But I am still thinking about it.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Engaging story cut a bit short

The narrator and story were engaging. I was even rooting for the flawed characters. I enjoyed it immensely until it ended rather too abruptly for my taste.

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
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good Until It Wasn't

Really good writing in the beginning, characters were well developed and a plot nicely woven. However, as time was winding down in the final hour, I kept thinking there should be a lot left, much the characters have yet to do. However, it was like the author got tired and quit.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

i like eleanor catton

i know her style is to be exhaustive in her narrative. all aspects of the characters are examined. (in words as its is a book). the story is an actual horror! wealth ecologic abuse. i only hope its a wild what if and not a roman a clef. suberb narration!!!!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful