
Nocturne
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
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Zura Johnson
-
By:
-
Alyssa Wees
About this listen
In this haunting, evocative fantasy set in 1930s Chicago, a talented ballerina finds herself torn between her dreams and her desires when she’s pursued by a secretive patron who may be more than he seems.
“An utterly unique, lyrical play on the Persephone and Hades myth for fans of . . . Madeline Miller.”—Booklist (starred review)
Growing up in Chicago’s Little Sicily in the years following the Great War, Grace Dragotta has always wanted to be a ballerina, ever since she first peered through the windows of the Near North Ballet company. So when Grace is orphaned, she chooses the ballet as her home, imagining herself forever ensconced in a transcendent world of light and beauty so different from her poor, immigrant upbringing.
Years later, with the Great Depression in full swing, Grace has become the company’s new prima ballerina—though achieving her long-held dream is not the triumph she once envisioned. Time and familiarity have tarnished that shining vision, and her new position means the loss of her best friend in the world. Then she attracts the attention of the enigmatic Master La Rosa as her personal patron and realizes the world is not as small or constricted as she had come to fear.
Who is her mysterious patron, and what does he want from her? As Grace begins to unlock the Master’s secrets, she discovers that there is beauty in darkness as well as light, finds that true friendship cannot be broken by time or distance, and realizes there may be another way entirely to achieve the transcendence she has always sought.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Iron Widow (Book 1)
- By: Xiran Jay Zhao
- Narrated by: Rong Fu
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain. When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed.
-
-
A fun yet uneven read.
- By Cody McGrath on 09-28-21
By: Xiran Jay Zhao
-
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
- A Novel
- By: Emma Törzs
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna’s isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy.
-
-
The most difficult audiobook I've ever listened 2
- By John on 06-04-23
By: Emma Törzs
-
The Fragile Threads of Power
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Marisa Calin, Michael Kramer
- Length: 21 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power and connected by a single city: London. Until the magic grew too fast and forced the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew more rare as time passed and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory—Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk, of White London.
-
-
Best in the series!
- By Pat on 10-09-23
By: V. E. Schwab
-
One for My Enemy
- A Novel
- By: Olivie Blake
- Narrated by: Ferdelle Capistrano
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In modern-day Manhattan where we lay our scene, two rival witch families fight to maintain control of their respective criminal empires. On one side of the conflict are the Antonova sisters—each one beautiful, cunning, and ruthless—and their mother, the elusive supplier of premium intoxicants, known only as Baba Yaga.
-
-
Beautiful writing, choppy plot
- By Beck on 10-01-23
By: Olivie Blake
-
Vampires of El Norte
- By: Isabel Cañas
- Narrated by: Jose Nateras, Krysta Gonzales
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.
-
-
Blame it on the edit
- By Anonymous User on 10-24-23
By: Isabel Cañas
-
A Deadly Education
- A Novel (The Scholomance, Book 1)
- By: Naomi Novik
- Narrated by: Anisha Dadia
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life. Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans. I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts; I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, making myself the dark queen of the world.
-
-
Intersting concept, way too much self pity
- By Rune on 10-13-20
By: Naomi Novik
-
Iron Widow (Book 1)
- By: Xiran Jay Zhao
- Narrated by: Rong Fu
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain. When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed.
-
-
A fun yet uneven read.
- By Cody McGrath on 09-28-21
By: Xiran Jay Zhao
-
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
- A Novel
- By: Emma Törzs
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna’s isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy.
-
-
The most difficult audiobook I've ever listened 2
- By John on 06-04-23
By: Emma Törzs
-
The Fragile Threads of Power
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Marisa Calin, Michael Kramer
- Length: 21 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power and connected by a single city: London. Until the magic grew too fast and forced the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew more rare as time passed and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory—Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk, of White London.
-
-
Best in the series!
- By Pat on 10-09-23
By: V. E. Schwab
-
One for My Enemy
- A Novel
- By: Olivie Blake
- Narrated by: Ferdelle Capistrano
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In modern-day Manhattan where we lay our scene, two rival witch families fight to maintain control of their respective criminal empires. On one side of the conflict are the Antonova sisters—each one beautiful, cunning, and ruthless—and their mother, the elusive supplier of premium intoxicants, known only as Baba Yaga.
-
-
Beautiful writing, choppy plot
- By Beck on 10-01-23
By: Olivie Blake
-
Vampires of El Norte
- By: Isabel Cañas
- Narrated by: Jose Nateras, Krysta Gonzales
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.
-
-
Blame it on the edit
- By Anonymous User on 10-24-23
By: Isabel Cañas
-
A Deadly Education
- A Novel (The Scholomance, Book 1)
- By: Naomi Novik
- Narrated by: Anisha Dadia
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life. Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans. I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts; I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, making myself the dark queen of the world.
-
-
Intersting concept, way too much self pity
- By Rune on 10-13-20
By: Naomi Novik
-
The Ballerinas
- A Novel
- By: Rachel Kapelke-Dale
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fourteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg - taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House to choreograph the ballet that will kick-start the next phase of her career - and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away.
-
-
Kill the editor!
- By Leslie G. on 12-18-21
-
Caraval
- By: Stephanie Garber
- Narrated by: Rebecca Soler
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful - and cruel - father. Now Scarlett's father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the faraway once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over. But this year Scarlett's long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval's mastermind organizer, Legend.
-
-
Fantastic narration but *very* purple prose
- By Jane on 02-08-17
By: Stephanie Garber
-
Weyward
- A Novel
- By: Emilia Hart
- Narrated by: Aysha Kala, Helen Keeley, Nell Barlow
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.
-
-
Awful, Problematic Story
- By Anonymous User on 04-23-23
By: Emilia Hart
-
Legends & Lattes
- A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes
- By: Travis Baldree
- Narrated by: Travis Baldree
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv, the orc barbarian, cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen. However, her dreams of a fresh start filling mugs instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners, and a different kind of resolve.
-
-
slice of life
- By Anonymous User on 02-25-22
By: Travis Baldree
-
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
- A Novel
- By: Shannon Chakraborty
- Narrated by: Lameece Issaq, Amin El Gamal
- Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, she’s survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.
-
-
Not City of Brass, A Fun Swashbuckling Adventure
- By Pele on 03-23-23
-
Virgins
- An Outlander Short
- By: Diana Gabaldon
- Narrated by: Allan Scott-Douglas
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mourning the death of his father and gravely injured at the hands of the English, Jamie Fraser finds himself running with a band of mercenaries in the French countryside, where he reconnects with his old friend, Ian Murray. Both are nursing wounds, both have good reason to stay out of Scotland, and both are still virgins despite several opportunities to remedy that deplorable situation with ladies of easy virtue.
-
-
Don't expect an in depth story
- By ELZIE B HICKERSON on 10-30-16
By: Diana Gabaldon
-
Lone Women
- A Novel
- By: Victor LaValle
- Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear. The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader.
-
-
Amazing story, Phenomenal Narration
- By Frugalshopper on 04-02-23
By: Victor LaValle
-
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
France, 1714: In a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever - and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
-
-
Prose style not to my liking
- By C.V. Cox on 10-18-20
By: V. E. Schwab
-
Maame
- A Novel
- By: Jessica George
- Narrated by: Heather Agyepong
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting.
-
-
A dang good book!
- By Christina on 02-10-23
By: Jessica George
-
Interview with the Vampire
- By: Anne Rice
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are in a small room with the vampire, face to face, as he speaks--as he pours out the hypnotic, shocking, moving, and erotically charged confessions of his first two hundred years as one of the living dead. . . He speaks quietly, plainly, even gently . . . carrying us back to the night when he departed human existence as heir--young, romantic, cultivated--to a great Louisiana plantation, and was inducted by the radiant and sinister Lestat into the other, the "endless," life....
-
-
New Editions!
- By A. Sentoni on 06-04-11
By: Anne Rice
-
Gallant
- By: V.E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for Girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home; it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile, or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.
-
-
Gothic Done Right, in Form and Content!!!
- By Helena H. on 06-27-22
By: V.E. Schwab
-
Sorcery of Thorns
- By: Margaret Rogerson
- Narrated by: Emily Ellet
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery - magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power. Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire.
-
-
Enchanting, confident and thoroughly entertaining!
- By Kay Esselle on 06-06-19
Critic reviews
“An enchanting and lyrical fever dream bursting with dazzling prose and dark romance, Nocturne enthralled me.”—Erin A. Craig, New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows
“Richly imagined and heartbreakingly told, Nocturne is a lush gothic romance that will dance you dizzy.”—Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf
“No one writes the way Alyssa Wees does, and Nocturne is her latest masterpiece. Like the ballet pulsing at its core, the story is both sinuous and quick on its feet, leading the reader through a labyrinth of emotions that range from the brightest passion to the darkest grief. A powerful, haunting read.”—Joan He, New York Times bestselling author of Strike the Zither
What listeners say about Nocturne
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sarah C Ridgeway
- 12-13-24
Convoluted
This story lacked any real substance or direction. You drown in a sea of unnecessary purple prose and cliches. The read was fine, but the story itself left a lot to be desired. It barely resembles the stories mentioned in the synopsis. I wish I hadn’t wasted a credit on this one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!