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The Wren, the Wren

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The Wren, the Wren

By: Anne Enright
Narrated by: Anne Enright, Aoife Duffin, Owen Roe, Liza Ross
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024.

Carmel had been alone all her life. She had been alone since she was twelve years old. The baby knew all this. They looked at each other; one life into another life, and the baby knew exactly how alone her mother had been.

Nell - funny, brave and so much loved - is a young woman with adventure on her mind. As she sets out into the world, she finds her family history hard to escape. For her mother, Carmel, Nell's leaving home opens a space in her heart, where the turmoil of a lifetime begins to churn. And across the generations falls the long shadow of Carmel's famous father, an Irish poet of beautiful words and brutal actions.

This is a meditation on love: spiritual, romantic, darkly sexual or genetic. A generational saga that traces the inheritance not just of trauma but also of wonder, it is a testament to the glorious resilience of women in the face of promises false and true. Above all, it is an exploration of the love between mother and daughter - sometimes fierce, often painful, but always transcendent.

©2023 Anne Enright (P)2023 Penguin Audio Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Funny

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Critic reviews

The Wren, The Wren is a magnificent novel. Anne Enright's stylistic brilliance seems to put the reader directly in touch with her characters and the rich territory of their lives (Sally Rooney, author of NORMAL PEOPLE)
These pages practically crackle with intelligence, compassion and wit. Phil McDaragh is so real I almost googled him. The Wren, The Wren might just be Anne Enright's best yet (Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses)
All stars
Most relevant  
Anne Enright is observant, insightful and clever with words. All my fave topics/thoughts arise.

Love this style of writing

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I often wonder, when I listen to Anne Enright, Donal Ryan, Louise Kennedy … (there are more) whether coming from an Irish family makes it easier to delight in and whether some of the intricate details are lost on those with no intimate knowledge of such families.

The narrators were all very good. Anne Enright herself has a rich and perfectly aging voice, fitting into the role of the mother with absolutely no glance backward.

That all said, I am on the whole, avoiding books, which are written in chapters of different characters or different timelines. I cannot be certain whether I would have actually read this all the way through in spite of the fact that the family politics and bickering are so accurately carved.

Irish generations

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I loved the way the characters are depicted. Exquisite writing that explores the consciousness of each character and links them all together so flawlessly.

Interweaving of characters

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Loved the exploration of the layered complexity of familial relationships, how our view of the past is shaped by our individual perspectives - all much enhanced by Enright's narration - a good tale well told.

Anne Enright at her best

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The older women had interesting stories and had depth of character. The long descriptions of the younger woman’s experience of an increasingly abusive and controlled relationship was harder to digest because it went on for so long. So much introspection and no action. It seemed out of character for Nell. It also didn’t seem to play forward into the rest of the story. Otherwise Well read. An ok book but not stunning.

A mixed book

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Took me a while to figure out what was going on but I persevered and I think I eventually got it.
Long rambling story, they all seemed to have an ‘ism’ and although some parts of their relationships were loving there was a lot of cruelty and major dysfunction. Just like a poet to state undying love but he leaves his wife and family just when they need him the most.
Some burst out laughing observations kept me going, amid the misery.

Relationship

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It took me a little while to warm to the story and the characters. Then I did to a degree and would at times become disgruntled again, during the last few hours this happened less and I looked forward to my next listen. Thanks

I feel that the different voices added to a great story

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loved it. incredible performances on the audio book. A gorgeous insight to a family of characters. Bird lovers will enjoy

brilliant

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I loved every syllable and feel like I could listen to this story again straight away from the beginning. The whole thing was just perfect, the story itself, the exploration of words, meaning, poetry and people brought me to a place of pure enjoyment. A beautiful book.

A beautiful book.

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I loved everything about this - the book itself and then the narration. Just so compelling and beautiful - I haven’t listened to anything so enriching for ages .

A wonderful listen

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