Whale Fall
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Whale Fall
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Narrated by:
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Gwyneth Keyworth
About this listen
'I didn't want it to end' - Maggie O'Farrell
'Powerful . . . written with a calm, luminous precision' - Colm Tóibín
An Observer Best Debut of the Year 2024
The audiobook is read by Gwyneth Keyworth, and featuring, Gabrielle Glaister, Jot Davies, Dyfrig Morris and Nick Griffiths.
It is 1938 and for Manod, a young woman living on a remote island off the coast of Wales, the world looks ready to end just as she is trying to imagine a future for herself. The ominous appearance of a beached whale on the island's shore, and rumours of submarines circling beneath the waves, have villagers steeling themselves for what’s to come. Empty houses remind them of the men taken by the Great War, and of the difficulty of building a life in the island's harsh, salt-stung landscape.
When two anthropologists from the mainland arrive, Manod sees in them a rare moment of opportunity to leave the island and discover the life she has been searching for. But, as she guides them across the island’s cliffs, she becomes entangled in their relationship, and her imagined future begins to seem desperately out of reach.
Elizabeth O’Connor’s beautiful, devastating debut Whale Fall tells a story of longing and betrayal set against the backdrop of a world on the edge of great tumult.
'The quiet cadences of Whale Fall contain a deep melody of loss held and let go. It is a gentle, tough story about profound change' - Anne Enright
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Critic reviews
Gwyneth Keyworth's nuanced portrayal of Manod reveals the 18-year-old's transformative journey in this haunting story, set in 1938. Dyfrig Morris, Gabrielle Glaister, Jot Davies, and Nick Griffiths add to the novel's ambiance with evocative renditions of folklore and historical narratives. Well-crafted sound effects, such as the crackling and echoes of an old recording machine, add a compelling layer of period authenticity. This atmospheric audiobook amplifies the novel's exploration of profound cultural differences within ostensibly similar societies. - AudioFile
What listeners say about Whale Fall
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mrs. Mary Y. Berry
- 07-12-24
A different kind of book
I wasn’t sure about this story But I carried on with it. If it had been much longer I would have nit finished it.
The interjection of poems. Songs etc was good
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs J Maddison
- 09-12-24
Breathtaking description
I cannot explain how beautiful this listen was. It has stuck to my bones and left an imprint on my soul. I cried when it finished for so many reasons.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- B. Seed
- 15-12-24
Beautiful, captivating, wistful and wounding as barbed
Absolutely captivating in its beauty and depth and endlessly sad. Different stories - or rather different aspects/time frames of the same story - are woven together seamlessly. A 100% must for repeated listening. Not one for while you're dashing about doing household jobs - it deserves a proper sit-down-and-listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 26-12-24
Wales and Whales
A well narrated story with different actors and authentic welsh voices. I also read on kindle which was a good combination. Reminiscent - in a good way - of ‘the colony’ and ‘this other Eden’. Beautiful concise writing
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Michela Massimi
- 16-07-24
A wonderful story, beautiful narrated
A touching story of daily life, hardship, and cultural heritage in a fictional Welsh island. And a reminder of the perennial risk of epistemic extractivism when studying islanders’ lives.
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