My Absolute Darling
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3 months free
My Absolute Darling
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Narrated by:
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Alex McKenna
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By:
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Gabriel Tallent
About this listen
A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR • A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR • A METRO BOOK OF THE YEAR
‘The year’s must read novel’ The Times
‘One of the most important books you’ll pick up this decade’ Harper’s Bazaar
‘An outstanding book that could be this year’s A Little Life’ Guardian
‘You think you’re invincible. You think you won’t ever miss. We need to put the fear on you. You need to surrender yourself to death before you ever begin, and accept your life as a state of grace, and then and only then will you be good enough.’
At 14, Turtle Alveston knows the use of every gun on her wall;
That chaos is coming and only the strong will survive it;
That her daddy loves her more than anything else in this world.
And he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her with him.
She doesn’t know why she feels so different from the other girls at school;
Why the line between love and pain can be so hard to see;
Why making a friend may be the bravest and most terrifying thing she has ever done
And what her daddy will do when he finds out …
Sometimes strength is not the same as courage.
Sometimes leaving is not the only way to escape.
Sometimes surviving isn't enough.
‘This book has challenged me like no other. It’s a masterpiece. A work of art on a page. I guarantee this book will take your breath away’ Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep
‘Brutal yet beautiful, My Absolute Darling has floored me. Dear Turtle, a heroine amidst the horror. Exceptional, unflinching storytelling’ Ali Land, author of Good Me Bad Me
‘An incandescent novel with an extraordinary, unforgettable heroine, both deeply contemplative and utterly thrilling’ Observer – Thriller of the month
‘There are echoes of Ma’s bravery in Emma Donoghue’s Room, or the resilience of Cormac McCarthy’s protagonists as they struggle to stay alive. Tallent’s world is shocking in the truest sense of the word’ Irish Times
‘An utterly fantastic read. Every page is brimming with energy. And Turtle Alveston is as enthralling a character as I’ve encountered in a good long while’ Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds
©2017 Gabriel Tallent (P)2017 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Where does My Absolute Darling rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Top 3What was one of the most memorable moments of My Absolute Darling?
See belowWhat about Alex McKenna’s performance did you like?
At first, I wasn’t sure I was going to like Alex McKenna's voice. It has a husky quality which made me think she needed to clear her throat, but it gradually grew on me. Being an audio-narrator myself I can only marvel at McKenna’s phrasing and characterisation. From the menace of Martin’s domineering personality, to the hippyish banter of Jacob and Brett, McKenna fleshes out the characters with effortless skillWas there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
See belowAny additional comments?
I tend to listen to audiobooks in the early hours of the morning when suffering from insomnia. The notion is that reading a book is likely to wake me up too much and that just lying there counting sheep is counterproductive in terms of wrestling with endlessly cycling thoughts and emotions. Audiobooks, in theory, provide a happy medium between the two; hopefully tapping into the childhood ‘bedtime story’ vibe.With this in mind, Gabriel Tallent’s book in hindsight, was not the best book to choose for this purpose. It is not an ‘easy’ listen. In the same way that Jack Ketchum’s ‘Girl next door’ was not an easy read. It’s a story that grips you, attaches you to the complex characters and pummels your emotions like a butter churner. Definitely not sleep-inducing stuff!
Turtle Alveston is a young teenage girl and protagonist in this story. She has several names. Her real one is Julia, but her Dad, Martin, calls her ‘Kibble’ (don’t know if I’ve spelled that right – it was an audiobook after all.) At first it’s quite difficult to tell what exactly this young girl’s character is or where the story is going. In fact the first chapter or two are very intriguing for this reason. But one thing the reader/listener is left in doubt about, is that Turtle has an extraordinary upbringing and that things are not quite … normal. She meticulously maintains and expertly uses firearms. She eats raw eggs for breakfast. Her morning routine includes uncapping a bottle of beer for her obsessive and controlling father. She knows how to look after herself in the wild.
Turtle has no friends at school but is not bullied. There’s something so edgy about her that other kids keep a respectful distance. In fact, it isn’t until one of her forays into the wilderness turns into a several day absence from home that she forges a relationship of sorts with two, lost teenage hikers.
As a listener, I remained immersed in the story while I figured out my bearings as a result of Tallent’s uncanny … ahem … talent for description and internal dialogue on the part of Turtle. I’ve watched one interview with the author on youtube and he reveals that he purposefully set out to depict Turtle’s character as a ‘glimmer’ that became fully formed after he repeated draft after draft. As such, he has been able to get into the essence of this complex, young, female character and that is a great accomplishment as a male author. Turtle is the ultimate unreliable narrator as she seeks to make sense of and justify her predicament, often mimicking speech and thought patterns of her father.
Tallent interweaves the scenes and settings of North California with consummate skill. As a biologist, I was enthralled at his descriptions of the plant-life in the story. Something that is not incidental. Turtle’s exploration of the local flora is interwoven with some heavy emotional themes that come to the fore in conversations with her grandfather and her struggles with a garden at the end of the book.
It’s hard to chart the emotional roller-coaster that this book takes you on without giving spoilers, so all I can say is that just when you feel you are able to take a breather from the wrenching you have gone through in one scene – bam! Tallent hits you with another. The depictions of violence, cruelty and abuse pull no punches. But these are not prurient or facile attempts to shock. In Tallent’s own words they are an honest effort to treat the subject matter in a manner that has integrity and reality. The book is stronger for it. For me, the most excruciating moments are Martin’s coercive and insidious justifications for his actions and the way he tries to place the responsibility for what happens on Turtle. Like I said – not sleep-inducing fare.
Another drawing point for me were the observations that characters make about the natural world in the story and how they are an allegory for momentous issues in those character’s lives. Particularly poignant are the scenes where Turtles grandfather talks to her about the naming of plants and how sometimes things don’t need an immediate name, just the will to describe them. Another, is when Turtle deals with a black widow spider on behalf of a young girl, Cayenne (spelling may be wrong – it’s an audiobook.)
Stephen King has placed this book on a pedestal with ‘Catch 22’ and ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’‘My Absolute Darling’ will both entice and appall you in equal measure. Don’t listen if you have a heart condition.
Will enthrall and appall you in equal measure
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Gripping story
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Gripping storyline expressively written
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An Extraordinary Book
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The narrator is definitely the best I have encountered yet on audiobook, and I have listened to A LOT. I could imagine if she read the terms and conditions of a mortgage application, she could make it interesting and enjoyable!!
Goodness WHAT an engrossing read
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Brilliant
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variety in pace and setting . And not sure what direction it would go in , quite a lot of the time. A good read
fair paced and entertaining
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