The Lesser Bohemians cover art

The Lesser Bohemians

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Lesser Bohemians

By: Eimear McBride
Narrated by: Eimear McBride
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £27.99

Buy Now for £27.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

The breathtaking new novel from Eimear McBride, about an extraordinary, all-consuming love affair.

One night an 18-year-old Irish girl, recently arrived in London to attend drama school, meets an older man - a well-regarded actor in his own right. While she is naive and thrilled by life in the big city, he is haunted by more than a few demons, and the clamorous relationship that ensues risks undoing them both. A captivating story of passion and innocence, joy and discovery, set against the vibrant atmosphere of 1990s London over the course of a single year, The Lesser Bohemians glows with the eddies and anxieties of growing up, and the transformative intensity of a powerful new love.

©1999 Eimear McBride (P)2016 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mind-bending England

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Something Out of Place cover art
Beloved cover art
The Rachel Incident cover art
Piranesi cover art
Paper Aeroplanes cover art
The Venus Trap cover art

Critic reviews

"One of the most groundbreaking pieces of literature to come from Ireland, or anywhere, in recent years." ( Vanity Fair)
All stars
Most relevant  
Beautifully written, so gentle that you don't realise you're in the midst of something shocking
Such a stunning book, so well crafted, so terrible, so clever . Wonderful writing, a remarkable book

Beautiful, gentle, shocking. A remarkable book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love how Eimer McBride reads this and have been hooked with these characters, so much so this book has been gobbled down within a few days. There were times I didn't, and couldn't, listen because the story was saddening. However, McBride's unique stream-of-conciousness style narration has allowed scenes that could be trite or too dense to be actually perfectly balanced. Highly recommend.

Captivated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This books needs a major trigger warning for sexual assault, incest, substance addiction and paedophilia!

I really was not expecting the erotic shagging, the very deep dark issues or anything in between if I'm honest. The Lesser Bohemians is a tough read at first, the swirling poetry makes you feel like you're in a whirl pool of wtf.

However, despite that, it's such an addictive and beautiful book. I absolutely loved the pace of it, the twists and turns, I really felt like I was going through life with the main character. I was listening for up to 4 hours at a time and only put it down because some of the topics were hard for me to manage so I needed a break.

There will be many, many times where you are confused as to what is going on, not a lot is made plain and simple, especially as characters don't have names until right at the very end. The imagery is so vivid though, the highs and lows will hit you hard.

Poetic, beautiful but somewhat f***ed up

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It was an honour, a great gift, to have Eimear McBride read her extraordinary work herself - my own inner voice would not have been up to the challenge of her unique language. I will go back to the text now, more confidently. Might even try and read aloud (to myself) some passages, which is not a response I’ve ever had on listening to an audiobook. Truly ‘a revolution in poetic language’. Bravo and thank you!

Wow!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Authors should never read their own books, and that rule is proved by this exception. I bought it with confidence, having heard McBride read from A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, and she is the ideal reader of her own work.

I'm not perfect, mind, so I put off listening to it, because I knew it would be a difficult listen. It is not. It is in fact easier to listen to than some more conventional books, the flow of words lighting up the scene by seemingly tapping into your own core experiences and drawing them out.

This story of a young woman blossoming through her undergraduate acting course is brought into life from the core of one's own senses. As with her first-published book (though I understand this one was conceived earlier), this evolution of the modernist aesthetic is very welcome, absolutely apt for the subject, and beautifully executed.

I hope and trust McBride has patience, resolution and support enough to write just as she pleases, and can find more, equally engaging subjects to nurture in her instinctive way.

Perfect for audio

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved this ! Brilliant narration by the writer , I felt as if she was telling me her story as a trusted friend who wouldn't moralise no matter how explicit the details she had to tell might be . I really felt I knew her and more than that I became close to her and wanted her chaotic relationship to endure. Highly recommended .

Not for the prudish !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wow, quite a revelation! I see that I am not alone in almost giving up on this book a few minutes in. The almost poetic style with its paucity of articles and auxiliary verbs was a little off putting at first. It soon became the norm and enjoyable to boot.
Two damaged individuals come together in a passionate encounter and find some redemption in each other. A little protracted towards the end, and I admit to becoming rather impatient with both of the main characters (thank you 'flat mate' for bringing some lightness and 'normality'). I will certainly search for more by this author. A refreshing change.

Blurs the line between piety and prose

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Whatever you do DON’T listen faster than 1x speed. It would be like listening to sped up poetry. The narrator was AMAZING. It was only at the end that I learned that it was narrated (performed is probably a better description) by MacBride herself; made a lot of sense.

I was recommended the book by a heavy-reading friend and it was captivating. Damaged people learning to love and damage each other and themselves. But the story is compelling, the writing incredibly rich and poetic.

It is set is 1994-5 in Camden/ Kentish Town/ Chalk Farm in pubs and roads that I knew well then as a nineteen year old. I can only imagine that MacBride was too - for it is pitch perfectly captured.

As a warning, it is probably the most sexually explicit book I have read/ listened to. It is not at all sexy, but drags you through the experiences, many of them semi-abusive, sometimes intimate.

Love and damage

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really love this book, and the way the author reads it makes it quite magical. The story feels so authentic and, although it deals with domestic violence, abuse and self harm, the strength of the characters endears them.

Fast-paced, intimate journey into an emotional personal relationship

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Happy ending to this complex love story. Unusual twists about the ' Game of Love'
How silly spites can undermine a relationship. Revelations and self redemption towards the end.

Very touching well told story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews