Perfect

Start anywhere in Perfect by Rachel Joyce. Filed under Literature & Fiction. Speed and chapter jumps sit above the description.

From the Critically praised author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes “a poignant, searing tale” ( O: The Oprah Magazine ) about a young boy who is thrown into the murky, difficult realities of the adult world. “A moving audiobook, rich with empathy and charged with lyrical, atmospheric writing.”—Tana French A nice house in a tony neighborhood. A hardworking husband. A private school for the children. From the outside, Diana has a perfect life. But her sensitive and observant young son notices that the other kids’ mothers are not like his own. They dress differently. Byron’s father prefers that his wife dress formally, in slim skirts and pointy heels. He gives Diana a Jaguar so neighbors will sit up and take notice. And they do. Then, one morning, during a shortcut to school through a poor neighborhood, something happens that Byron cannot shake and his mother refuses to acknowledge. Until she has no choice. In the weeks that follow, the façade of a happy family shows signs of distress. Diana makes a questionable friend, and an increasingly tense dance begins—between guilt and resentment, envy and regret—all leading to a tragedy and a shattering revelation.

That is the whole offer: the full recording, a chapter index, and a player that does not ask you to sign up.