My Absolute Darling: A Novel

Written by:
Gabriel Tallent
Narrated by:
Alex McKenna

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
40
Narrator
13
Release Date
August 2017
Duration
15 hours 48 minutes
Summary
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE FINALIST
NBCC JOHN LEONARD PRIZE FINALIST
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES'S MOST NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2017
ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST’S MOST NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2017
ONE OF NPR’S ‘GREAT READS’ OF 2017
A USA TODAY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
AN AMAZON.COM BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A BUSINESS INSIDER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Impossible to put down.' —NPR

'A novel that readers will gulp down, gasping.” —The Washington Post
 
'The word 'masterpiece' has been cheapened by too many blurbs, but My Absolute Darling absolutely is one.' —Stephen King

A brilliant and immersive, all-consuming read about one fourteen-year-old girl's heart-stopping fight for her own soul.

Turtle Alveston is a survivor. At fourteen, she roams the woods along the northern California coast. The creeks, tide pools, and rocky islands are her haunts and her hiding grounds, and she is known to wander for miles. But while her physical world is expansive, her personal one is small and treacherous: Turtle has grown up isolated since the death of her mother, in the thrall of her tortured and charismatic father, Martin. Her social existence is confined to the middle school (where she fends off the interest of anyone, student or teacher, who might penetrate her shell) and to her life with her father.

Then Turtle meets Jacob, a high-school boy who tells jokes, lives in a big clean house, and looks at Turtle as if she is the sunrise. And for the first time, the larger world begins to come into focus: her life with Martin is neither safe nor sustainable. Motivated by her first experience with real friendship and a teenage crush, Turtle starts to imagine escape, using the very survival skills her father devoted himself to teaching her. What follows is a harrowing story of bravery and redemption. With Turtle's escalating acts of physical and emotional courage, the reader watches, heart in throat, as this teenage girl struggles to become her own hero—and in the process, becomes ours as well.

Shot through with striking language in a fierce natural setting, My Absolute Darling is an urgently told, profoundly moving read that marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer.
Reviews
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Anonymous

The good reviews led me to order this book. In the first CD the 14 yr old girl is verbally, physically, and sexually abused. I sent it back.

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Allott B

Loved the bad taste it left in my mouth. Sour, putrid even but real. In front of us every day, unguarded despair, the exhausted commuter, the fake smiles that hide untold pain. Deception, anger and a powerful love that twisted my insides. I will read this book when I'm ready...that could be awhile.

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Zoe L

This book should have a trigger warning. That being said- OH MY GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK. It is dark and brooding and beautiful and thrilling and wonderfully genuine. If you are a fan of well-written, lyrical fiction with a twist of horrifically realistic anguish, you will love this book.

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Linda F

Great book. Very well written.

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Val B

This book is VERY dark so be aware...

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