-
A Son at the Front
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $17.90
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Wharton’s antiwar masterpiece probes the devastation of World War I on the home front.
Inspired by a young man Edith Wharton met during her war relief work in France, A Son at the Front opens in Paris on July 30, 1914, as Europe totters on the brink of war. Expatriate American painter John Campton - whose only son, George, having been born in Paris, must report for duty in the French army - struggles to keep his son away from the front while grappling with the moral implications of his actions.
Interweaving her own experiences of the Great War with themes of parental and filial love, art, and self-sacrifice, national loyalties and class privilege, A Son at the Front is a poignant meditation on art and possession, fidelity and responsibility in which Wharton tells an intimate and captivating story of war behind the lines.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Mad Love
- By: Wendy Walker
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Alexis Bledel, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were madly in love. The perfect couple. That was the story everyone in South River believed...until Gin Talcott and Adam Archer are found shot in their bed. Adam is dead at the scene. Gin is fighting for her life. Detectives Greta Jessup and Finn Pate are assigned to the case. Greta has a long history with Gin’s first husband, Eddie, and is determined to protect his 18-year-old twins. Piper discovered the bodies. Daniel is missing—and so is Adam’s gun.
-
-
Great writing and a fantastic narrator
- By Fiona D. on 05-09-24
By: Wendy Walker
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
A Murder to Remember
- By: Brynn Kelly
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Max Roll
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jane Austen fan Amelia Bennett sneaks away from a dull tour of an English country manor, only to run into a man more dashing than Mr. Darcy himself. About to lose his ancestral home to family debts, charming aristocrat Tom Calder invites his American guest to join him in drinking his way through the estate’s priceless wine collection. But when they wake in his bed the next morning, they’re convinced that in their drunken haze they witnessed a murder. Problem is, the body has vanished and no one believes them.
-
-
Fun rom-com mystery
- By C. Wright on 03-01-24
By: Brynn Kelly
-
Dietrich
- By: Don Winslow
- Narrated by: Ed Harris
- Length: 1 hr and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s the summer of ’77 in New York City, and the only thing more unnerving than the scorching heatwave is the rampant murder, leaving washed-up homicide detective Richard Dietrich on edge. When Dietrich investigates a brutal mob hit the brass doesn’t want him to solve, he goes from phoning it in to getting in over his head. Caught up in a mysterious second homicide with an even more perplexing perpetrator, Dietrich starts to second guess his instincts—and his memory—as he searches for answers at the bottom of a bottle.
-
-
Haunting ending
- By Shirley Anderson on 04-21-24
By: Don Winslow
-
Home Is Where the Bodies Are
- By: Jeneva Rose
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, Cassandra Campbell, Brittany Pressley, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end. Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm’s length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction. Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn’t been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them seven years before. While going through their parent’s belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories.
-
-
No Twists
- By Megan M. on 05-02-24
By: Jeneva Rose
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
Mad Love
- By: Wendy Walker
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Alexis Bledel, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They were madly in love. The perfect couple. That was the story everyone in South River believed...until Gin Talcott and Adam Archer are found shot in their bed. Adam is dead at the scene. Gin is fighting for her life. Detectives Greta Jessup and Finn Pate are assigned to the case. Greta has a long history with Gin’s first husband, Eddie, and is determined to protect his 18-year-old twins. Piper discovered the bodies. Daniel is missing—and so is Adam’s gun.
-
-
Great writing and a fantastic narrator
- By Fiona D. on 05-09-24
By: Wendy Walker
-
George Orwell’s 1984
- An Audible Original adaptation
- By: George Orwell, Joe White - adaptation
- Narrated by: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.
-
-
A Revelation!
- By wotsallthisthen on 04-07-24
By: George Orwell, and others
-
A Murder to Remember
- By: Brynn Kelly
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley, Max Roll
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jane Austen fan Amelia Bennett sneaks away from a dull tour of an English country manor, only to run into a man more dashing than Mr. Darcy himself. About to lose his ancestral home to family debts, charming aristocrat Tom Calder invites his American guest to join him in drinking his way through the estate’s priceless wine collection. But when they wake in his bed the next morning, they’re convinced that in their drunken haze they witnessed a murder. Problem is, the body has vanished and no one believes them.
-
-
Fun rom-com mystery
- By C. Wright on 03-01-24
By: Brynn Kelly
-
Dietrich
- By: Don Winslow
- Narrated by: Ed Harris
- Length: 1 hr and 11 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s the summer of ’77 in New York City, and the only thing more unnerving than the scorching heatwave is the rampant murder, leaving washed-up homicide detective Richard Dietrich on edge. When Dietrich investigates a brutal mob hit the brass doesn’t want him to solve, he goes from phoning it in to getting in over his head. Caught up in a mysterious second homicide with an even more perplexing perpetrator, Dietrich starts to second guess his instincts—and his memory—as he searches for answers at the bottom of a bottle.
-
-
Haunting ending
- By Shirley Anderson on 04-21-24
By: Don Winslow
-
Home Is Where the Bodies Are
- By: Jeneva Rose
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, Cassandra Campbell, Brittany Pressley, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end. Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm’s length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction. Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn’t been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them seven years before. While going through their parent’s belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories.
-
-
No Twists
- By Megan M. on 05-02-24
By: Jeneva Rose
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
The Worst of You
- By: Sarah Richards
- Narrated by: Sarah Desjardins
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Worst of You, just-wed architects Timo and Nia flee a murder scene, setting in motion a chain reaction of lies and betrayals that threaten to unravel everything they have built together. Twisted and propulsive, this thriller is told from the alternating perspectives of the couple and those close to them on Williwaw Island, each with their own motive to use the outcome of the murder case to their advantage. When a huge storm sweeps up the coast, trapping everyone on tiny Williwaw Island, it’s a race against time—and the elements — to stop the murderer from striking again.
-
-
DNF
- By Buffy's Mom on 05-16-24
By: Sarah Richards
-
The Justice
- By: James Patterson, Aaron Cooley
- Narrated by: Sanaa Lathan, David Rasche, Susan Kelechi Watson, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Justice Beth Garner (Sanaa Lathan) just landed the appointment of a lifetime—a seat on the Supreme Court. Now a mysterious company is blackmailing her for her vote on a landmark case. Caught up in the checkered past of her hero and mentor, Chief Justice Clayton Erlenborn, Beth must cunningly maneuver through a dangerous web of secrets, deception, and cold-blooded murder. Armed with only her moral compass and unflinching nerve, she’s up against a sinister world full of undercover agents, domestic terrorists, and black ops assassins—all of whom want her to comply or die.
-
-
One of the best
- By Jackie on 02-25-24
By: James Patterson, and others
-
The Crimes of Dorian Gray
- By: Arvind Ethan David
- Narrated by: Lexi Underwood, Neil Brown Jr., Richard Schiff, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This gripping fictional true crime podcast delves into the story of the enigmatic Dorian Gray, a vigilante who changed the world, rewriting history in the blood of her victims. Her targets were the titans of their era—billionaires, movie stars, politicians. Dorian said they had one thing in common: they had all committed crimes against women. They were rapists, abusers, master manipulators. Dorian left evidence of their heinous offenses with their bodies, and then she vanished without a trace.
-
-
The plot
- By Falfon K Smith Jr. on 04-24-24
-
The Package
- By: Sebastian Fitzek
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma is the one that got away. The only survivor of a serial killer known in the tabloids as “The Hairdresser”, because of the trophies he takes from his victims. The police aren't convinced. Nor is her husband. She never actually saw her tormentor properly, but now she recognizes him in every man she sees. Haunted by the horrifying incident and unwanted notoriety, Emma gives up her job as a psychiatrist and retreats from the outside world to recuperate at home, where it’s quiet. Where she can be anonymous and safe. Where no one can hurt her.
-
-
Twisted psychological trip!
- By Drea on 04-29-24
By: Sebastian Fitzek
-
One of Us Is Dead
- By: Jeneva Rose
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Hillary Huber, Elizabeth Evans, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Opulence. Sex. Betrayal…sometimes friendship can be deadly. Meet the women of Buckhead—a place of expensive cars, huge houses, and competitive friendships. Who amongst these women will be clever enough to survive Buckhead—and who will wind up dead? They say that friendships can be complex, but no one said it could ever be this deadly.
-
-
Great mystery. Sexually graphic.
- By Sue on 09-04-22
By: Jeneva Rose
-
Husband and Wife
- By: K. L. Slater
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My husband and I are fighting for our lives in hospital after a terrible car accident. But despite my pain, all I can think about is what our families will find behind our front door. The scarf that has been all over the news, belonging to a dead young woman with honey-coloured hair. I have to speak to the police before my husband can. I’m drifting in and out of consciousness, but when I hear my wife talking to the police, accusing me of the murder of an innocent woman, a cold fear grips me. I know I’ve got a temper.
-
-
Good twists
- By Susan Wiegert on 12-25-23
By: K. L. Slater
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Old New York
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning four decades in the mid-19th century, the interconnected novellas of Old New York lay out in vivid detail the complex and inscrutable codes, customs, and taboos of New York society in classic Wharton style.
-
-
narration
- By Alissa on 01-31-23
By: Edith Wharton
-
Summer
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wharton's most erotic and lyrical novel, Summer explores a daring theme for 1917, a woman's awakening to her sexuality. Eighteen-year-old Charity Royall lives in the small town of North Dormer, ignorant of desire until the arrival of architect Lucius Harney. Like the succulent summer landscape in the Berkshires around them, Charity's romance is lush and picturesque, but its consequences are harsh and real.
-
-
Excellent first audible purchase!
- By lilyglint on 08-23-04
By: Edith Wharton
-
Where Angels Fear to Tread
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Edward Petherbridge
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When attractive, impulsive English widow Lilia takes a holiday in Italy, she causes a scandal by marrying Gino, a dashing and highly unsuitable Italian 12 years her junior. Her prim, snobbish in-laws make no attempt to hide their disapproval, and when Lilia's decision eventually brings disaster, her English relatives embark on an expedition to face the uncouth foreigner.
-
-
The Reader is the worst
- By Holly K on 02-19-21
By: E. M. Forster
-
Twilight Sleep
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether it is sex, drugs, or infatuation with the occult, Mrs. Manford and her extended family of socialites are determined to escape the pain, boredom, and emptiness of life through whatever form of “twilight sleep” they can devise or procure. Far ahead of its time, this Wharton classic employed modernist techniques such as an ever changing narration among the novel’s characters and a close examination of the characters’ self-identities and relationships with one another to tell a tale rich with irony and wit about the upper crust’s own undoing.
-
-
Wharton all the way through
- By L. Locker on 11-05-23
By: Edith Wharton
-
Ravelstein
- By: Saul Bellow
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abe Ravelstein is a brilliant professor at a prominent Midwestern university and a man who glories in training the movers and shakers of the political world. He has lived grandly and ferociously - and much beyond his means. His close friend Chick has suggested that he put forth a book of his convictions about the ideas that sustain humankind, or kill it, and much to Ravelstein’s own surprise, he does and becomes a millionaire.
-
-
If Voltaire did a bio of Plato
- By Anonymous User on 03-09-23
By: Saul Bellow
-
The Forsyte Saga
- By: John Galsworthy
- Narrated by: Fred Williams
- Length: 42 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The three novels that make up The Forsyte Saga chronicle the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle class Forsyte family through three generations, beginning in Victorian London during the 1880s and ending in the early 1920s. Galsworthy's masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women.
-
-
A delight
- By Kay in DC on 03-02-06
By: John Galsworthy
-
Old New York
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning four decades in the mid-19th century, the interconnected novellas of Old New York lay out in vivid detail the complex and inscrutable codes, customs, and taboos of New York society in classic Wharton style.
-
-
narration
- By Alissa on 01-31-23
By: Edith Wharton
-
Summer
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wharton's most erotic and lyrical novel, Summer explores a daring theme for 1917, a woman's awakening to her sexuality. Eighteen-year-old Charity Royall lives in the small town of North Dormer, ignorant of desire until the arrival of architect Lucius Harney. Like the succulent summer landscape in the Berkshires around them, Charity's romance is lush and picturesque, but its consequences are harsh and real.
-
-
Excellent first audible purchase!
- By lilyglint on 08-23-04
By: Edith Wharton
-
Where Angels Fear to Tread
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Edward Petherbridge
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When attractive, impulsive English widow Lilia takes a holiday in Italy, she causes a scandal by marrying Gino, a dashing and highly unsuitable Italian 12 years her junior. Her prim, snobbish in-laws make no attempt to hide their disapproval, and when Lilia's decision eventually brings disaster, her English relatives embark on an expedition to face the uncouth foreigner.
-
-
The Reader is the worst
- By Holly K on 02-19-21
By: E. M. Forster
-
Twilight Sleep
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether it is sex, drugs, or infatuation with the occult, Mrs. Manford and her extended family of socialites are determined to escape the pain, boredom, and emptiness of life through whatever form of “twilight sleep” they can devise or procure. Far ahead of its time, this Wharton classic employed modernist techniques such as an ever changing narration among the novel’s characters and a close examination of the characters’ self-identities and relationships with one another to tell a tale rich with irony and wit about the upper crust’s own undoing.
-
-
Wharton all the way through
- By L. Locker on 11-05-23
By: Edith Wharton
-
Ravelstein
- By: Saul Bellow
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abe Ravelstein is a brilliant professor at a prominent Midwestern university and a man who glories in training the movers and shakers of the political world. He has lived grandly and ferociously - and much beyond his means. His close friend Chick has suggested that he put forth a book of his convictions about the ideas that sustain humankind, or kill it, and much to Ravelstein’s own surprise, he does and becomes a millionaire.
-
-
If Voltaire did a bio of Plato
- By Anonymous User on 03-09-23
By: Saul Bellow
-
The Forsyte Saga
- By: John Galsworthy
- Narrated by: Fred Williams
- Length: 42 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The three novels that make up The Forsyte Saga chronicle the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle class Forsyte family through three generations, beginning in Victorian London during the 1880s and ending in the early 1920s. Galsworthy's masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women.
-
-
A delight
- By Kay in DC on 03-02-06
By: John Galsworthy
-
A Coward
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Penned in 1899 by Edith Wharton, this short story features the proper Mrs. Carstyle; her husband, Mr. Carstyle; and their daughter, Irene, who are all are taken with their guest and an eligible bachelor named Vibart. Narrator John Chancer is a film and television actor with professional readings of many audiobooks to his credit.
-
-
Thank you Audible!
- By NC on 01-19-21
By: Edith Wharton
-
Chance: A Tale in Two Parts
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Flora de Barral, the daughter of a bankrupt businessman and swindler, must find her own way in the world when her father is convicted of financial speculation. Unfortunately, this is no easy thing for a single and vulnerable young woman in turn-of-the-century London.
-
-
A great match of substance and performance
- By J. Cuddy on 06-18-22
By: Joseph Conrad
-
The Bachelors
- By: Muriel Spark
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First found contentedly chatting in their London clubs and shopping at Fortnum's, the cozy bachelors are not set to stay cozy for long. Soon enough, the men are variously tormented - defrauded, stolen from, blackmailed, or pressed to attend horrid séances - and then plunged, all together, into the nastiest of lawsuits. At the center of that suit hovers pale, blank Patrick Seton, the medium.
-
-
philosophical black comedy
- By connie on 04-22-09
By: Muriel Spark
-
The Decoration of Houses
- By: Edith Wharton, Ogden Codman Jr.
- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the classic works on interior decoration, Edith Wharton’s The Decoration of Houses offers a comprehensive look at the history and character of turn-of-the-century interior design. Co-written with architect Ogden Codman, Jr., this invaluable reference provides us with numerous keen and practical axioms for house design, such as (1) The better the house, the less need for curtains, and (2) the height of a well-proportioned doorway should be twice its width.
-
-
This one would be better in print
- By Brian in Lexington KY on 09-21-20
By: Edith Wharton, and others
-
Lethal Passage
- The Story of a Gun
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This devastating book illuminates America's gun culture - its manufacturers, dealers, buffs, and propagandists - but also offers concrete solutions to our national epidemic of death by firearm. It begins with an account of a crime that is by now almost commonplace: on December 16, 1988, 16-year-old Nicholas Elliot walked into his Virginia high school with a Cobray M-11/9 and several hundred rounds of ammunition tucked in his backpack. By day's end, he had killed one teacher and severely wounded another.
-
-
great reasoned book
- By Claire on 04-26-20
By: Erik Larson
-
Tower of Babel
- By: Michael Sears
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Queens, New York - the most diverse place on earth. Native son Ted Malloy knows these streets like the back of his hand. Ted was once a high-powered Manhattan lawyer, but after a spectacular fall from grace, he has found himself back on his home turf, scraping by as a foreclosure profiteer. It's a grubby business, but a safe one - until Ted's case sourcer, a mostly reformed small-time conman named Richie Rubiano, turns up murdered shortly after tipping Ted off to an improbably lucrative lead.
-
-
Excellent
- By Mary E Sotardi on 04-13-21
By: Michael Sears
What listeners say about A Son at the Front
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- yep
- 03-21-21
Moving, psychologically astute, beautiful writing
I thought this was even better than The House of Mirth.
Not for people who are looking for a super plot driven “page turner” book, definitely for literature lovers who dig depth, beauty, well-drawn characters.
History. Parental love. Duty. Life and death.
Human behavior. Love and loss. Class and changing social mores. War. Art and meaning. Authenticity. Etc.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ivy
- 04-29-22
A huge miss for the brilliant Wharton
Edith Wharton was an incandescent talent, easily as great as Hemingway, Morrison, and Fitzgerald. After having read, and re-read, what I thought were all of her marvelous novels, I was delighted to discover this one, which I'd never heard of. Alas, it was a major disappointment, and a surprising one. Wharton is normally so surefooted when crafting stories and characters, but I could not find anything engaging in it. There is a sameness to the dialogue of each of her characters, all of whom seem to start their sentences with "Oh!" The central character's struggle with his envy of his son's beloved stepfather becomes tiresome very quickly. The arc of the story is predictable and dull, and is so uneventful that it's more of a flat line than an arc. While I am normally deeply absorbed in her novels, in this one I found myself completely disinterested in the inner worlds of these people, and so little happens in this book that you need connection to the characters to sustain you as a reader. It didn't feel like a Wharton novel in any way. I still feel surprised when I see her name as the author.
Richard Poe may be a wonderful narrator for other subjects, but this was not a good fit for him. The voices he gives to the women are consistently overwrought and tremulous, which becomes annoying, and seems to diverge from the author's intentions. He gives the men big, bombastic voices, or little pipsqueak voices. It just doesn't work.
By all means, read Wharton. Just not this one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!