Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Water

  • By: John Boyne
  • Narrated by: Niamh Cusack
  • Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (245 ratings)

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.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Water cover art

Water

By: John Boyne
Narrated by: Niamh Cusack
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £8.99

Buy Now for £8.99

Pay using card ending in
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.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Echo Chamber cover art
So Late in the Day cover art
A Cornish Inheritance cover art
Poppy Day cover art
Aphrodite's Island cover art
The Woman on the Cliff cover art
The Choice cover art
There's Something I Have to Tell You cover art
One Summer cover art
The Mother I Could Have Been cover art
Reluctantly Home cover art
Other People's Marriages cover art

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name. To the locals, she is Willow Hale, a solitary outsider escaping Dublin to live a hermetic existence in a small cottage, not a notorious woman on the run from her past.

But scandals follow like hunting dogs. And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her ex-husband is really the monster everyone says he is, then how complicit was she in his crimes?

Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did - and did not do. Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all.

©2023 John Boyne (P)2023 Penguin Audio

What listeners say about Water

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    192
  • 4 Stars
    43
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    213
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    178
  • 4 Stars
    44
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic narration of a truly brilliant book

This was my first John Boyne novel, which I chose to listen to based on other reviews. I’m so glad I did! It’s rare in my experience to find a book which is so excellently narrated as this one. It was an easy listen, despite the harrowing subject matter. I’ll be listening to his other novels now as well. Wholeheartedly recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • J
  • 03-12-23

Good tight storytelling - Boyne on great form

John Boyne’s the Hearts Invisible Furies was one of my all-time best listens, and A History of Loneliness was very compelling
I really enjoyed this and got through it quickly. I’ve recently downloaded some really really long books on audible that I’ve left unfinished, so his tight storytelling was so refreshing.
It’s finely observed, very funny and very deep.
Like with A History of Loneliness, Boyne bravely, and adeptly takes on very deep, difficult and worthwhile themes. He really is a chronicler of modern Ireland.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unusual writing for a well known topic

Like the way the story is divided into the views of all involved. Can not imagine the next book and its outcome

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Heartful

Such a heartful story beautifully read. John Boyne never ceases to delight me.
Just can't wait for the next one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

John Boyle always tells a good story and this short book is no exception.
I listened to it in one go fixated and drawn in by the soft Irish accent.
It’s fast paced with never a dull moment
I loved every minute

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thought provoking

I loved this book!! It is a dark read with very believable characters. Definitely recommend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • t
  • 31-12-23

Full circle story

It's a great story, it reveals itself slowly, a little predictably. The ending felt too tidy, perhaps simpllistic. But overall, I'd listen again, and I'll listen to the other three elements, because Boyne is a master storyteller, and I enjoy the journey he takes me on through his immense ability to draw believable characters, immersive scenarios, and to bring to life day to day sights, sounds, and scents of places I have never been.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Sad story beautifully told

Another excellent piece of writing from John Boyne. With the best narration I've experienced, from Niamh Cusack.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Absorbed in the story and narration

Tina

I felt it was a quality story that I got absorbed in and the description of the nature and characters was excellent.

Amazing narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dazzling

John Boyne at his best, telling a heartbreaking story with gentleness and truth. Lovely narration and as always moving in a way never to be forgotten.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!