Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

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.

Coming Up for Air

By: Sarah Leipciger
Narrated by: Elliot Cowan, Deborah McBride, Claudia Jessie
Try for £0.00

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

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

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.

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Three extraordinary lives intertwine across oceans and time.

On the banks of the River Seine in 1899, a young woman takes her final breath before plunging into the icy water. Although she does not know it, her decision will set in motion an astonishing chain of events. It will lead to 1950s Norway, where a grieving toy-maker is on the cusp of a transformative invention, all the way to present-day Canada where a journalist, battling a terrible disease, risks everything for one last chance to live.

Taking inspiration from a remarkable true story, Coming Up for Air is a bold, richly imagined novel about the transcendent power of storytelling and the immeasurable impact of every human life.

©2020 Sarah Leipciger (P)2020 Penguin Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

How to Gut a Fish cover art
All Good Things cover art
The Company Daughters cover art
Amy and Isabelle cover art
Dark Neighbourhood cover art
To Charles Fort, with Love cover art
The Summer of Ellen cover art
Some Can See cover art
The Girls with No Names cover art
Still Water cover art
Here Comes the Miracle cover art
Skin Folk cover art

What listeners say about Coming Up for Air

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

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

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

A hidden gem

A clever clever piece of storytelling! I’m of French origin and of course knew of l’inconnue de la Seine story including the absence of any details on the real young woman which led to her legend being created over the years. I have only praise that particular chosen imagined version of her story, as plausible as any other. I admire the way the three storylines come together.
I am very surprised that this book has not become more well known. It is beautifully written, the melancholic style suits the narratives and helps cope with the hard to listen to sections which come up on several occasions. I did wonder at times if those were maybe gratuitous but decided that probably not. It feels like the author is very respectful of her subjects and her readers. I enjoyed the voices of the chosen narrators and their reading style except the unnecessary insertion of quite bad French accents for only some of the French characters, was it to remind us of where we were???
Anyway, a great listen and I hope this becomes more well known as a book in its own right before Netflix or other get hold of it and can claim the fame!!!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

A wonderful, unusual story.

I loved this, with water weaving it’s way through all three of the characters stories, I finished it in super quick time as I felt immersed with them. An unusual and fascinating book.

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

Beautifully written and performed

A delight to listen to this beautifully written book performed by an excellent trio of artists

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

One very boring book

This book bored me silly 10 hours of my life I will never get back

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Gloomy

I couldn't finish this. I got bogged down in the gloom of it all and when I started to skip forward I knew I had given up hope. Very high quality of writing though but just not for me.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!