Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
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.

The Female of the Species

By: Lionel Shriver
Narrated by: Paul Birchard, Lionel Shriver - author's note
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
Switch payment method
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

The first novel from the Orange Prize-winning author of We Need to Talk about Kevin is a compelling and provocative story of love and how we suffer for it.

Still unattached and childless at fifty-nine, world-renowned anthropologist Gray Kaiser is seemingly invincible—and untouchable. Returning to make a documentary at the site of her first great triumph in Kenya, she is accompanied by her faithful middle-aged assistant, Errol McEchern, who has loved her for years in silence.

When young graduate assistant Raphael Sarasola arrives on the scene, Gray is captivated and falls hopelessly in love—before an amazed Errol's eyes. As he follows their affair with jealous fascination, Errol watches helplessly from the sidelines as a proud and fierce woman is reduced to miserable dependence through miserable dependence.
©1987 Lionel Shriver (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers
Contemporary Family Life Fiction Urban Women's Fiction
Show More Show Less
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Captors cover art
The Spirit Wood cover art
Dune cover art
Dragonfly cover art
Amberlough cover art
Between Here and the Horizon cover art
Cicada Spring cover art
The Echo Chamber cover art
Key of Light cover art
Revolutionary Road cover art
All the Names They Used for God cover art
Wonder Boys cover art

Critic reviews

‘Terrific – a provocative tale of devotion, suffering, and other familiar accoutrements of love’ PEOPLE

Praise for Lionel Shriver:

‘One of the most magnetically compelling writers working today. Witty, caustic and worldly’ WALL STREET JOURNAL

‘A brilliant writer. She has a strong, clear and strangely seductive voice. The characters are strong . . . so moving it will make you want to gasp or cry’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘Shriver is an incisive social satirist with a clear grip on the ironies of our contemporary age’
LA Times

What listeners say about The Female of the Species

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

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

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Neozoe

A rambling emotive story

I thoroughly enjoyed especially after realizing it was a first novel. humorous and ripe with nascent wisdom.

Report this

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful