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Having Spent Life Seeking
- Author
- Kae Tempest
- Narrator
- Kae Tempest
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 30 April 2026
- Run Time
- 8 hours 52 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
Narrated by Kae Tempest with music by Hinako Omori.
Rothko Taylor has washed up with the tide, back in their hometown, Edgecliff. Fifteen years since they left it behind.
The past is accelerating towards them: the skateboard kids on the high street that remind them of their teenage years, the splintered benches looking out to sea, where their mum Meg clutched her cans. The nice bit of town, where their dad Ezra tried and failed to build a happy home. And Dionne's block. Beautiful, extraordinary Dionne, the only person who had ever looked at them and seen what was there.
Back then, overwhelmed and full of fear, they sank beneath the surface into chaos. But they made it out alive. And this time, Rothko is determined that things will be different.
A decade since Kae Tempest's last novel, Having Spent Life Seeking is about family and forgiveness; redemption and atonement; desire and abandon; selfhood and community. The things we seek when we are hiding, and what finds us, if we can let ourselves be seen.
'If books can still change the world, this one most likely will' COLUM MCCANN
'A wonderful, moving and enlightening state-of-Britain novel' IRVINE WELSH
'Amazing, it really moved me' SHON FAYE
'A hallelujah of a book. A scorching story of love, change, homecoming and forgiveness' DAWN FRENCH
'Kae Tempest at his finest' ANTHONY SHAPLAND
'Unboundedly beautiful' MICHAEL PEDERSEN
© Kae Tempest 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
Critics Review
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Thrilling... With Kae’s trademark tenderness and empathy, his love for these characters shines through the pages. Trust me, you will love them, too
Dua Lipa
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A master-craftsman of deep feeling and linguistic intimacy
Max Porter
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A wonderful, moving and enlightening state-of-Britain novel stuffed with memorable characters, depicting an individual’s struggle for self-realization in a society punitive to those who refuse to stand in its prescribed boxes
Irvine Welsh
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Amazing, it really moved me... Not something I've encountered in British literary fiction before
Shon Faye
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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Unboundedly beautiful. Having Spent Life Seeking rings the heart like a bell
Michael Pedersen
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Having Spent Life Seeking is Kae at his finest, his uncanny skill of focussing on detail, noticing and observing ordinariness – all while allowing slippery truths to surface in this gentle, volatile book
Anthony Shapland
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A hallelujah of a book. A scorching story of love, change, homecoming and forgiveness. Kae at his beautiful, brilliant, best
Dawn French
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Kae Tempest brings into the literary realm that which others choose to leave outside. This is a remarkable act of literary bravery. If books can still change the world, this one most likely will. Narrative-driven, stuffed with soul, brimming with brokenness, rife with repair, this is a book for our splintered times. In Tempest's hands, redemption travels faster than the speed of light
Colum McCann
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A pure beautiful love story... Reverberates through the reader's heart
Lemn Sissay
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Agile shifts in perspective allow Tempest to extend his 360-compassion as he brings marginalised lives into sharp focus; he writes brilliantly about addiction and desire, too. Tough and lyrical, it’s a tale of survival and becoming that earns the grace of its moving conclusion
Daily Mail
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Details
- Author
- Kae Tempest
- Narrator
- Kae Tempest
- Duration
- 8 hours 52 minutes
- Release Date
- 30 April 2026
- ISBN
- 9781529946420
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Narrative theme: love / relationships, Narrative theme: health and illness, Narrative theme: social issues / social problems, Narrative theme: identity / belonging
Synopsis
Narrated by Kae Tempest with music by Hinako Omori.Rothko Taylor has washed up with the tide, back in their hometown, Edgecliff. Fifteen years since they left it behind.The past is accelerating towards them: the skateboard kids on the high street that remind them of their teenage years, the splintered benches looking out to sea, where their mum Meg clutched her cans. The nice bit of town, where their dad Ezra tried and failed to build a happy home. And Dionne's block. Beautiful, extraordinary Dionne, the only person who had ever looked at them and seen what was there.Back then, overwhelmed and full of fear, they sank beneath the surface into chaos. But they made it out alive. And this time, Rothko is determined that things will be different.A decade since Kae Tempest's last novel, Having Spent Life Seeking is about family and forgiveness; redemption and atonement; desire and abandon; selfhood and community. The things we seek when we are hiding, and what finds us, if we can let ourselves be seen.'If books can still change the world, this one most likely will' COLUM MCCANN'A wonderful, moving and enlightening state-of-Britain novel' IRVINE WELSH'Amazing, it really moved me' SHON FAYE'A hallelujah of a book. A scorching story of love, change, homecoming and forgiveness' DAWN FRENCH'Kae Tempest at his finest' ANTHONY SHAPLAND'Unboundedly beautiful' MICHAEL PEDERSEN© Kae Tempest 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
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