Ingenious Pain

Get in the xigxag app
Already purchased

Click to open directly in the xigxag app.

This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book. Pre-order Buy Now ${{ price }} Send as a gift
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

The extraordinary prize-winning debut from Andrew Miller. Winner of the IMPAC Award and James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

At the dawn of the Enlightenment, James Dyer is born unable to feel pain. A source of wonder and scientific curiosity as a child, he rises through the ranks of Georgian society to become a brilliant surgeon. Yet as a human being he fails, for he can no more feel love and compassion than pain. Until, en route to St Petersburg to inoculate the Empress Catherine against smallpox, he meets his nemesis and saviour.

(P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critics Review

A wild adventure through 18th-century England and Russia, medicine, madness, landscape and weather, rendered in prose of consummate beauty
Independent
A really remarkable first novel, original, powerfully written . . . Miller's narrative is gripping and his imagination extraordinary
Sunday Telegraph
Astoundingly good . . . it shines like a beacon
The Times
Timeless and thought-provoking . . . it is something very rare in modern fiction, a true work of art
Spectator
Gripping . . . a dazzling debut
Observer
Dazzling . . . Miller tackles notions of mortality and humanity to brilliant effect . . . truly wonderful
Evening Standard
An extraordinary first novel . . . one is constantly delighted with strange and vivid imagery, fresh and startling metaphors, flashes of insight, deft twists of plot and resonant variations on dominant themes . . . a mature novel of ideas soaked in the sensory detail of its turbulent times
New York Times Book Review
Exceptionally intelligent and elegant . . . remarkable for its feeling and its humane sensibility
Sunday Times
A true rarity: a debut novel which is original, memorable, engrossing and subtle
Guardian
Strange, unsettling, sad, beautiful and profound . . . the sense of period is brilliantly handled
Literary Review
More than merits comparison with the likes of Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus and Patrick Süskind's Perfume . . . a blistering debut
Time Out
The novel's evocation of the period, down to the finest detail, is thoroughly confident . . . a startling novel
Independent on Sunday
A finely wrought and provocative novel
Daily Telegraph
Impressive
Mail on Sunday

More from the same

Author

Narrator

About xigxag

Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.

 

Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.

 

Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.