X-Book

Ripeness

Click Buy to Log in and see personalised pricing.

Send as a gift Get in the xigxag app
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

From 1960s Italy to present-day Ireland, Ripeness is the story of a family secret that rips a teenage girl's world apart, only for her to discover its true meaning decades later.

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Summerwater, Sarah Moss.

'Moss makes every moment count' - The Sunday Times
'A book of lasting pleasures' - Eleanor Catton
'Powerful and beautifully written' - The Guardian

Just out of school and teetering on the brink of adulthood, Edith is sent alone to rural Italy. Her task is simple: support her sister Lydia, a brilliant but brittle ballet dancer, through the final weeks of her pregnancy. Once the baby is born, she is to make a phone call that will change all of their lives forever.

Decades later, Edith is living a contented life in Ireland, happily divorced and finally free. But with the arrival of an unexpected message, Edith must face the truth of that long-ago summer, and the secret she has carried for a lifetime.

‘Tender and rueful’ - Emma Donoghue
'A delicious novel' - Literary Review
'Sublime . . . glorious' - Vogue
'Luminous' - Financial Times
'Beautifully crafted . . . absorbing and moving' - Daily Mail

Critics Review

Sex and childbirth, emigrant and exile, the present and the past: Sarah Moss’s ambidextrous talent is evident on every page of this elegant novel. It is intelligent, but never disembodied; evocative, but never sentimental; honest, but never cruel. Ripeness is a book of tart and lasting pleasures
Eleanor Catton, Booker prize-winning author of The Luminaries and Birnam Wood
This book felt to me like I was reading the achievement of a lifetime, written by one of the best writers alive. Moving, unexpected, masterful, it is a story of stories, of belonging, of exits and entrances, and everything in between. Moss’s understanding of who her characters are is also her understanding of all of us. A beautiful, powerful read that echoed for me long after
Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist
Tender and rueful, Ripeness is a tale of being a foreigner that moves between 1960s Italy and 2020s Ireland, finding pain and bliss in both. Working at the height of her mature powers, Sarah Moss is a marvel of insight and eloquence
Emma Donoghue, author of Room
I devoured Ripeness, thrilling at the world Moss brings to life and the characters who inhabit it. What a delicious novel
Literary Review
The sublime author Sarah Moss returns with Ripeness . . . Glorious
Vogue
Impressive
The Independent
A luminous tale about borders, bodies and a sense of belonging
Thomas McMullan, Financial Times
Sarah Moss is a master of the ticking clock. Her novels thrum with tension . . . as the climax rushes towards us, Moss makes every moment count
The Sunday Times
Sarah Moss is one of the best writers working today, and this might be her best book yet. A wise and tender novel about birth, ballet and belonging, it captivated me completely
Bobby Palmer, author of Isaac and the Egg
Beautifully crafted . . . absorbing and moving
Daily Mail
An extended meditation on what home or belonging might mean in a period of disruption and displacement . . . Moss perfectly judges the prickly absolutism of the younger Edith . . . unfailingly spare and alert . . . captivating
The Irish Times
Evocative . . . Immensely moving - and this story feels very much like life . . . This novel lingers so strongly in the mind
Harper's Bazaar
A powerful and beautifully written story of family, friendship and identity
The Guardian
An expansive, expressive tale of family, history and ballet, this is illuminated by pin-sharp imagery and rueful self-awareness
Mail on Sunday
An insightful examination of family ties and belonging
The Economist
There’s no shortage of gifted writers who have never had a sniff of a major prize. The English novelist Sarah Moss, now based in Dublin, is such an obvious example of this . . . Moss’ new novel, Ripeness, might fix that
The Critic
Author Sarah Moss
Narrator Flora Montgomery
Duration 9 hours and 48 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781529035513
Format Audiobook
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Genre Family life fiction, Historical fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Coming of age, Narrative theme: Displacement, exile, migration, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Narrative theme: Politics, Narrative theme: Sense of place, Narrative theme: Social issues
Availability GB, IE

More from the same

Author

Narrator

About xigxag

xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK’s only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.

There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at £8.99. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from £3.99. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.

Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.

Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.