Listen to a sample
The Carrier
- Author
- Ruth Newton
- Publisher
- Transworld
- Publish Date
- 2 July 2026
- Run Time
- 10 hours 40 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
HOW MUCH IS YOUR SUFFERING WORTH?
An unmissable, thought-provoking new thriller - this book will blow your mind. Perfect for fans of VOX, The Power and The School for Good Mothers.
Why should you suffer when she can do it for you?
A revolutionary company can free you from your unwanted emotions.
Jealousy, grief, despair. If you can afford to, you need never feel them again.
In your place is a Carrier – a woman who is paid to process your pain.
In a world full of suffering, there is no shortage of demand.
But this company has secrets. The true cost of your freedom is a Carrier’s life.
Would you let her pay the price?
'Timely, innovative and fantastically compelling.' PANDORA SYKES
© Ruth Newton 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
Critics Review
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As an allegory for our commercialised lives, and particularly the expectations of women’s emotional labour, it’s right on the nose. This cleverly plotted thriller shines a light on the way fortunes are made by inventing new addictions, and how easily unfair treatment may be hidden, or simply accepted. A thought-provoking read.
Guardian
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A little Severance-like and ideal summer reading for those of us who enjoy a good high-concept thriller.
New Scientist
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Gripping.
Vogue
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Ruth Newton’s high-concept thriller is easily one of the most thought-provoking debuts we’ve read this year, operating in that same chilling, systemic sci-fi territory as Severance. It's an incredibly sharp, uncomfortable metaphor for emotional labor and class exploitation. Newton handles the unfolding mystery with a razor-sharp clinical precision that will leave you thinking about the real cost of emotional freedom long after the final chapter.
SciFiNow
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Great new page-turner...Unsettling.
I Paper
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Ruth Newton
- Narrator
- Varada Sethu, Georgina Fairbanks, Full Cast
- Duration
- 10 hours 40 minutes
- Release Date
- 2 July 2026
- ISBN
- 9781529986341
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Transworld
- Genre
- Technothriller, Psychological thriller, Science fiction: near future, Crime and / or mystery fiction, Speculative fiction
Synopsis
HOW MUCH IS YOUR SUFFERING WORTH?An unmissable, thought-provoking new thriller - this book will blow your mind. Perfect for fans of VOX, The Power and The School for Good Mothers.Why should you suffer when she can do it for you?A revolutionary company can free you from your unwanted emotions.Jealousy, grief, despair. If you can afford to, you need never feel them again.In your place is a Carrier – a woman who is paid to process your pain.In a world full of suffering, there is no shortage of demand.But this company has secrets. The true cost of your freedom is a Carrier’s life.Would you let her pay the price?'Timely, innovative and fantastically compelling.' PANDORA SYKES© Ruth Newton 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
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