There but for the

Author Ali Smith
Narrator Juliet Stevenson
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Run Time 9 hours and 2 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Modern and contemporary fiction.

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

A sparkling satire from the MAN BOOKER PRIZE-SHORTLISTED and WOMEN'S PRIZE-WINNING author of How to be both and the critically acclaimed Seasonal quartet

'There once was a man who, one night between the main course and the sweet at a dinner party, went upstairs and locked himself in one of the bedrooms of the house of the people who were giving the dinner party . . .'

As time passes by and the consequences of this stranger's actions ripple outwards, touching the owners, the guests, the neighbours and the whole country, so Ali Smith draws us into a beautiful, strange place where everyone is so much more than they first appear...

'Playful, humorous, serious, profoundly clever and profoundly affecting' Guardian

'Adventurous, intoxicating, dazzling. This is a novel with serious ambitions that remains huge fun to read' Literary Review

'Smith can make anything happen, which is why she is one of our most exciting writers today' Daily Telegraph

© Ali Smith 2011 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critics Review

Whimsically devastating. Playful, humorous, serious, profoundly clever and profoundly affecting

Guardian

Remarkable. A brilliant novel: funny, serious, always surprising, always true

The Times

I take my hat off to Ali Smith. Her writing lifts the soul

Evening Standard

A playfully serious or seriously playful novel full of wit and pleasure. Wonderful

Observer

Eccentric, adventurous, intoxicating, dazzling. This is a novel with serious ambitions that remains huge fun to read. The writing dances along

Literary Review

Poignant, empathetic, funny. A book full of kindness and compassion

Time Out

Fizzying, affectionate, sparkling. Smith presents her world view in words as fresh as lemons. A joyful read

Herald

A tour de force

Financial Times

A virtuoso piece of writing, both funny and gripping . . . Smith is a writer with a rich array of conventional strengths

Times Literary Supplement

A must read

Toronto NOW

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