
Before I Go
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kirby Heyborne
-
Rebecca Lowman
-
By:
-
Colleen Oakley
About this listen
A heart-wrenching debut novel in the best-selling tradition of P.S. I Love You about a young woman with breast cancer who undertakes a mission to find a new wife for her husband before she passes away.
Twenty-seven-year-old Daisy already beat breast cancer three years ago. How can this be happening to her again?
On the eve of what was supposed to be a triumphant "Cancerversary" with her husband Jack to celebrate three years of being cancer-free, Daisy suffers a devastating blow: Her doctor tells her that the cancer is back, but this time it's an aggressive stage four diagnosis. She may have as few as four months left to live. Death is a frightening prospect - but not because she's afraid for herself. She's terrified of what will happen to her brilliant but otherwise charmingly helpless husband when she's no longer there to take care of him. It's this fear that keeps her up at night, until she stumbles on the solution: she has to find him another wife.
With a singular determination, Daisy scouts local parks and coffee shops and online dating sites looking for Jack's perfect match. But the further she gets on her quest, the more she questions the sanity of her plan. As the thought of her husband with another woman becomes all too real, Daisy's forced to decide what's more important in the short amount of time she has left: her husband's happiness - or her own?
©2015 Colleen Oakley (P)2015 Simon & SchusterListeners also enjoyed...
-
Close Enough to Touch
- By: Colleen Oakley
- Narrated by: Candace Thaxton, Kirby Heyborne, Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jubilee Jenkins has a rare condition: She's allergic to human touch. After a nearly fatal accident, she became reclusive, living in the confines of her home for nine years. But after her mother dies, Jubilee is forced to face the world - and the people in it - that she's been hiding from. Jubilee finds safe haven at her local library, where she gets a job. It's there she meets Eric Keegan, a divorced man who recently moved to town with his brilliant, troubled adopted son. Eric is struggling to figure out how to be the dad - and man - he wants so desperately to be.
-
-
Super unique
- By Misty Walker on 03-14-17
By: Colleen Oakley
-
You Were There Too
- By: Colleen Oakley
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss, Dan Bittner
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mia Graydon's life looks picket-fence perfect; she has the house, her loving husband, and dreams of starting a family. But she has other dreams too - unexplained, recurring ones starring the same man. Still, she doesn’t think much of it, until a relocation to small-town Pennsylvania brings her face to face with the stranger she has been dreaming about for years. And this man harbors a jaw-dropping secret of his own - he's been dreaming of her too. Determined to understand, Mia and this not-so-stranger search for answers.
-
-
Not What You Think You're Getting
- By Olivia @ebooklivv on 10-11-20
By: Colleen Oakley
-
The Invisible Husband of Frick Island
- By: Colleen Oakley
- Narrated by: Sara Sheckells
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Piper Parrish's life on Frick Island - a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay - is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom's crab boat capsized and his body wasn't recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing.
-
-
What the Frick
- By Ocean Breeze on 06-09-21
By: Colleen Oakley
-
The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise
- By: Colleen Oakley
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-one-year-old Tanner Quimby needs a place to live. Preferably one where she can continue sitting around in sweatpants and playing video games nineteen hours a day. Since she has no credit or money to speak of, her options are limited, so when an opportunity to work as a live-in caregiver for an elderly woman falls into her lap, she takes it. The two start off their living arrangement happily ignoring each other until Tanner starts to notice things—weird things.
-
-
This one’s a fun one!
- By NTexHiker on 04-01-23
By: Colleen Oakley
-
A Little Ray of Sunshine
- By: Kristan Higgins
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington, Xe Sands, Jeannie Sheneman
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A kid walks into your bookstore and says to you, Guess what? I'm your son. The one you put up for adoption seventeen years ago. The one you never told anyone about. Surprise! His name is Matthew Walker, and he's come to spend the summer on the Cape with his parents. Why? Well, he wants to meet you before he heads off to college in the fall. Tiny detail—he didn't tell his adoptive parents about his plan. And while you hoped this day would come someday, you're so stunned, you actually faint.
-
-
First LOL Book in Years
- By Patrick on 07-18-23
By: Kristan Higgins
-
Good Luck with That
- By: Kristan Higgins
- Narrated by: Xe Sands, Lori Gardner, Suzy Jackson
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emerson, Georgia, and Marley have been best friends ever since they met at a weight-loss camp as teens. When Emerson tragically passes away, she leaves one final wish for her best friends: to conquer the fears they still carry as adults. For Marley, it's coming to terms with the survivor's guilt she's carried around since her twin sister's death, which has left her blind to the real chance for romance in her life. For Georgia, it's learning to stop trying to live up to her mother's and brother's ridiculous standards and learning to accept love.
-
-
Depressing
- By Christine on 09-06-18
By: Kristan Higgins
-
Close Enough to Touch
- By: Colleen Oakley
- Narrated by: Candace Thaxton, Kirby Heyborne, Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jubilee Jenkins has a rare condition: She's allergic to human touch. After a nearly fatal accident, she became reclusive, living in the confines of her home for nine years. But after her mother dies, Jubilee is forced to face the world - and the people in it - that she's been hiding from. Jubilee finds safe haven at her local library, where she gets a job. It's there she meets Eric Keegan, a divorced man who recently moved to town with his brilliant, troubled adopted son. Eric is struggling to figure out how to be the dad - and man - he wants so desperately to be.
-
-
Super unique
- By Misty Walker on 03-14-17
By: Colleen Oakley
-
You Were There Too
- By: Colleen Oakley
- Narrated by: Sophie Amoss, Dan Bittner
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mia Graydon's life looks picket-fence perfect; she has the house, her loving husband, and dreams of starting a family. But she has other dreams too - unexplained, recurring ones starring the same man. Still, she doesn’t think much of it, until a relocation to small-town Pennsylvania brings her face to face with the stranger she has been dreaming about for years. And this man harbors a jaw-dropping secret of his own - he's been dreaming of her too. Determined to understand, Mia and this not-so-stranger search for answers.
-
-
Not What You Think You're Getting
- By Olivia @ebooklivv on 10-11-20
By: Colleen Oakley
-
The Invisible Husband of Frick Island
- By: Colleen Oakley
- Narrated by: Sara Sheckells
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Piper Parrish's life on Frick Island - a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay - is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom's crab boat capsized and his body wasn't recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing.
-
-
What the Frick
- By Ocean Breeze on 06-09-21
By: Colleen Oakley
-
The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise
- By: Colleen Oakley
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-one-year-old Tanner Quimby needs a place to live. Preferably one where she can continue sitting around in sweatpants and playing video games nineteen hours a day. Since she has no credit or money to speak of, her options are limited, so when an opportunity to work as a live-in caregiver for an elderly woman falls into her lap, she takes it. The two start off their living arrangement happily ignoring each other until Tanner starts to notice things—weird things.
-
-
This one’s a fun one!
- By NTexHiker on 04-01-23
By: Colleen Oakley
-
A Little Ray of Sunshine
- By: Kristan Higgins
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington, Xe Sands, Jeannie Sheneman
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A kid walks into your bookstore and says to you, Guess what? I'm your son. The one you put up for adoption seventeen years ago. The one you never told anyone about. Surprise! His name is Matthew Walker, and he's come to spend the summer on the Cape with his parents. Why? Well, he wants to meet you before he heads off to college in the fall. Tiny detail—he didn't tell his adoptive parents about his plan. And while you hoped this day would come someday, you're so stunned, you actually faint.
-
-
First LOL Book in Years
- By Patrick on 07-18-23
By: Kristan Higgins
-
Good Luck with That
- By: Kristan Higgins
- Narrated by: Xe Sands, Lori Gardner, Suzy Jackson
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emerson, Georgia, and Marley have been best friends ever since they met at a weight-loss camp as teens. When Emerson tragically passes away, she leaves one final wish for her best friends: to conquer the fears they still carry as adults. For Marley, it's coming to terms with the survivor's guilt she's carried around since her twin sister's death, which has left her blind to the real chance for romance in her life. For Georgia, it's learning to stop trying to live up to her mother's and brother's ridiculous standards and learning to accept love.
-
-
Depressing
- By Christine on 09-06-18
By: Kristan Higgins
-
The Burnout
- A Novel
- By: Sophie Kinsella
- Narrated by: Bessie Carter
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sasha has had it. She cannot bring herself to respond to another inane, “urgent” email or participate in the corporate employee joyfulness program. She hasn’t seen her friends in months. Sex? Seems like a lot of effort. Even cooking dinner takes far too much planning. Sasha has hit a wall. Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga, and find peace, she heads to the seaside resort she loved as a child. But it’s the off season, the hotel is in a dilapidated shambles, and she has to share the beach with the only other occupant: a grumpy guy named Finn.
-
-
Classic Kinsella story
- By Mike b. on 10-21-23
By: Sophie Kinsella
-
Home Front
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like many couples, Michael and Jolene Zarkades have to face the pressures of everyday life—children, careers, bills, chores—even as their twelve-year marriage is falling apart. Then a deployment sends Jolene deep into harm's way and leaves defense attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a solider, she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-colored version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth.
-
-
Very Disappointed
- By Elizabeth on 03-17-12
By: Kristin Hannah
-
After I Do
- A Novel
- By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Lauren and Ryan’s marriage reaches the breaking point, they come up with an unconventional plan. They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes. Lauren embarks on a journey of self-discovery, quickly finding that her friends and family have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. These influences, as well as her own healing process and the challenges of living apart from Ryan, begin to change Lauren’s ideas about monogamy and marriage.
-
-
Good writing but maybe pass if married
- By Austin Whitmore on 07-12-23
-
Out of the Clear Blue Sky
- By: Kristan Higgins
- Narrated by: Xe Sands, CJ Bloom
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lillie Silva knew life as an empty nester would be hard after her only child left for college, but when her husband abruptly dumps her for another woman just as her son leaves, her world comes crashing down. Besides the fact that this announcement is a complete surprise (to say the least), what shocks Lillie most is that she isn't...heartbroken. She's furious. Lillie has loved her life on Cape Cod, but as a mother, wife and nurse-midwife, she's used to caring for other people...not taking care of herself.
-
-
Really bad book
- By Linda O on 10-14-22
By: Kristan Higgins
-
In Five Years
- A Novel
- By: Rebecca Serle
- Narrated by: Megan Hilty
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dannie Kohan lives her life by the numbers. She is nothing like her lifelong best friend - the wild, whimsical, believes-in-fate Bella. Her meticulous planning seems to have paid off after she nails the most important job interview of her career and accepts her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in one fell swoop, falling asleep completely content. But when she awakens, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man.
-
-
If you want a happy story, try another book
- By Mel on 03-23-20
By: Rebecca Serle
-
Five Days Left
- By: Julie Lawson Timmer
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mara Nichols, a successful lawyer, and devoted wife and adoptive mother, has recently been diagnosed with a terminal disease. Scott Coffman, a middle school teacher, has been fostering an eight-year-old boy while the boy’s mother serves a jail sentence. Scott and Mara both have five days left until they must say good-bye to the ones they love the most.
-
-
Perhaps My Expectations Were Too High
- By Lulu on 08-21-15
-
Distant Shores
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Bernadette Quigley
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elizabeth and Jackson Shore married young, raised two daughters, and weathered the storms of youth as they built a future together. But after the children leave home, they quietly drift apart. When Jack accepts a wonderful new job offer, Elizabeth puts her needs aside to follow him across the country. Until the sudden death of her father changes everything.
-
-
Hit way too close to home
- By The Wylder Skye on 01-28-17
By: Kristin Hannah
-
Meant to Be
- A Novel
- By: Emily Giffin
- Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt, Robert Petkoff, Emily Giffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kingsley family is American royalty, beloved for their military heroics, political service, and unmatched elegance. In 1967, after Joseph S. Kingsley, Jr. is killed in a tragic accident, his charismatic son inherits the weight of that legacy. But Joe III is a free spirit—and a little bit reckless. Despite his best intentions, he has trouble meeting the expectations of a nation, as well as those of his exacting mother, Dottie.
-
-
Lousy
- By francine m donachie on 07-11-22
By: Emily Giffin
-
Pack Up the Moon
- By: Kristan Higgins
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, Xe Sands
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joshua and Lauren are the perfect couple. Newly married, they're wildly in love, each on a successful and rewarding career path. Then Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness. As Lauren's disease progresses, Joshua struggles to make the most of the time he has left with his wife and to come to terms with his future - a future without the only woman he's ever loved. He's so consumed with finding a way to avoid the inevitable ending that he never imagines his life after Lauren. But Lauren has a plan to keep her husband moving forward. A plan hidden in the letters she leaves him.
-
-
Truly awful narration
- By Natalie on 06-17-21
By: Kristan Higgins
-
Anatomy
- A Love Story
- By: Dana Schwartz
- Narrated by: Mhairi Morrison, Tim Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hazel Sinnett is a lady who wants to be a surgeon more than she wants to marry. Jack Currer is a resurrection man who’s just trying to survive in a city where it’s too easy to die. When the two of them have a chance encounter outside the Edinburgh Anatomist’s Society, Hazel thinks nothing of it at first. But after she gets kicked out of renowned surgeon Dr. Beecham’s lectures for being the wrong gender, she realizes that her new acquaintance might be more helpful than she first thought.
-
-
Loves it!
- By megan mccuin on 01-20-22
By: Dana Schwartz
-
Forever, Interrupted
- A Novel
- By: Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year’s Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn’t expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they’ve eloped.
-
-
Painful
- By Karen J. Helle on 02-08-23
-
When I'm Gone
- A Novel
- By: Emily Bleeker
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Luke Richardson has returned home after burying Natalie, his beloved wife of sixteen years, ready to face the hard job of raising their three children alone. But there's something he's not prepared for - a blue envelope with his name scrawled across the front in Natalie's handwriting, waiting for him on the floor of their suburban Michigan home.
-
-
Sheesh, at least do your research...
- By David on 09-23-16
By: Emily Bleeker
What listeners say about Before I Go
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brandi
- 04-10-15
Wonderful and emotional
This was a great listen! The relationship between the characters during such a tragic time is very realistic. You laugh and cry with Daisy and Jack.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jean Wyly
- 06-05-15
it was good
I lived the book. it kept me interested and wanting to get back to to story. I was sad at the end but can't wait to read another.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kathryn
- 07-21-16
fairly predictable...
I liked this book, but found it a little predictable. good to listen to while driving.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris
- 01-28-15
Poignant Story
After reading the summary, I was expecting a teary downer of a story, but instead found it almost uplifting, even a bit inspirational. I liked the characters and the believable way they interacted with each other. The medical scenes weren't overbearing - enough information to get the gist of what they were dealing with, but not so much that it becomes a Medical Drama. Mostly it was about how Daisy deals with her life, and her relationship with her husband (and other characters), with this new, terrible prognosis. Rebecca Lowman excels at this type of narrative, and she performs all but the last chapter.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Beth
- 04-15-16
This Book makes you FEEL!
Would you consider the audio edition of Before I Go to be better than the print version?
Absolutely! First, I am a big fan of the narrator Rebecca Lowman. She has a way of bringing the characters to life. Second, the audio version made me weep as I'd become vested in the characters. Reading it would not have gleaned the same level of emotion!
Who was your favorite character and why?
Daisy...of course!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Vanessa Felts
- 01-30-15
Sad but a really good read
The author was able to paint a clear picture there were lots of twists and turns and surprises very good book it made me cry
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rachael B.
- 04-19-18
ANNOYED but good
Would you listen to Before I Go again? Why?
No, because once you know the ending you know the ending.
What did you like best about this story?
I liked how it gave you a real feeling perspective on a stubborn young woman with cancer.
What does Kirby Heyborne and Rebecca Lowman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
you get more emotion from the words being able to hear them with inflection and tone.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
mostly couldn't put it down
Any additional comments?
I got very angry at the main character Daisy in the book. For a large part of the book she wouldn't speak her mind and I don't know how realistic that would be, for me id be much louder about my opinions. it actually got to the point it was frustrating and I wanted to cast forward to see if she ever spoke her mind. but the book was still a good read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- DQwannaB
- 12-19-19
Fantastic tearjerker!
Highly recommended. I haven't read a book in a long time that had me sobbing like this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wendi
- 01-16-15
Blown Away By The Human Heart
I have to say, this book blew me away. I listened in the car, at work when I could, and every spare moment I had.
Daisy has beaten breast cancer, and she is set at twenty-seven to live in marital bliss with her husband for the rest of her life. On a follow up appointment with her oncologist, she has been told that he's found a small lump in her breast, but not to worry. Well, the small lump turns out to be a sign that the cancer has taken over her body and, well.. she's not going to make it.
She is so in love with her husband Jack and she's worried what will happen to him when she's gone. In all of her wisdom, she decides that she wants to find the perfect candidate for his next wife to ensure she can die knowing he'll be taken care of.
She finds a candidate on an online site, but that candidate turns out to be someone who Jack already knows. Daisy begins to feel jealous and horrified that she thought she'd be able to find Jack a new wife, and Jack and the new girl spend a lot of time together..
The story is depressing, but the main character is so lovable and relative. I loved the narration- it's very empathetic and soothing.
The human element to this story is magnetic, and the prose are beautiful. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a fantastic story or humanity and true love.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jessica
- 08-04-15
Exceptional, in every sense of the word!
Where does Before I Go rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Right up there with the best of the best!
What was one of the most memorable moments of Before I Go?
The point at which Daisy has just had brain surgery, but she is sure her husband is cheating on her. She makes her mother drive her to her house where she finds an unknown car in the driveway only to then find out that her husband has been contracting the woman out to fix their house.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I felt every emotion the characters felt, however, it did not make me cry.
Any additional comments?
Before I Go is exceptional, in every sense of the word. Prepare to have your heart broken at many different points in the book, but then just when you feel you can't possibly go on because it is just too heart wrenching, Colleen Oakley mends your broken heart with the the magic that is unconditional love from both family, friends and a devoted husband.
Her writing is very comparable to Lisa Genova in the way with which she thoroughly researches her topic and writes in a way that you aren't just reading a book, you are transported to someone else's life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful