
Shrines of Gaiety
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Jason Watkins
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By:
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Kate Atkinson
About this listen
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The award-winning author of Life after Life transports us to a restless London in the wake of the Great War—a city bursting with money, glamour, and corruption—in this spellbinding tale of seduction and betrayal.
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: WASHINGTON POST, TIME, THE GUARDIAN, BOOKLIST
"Set during Jazz Age London, in all its fizzy madness and desperation.... As dark as [Atkinson's] stories can get, within them always shines a beacon of humanity.”—Gillian Flynn, bestselling author of Dark Places
1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time.
The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven, whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie’s empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho’s gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost.
With her unique Dickensian flair, Kate Atkinson gives us a window in a vanished world. Slyly funny, brilliantly observant, and ingeniously plotted, Shrines of Gaiety showcases the myriad talents that have made Atkinson one of the most lauded writers of our time.
©2022 Kate Atkinson (P)2022 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
A Best Book of the Year: The Guardian • BookBrowse • Slate
One of TIME Magazine’s Must-Read Books of the Year • A Top Ten Washington Post Best Books of the Year • A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
A Top Ten Washington Post’s Best Books of the year
"If Dickens had lived to write about The Jazz Age, he would have produced a novel much like Kate Atkinson’s Shrines of Gaiety. A sprawling and sparkling tale set in London in 1926...A smartly entertaining read that captures the excitement of Roaring 20s London."—Washington Post
"[Atkinson] takes on London in the 1920s, masterfully capturing both its shimmer and its seediness...It’s a deliciously fun, absorbing read."—Time
"Atkinson vividly conjures the post-Great War London of a century ago...Tangible warmth suffuses her storytelling...A cocktail of fizz and melancholy, generously poured."—The New York Times Book Review
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Story
The death of Tom Bettany's estranged 26-year-old son brings him back to London. His return sparks the interest of everyone from mobsters to MI5 officers - he may have thought he left his old life as a spy behind, but nobody just walks away. Tom Bettany is working at a meat processing plant in France when he gets the voicemail from an English woman he doesn't know telling him that his estranged 26-year-old son is dead. Liam was smoking dope on his London balcony when he fell....
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Not Slough House
- By ili pika on 07-02-19
By: Mick Herron
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When God Was a Rabbit
- By: Sarah Winman
- Narrated by: Sarah Winman
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Young Elly's world is shaped by those who inhabit it: her loving but maddeningly distractible parents; a best friend who smells of chips and knows exotic words like 'slag'; an ageing fop who tapdances his way into her home, a Shirley Bassey impersonator who trails close behind; lastly, of course, a rabbit called God. In a childhood peppered with moments both ordinary and extraordinary, Elly's one constant is her brother Joe. Twenty years on, Elly and Joe are fully grown and as close as they ever were. Until, that is, an earth-shattering event that threatens to destroy their bond for ever.
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Ordinary, Magical Adventures
- By Billye Kay on 12-06-24
By: Sarah Winman
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March
- By: Geraldine Brooks
- Narrated by: Richard Easton
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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From Louisa May Alcott's beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has animated the character of the absent father, March, and crafted a story "filled with the ache of love and marriage and with the power of war upon the mind and heart of one unforgettable man" (Sue Monk Kidd). With "pitch-perfect writing" (USA Today), Brooks follows March as he leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause in the Civil War. His experiences will utterly change his marriage and challenge his most ardently held beliefs.
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Great book, greatly narrated
- By Paula on 07-30-06
By: Geraldine Brooks
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This Must Be the Place
- By: Maggie O'Farrell
- Narrated by: Graham Rowat, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet Daniel Sullivan, a man with a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California; a father he loathes in Brooklyn; and a wife, Claudette, who is a reclusive ex-film star given to shooting at anyone who ventures up their driveway. He is also about to find out something about a woman he lost touch with 20 years ago, and this discovery will send him off course, far away from wife and home. Will his love for Claudette be enough to bring him back?
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A good story spoiled
- By White rose on 03-24-17
By: Maggie O'Farrell
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Homecoming
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Claire Foy
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959. At the end of a scorching hot day, a local deliveryman makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia. Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. Until a phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney.
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Loved the compelling audiobook version!
- By Melissas Bookshelf on 04-07-23
By: Kate Morton
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The Lake House
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 21 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Living on her family’s gorgeous lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, clever, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented fourteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure ...One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest son, Theo, has vanished without a trace.
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Enjoyed the writing, but oy vey, this book
- By Jennifer S on 12-28-18
By: Kate Morton
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The House at Riverton
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
- Length: 20 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Summer 1924. On the eve of a glittering Society party, by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other again. Winter 1999. Grace Bradley, 98, one-time housemaid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet’s suicide. Ghosts awaken and memories, long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace’s mind, begin to sneak back through the cracks. A shocking secret threatens to emerge – something history has forgotten but Grace never could.
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Pleasantly surprised!
- By amber on 05-30-23
By: Kate Morton
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The Mighty Red
- A Novel
- By: Louise Erdrich
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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In Argus, North Dakota, a collection of people revolve around a fraught wedding. Gary Geist, a terrified young man set to inherit two farms, is desperate to marry Kismet Poe, an impulsive, lapsed Goth who can't read her future but seems to resolve his. Hugo, a gentle red-haired, home-schooled giant, is also in love with Kismet. He’s determined to steal her and is eager to be a home wrecker. Kismet's mother, Crystal, hauls sugar beets for Gary's family, and on her nightly runs, tunes into the darkness of late-night radio, sees visions of guardian angels.
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Read this book
- By Jessica on 11-01-24
By: Louise Erdrich
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Detective Tom Janssen Hidden Norfolk, Books 1-3
- The Hidden Norfolk Murder Mystery Collections, Volume 1
- By: J M Dalgliesh
- Narrated by: Greg Patmore
- Length: 24 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Get three absolutely gripping crime thrillers set on the UK's atmospheric north Norfolk coast from number one best-selling British author J M Dalgliesh in this great value collection.
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Good story with a great performance.
- By Roxane E. on 08-22-23
By: J M Dalgliesh
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The White Lady
- A Novel
- By: Jacqueline Winspear
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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A reluctant ex-spy with demons of her own, Elinor finds herself facing down one of the most dangerous organized crime gangs in London, ultimately exposing corruption from Scotland Yard to the highest levels of government. The private, quiet “Miss White" as Elinor is known, lives in a village in rural Kent, England, and to her fellow villagers seems something of an enigma. Well she might, as Elinor occupies a "grace and favor" property, a rare privilege offered to faithful servants of the Crown for services to the nation.
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Mystery Maven
- By Mystery Maven on 03-24-23
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Trust (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
- By: Hernan Diaz
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Jonathan Davis, Mozhan Marnò, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Even through the roar and effervescence of the 1920s, everyone in New York has heard of Benjamin and Helen Rask. He is a legendary Wall Street tycoon; she is the daughter of eccentric aristocrats. Together, they have risen to the very top of a world of seemingly endless wealth—all as a decade of excess and speculation draws to an end. But at what cost have they acquired their immense fortune? This is the mystery at the center of Bonds, a successful 1937 novel that all of New York seems to have read. Yet there are other versions of this tale of privilege and deceit.
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Before Purchasing
- By JLDLOfficial on 08-13-22
By: Hernan Diaz
What listeners say about Shrines of Gaiety
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- TIMM
- 02-25-23
5
5 * all around is pretty generous for me. Narrator was a good fit. Wonderfully nuanced characters. Good writing: “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, leaving a narrow margin for …”.
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- duczi
- 09-07-23
Very enjoyable
I am always looking for Kate Atkinson's new books. This one was good, too. Maybe not as good as the Jackson Brody novels or Life After Life, but still very good. I love her style, her sentences are brilliant and her unique sense of humor is always a bonus.
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- Anonymous User
- 10-11-23
Improves as you go
I truly loved this novel. The era is one I don’t read enough about. And I love it historical references. The characters, to me, were riveting. And the development of the story was well-paced.
Critics have complained about the ending. But for me, it matched much of that tone of the novel. I highly recommend.
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- Beth Firmin
- 12-21-22
A Different kind of Kate Atkinson Novel
Even with Jason Watkins’ entertaining narration, I struggled to take much interest in any of the many characters in this book. Ms. Atkinson never lets the reader get too close to the protagonists. Nelly, Frieda, Gwendolyn, Frobisher-they’re all frustratingly just out of emotional, psychological reach. I was left wanting more in depth character studies as in Ms. Atkinson’s many other novels. The settings were more forthcoming and outshone the plot and characters.
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- C J Mcmullin
- 11-14-22
Magnificent
True Kate Atkinson beautifully drawn characters, compelling story. Riveting & charming along with murders & mystery. This writer’s style is compelling. Her stories leave the reader satisfied & surprised. The reader is perfectly matched to Atkinson’s characters.
I may wait a week or to & begin this book again.
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- Thai
- 01-29-23
Loved it all until the abrupt ending
Thoroughly enjoyed Atkinson’s new book, but wish we had more time with the characters, especially with Niven and Florence at the end!! I also wish Niven and Gwendolyn had a proper ending. The trademark Atkinson complex story telling, humor, wonderful characterizations are all there though.
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- Autumn
- 10-10-22
Simply delightful
I thoroughly enjoyed this, the third of Kate Atkinson’s novels that I’ve read.
Dark, yet still lighter fare than Life after Life & A God in Ruins, both of which I’ve read twice.
Perhaps the lightness is because of the charm of the narrator. To know for sure, I’ll have to actually read it with my eyes someday in the future, which I look forward to.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Georgia Burns
- 10-23-22
Settle down for an enjoyable immersion
I chose this book after reading Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series. Confession: first SAW it on PBS. Her quirky, dark-humored writing sets her apart and elevates the pleasure in the story. Jason Watkins matter-of-fact narration was the perfect accompaniment.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Dot
- 01-14-23
Disappointing ending
The story was a good one, but it seemed as if someone ran in and told Kate Atkinson she had 15 minutes to finish the story. Everything was abruptly wrapped up. Not at all satisfying.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Mary Ellen Harley
- 11-12-22
A Wonderful Story Set in 1920s England
Thank you Kate Atkinson for a wonderful story set in 1920s England! I have read many of her previous books and this one ranks close to the top. I really liked the post war '20s setting and was not familiar with it before. The story centers around a family that runs nightclubs in London and their interaction with police and the local gangs and girls seeking fame. The characters are so well woven into the story and the narrator so perfect in his intonation and delivery that it was hard to 'put down' until I finished. Her descriptions are well written so you feel as if you know these people first hand. At the end there are some notes about the actual depictions from the era which are fascinating (like the baby party for the spoiled young adults). The best book I have read this year!
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