
The Girl with Nine Wigs
A Memoir
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 $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Amanda Leigh Cobb
About this listen
It's Saturday, and everything is different. No, I didn't go to the market this morning, and I didn't have my usual coffee on Westerstraat. And no, I wasn't getting ready for a new semester at college. Next Monday, January 31, I have to admit myself at the hospital for my first chemotherapy session. For the next two months, I'm expected each week for a fresh shot of vincristine, etoposide, ifosfamide, and loads more exciting abracadabra.
Sophie is 21 when she is diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer. A striking, fun-loving student, her world is reduced overnight to the sterile confines of a hospital. But within these walls Sophie discovers a whole new world of white coats, gossiping nurses, and sexy doctors; of shared rooms, hair loss, and eyebrow pencils. As wigs become a crucial part of Sophie's new life, she reclaims a sense of self-expression. Each of Sophie's nine wigs makes her feel stronger and gives her a distinct personality, and that is why each has its own name: Stella, Sue, Daisy, Blondie, Platina, Uma, Pam, Lydia, and BebE. There's a bit of Sophie in all of them, and they reveal as much as they hide. Sophie is determined to be much more than a cancer patient.
With refreshing candor and a keen eye for the absurd, Sophie van der Stap's The Girl with Nine Wigs makes you smile when you least expect it.
Sophie van der Stap was 21 years old when she was diagnosed with cancer. Today she is 31 and the international ambassador and spokesperson for Orange Ribbon International, a charity organization whose mission is to make the eradication of childhood cancer a priority. She has written two novels and lives in Paris, France.
©2015 Sophie van der Stap, Translation: 2015 Charlotte Caroline Jongejan and Sophie van der Stap (P)2015 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
This Is How I Save My Life
- From California to India, a True Story of Finding Everything When You Are Willing to Try Anything
- By: Amy B. Scher
- Narrated by: Amy B. Scher
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Amy B. Scher was struck with undiagnosed late-stage, chronic Lyme disease, the best physicians in America labeled her condition incurable and potentially terminal. Deteriorating rapidly, she went on a search to save her own life - from the top experts in Los Angeles and the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis to a state-of-the-art hospital in Chicago. After exhausting all of her options in the US, she discovered a possible cure - but it was highly experimental, available only in India, and had as much of a probability of killing her as it did of curing her.
-
-
A great comfort
- By Sue on 07-07-18
By: Amy B. Scher
-
Firefly Lane
- A Novel
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all - beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn.
-
-
Beachy Fare
- By FanB14 on 04-29-13
By: Kristin Hannah
-
A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles
- A True Story of Love, Science, and Cancer
- By: Mary Elizabeth Williams
- Narrated by: Mary Elizabeth Williams
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After being diagnosed in her early forties with metastatic melanoma - a "rapidly fatal" form of cancer - journalist and mother of two Mary Elizabeth Williams finds herself in a race against the clock. She takes a once-in-a-lifetime chance and joins a clinical trial for immunotherapy, a revolutionary drug regimen that trains the body to vanquish malignant cells. Astonishingly, her cancer disappears entirely in just a few weeks. But at the same time, her best friend embarks on a cancer journey of her own - with very different results.
-
-
Believe!
- By Mary on 08-22-20
-
The Light We Lost
- By: Jill Santopolo
- Narrated by: Jill Santopolo
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He was the first person to inspire her, to move her, to truly understand her. Was he meant to be the last? Lucy is faced with a life-altering choice. But before she can make her decision, she must start her story - their story - at the very beginning. Lucy and Gabe meet as seniors at Columbia University on a day that changes both of their lives forever. Together, they decide they want their lives to mean something, to matter. When they meet again a year later, it seems fated - perhaps they'll find life's meaning in each other.
-
-
Meh.
- By L. Shoemaker on 08-28-17
By: Jill Santopolo
-
The Great Believers
- By: Rebecca Makkai
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister.
-
-
A story for all time
- By Carla jo Thompson on 08-06-18
By: Rebecca Makkai
-
Mean Baby
- A Memoir of Growing Up
- By: Selma Blair
- Narrated by: Selma Blair
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first story Selma Blair Beitner ever heard about herself is that she was a mean, mean baby. With her mouth pulled in a perpetual snarl and a head so furry it had to be rubbed to make way for her forehead, Selma spent years living up to her terrible reputation: biting her sisters, lying spontaneously, getting drunk from Passover wine at the age of seven, and behaving dramatically so that she would be the center of attention. In a memoir that is as wildly funny as it is emotionally shattering, Blair tells the captivating story of growing up and finding her truth.
-
-
Poor little privileged girl...
- By Tesa Fisher on 09-20-22
By: Selma Blair
-
This Is How I Save My Life
- From California to India, a True Story of Finding Everything When You Are Willing to Try Anything
- By: Amy B. Scher
- Narrated by: Amy B. Scher
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Amy B. Scher was struck with undiagnosed late-stage, chronic Lyme disease, the best physicians in America labeled her condition incurable and potentially terminal. Deteriorating rapidly, she went on a search to save her own life - from the top experts in Los Angeles and the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis to a state-of-the-art hospital in Chicago. After exhausting all of her options in the US, she discovered a possible cure - but it was highly experimental, available only in India, and had as much of a probability of killing her as it did of curing her.
-
-
A great comfort
- By Sue on 07-07-18
By: Amy B. Scher
-
Firefly Lane
- A Novel
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all - beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn.
-
-
Beachy Fare
- By FanB14 on 04-29-13
By: Kristin Hannah
-
A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles
- A True Story of Love, Science, and Cancer
- By: Mary Elizabeth Williams
- Narrated by: Mary Elizabeth Williams
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After being diagnosed in her early forties with metastatic melanoma - a "rapidly fatal" form of cancer - journalist and mother of two Mary Elizabeth Williams finds herself in a race against the clock. She takes a once-in-a-lifetime chance and joins a clinical trial for immunotherapy, a revolutionary drug regimen that trains the body to vanquish malignant cells. Astonishingly, her cancer disappears entirely in just a few weeks. But at the same time, her best friend embarks on a cancer journey of her own - with very different results.
-
-
Believe!
- By Mary on 08-22-20
-
The Light We Lost
- By: Jill Santopolo
- Narrated by: Jill Santopolo
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He was the first person to inspire her, to move her, to truly understand her. Was he meant to be the last? Lucy is faced with a life-altering choice. But before she can make her decision, she must start her story - their story - at the very beginning. Lucy and Gabe meet as seniors at Columbia University on a day that changes both of their lives forever. Together, they decide they want their lives to mean something, to matter. When they meet again a year later, it seems fated - perhaps they'll find life's meaning in each other.
-
-
Meh.
- By L. Shoemaker on 08-28-17
By: Jill Santopolo
-
The Great Believers
- By: Rebecca Makkai
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister.
-
-
A story for all time
- By Carla jo Thompson on 08-06-18
By: Rebecca Makkai
-
Mean Baby
- A Memoir of Growing Up
- By: Selma Blair
- Narrated by: Selma Blair
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first story Selma Blair Beitner ever heard about herself is that she was a mean, mean baby. With her mouth pulled in a perpetual snarl and a head so furry it had to be rubbed to make way for her forehead, Selma spent years living up to her terrible reputation: biting her sisters, lying spontaneously, getting drunk from Passover wine at the age of seven, and behaving dramatically so that she would be the center of attention. In a memoir that is as wildly funny as it is emotionally shattering, Blair tells the captivating story of growing up and finding her truth.
-
-
Poor little privileged girl...
- By Tesa Fisher on 09-20-22
By: Selma Blair
-
Happiness: A Memoir
- The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After
- By: Heather Harpham
- Narrated by: Heather Harpham
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Happiness begins with a charming courtship between hopelessly attracted opposites: Heather, a world-roaming California girl, and Brian, an intellectual, homebody writer, kind and slyly funny, but loath to leave his Upper West Side studio. Their magical interlude ends, full stop, when Heather becomes pregnant - Brian is sure he loves her, only he doesn't want kids. Heather returns to California to deliver their daughter alone, buoyed by family and friends.
-
-
Long & Tedious. If Only She'd Had a Good Editor.
- By Carolyn on 07-05-18
By: Heather Harpham
-
Barefoot
- A Novel
- By: Elin Hilderbrand
- Narrated by: Rachael Warren
- Length: 16 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From marriage, infidelity, and the mayhem of motherhood to scandal, tragedy, and illness - three women seek peace and comfort in Nantucket as they cope with life's challenges. Three women - burdened with small children, unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues - tumble onto the Nantucket airport tarmac one hot June day. Vicki is trying to sort through the news that she has a serious illness. Her sister, Brenda, has just left her job after being caught in an affair with a student. And their friend Melanie, after seven failed in vitro attempts, is pregnant at last.
-
-
OMG...spoiler alert:
- By Abby Mamacos on 10-09-17
By: Elin Hilderbrand
-
Your Voice in My Head
- A Memoir
- By: Emma Forrest
- Narrated by: Emma Forrest
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma Forrest, a British journalist, was just 22 and living the fast life in New York City when she realized that her quirks had gone beyond eccentricity. In a cycle of loneliness, damaging relationships, and destructive behavior, she found herself in the chair of a slim, balding, and effortlessly optimistic psychiatrist--a man whose wisdom and humanity would wrench her from the dangerous tide after she tried to end her life.
-
-
Great, quick read
- By Amazon Customer on 02-12-21
By: Emma Forrest
-
Cancer Schmancer
- By: Fran Drescher
- Narrated by: Fran Drescher
- Length: 2 hrs and 40 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Part inspirational cancer-survival story, part memoir-as-laugh-riot, Fran Drescher's new book picks up where Enter Whining left off. After her marriage ended, her TV series was cancelled, and her beloved dog died, Fran started having symptoms no doctor could adequately explain. With her trademark humor, she tells of her tireless search for answers and the cancer diagnosis that she ultimately beat.
-
-
Cancer Schmancer
- By bkitty on 04-10-04
By: Fran Drescher
-
Second Nature
- A Love Story
- By: Jacquelyn Mitchard
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sicily Coyne was just thirteen when her father was killed in a school fire that left her face disfigured. Twelve years later, a young surgeon, Eliza Cappadora, offers hope in the form of a revolutionary new surgery that may give Sicily back the grace and function she lost. Raised by a dynamic, tenacious aunt who taught her to lead a normal life, and engaged to a wonderful man who knew her long before the accident, Sicily rejects the offer: She knows who she is, and so do the people who love her.
-
-
Fascinating read
- By Brendolynne on 06-03-12
-
All You Could Ask For
- A Novel
- By: Mike Greenberg
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Happily married Brooke discovers her loving husband has led a separate life with…another wife. Newlywed Samantha learns of her husband's cheating heart when she finds the goods on his computer. High-powered career woman Katherine works with heartbreaker Phillip, the man who hurt her early on in her career. Brooke, Samantha, and Katherine don't know one another, but their stories are about to intertwine in ways no one could have imagined. And all three are about to discover the power of friendship to conquer adversity.
-
-
Annoyed by Hidden Theme
- By parsnip on 08-12-13
By: Mike Greenberg
-
We Own the Sky
- By: Luke Allnutt
- Narrated by: Will M. Watt
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rob Coates feels like he's won the lottery of life. There is Anna, his incredible wife, their London townhouse, and, most precious of all, Jack, their son, who makes every day an extraordinary adventure. But when a devastating illness befalls his family, Rob's world begins to unravel. Suddenly finding himself alone, Rob seeks solace in photographing the skyscrapers and clifftops he and his son, Jack, used to visit. And just when it seems that all hope is lost, Rob embarks on the most unforgettable of journeys to find his way back to life and forgiveness.
-
-
This book wrecked me
- By N. Thompson on 05-13-19
By: Luke Allnutt
-
The Girl in Times Square
- A Novel
- By: Paullina Simons
- Narrated by: Christina Traister
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Living in bustling New York City, Lily Quinn has plenty of distractions and is struggling to finish college as well as pay her rent. But that all pales in comparison when Amy, her best friend and roommate, disappears without a trace. Spencer O'Malley, a cynical NYPD detective assigned to Amy's case, immediately captures Lily's attention. Though he is wary and wrestling with his own demons, he, too, is irresistibly drawn to Lily. But fate has more in store for Lily than she ever expected.
-
-
Paulina Simons is USUALLY a favorite, BUT...
- By Molly on 06-10-19
By: Paullina Simons
-
The Woman Who Stole My Life
- By: Marian Keyes
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her own words, Stella Sweeney is just "an ordinary woman living an ordinary life with her husband and two teenage kids", working for her sister in their neighborhood beauty salon. Then one day she is struck by a serious illness that lands her in the hospital for months.
-
-
First Part? Good. Second Part? Ugh!
- By Gillian on 08-31-17
By: Marian Keyes
-
The Bright Side Running Club
- By: Josie Lloyd
- Narrated by: Danielle Cohen
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Keira first receives her breast cancer diagnosis, she never expects to end up joining a running group with three women she’s only just met. Totally blindsided, all she can think about is how she doesn’t want to tell her family or step back from work. Nor does she want to be part of a group of fellow cancer patients. Cancer is not her club. And yet it’s running - hot, sweaty, Lycra-clad running in the company of brilliant, funny women all going through treatment - that unexpectedly gives Keira the hope she so urgently needs.
-
-
depressing
- By Jessica on 09-15-22
By: Josie Lloyd
-
Holding the Man
- By: Timothy Conigrave
- Narrated by: Stephen Phillips
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The mid-'70s: at an all-boys Catholic school in Melbourne, Timothy Conigrave falls wildly and sweetly in love with the captain of the football team. So begins a relationship that weathers disapproval, separation and ultimately death. With honesty and insight, Holding the Man explores the highs and lows of any partnership and the strength of heart both men have to find when they test positive for HIV. This is a book as refreshing and uplifting as it is moving - a funny and sad and celebratory account of growing up gay.
-
-
An Beautiful Love Story!
- By Lee Kelly on 09-08-16
-
This Is Not a Pity Memoir
- By: Abi Morgan
- Narrated by: Fiona Button
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the partner of Emmy Award–winning screenwriter Abi Morgan abruptly collapsed from a mysterious illness, doctors were concerned that he would not survive. Then, six months later, Jacob woke from his coma, to the delight and relief of his family and friends—except this proved to be anything but a Hollywood ending. Because to Jacob, the woman standing at his bedside, who had cared for him all these months, was not his partner. Not his children’s mother. Not the woman he loved. Sure, she looked like his Abi, but this was an imposter, living someone else’s life.
-
-
Good book
- By Amazon Customer on 02-10-24
By: Abi Morgan
Critic reviews
What listeners say about The Girl with Nine Wigs
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Patricia
- 10-13-15
The Girl with Nine Wigs: A Memoir
A remarkable and unique memoir made more so by the insightful and talented narrator who is capable of making you believe you are actually listening to Sophie van der Stap herself as her personal journey unfolds! Well done, Ms. Cobb!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!