
The Weight of Him
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 $24.47
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Tim Gerard Reynolds
-
By:
-
Ethel Rohan
About this listen
At 400 pounds, Billy Brennan can always count on food. From his earliest memories, he has loved food's colors, textures, and tastes. The way flavors go off in his mouth. How food keeps his mind still and his bad feelings quiet. Food has always made everything better, until the day Billy's beloved son, Michael, takes his own life.
In Michael's memory, Billy determines to make a difference and undertakes a public weight-loss campaign to raise money for suicide prevention - his first step in an ambitious plan to save himself and others. However, Billy's dramatic crusade appalls his family, who simply want to get on with their lives. Despite his crushing detractors, Billy garners welcome allies: his community, a coworker who lost his father to suicide, and a filmmaker with his own dubious agenda, as well as a secret miniature kingdom that Billy populates with the subquality dolls and soldiers he rescues from disposal at the local toy factory where he works. But it is only if Billy can confront the truth of his pain and suffering and the brokenness around him that he and others will see the change they need.
Set in rural contemporary Ireland, The Weight of Him is an unforgettable, bighearted novel about loss and reliance that moves from tragedy to recrimination to what can be achieved when we truly decide to take a stand.
©2017 Ethel Rohan (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Everything She Forgot
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Ballantyne
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They're calling it the worst pileup in London history. Margaret Holloway is driving home, but her mind is elsewhere - on a troubled student, her daughter's acting class, the next day's meeting - when she's rear-ended and trapped in the wreckage. Just as she begins to panic, a disfigured stranger pulls her from the car seconds before it's engulfed in flames. Then he simply disappears.
-
-
Surprisingly emotional
- By RueRue on 04-09-16
By: Lisa Ballantyne
-
The Lying Game
- A Novel
- By: Ruth Ware
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a cool June morning, Isa Wilde, a resident of the seemingly idyllic coastal village of Salten, is walking her dog along a tidal estuary. Before she can stop him, Isa's dog charges into the water to retrieve what first appears to be a wayward stick - and to her horror, Isa discovers it's not a stick at all...but a human bone. As her three best friends from childhood converge in Salten to comfort a seriously shaken-up Isa, terrifying discoveries are made, and their collective history slowly unravels.
-
-
REALLY LET DOWN, I'm not gonna lie! (No spoilers)
- By Very disappointed on 07-27-17
By: Ruth Ware
-
I Let You Go
- By: Clare Mackintosh
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber, Steven Crossley
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past. At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run.
-
-
Compelling thriller
- By Nerida on 05-15-16
By: Clare Mackintosh
-
My Sister and Other Liars
- By: Ruth Dugdall
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam is 17, starving herself and longing for oblivion. Her sister, Jena, is mentally scarred and desperate to remember. Between them, they share secrets too terrible to recall.
-
-
This novel would make a 5 star novella!
- By Wayne on 05-03-17
By: Ruth Dugdall
-
Ketchup Clouds
- By: Annabel Pitcher
- Narrated by: Julie Maisey
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Zoe has an unconventional pen pal - Mr. Stuart Harris, a Texas Death Row inmate and convicted murderer. But then again, Zoe has an unconventional story to tell. A story about how she fell for two brothers, betrayed one of them, and killed the other. Hidden away in her backyard shed in the middle of the night with a jam sandwich in one hand and a pen in the other, Zoe gives a voice to her heart and her fears after months of silence. Mr. Harris may never respond to Zoe's letters, but at least somebody will know her story...
-
-
amazing
- By Charleneann on 05-03-17
By: Annabel Pitcher
-
Three Secrets
- By: Clare Boyd
- Narrated by: Jane McDowell
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert kisses his wife on the head before heading out to the shop for more wine; he walks up the hill, takes a left across the footbridge, and jumps to his death on the busy motorway below. Two years later, Francesca and her young daughter are leaving London for a fresh start. Money is tight, and Robert’s mother has found them a little cottage in her village. Francesca is grateful for the help, but why does Robert’s mother want to keep them so close? Does she know about what Francesca did in the hour before Robert’s death?
-
-
Three Secrets, One Yawn
- By David on 05-30-18
By: Clare Boyd
-
Everything She Forgot
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Ballantyne
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They're calling it the worst pileup in London history. Margaret Holloway is driving home, but her mind is elsewhere - on a troubled student, her daughter's acting class, the next day's meeting - when she's rear-ended and trapped in the wreckage. Just as she begins to panic, a disfigured stranger pulls her from the car seconds before it's engulfed in flames. Then he simply disappears.
-
-
Surprisingly emotional
- By RueRue on 04-09-16
By: Lisa Ballantyne
-
The Lying Game
- A Novel
- By: Ruth Ware
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a cool June morning, Isa Wilde, a resident of the seemingly idyllic coastal village of Salten, is walking her dog along a tidal estuary. Before she can stop him, Isa's dog charges into the water to retrieve what first appears to be a wayward stick - and to her horror, Isa discovers it's not a stick at all...but a human bone. As her three best friends from childhood converge in Salten to comfort a seriously shaken-up Isa, terrifying discoveries are made, and their collective history slowly unravels.
-
-
REALLY LET DOWN, I'm not gonna lie! (No spoilers)
- By Very disappointed on 07-27-17
By: Ruth Ware
-
I Let You Go
- By: Clare Mackintosh
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber, Steven Crossley
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past. At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run.
-
-
Compelling thriller
- By Nerida on 05-15-16
By: Clare Mackintosh
-
My Sister and Other Liars
- By: Ruth Dugdall
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sam is 17, starving herself and longing for oblivion. Her sister, Jena, is mentally scarred and desperate to remember. Between them, they share secrets too terrible to recall.
-
-
This novel would make a 5 star novella!
- By Wayne on 05-03-17
By: Ruth Dugdall
-
Ketchup Clouds
- By: Annabel Pitcher
- Narrated by: Julie Maisey
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Zoe has an unconventional pen pal - Mr. Stuart Harris, a Texas Death Row inmate and convicted murderer. But then again, Zoe has an unconventional story to tell. A story about how she fell for two brothers, betrayed one of them, and killed the other. Hidden away in her backyard shed in the middle of the night with a jam sandwich in one hand and a pen in the other, Zoe gives a voice to her heart and her fears after months of silence. Mr. Harris may never respond to Zoe's letters, but at least somebody will know her story...
-
-
amazing
- By Charleneann on 05-03-17
By: Annabel Pitcher
-
Three Secrets
- By: Clare Boyd
- Narrated by: Jane McDowell
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert kisses his wife on the head before heading out to the shop for more wine; he walks up the hill, takes a left across the footbridge, and jumps to his death on the busy motorway below. Two years later, Francesca and her young daughter are leaving London for a fresh start. Money is tight, and Robert’s mother has found them a little cottage in her village. Francesca is grateful for the help, but why does Robert’s mother want to keep them so close? Does she know about what Francesca did in the hour before Robert’s death?
-
-
Three Secrets, One Yawn
- By David on 05-30-18
By: Clare Boyd
-
The Oceans Between Us
- By: Gill Thompson
- Narrated by: Jane Collingwood
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by extraordinary true events, this remarkable debut novel reveals the enduring power of love and the strength of the human spirit in one woman's quest to find her son, and a little boy's dream to be found.
-
-
so much sadness and tragedy
- By LaLa on 08-25-20
By: Gill Thompson
-
Beyond the Crushing Waves
- By: Bronwen Pratley
- Narrated by: Melissa Chambers
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Roberts is an impoverished child living in a council flat in 1950s London. When she and her sister are left at an orphanage by their mother, they don't think their lives can get any worse. Harry Evans is an orphan who finds himself, with Mary and her sister, on board a ship bound for Australia. They're sent to a farm school for children, where abuse and neglect are rife. A journey that will change their lives forever and from which they’ll never return.
-
-
Mirren Steps Outside Her Box
- By Jane Meddaugh on 03-18-22
By: Bronwen Pratley
-
The Reunion
- By: Samantha Hayes
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Then - In charge of her little sister at the beach, Claire allowed Eleanor to walk to the shop alone to buy an ice cream. Placing a coin into her hand, Claire told her to be quick, knowing how much she wanted the freedom. Eleanor never came back. Now - The time has finally come to sell the family farm and Claire is organizing a reunion of her dearest friends, the same friends who were present the day her sister went missing. When another girl disappears, long-buried secrets begin to surface.
-
-
Waaaaaaaaaay too long.
- By Debra on 02-28-18
By: Samantha Hayes
-
The Liar's Wife
- By: Samantha Hayes
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ella wakes up in a hospital following a hit-and-run incident, she is scared and confused. Close to tears, her eyes fall on a get-well-soon card on the window sill, and the nurse reassures her that her loving husband will be back soon. But Ella has never been married. In fact, she has lived alone her whole adult life; working hard, rarely socializing, quietly harboring a terrible secret from her past.
-
-
Leave Already!
- By Rinnie on 12-04-18
By: Samantha Hayes
-
I Know My Name
- By: C. J. Cooke
- Narrated by: Stephanie Racine, Joshua Manning
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a small Greek island, a woman comes ashore with no memory of who she is, where she's from, or how she came to be shipwrecked there. Worse, she has no way of leaving. As she's nursed back to health by the island's only inhabitants, four friends on an annual retreat, she detects tensions between the group that suggest not all is quite as it seems.
-
-
The 3 Face of Eve + The Dying Game
- By Jenn on 01-18-18
By: C. J. Cooke
-
In Her Wake
- By: Amanda Jennings
- Narrated by: Kate Rawson
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tragic family event reveals devastating news that rips apart Bella's comfortable existence. Embarking on a personal journey to uncover the truth, she faces a series of traumatic discoveries that take her to the ruggedly beautiful Cornish coast, where hidden truths, past betrayals and a 25-year-old mystery threaten not just her identity but her life.
-
-
Slow
- By aaron f. on 05-17-16
By: Amanda Jennings
-
Rubbernecker
- By: Belinda Bauer
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dead can't speak to us, Professor Madoc had said. But that was a lie. The body Patrick Fort is examining in anatomy class is trying to tell him all kinds of things. But no one hears what he does, and no one understands when he tries to tell them. Life is already strange enough for Patrick - being a medical student with Asperger's Syndrome doesn't come without its challenges. And that's before he is faced with solving a possible murder, especially when no one believes a crime has even taken place.
-
-
Different
- By Leigh on 08-17-16
By: Belinda Bauer
-
All the Best People
- By: Sonja Yoerg
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vermont, 1972. Carole LaPorte has a satisfying, ordinary life. She cares for her children, balances the books for the family's auto shop, and laughs when her husband slow dances her across the kitchen floor. Her tragic childhood might have happened to someone else. But now her mind is playing tricks on her. The accounts won't reconcile and the murmuring she hears isn't the television.
-
-
Fantastic
- By Samantha on 05-20-17
By: Sonja Yoerg
-
Little Liar
- By: Clare Boyd
- Narrated by: Jane McDowell
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a child’s scream pierces the night, Mira does what any good neighbor would do: She calls the police. She wants to make sure that Rosie, the little girl next door, is safe. Opening her front door to the police the next morning, Gemma's picture-perfect family is forced under scrutiny of social services. As her flawless life begins to crumble around her, Gemma must fight to defend the family she loves and protect her daughter from the terrible secret she's been keeping. When Rosie disappears without a trace, Gemma thinks she only has herself to blame....
-
-
Satisfying Read
- By Kindle Customer on 03-19-18
By: Clare Boyd
-
Young Mungo
- By: Douglas Stuart
- Narrated by: Chris Reilly
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born under different stars—Mungo a Protestant and James a Catholic—they should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all. Their environment is a hyper-masculine and sectarian one, for gangs of young men and the violence they might dole out dominate the Glaswegian estate where they live. And yet against all odds Mungo and James become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the pigeon dovecote that James has built for his prize racing birds.
-
-
Suffering Sappho!
- By Richard Stewart on 04-12-22
By: Douglas Stuart
-
The Woman Next Door
- By: Cass Green
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck, Bea Holland
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two suburban women. Two dark secrets. The almost perfect murder. Everybody needs good neighbours.... Melissa and Hester have lived next door to each other for years. When Melissa's daughter was younger, Hester was almost like a grandmother to her. But recently they haven't been so close. Hester has plans to change all that. It's obvious to her that despite Melissa's outwardly glamorous and successful life, she needs Hester's help.
-
-
Biting, Beguiling, Will make you smile AND shudder
- By MarisaReads on 01-07-17
By: Cass Green
-
The Secret
- The Number One Best-Selling Author of The Letter
- By: Kathryn Hughes
- Narrated by: Rachel Atkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary has been nursing a secret. Forty years ago, she made a choice that would change her world for ever, and alter the path of someone she holds dear. Beth is searching for answers. She has never known the truth about her parentage, but finding out could be the lifeline her sick child so desperately needs. When Beth finds a faded newspaper cutting amongst her mother's things, she realises the key to her son's future lies in her own past. She must go back to where it all began to unlock...the Secret.
-
-
I loved reading the book so much but some time has past so I decided to have a listen while I knit.
- By Shaun on 07-24-19
By: Kathryn Hughes
What listeners say about The Weight of Him
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- The Dark Side
- 04-03-17
A very Touching Story.
Where does The Weight of Him rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I would rank in the 40th percentile. I have listened to so many, that's the only way I know how to rate it.
What other book might you compare The Weight of Him to and why?
No other books I've listened to.
What about Tim Gerard Reynolds’s performance did you like?
I believe Tim Gerard Reynolds added a lot to this book. I dont believe it's one I could've stuck with if reading.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I believe it did make me tear up a little. The story is about a son who commits suicide , the family is clueless. The father is determined to make it his fault.
Any additional comments?
The Dad in the book comes up with a unique way to try and increase awareness of suicide among teens especially. Despite ridicule from family and friends he trudges on. It's very endearing how positive his attitude and self restraint make Him very loveable.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kadeen
- 03-02-17
Just Wonderful!
A very touching and enlightening story that made me search deep within myself. I highly recommend this story.
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
- Alyse Stolz
- 05-26-17
Heavy
No pun intended- but this book weighed quite heavily on me. The book handles extremely hard topics very well, but the pacing of the book made me feel like there was an imbalance of rushed moments and moments that dragged on and a bit of strange time jumping. Besides this though, the book was really emotionally powerful.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeff Lacy
- 03-31-18
Authentic performance and emotional integrity
The Weight of Him is a novel of emotional integrity and courage. It is a profoundly poignant drama with great wisdom and insight. Rohan’s writing is vivid and generous that captures the tone of scenery, time, character, and space. The characters are painted compellingly and distinctively. This novel puts Rohan in the same conversation with John Banville, Donal Ryan, Sebastian Barry, Roddy Doyle. The writing is masterful. The plot is heartbreaking and inspiring. The story is entertaining I am reminded of Judith Guest’s 1970’sish novel Ordinary People.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!