Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Pond

By: Claire-Louise Bennett
Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.75

Buy for $13.75

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

In Claire-Louise Bennett's shimmering debut, an unnamed young woman - wry, somewhat misanthropic, keenly observant - chronicles her life on the outskirts of a small coastal village.

The charms of bananas and oatcakes in the morning and Spanish oranges after sex; the small pleasures and anxieties of throwing a party, exchanging salacious emails with a new lover, sitting in the bath as it storms outside. Broken oven knobs prompt a meditation on survival that's both haunting and playful; a sunset walk leads to an unsettling encounter with a herd of cows; the discovery of an old letter recalls an impossible affair.

Sidestepping the usual conventions of narrative, Pond refracts the narrator's uncannily intimate experience in the details of daily life, rendered sometimes in story-like stretches, sometimes in fragments, and suffused with the almost synesthetic intensity of the physical world as we remember it from childhood. As her persona emerges in all its particularity, sometimes painfully and often hilariously, we cannot help seeing mirrored there our own fraught longings, our own fugitive desire, despite everything, to be known.

Enchanting and unusual, Pond will linger long after the last minute.

©2015 Claire-Louise Bennett (P)2016 Tantor
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"Bennett has achieved something strange, unique, and undeniably wonderful." ( Publishers Weekly)
"[Narrator Lucy] Rayner's adept vocal performance and Bennett's intriguing prose make for an interesting listen for dedicated listeners." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about Pond

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    21
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    18
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    8

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

darling, enchanting story

though this story lacks any direct sort of plot, the narrator brings you into her world of thoughts in her life. filled with gentle language and stunning imagery, pond is like a cup of tea on a rainy day. a gift, if only for warmth and companionship.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I downloaded this because I miss my physical copy

Pond is my favorite book and my copy is written all over. I was nervous to let a friend borrow my copy because it felt very intimate and I was afraid he wouldn't like it. He still has it and I had to download this because I miss my copy very much. I love listening to it, but I do wish they had chosen a reader with an Irish accent. I know the narrator is not necessarily Irish, but she's lived in Ireland for a while and I'd expect a bit of an accent. Yes, a reader who is English but has developed a slight accent from living in Ireland. I know this is very specific, but I really think the audiobook would benefit from this addition.

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
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

How About a Plot or a Story

This is a book about her personal observation. Although she had an excellent facility with language, it lacks any point, plot or purpose. I bought this based on recommendations and I am sorry I did. Unfortunately a complete waste of my time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

The narrator was wonderful but the story skippable

Would you try another book from Claire-Louise Bennett and/or Lucy Rayner?

Not by the author but by the narrator

What could Claire-Louise Bennett have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The unknown character wasn't likable or compelling for me. I didn't care about her and her musings were boring.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

How pointless it was

I felt like hours were stolen from me. I really tried to. Finished it was surprised when it was done because I couldn’t tell. Just stopped, I kept hoping something would be interesting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!