One Two Three

A Novel

By: Laurie Frankel

Narrated by: Emma Galvin, Jesse Vilinsky, Rebecca Soler

Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

"The smart choice of narrators Emma Galvin (One), Jesse Vilinsky (Two), and Rebecca Soler (Three) as the Mitchell triplets is entertaining in addition to their amazing synergy." (Booklist (starred review)

This program includes a bonus conversation with the author.

From Laurie Frankel, the New York Times best-selling author of This Is How It Always Is, a Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine Book Pick, comes One Two Three, a timely, topical novel about love and family that will make you laugh and cry...and laugh again.

In a town where nothing ever changes, suddenly everything does....

Everyone knows everyone in the tiny town of Bourne, but the Mitchell triplets are especially beloved. Mirabel is the smartest person anyone knows, and no one doubts it just because she can’t speak. Monday is the town’s purveyor of books now that the library’s closed - tell her the book you think you want, and she’ll pull the one you actually do from the microwave or her sock drawer. Mab’s job is hardest of all: get good grades, get into college, get out of Bourne.

For a few weeks seventeen years ago, Bourne was national news when its water turned green. The girls have come of age watching their mother’s endless fight for justice. But just when it seems life might go on the same forever, the first moving truck anyone’s seen in years pulls up and unloads new residents and old secrets. Soon, the Mitchell sisters are taking on a system stacked against them and uncovering mysteries buried longer than they’ve been alive. Because it's hard to let go of the past when the past won't let go of you.

Three unforgettable narrators join together here to tell a spellbinding story with wit, wonder, and deep affection. As she did in This Is How It Always Is, Laurie Frankel has written a laugh-out-loud-grab-a-tissue novel, as only she can, about how expanding our notions of normal makes the world a better place for everyone and how when days are darkest, it’s our daughters who will save us all.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

©2021 Laurie Frankel (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2021, Shelf Awareness Best Books of the Year

Beautiful

I love a happy ending. I love empowered women, relationships, and, as a mom of a child with Down Syndrome, I love seeing people with disabilities shown in a favorable light. This book had all of that! So good! So well performed too!

Great story, awesome narration!!

Well written, narrators did an awesome job! I have wondered if some characters can come across so well in the written format as they do in Audible!

FANTASTIC LISTEN!

Frankel was a new author for me. After One Two Three I am going to add her others to my library. The narrators were also new to me. They were fabulous! I honestly miss the characters now that it's over. I wish I was able to "put this down" so I could stretch it out & spend more time with them all. Pick up this title. You won't regret it. Such a unique story told in a beautiful way.

Loved EVERYTHING about this book!!!

The book is written beautifully, the setting and story are disturbingly enchanting and the sisters are AWESOME! The only thing better than the sisters are the narrators of the sisters voices!!! WOW. Especially Monday (2) who's narration was spot on perfect. I will come back to this book again and again i feel and think that the production of the audio completely enhanced the story itself and that is a tall order.

fantastic audio production!

I listened to the audio of “One Two Three” by Laurie Frankel and encourage any audio lovers to do the same. The audio production added to the enjoyment of listening to the novel’s three teenage narrators. An added bonus: at the end of the novel there is a discussion with Frankel about how she was inspired to write the story, plus a discussion with the sound editor of Macmillan Audio. I enjoyed listening to what goes into the production of an audio book….from hiring the perfect narrators to melding the three voices into the perfect production.

The Mitchell triplets are the sixteen-year-old narrators. As the story opens, Nora, their mother is giving birth to the girls. She wants the girls to have names that begin with “M” with the first daughter a one syllable name, the second will have two syllables, and the third will have three. It does make it easy to follow the girls, as I remembered who was who based upon their names. Sounds silly, but it works. The first daughter is Mab and she is a basic teen. Monday, the second girl is on the spectrum, and she was my favorite. Her insights are hilarious. Finally, Mirabel is the genius who can’t eat, walk, or talk. She is wheelchair bound and uses a voice activating machine for communicating. We get to hear her inner musings. Because she’s in a wheelchair, people treat her like she’s a piece of furniture, so she hears a lot.

The girls live in a fictious town named Bourne, where 17 years earlier there was a chemical spill in the water supply forcing the main employer to shut down, rendering the town a ghost town. The people who stayed either had cancer, birth defects or other health issues, which the townsfolk believe the chemical spill caused. Nora is on a mission to make the employer pay for the town’s devastation. The people who still live there are a quirky group and add enjoyment to the story.

The girl’s chapters are headed by their birth order. In other words, One’s chapters are Mab’s. Two is Monday, and three is Mirabel. The girls’ lives are upended when the previous owner of the business comes back to Bourne and wants the factory to be reinstated. The owners bring their very handsome sixteen-year-old son, River, with them. Well, there hasn’t been a new person in town EVER, and certainly not a cute boy. The girls are conflicted, as their mother is aghast that the family has returned and she wants nothing more than to expose them and bring them down. Meanwhile, River is a sweet boy who just wants to fit in.

This is a very funny, sweet, and touching story of three sisters who are coming-of-age and wanting to help their mother in righting a wrong. The girls are so much fun. Even Mab, who is normal, brings enjoyment to the reader because she is getting ready for her SAT test and she and her BFF, Petra, are working on vocabulary. The words used, LOL, you will chuckle. Monday will only eat yellow things and wear yellow clothing, unless it’s raining, and then it’s green. She’s the town librarian and has books everywhere, including the microwave (because no one uses the microwave). Mirabel uses her furniture status to gain inside information. Nora, who doesn’t narrate but nonetheless is a quirky character adds charm, as do the eccentric townsfolk.

I enjoyed this as a fun story that is well written. It’s nice to have a story that brings a smile to your face.

Excellent narration

Loved all three triplets- their voices and characteristics could not have been better matched with their disabilities. The very end a little odd, but really great performances and story.

FYI that I didn’t pick up till the author’s interview- the number of syllables of each name matched the birth order.

A little different from my usual reads

I liked the performance of this audio book. Captured the essence of the characters!
Thought the story line could have been a little better… but definitely enjoyed the audiobook

great experience

loved this listen. each of the characters was so entertaining in their own way. I loved that they used a different narrator for each girl. I laughed when listening. felt excited to hear of each of the girls.

not my favorite

I thought it was a good story, with some surprising twists,, but as it went on it was more and more interrupted by what I call "long preachy bits" that didn't advance the story. All they did was tell you, over and over, things that the listener could already intuit on their own. I also thought the structure of the ending was jarring, and seemed too contrived. A very topical story and well done overall, but the preachy bits were just too long.

Captivating

These characters, this town, the story and the audio performance had me captivated the entire time. I have already recommended this to so many people and I will continue to reflect on this novel for a long time. I must look up other titles by this author.