Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
Audiobook8 hours
Clever Girl
Written by Tessa Hadley
Narrated by Esther Wane
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Like Alice Munro and Colm Toibin, Tessa Hadley brilliantly captures the beauty, innocence, and irony of ordinary lives-an ability to transform the mundane into the sublime that elevates domestic fiction to literary art.
Written with the celebrated precision, intensity, and complexity that have marked her previous works, Clever Girl is a powerful exploration of family relationships and class in modern life, witnessed through the experiences of an English woman named Stella. Unfolding in a series of snapshots, Tessa Hadley's moving novel follows Stella from the shallows of childhood, growing up with a single mother in a Bristol bedsit in the 1960s, into the murky waters of middle age.
Clever Girl is a story vivid in its immediacy and rich in drama-violent deaths, failed affairs, broken dreams, missed chances. Yet it is Hadley's observations of everyday life, her keen skill at capturing the ways men and women think and feel and relate to one another, that dazzles.
Written with the celebrated precision, intensity, and complexity that have marked her previous works, Clever Girl is a powerful exploration of family relationships and class in modern life, witnessed through the experiences of an English woman named Stella. Unfolding in a series of snapshots, Tessa Hadley's moving novel follows Stella from the shallows of childhood, growing up with a single mother in a Bristol bedsit in the 1960s, into the murky waters of middle age.
Clever Girl is a story vivid in its immediacy and rich in drama-violent deaths, failed affairs, broken dreams, missed chances. Yet it is Hadley's observations of everyday life, her keen skill at capturing the ways men and women think and feel and relate to one another, that dazzles.
Author
Tessa Hadley
Tessa Hadley is the author of six highly acclaimed novels, including Clever Girl and The Past, as well as three short story collections, most recently Bad Dreams and Other Stories, which won the Edge Hill Short Story Prize. Her stories appear regularly in The New Yorker; in 2016 she was awarded the Windham Campbell Prize and the Hawthornden Prize. She lives in London.
More audiobooks from Tessa Hadley
The Past: A Novel Late in the Day: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bad Dreams and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Married Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The London Train Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Clever Girl
Related audiobooks
The Forgotten Waltz Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood; Youth; Dependency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Actress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pleasing Hour Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Delicate Edible Birds and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to be both Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Off Keck Road Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5News from Heaven: The Bakerton Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Collected Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mendocino Fire: Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Accidental Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Great House Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Flamethrowers: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Moon Tiger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saints and Sinners Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Costalegre Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5If Morning Ever Comes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Earthly Possessions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5St. Ivo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Telex from Cuba: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The English Teacher Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Slipping-Down Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Children and Fire: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Feast Your Eyes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Accomplished Guest: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Kitchen Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Companion Piece: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Behind the Scenes at the Museum: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Away Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Asymmetry: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Family Life For You
The Idea of You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collected Regrets of Clover: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Then She Was Gone: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe in Another Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reminders of Him: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Joy Luck Club Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bodyguard: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Regretting You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Evil Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Found You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Five Years: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to See Here Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineteen Steps: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mask of Sanity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Woman Is No Man: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The People We Keep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winter Garden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Where the Forest Meets the Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Home: the most moving and heartfelt novel you'll read this year Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Orchard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineteen Minutes: A novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Time's Mouth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bird Box: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not Forever, But For Now Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forever, Interrupted: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Commonwealth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related podcast episodes
Special Quarantine Edition - Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter 0% found this document usefulElif Batuman & Merve Emre: Either/Or 0% found this document usefulClaire-Louise Bennett on Checkout 19 0% found this document usefulLeslie Jamison on Jenny Offill’s ‘Weather’ 0% found this document usefulEp. 219 Genre Redlining with Leila Mottley 0% found this document usefulAuthors We've Been Meaning to Read & Finally Did! 0% found this document usefulThe Idiot: A Novel 50% found this document useful? Miriam Toews on Sweary Matriarchs, the Absurdity of Life, and the Human Imperative to Experience Joy? 0% found this document usefulS6 Ep5: Bookshelfie: Poorna Bell 0% found this document usefulHanya Yanagihara | Trump Hangs Up on NPR After Being Fact-Checked on Election Lies: A Closer Look 0% found this document usefulWriting with Emma Straub & Jami Attenberg (3.1) 0% found this document useful
Related articles
Bonding Over Bog Bodies In 'Meet Me At The Museum' NPRArticle
Bonding Over Bog Bodies In 'Meet Me At The Museum'
Aug 7, 2018
3 min readA Movie to Watch—And Weep Over—Alone The AtlanticArticle
A Movie to Watch—And Weep Over—Alone
Apr 16, 2023
5 min readClaire Vaye Watkins Goes On An Autofictional Odyssey Out West In Her Latest NPRArticle
Claire Vaye Watkins Goes On An Autofictional Odyssey Out West In Her Latest
Oct 5, 2021
3 min readInterlude Guernica MagazineArticle
Interlude
Mar 28, 2022
10 min readKevin Wilson Is On Fire In 'Nothing To See Here' NPRArticle
Kevin Wilson Is On Fire In 'Nothing To See Here'
Nov 2, 2019
3 min readFraught Relationship Between 'Sisters' Lies At The Heart Of Daisy Johnson's Latest NPRArticle
Fraught Relationship Between 'Sisters' Lies At The Heart Of Daisy Johnson's Latest
Aug 26, 2020
2 min read'Wellness' Is A Perfect Novel For Our Age, Its Profound Sadness Tempered With Humor NPRArticle
'Wellness' Is A Perfect Novel For Our Age, Its Profound Sadness Tempered With Humor
Sep 20, 2023
Nathan Hill's stunning new novel about the stories we tell about our lives and our loves, and how we sustain relationships throughout time, is both funny and heartbreaking, sometimes on the same page.
3 min read'Drive Your Plow' Is Philosophical Lament, Disguised As A Whodunit NPRArticle
'Drive Your Plow' Is Philosophical Lament, Disguised As A Whodunit
Aug 16, 2019
3 min readIn 'Olive, Again,' Elizabeth Strout Revisits An Old Friend NPRArticle
In 'Olive, Again,' Elizabeth Strout Revisits An Old Friend
Oct 16, 2019
3 min readBirnam Wood By Eleanor Catton Review – The Root Of All Evil The GuardianArticle
Birnam Wood By Eleanor Catton Review – The Root Of All Evil
Feb 26, 2023
In his great critical work The Sense of an Ending, Frank Kermode wrote about the end-directedness of fiction, the way that novels rehearse and forestall their endings – a process he called peripeteia. One thing he doesn’t discuss in that book is what
3 min readMaggie Shipstead: ‘In Fiction, You Can “Get At” Attractions That Don’t Fit The Mould Of Appropriateness’ The IndependentArticle
Maggie Shipstead: ‘In Fiction, You Can “Get At” Attractions That Don’t Fit The Mould Of Appropriateness’
May 4, 2021
The journalists who’ve interviewed me so far about the book have all commented that there’s ‘a lot of sex in it’,” says Maggie Shipstead, on the phone from her home in Los Angeles. There’s a lot of everything. We’ll come back to the sex and all its i
8 min readElizabeth Strout TIMEArticle
Elizabeth Strout
May 6, 2017
The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Olive Kitteridge returns with a story collection, Anything Is Possible, about war, personal trauma and class divides
2 min readJonathan Franzen’s New Novel ‘Crossroads’ Is Set In The Chicago ‘Burbs And Launches A Trilogy. He Knows You Already Have An Opinion About It. Chicago TribuneArticle
Jonathan Franzen’s New Novel ‘Crossroads’ Is Set In The Chicago ‘Burbs And Launches A Trilogy. He Knows You Already Have An Opinion About It.
Oct 20, 2021
8 min readPatricia Lockwood: “I Like The Things People On The Internet Can’t Talk About.” Guernica MagazineArticle
Patricia Lockwood: “I Like The Things People On The Internet Can’t Talk About.”
Mar 9, 2021
12 min read10 Books You Should Read This September Literary HubArticle
10 Books You Should Read This September
Sep 3, 2019
4 min readOlga Tokarczuk Explores the Live Chain That Connects and Fetters Us in ‘Flights’ The MillionsArticle
Olga Tokarczuk Explores the Live Chain That Connects and Fetters Us in ‘Flights’
Aug 9, 2018
In a section of Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk’s Man Booker International Prize-winning novel Flights, translated by Jennifer Croft, the wife and toddler of a man named Kunicki disappear while they are on vacation on a tiny island. After a long day spe
7 min readIn 'Old God's Time,' Sebastian Barry Stresses The Long Effects Of Violence And Abuse NPRArticle
In 'Old God's Time,' Sebastian Barry Stresses The Long Effects Of Violence And Abuse
Mar 22, 2023
3 min read5 Great Books You May Have Missed in June Literary HubArticle
5 Great Books You May Have Missed in June
Jul 19, 2017
3 min readCeleste Ng Makes The Case For Art As A Weapon Against Oppression In Her New Novel NPRArticle
Celeste Ng Makes The Case For Art As A Weapon Against Oppression In Her New Novel
Oct 7, 2022
3 min readA Novel At The Edge Of The World: In Conversation With Julia Phillips Literary HubArticle
A Novel At The Edge Of The World: In Conversation With Julia Phillips
Nov 19, 2019
7 min readThe America I Love Needs to Do Better The AtlanticArticle
The America I Love Needs to Do Better
May 31, 2020
5 min readAnne Enright On Losing Loved Objects To The Gaze Of Others Literary HubArticle
Anne Enright On Losing Loved Objects To The Gaze Of Others
Jul 20, 2020
2 min readA Poet-Nun Inspired This Tale Of Medieval Ambition, Pleasure And Aspiration NPRArticle
A Poet-Nun Inspired This Tale Of Medieval Ambition, Pleasure And Aspiration
Sep 6, 2021
3 min readBooker Prize 2022 Shortlist Features Oldest Author Evening StandardArticle
Booker Prize 2022 Shortlist Features Oldest Author
Oct 17, 2022
4 min read9 Novels in Which Houses Have a Life of Their Own Literary HubArticle
9 Novels in Which Houses Have a Life of Their Own
Sep 10, 2018
8 min readRachel Cusk Won’t Stay Still The AtlanticArticle
Rachel Cusk Won’t Stay Still
Oct 24, 2022
9 min readFields Of Dreams New Zealand ListenerArticle
Fields Of Dreams
Oct 16, 2022
2 min readShe Was Convinced She Didn't Exist. This Is How She Tethered Herself To Reality NPRArticle
She Was Convinced She Didn't Exist. This Is How She Tethered Herself To Reality
Aug 31, 2023
4 min readIn 'How Much Of These Hills Is Gold,' This Land Is Not Your Land NPRArticle
In 'How Much Of These Hills Is Gold,' This Land Is Not Your Land
Apr 10, 2020
2 min readCrimes of the Heart TIMEArticle
Crimes of the Heart
Nov 5, 2016
Like many of his novels, Spanish author Javier Marías’ new book, Thus Bad Begins, isn’t exactly a mystery, though it is mysterious. Here, the 65-year-old perennial Nobel favorite tells the story of Juan de Vere, a young man working for a film directo
1 min read
Reviews for Clever Girl
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
10 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tessa has an extraordinary way with telling stories about every day life. She is very detailed and keeps the reader engaged and interested until the end. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, but I expected this because the entire novel was just so. There was never really any resolve. Kind of a unresolved and ambiguous ending. However, such is life and this book is very human and relatable. But, I am a why person and there was never much explanation of why, only what, but in a beautiful story telling