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A Better Life

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A Better Life

By: Lionel Shriver
Narrated by: George Newbern
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‘A superb satirical novelist’ WASHINGTON POST

In a provocative novel addressing contemporary immigration by the sharply observant Lionel Shriver, a New York family takes in a Honduran migrant – who may or may not be the innocent paragon she claims to be.

‘An incendiary provocateur’ EVENING STANDARD

‘A gleeful satire on the immigration debate’ THE TIMES

Gloria Bonaventura, a divorced mother of three living with her 26-year-old son Nico in a sprawling house in Brooklyn, decides to participate in a new city programme – Big Apple, Big Heart – that would pay her to take in a migrant as a boarder. Gloria is thrilled when sweet, kind, helpful Martine arrives. But Nico is sceptical. A classic live-at-home, unemployed Gen Zer with no interest in adulthood, Nico resents the indignity of moving from his self-contained basement flat and back into his childhood bedroom.

As the months go by, Martine endears herself to both Nico’s sisters, while finding her way into Gloria’s heart. But as Martine’s disturbingly dodgy compatriots begin to show up, Nico grows only more hostile to both his mother’s altruism and the ‘migrant crisis’ in general – though turns out to be anything but a reliable narrator himself.

©2026 Lionel Shriver (P)2026 HarperCollins Publishers Family Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Political Satire World Literature Witty Funny Heartfelt Thought-Provoking
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Critic reviews

‘A gleeful satire on the immigration debate’ THE TIMES

‘Master of the neat twist’ DAILY EXPRESS

‘Shriver's hard-headedness and willingness to say controversial things are refreshing’ PROSPECT

‘An acerbic comedian’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Shriver is brilliant’ THE TIMES

‘A formidably sharp writer’ EVENING STANDARD

‘Shriver has the gift for making one instantly curious’ OBSERVER

‘A writer who wants us to think more, probe more, challenge more — and who also makes it fun’ SUNDAY TIMES

All stars
Most relevant
Lionel (I don't know her, but I feel we could be good friends) creates her characters and then puts them in situation to torure them (and us) for 10 deicious hours. Wicked fun, and superbly performed.

Deliciously wicked

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The characters are neither saints nor caricatures but recognisably modern Westerners: anxious about status, haunted by decline, and simultaneously convinced of their own enlightenment. As ever, Shriver refuses the consolations of easy virtue as she takes masterful control of the central theme of the age.

Masterful control of the central theme.

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Brilliant. Shocking. Quite harrowing!


I really wish Audible would remove the 15 word minimum review qualification.

Woh…!

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Shriver is an excellent writer unafraid to tackle difficult subjects. She gets away with it by using familiar settings and believable characters to whom she gives vibrant dialogue.
Great narration, he suited the novel perfectly.

Crackling prose

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Absolutely loved this and it is narrated so well. It could almost have been Lionel Shriver speaking.Such a fabulous and comical narrative on the madness of modern times!

Excellent!

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