A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing cover art

A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

About this listen

ONE OF THE SUNDAY TIMES' '25 BEST NOVELS OF THE 21ST CENTURY'

Eimear McBride's award-winning debut is an unforgettable novel from a major new literary talent.

A Girl is a Half-formed Thing tells the story of a young woman's relationship with her brother, and the long shadow cast by his childhood brain tumour. It is a shocking and intimate insight into the thoughts, feelings and chaotic sexuality of a vulnerable and isolated protagonist. The author's spellbinding reading illuminates every nuance of the text with feeling and sympathy.

The listener enters the narrator's head, experiencing her world first hand. This isn't always comfortable - but it is always a revelation

WINNER OF THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION, 2014; WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE, 2014

KERRY GROUP IRISH NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD, 2014; WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE, 2014

©2013 Eimear McBride (P)2014 Faber Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Scary Thought-Provoking Inspiring Tear-jerking

Critic reviews

"You only need to read the first paragraph of McBride's debut novel to know you are reading something special. She builds up images impressionistically over paragraphs and pages, and her writing has such glorious cadence that it should be read aloud." ( The Times)
"A virtuosic debut: subversive, passionate, and darkly alchemical. Read it and be changed." (Eleanor Catton, author of The Luminaries)
"Eimear McBride is that old-fashioned thing, a genius... The adventurous reader will find that they have a real book on their hands, a live one, a book that is not like any other... [it] is an instant classic." (Anne Enright, Guardian)
"A writer of remarkable power and originality." (David Collard, Times Literary Supplement)
"A brutal and brilliant debut... This book will arouse powerful emotions in anyone who accords it the respect of reading with attention." (John P. O'Sullivan, Sunday Times Ireland)
"A remarkable achievement." (John Boland, Irish Independent)
"There's an immediacy, an emotional directness as the narrator rails against a frustrating, unfeeling world. Brave, bold, brilliant." ( Daily Mail)
"Ten pages in and all the bells start ringing. It explodes into your chest." (Caitlin Moran)
"Soul-wrenchingly sad." ( Financial Times)
"McBride weaves something dazzling... She set out to pick up the experimental modernist baton from James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, and she has done just that." ( Observer)
"It truly is one of the most extraordinary things I've read in the last year." ( Harper’s Bazaar)
All stars
Most relevant
A brutal read, but breathtaking. Audiobook seems a brilliant way to experience it, although often hard to follow and benefits from repeat listening

Unsettling and spectacular

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A fantastic work. Utterly heartbreaking. The award is totally deserved. It’s not easy going but definitely worth it.

Heartbreaking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An astounding and disturbing book, but true and necessary. Most Irish women will recognise the truth in it, the shame in it. How religion can twist and be used to abuse. This tells many stories so well. It is haunting.

Necessary. What Catholic guilt and shame does to the Irish woman.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
So touching and sad. A very unique way of writing and was great to be read by the author.

Excellent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I'll certainly be listening to more from this author. Not an easy listen but well worth it.

Tough going

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews