Anything is Possible cover art

Anything is Possible

 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 £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout, read by Kimberly Farr.

An unforgettable cast of small-town characters copes with love and loss from the No. 1 New York Times bestselling and Man Booker long-listed author of My Name is Lucy Barton

Recalling Olive Kitteridge in its richness, structure, and complexity, Anything Is Possible explores the whole range of human emotion through the intimate dramas of people struggling to understand themselves and others. Anything is Possible tells the story of the inhabitants of rural, dusty Amgash, Illinois, the hometown of Lucy Barton, a successful New York writer who finally returns, after seventeen years of absence, to visit the siblings she left behind.

Reverberating with the deep bonds of family, and the hope that comes with reconciliation, Anything Is Possible again underscores Elizabeth Strout's place as one of America's most respected and cherished authors.

 Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Critic reviews

I am deeply impressed. Writing of this quality comes from a commitment to listening, from a perfect attunement to the human condition, from an attention to reality so exact that it goes beyond a skill and becomes a virtue. (Hilary Mantel on 'My Name is Lucy Barton')
So good I got goosebumps... a masterly novel of family ties by one of America's finest writers (Sunday Times on 'My Name is Lucy Barton')
Strout's best novel yet (Ann Patchett on 'My Name is Lucy Barton')
A powerful storyteller immersed in the nuances of human relationships (Observer on 'My Name is Lucy Barton')
Tender, elegiac, this is the story of a single life that also manages to tell the story of many (Independent on 'My Name is Lucy Barton')
Sympathetic, subtle and sometimes shocking (Emma Healey on 'My Name is Lucy Barton')
This is a glorious novel, deft, tender and true. Read it
Elizabeth Strout's prose is like words doing jazz (Rachel Joyce)
Plain and beautiful...Strout writes with an extraordinary tenderness and restraint (Kate Summerscale on 'My Name is Lucy Barton')
Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge is the best novel I've read for some time (David Nicholls)
All stars
Most relevant
when I finished listening to this I wondered which story would I go back and listen to again but I decided almost immediately that I would go back to the start and enjoy the book all over again. The first listen is to hear the story and the second listen is to fully appreciate the beauty of the language, which is narrated brilliantly. I would rate Ms Farr in the to 5 Audible narrators. She brings so much to each character that you can forget that it's just one person narrating.

Such a pleasure

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed meeting the characters created in this book. There is an illusion to Lucy Barton, but she is not really centre stage. Each chapter leads from one character's story to another with slender links between them an insights into both sides of the relationships and the dynamics of the families. It deals with issues of prejudice and the ability of people to make something of themselves. All the people seem real and credible enough that you could meet them in life and recognise them.

Intriguing tales of middle America

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Entertaining, loved the characters, slow pace may frustrate some but it added to my enjoyment. One couple maybe a bit too bizarre but generally a great listen and wonderful characters.

Loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Do read all the other reviews, some are very erudite, mostly all extremely positive. This book really moved me. It is so heart rending. In my view even better than My Name Is Lucy Barton and Oh William. The lives of all the characters are written about so poignantly by Elisabeth Strout. Great narration.

Heart rending

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Full of intriguing characters. neighbours, friends, relatives. Well crafted, if occasionally everyday dull, but an enjoyable listen overall

Beautifully observed characters

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