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Idaho

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About this listen

Random House presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Idaho by Emily Ruskovich, read by Justine Eyre.

One hot August day a family drives to a mountain clearing to collect birch wood. Jenny, the mother, is in charge of lopping any small limbs off the logs with a hatchet. Wade, the father, does the stacking. The two daughters, June and May, aged nine and six, drink lemonade, swat away horseflies, bicker, sing snatches of songs as they while away the time.

But then something unimaginably shocking happens, an act so extreme it will scatter the family in every different direction.

In a story told from multiple perspectives and in razor-sharp prose, we gradually learn more about this act, and the way its violence, love and memory reverberate through the life of every character in Idaho.

 Crime Fiction Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Crime Suspense

Critic reviews

I love Idaho for the sparse beauty of its prose, the unsolvable mystery at its heart, the cleverly constructed non-linear narrative and its preoccupations… which so closely match my own (Paula Hawkins)
Writing that has the cool sharpness of lemonade... Unflinching, unfrilly, multi-layered storytelling that is both beautiful and devastating (Rachel Joyce)
Hauntingly brilliant, this book will stay with you for days after you’ve put it down
You're in masterly hands here... will remind many of the great Idaho novel, Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping... wrenching and beautiful
From the first page it is clear that Ruskovich’s poetic, spare writing would be enough to compel on its own, but this extraordinary story of a violent event that decimates a young family in northern Idaho is the true engine here. It’s a puzzle that enthrals from the outset. (Lucy Clark)
It’s a set-up that reads straight out of the darkest of psychological thrillers … That an act of such brutality inspires storytelling as beautiful as this is reason enough for this debut novel to stand out from the crowd
At first glance this novel looks like a typical example of the 'post-catastrophe' genre... In fact, Idaho is deeper and broader -- and far more interesting... Ruskovich is not afraid of tackling the messy ambiguity of 'real' life, nor the difficulty of truly knowing another person, and she delivers her revelations with assurance and skill (Kate Saunders)
Ruskovich’s writing is well crafted and poetic, particularly when evoking nature and weather in the backwoods, and the contrast with Jenny’s claustrophobic prison half-life is extremely well done. A sad, involving read. (Fanny Blake)
Breathtakingly written, haunting and heartbreaking, Idaho lingers long after it’s finished (Louise Rhind-Tutt)
Devastating... a textured, emotionally intricate story of deliverance... Ruskovich's writing is a deft razor
All stars
Most relevant
Interesting story, very disappointing ending. Well written but dragged on towards the end. The narrator’s voice was really hard to listen to and I nearly gave up because of it

Couldn’t bear the narrators voice

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Narrator stopped me finishing what is possibly a good book. Sounded like wobbly Katherine Hepburn

.A. book to read not hear

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I wanted to enjoy this but what a badly chosen narrator.
The wrong intonation that dulls and stagnates what is undoubtedly a good book?
Shame. I did finish it but it was hard work.

Wrong Narrator

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