The Accidental Woman cover art

The Accidental Woman

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Accidental Woman

By: Jonathan Coe
Narrated by: Sophie Ward
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Accidental Woman by Jonathan Coe, read by Sophie Ward.

For Maria, nothing is certain. Her life is a chain of accidents. Friendship passes her by, and she's unimpressed by the devoted Ronny and his endless proposals of marriage. Maria lives in a world of her own - yet not of her own making. Stumbling through university, work, marriage and motherhood, she finds it hard to see what all the fuss is about.

Will she ever be able to control the direction of her life? Or will it end, as it began, by accident? What does chance have in store for the accidental woman?

 Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Marriage
All stars
Most relevant
The cult novel of my university years. It felt super good to re-listen it after 15 years indeed. Utterly funny. Utterly sad. Very clever, still inmature at some points, But the style is groundbreaking even in this very first novel of the author. And maybe throughout Coe’s twelve novels the most vivid characters.

If you read Coe regularly, this will be a surprising, fresh experience. If this is your first, be aware: not a typical Coe. But I dare say maybe the best one. Never again such an intimate contact between author and reader. Never again such passions behind the shields of the cool, distant irony. Never again such a bravurous ending (Mr. Coe is usually very bad at giving a round ending to this stories) All in all a masterpiece voiced by a sensible, clever Sophie Ward who understands it all.

The first Coe: a memorable listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I am a big Jonathan Coe fan but have not been able to get into this novel at all due to the dreadful narration. It sounds incredibly forced and as if the narrator is reading a shopping list. I have given up listening as its painful!

Offputting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.