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We All Want Impossible Things
- Narrated by: Jane Oppenheimer
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
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We All Want Impossible Things
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
Edi and Ash have been best friends for over forty years, a bond formed by a lifetime of memories. Since childhood they have seen each other through life's milestones: stealing vodka from their parents, REM concerts, unexpected Scottish wakes, marriages, infertility, children. As Ash notes, "Edi's memory is like the back-up hard drive for mine."
When Edi is diagnosed with the final stages of terminal ovarian cancer, she makes the painstaking decision to leave behind her husband and son to move to a hospice down the road from Ash. Fierce and loving, Ash's world reshapes around the rhythms of Edi's palliative care, from chipped ice and watermelon cubes to music therapy; from inadvisable Pringle-consumption to impromptu excursions out into the frozen Massachusetts winter night.
As the novel winds to its powerful conclusion, We All Want Impossible Things' unforgettable characters and the forcefields of love between them will touch readers to the core, throwing the full panorama - the humour, compassion and absurdity - of not only dying, but also of living, into bold relief.
Critic reviews
"Devastatingly humorous and humorously devastating...an unbelievably brilliant and funny book about friendship, family, food, sex, and death. Catherine Newman serves up a masterclass in narrative - you'll stay up late devouring every word." (Katherine Heiny)
"Nora-Ephron-style wit...comforting, so funny, moving but never mawkish and packed with all kinds of love. It's one of my favourite books ever." (Marian Keyes)
"Dazzling, heart-wrenching, snorty-hilarious...a masterclass on friendship, family love, memory, and the messiness of life, love and dying. An utter joy to read." (Rachel Joyce)
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What listeners say about We All Want Impossible Things
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Lynne Suo
- 03-01-23
Brilliant!
Read with the moving sympathy this book deserves. Highly recommended for everyone who is still breathing. What we need to know before we die. A celebration of individual humanity.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- victoria bailey-king
- 27-03-23
A manifesto for friendship
So enjoyable. So much funnier than the synopsis would suggest. Beautiful and poignant. Life affirming.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Rebecca Poulter
- 11-02-23
This made me laugh out loud and cry in equal measure
A truly memorable story of friendship, love and just how messy life can be. This will uplift you and make you want to tell all your friends and family just how much you love them.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Victoria
- 10-01-23
A beautiful journey through loss
This was beautifully written. It felt very real and very poignant. I’m not sure what genre it would fit in but wonderful nonetheless.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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- SLA
- 24-11-23
Slightly disappointing
I wonder if I might have enjoyed this book more if I’d read it rather than listened to it but I suspect not….disappointing really, particularly after hearing so many good reviews. I just could not warm to the character of Ash at all, I appreciate that she was the narrator of the story but I just could not feel any empathy for her - I found her selfish, possessive & her behaviour so offputting. I hate to not finish books, that was the only thing that kept me going until the end….
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- V.R W.
- 12-12-22
Brilliant
This is one of the best books of 2022 . I listened to it in one sitting ,
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- R. Biggs
- 25-04-23
Touching and raw, the truth about love and death
I felt time slow down to allow me to truly absorb the love, the pain and all the rainbow of emotions beautifully poured forth by this incredible author in this gorgeous book. It made me reach for my own best friend to say “that’s us” and it made me hug my children closer x Absolutely loved it and so brilliantly read too!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Chrisie R
- 13-01-23
All about death and dying
Not one to read if you want a laugh. The whole story is about death and dying.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- pauline t. clarke
- 03-02-23
Beautiful book which I will listen to twice . Very moving and also funny.
Excellent all round and it will stay in my mind for a long long time.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sara
- 29-12-23
Beautiful and devastating
This is a beautifully written book reflecting the importance of love, the messiness of life.
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