Listen free for 30 days
-
Brick Lane
- Narrated by: Meera Syal
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £21.79
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Sweet Sorrow
- By: David Nicholls
- Narrated by: Rory Kinnear
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1997, Charlie Lewis is the kind of boy you don't remember in the school photograph. His exams have not gone well. At home he is looking after his father, when surely it should be the other way round, and if he thinks about the future at all, it is with a kind of dread. Then Fran Fisher bursts into his life and despite himself, Charlie begins to hope. But if Charlie wants to be with Fran, he must take on a challenge that could lose him the respect of his friends and require him to become a different person.
-
-
Simply superb.
- By Kindle Customer on 24-07-19
-
Oryx and Crake
- MaddAddam Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margaret Atwood's classic novel, The Handmaid's Tale, is about the future. Now, in Oryx and Crake, the future has changed: it's much worse. The narrator of this riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he's sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death.
-
-
Engrossing, disturbing, amusing, entertaining
- By Martin on 03-02-10
-
Love Marriage
- By: Monica Ali
- Narrated by: Ayesha Dharker
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yasmin Ghorami has a lot to be grateful for: a loving family, a fledgling career in medicine and a charming, handsome fiancé, fellow doctor Joe Sangster. But as the wedding day draws closer and Yasmin's parents get to know Joe's firebrand feminist mother, both families must confront the unravelling of long-held secrets, lies and betrayals. As Yasmin dismantles her own assumptions about the people she holds most dear, she's also forced to ask herself what she really wants in a relationship and what a 'love marriage' actually means.
-
-
Really Something Different
- By sue tid on 21-02-22
-
Learning to Swim
- By: Clare Chambers
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abigail Jex never expected to see any of the Radleys again. They were extraordinary, captivating creatures transplanted from a bohemian corner of North London to outer suburbia, and the young Abigail found herself drawn into their magic circle: the eccentric Frances, her new best friend; Frances' mother, the liberated, headstrong Lexi; and of course the brilliant, beautiful Rad. Abigail thought she'd banished the ghost of her life with them and the catastrophe that ended it, but 13 years later a chance encounter forces her to acknowledge that the spell is far from broken.
-
-
Wonderful coming of age novel
- By Molly on 19-01-22
-
Free Food for Millionaires
- By: Min Jin Lee
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 19 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Casey Han's years at Princeton have given her a refined diction, an enviable golf handicap, a popular white boyfriend and a degree in economics. But no job, and a number of bad habits. As Casey, the daughter of working-class Korean immigrants, navigates an uneven course of small triumphs and spectacular failures, a clash of values, ideals and ambitions plays out against the colourful backdrop of New York society.
-
-
Obsessed
- By nicci wright on 10-05-22
-
The Sweetness of Water
- By: Nathan Harris
- Narrated by: William DeMeritt
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the dying days of the American Civil War, newly freed brothers Landry and Prentiss find themselves cast into the world without a penny to their names. Forced to hide out in the woods near their former Georgia plantation, they're soon discovered by the land's owner, George Walker, a man still reeling from the loss of his son in the war. When the brothers begin to live and work on George's farm, the tentative bonds of trust and union begin to blossom between the strangers.
-
-
A great read! 👏🏾👏🏾
- By BlackGurlReads on 18-01-22
-
Sweet Sorrow
- By: David Nicholls
- Narrated by: Rory Kinnear
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1997, Charlie Lewis is the kind of boy you don't remember in the school photograph. His exams have not gone well. At home he is looking after his father, when surely it should be the other way round, and if he thinks about the future at all, it is with a kind of dread. Then Fran Fisher bursts into his life and despite himself, Charlie begins to hope. But if Charlie wants to be with Fran, he must take on a challenge that could lose him the respect of his friends and require him to become a different person.
-
-
Simply superb.
- By Kindle Customer on 24-07-19
-
Oryx and Crake
- MaddAddam Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margaret Atwood's classic novel, The Handmaid's Tale, is about the future. Now, in Oryx and Crake, the future has changed: it's much worse. The narrator of this riveting novel calls himself Snowman. When the story opens, he's sleeping in a tree, wearing an old bedsheet, mourning the loss of his beloved Oryx and his best friend Crake, and slowly starving to death.
-
-
Engrossing, disturbing, amusing, entertaining
- By Martin on 03-02-10
-
Love Marriage
- By: Monica Ali
- Narrated by: Ayesha Dharker
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yasmin Ghorami has a lot to be grateful for: a loving family, a fledgling career in medicine and a charming, handsome fiancé, fellow doctor Joe Sangster. But as the wedding day draws closer and Yasmin's parents get to know Joe's firebrand feminist mother, both families must confront the unravelling of long-held secrets, lies and betrayals. As Yasmin dismantles her own assumptions about the people she holds most dear, she's also forced to ask herself what she really wants in a relationship and what a 'love marriage' actually means.
-
-
Really Something Different
- By sue tid on 21-02-22
-
Learning to Swim
- By: Clare Chambers
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abigail Jex never expected to see any of the Radleys again. They were extraordinary, captivating creatures transplanted from a bohemian corner of North London to outer suburbia, and the young Abigail found herself drawn into their magic circle: the eccentric Frances, her new best friend; Frances' mother, the liberated, headstrong Lexi; and of course the brilliant, beautiful Rad. Abigail thought she'd banished the ghost of her life with them and the catastrophe that ended it, but 13 years later a chance encounter forces her to acknowledge that the spell is far from broken.
-
-
Wonderful coming of age novel
- By Molly on 19-01-22
-
Free Food for Millionaires
- By: Min Jin Lee
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 19 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Casey Han's years at Princeton have given her a refined diction, an enviable golf handicap, a popular white boyfriend and a degree in economics. But no job, and a number of bad habits. As Casey, the daughter of working-class Korean immigrants, navigates an uneven course of small triumphs and spectacular failures, a clash of values, ideals and ambitions plays out against the colourful backdrop of New York society.
-
-
Obsessed
- By nicci wright on 10-05-22
-
The Sweetness of Water
- By: Nathan Harris
- Narrated by: William DeMeritt
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the dying days of the American Civil War, newly freed brothers Landry and Prentiss find themselves cast into the world without a penny to their names. Forced to hide out in the woods near their former Georgia plantation, they're soon discovered by the land's owner, George Walker, a man still reeling from the loss of his son in the war. When the brothers begin to live and work on George's farm, the tentative bonds of trust and union begin to blossom between the strangers.
-
-
A great read! 👏🏾👏🏾
- By BlackGurlReads on 18-01-22
-
The Remains of the Day
- By: Kazuo Ishiguro
- Narrated by: Dominic West
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great English House. In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the countryside – and into his past.
-
-
Should I stay or should I go?
- By Barbara on 20-03-18
-
Woman on the Edge of Time
- By: Marge Piercy
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Often compared to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale and Naomi Alderman's The Power - Woman on the Edge of Time has been hailed as a classic of speculative science fiction. Disturbing and forward thinking, Marge Piercy’s remarkable novel will speak to a new generation. Connie Ramos has been unjustly incarcerated in a mental institution with no hope of release. The authorities view her as a danger to herself and to others. Her family has given up on her. But Connie has a secret - a way to escape the confines of her cell. She can see the future.
-
-
Interesting vision but disappointing ending
- By ThatPersonOverThere on 22-07-21
-
The Line of Beauty
- By: Alan Hollinghurst
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1983, 23-year-old Nick Guest moves into an attic room in the Notting Hill home of the wealthy Feddens: Gerald, an ambitious Tory MP, his wife, Rachel, and their children, Toby and Catherine. Innocent of politics and money, Nick is swept up into the Feddens' world and an era of endless possibility, all the while pursuing his own private obsession with beauty.
-
-
Obvious and lusty
- By DAVID on 09-10-18
-
How We Disappeared
- By: Jing-Jing Lee
- Narrated by: Angela Lin, Ryun Yu
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Singapore, 1942. As Japanese troops sweep down Malaysia and into Singapore, a village is ransacked, leaving only two survivors and one tiny child. In a neighbouring village, 17-year-old Wang Di is bundled into the back of a troop carrier and shipped off to a Japanese military brothel where she is forced into sexual slavery. After 60 years of silence, what she saw and experienced there still haunts her present.
-
-
heart wrenching but full of hope
- By Kindle Customer on 07-03-20
-
White Teeth
- By: Zadie Smith
- Narrated by: Pippa Bennett-Warner, Ray Panthaki, Lenny Henry, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Zadie Smith's White Teeth is a classic international best seller and an unforgettable portrait of London. One of the most talked about fictional debuts ever, White Teeth is a funny, generous, big-hearted novel, adored by critics and readers alike. Dealing - among many other things - with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three families over three generations, one brown mouse and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle, it is a life-affirming, riotous must-listen.
-
-
Spoilt by uneven narration
- By S. Brearley on 29-08-18
-
Freshwater
- By: Akwaeke Emezi
- Narrated by: Akwaeke Emezi
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ada was born with one foot on the other side. Having prayed her into existence, her parents, Saul and Saachi, struggle to deal with the volatile and contradictory spirits peopling their troubled girl. When Ada comes of age and heads to college, the entities within her grow in power and agency. An assault leads to a crystallization of her selves: Asughara and Saint Vincent. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these selves - now protective, now hedonistic - seize control of Ada, her life spirals in a dark and dangerous direction.
-
-
Mindblowing seems a little on the nose..
- By Amazon Customer on 08-08-19
-
The God of Small Things
- By: Arundhati Roy
- Narrated by: Aysha Kala
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set against a background of political turbulence in Kerala, Southern India, The God of Small Things tells the story of twins Esthappen and Rahel. Amongst the vats of banana jam and heaps of peppercorns in their grandmother's factory, they try to craft a childhood for themselves amidst what constitutes their family - their lonely, lovely mother; their beloved uncle Chacko (pickle baron, radical Marxist and bottom pincher); and their avowed enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun and incumbent grand-aunt).
-
-
Captivating, magical
- By Rochelle on 28-01-17
-
The Far Journey
- A Timeslip Novel of Survival on the Oregon Trail
- By: Tom Reppert
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young, sharp-tongued Paula Masters, used to her cell phones, cherry lattes and designer jeans, suddenly finds herself thrust back in time to 1848 and the Oregon Trail. In modern life, she rebels against the curfews and restrictions of her day, seeing them as unfair hardships. But now in this alien world with its buffalo stampedes, wild Indians, and deadly pestilence, she is about to find out what real hardships are.
-
-
fantastic
- By Christine on 31-05-21
-
Nocturnes
- By: Kazuo Ishiguro
- Narrated by: Adam Kotz, Neil Pearson, Julian Rhind-Tutt, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Nocturnes, a sublime story cycle, Kazuo Ishiguro explores ideas of love, music and the passing of time. From the piazzas of Italy to the Malvern Hills, a London flat to the "hush-hush floor" of an exclusive Hollywood hotel, the characters we encounter range from young dreamers to cafe musicians to faded stars, all of them at some moment of reckoning. Gentle, intimate, and witty, this quintet is marked by a haunting theme: the struggle to keep alive a sense of life's romance, even as one gets older.
-
-
Musical off notes
- By Adrienne on 23-12-12
-
The Puzzle Women
- By: Anna Ellory
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Berlin, 1989. Siblings Rune and Lotte are shaken awake by Mama and told to follow her quietly into the night. Last time they snuck away from Papa, with Mama bruised and broken, they were back within a week. But this time they are starting a new life, Mama says - where nobody can ever hurt them again. Ten years later, the memories of their escape are blurry; Mama is long gone, and the siblings are back at Papa’s house.
-
-
Powerful and emotional
- By Lancslass on 14-11-20
-
Jane Eyre
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Thandiwe Newton
- Length: 19 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following Jane from her childhood as an orphan in Northern England through her experience as a governess at Thornfield Hall, Charlotte Brontë's Gothic classic is an early exploration of women's independence in the mid-19th century and the pervasive societal challenges women had to endure. At Thornfield, Jane meets the complex and mysterious Mr. Rochester, with whom she shares a complicated relationship that ultimately forces her to reconcile the conflicting passions of romantic love and religious piety.
-
-
A beautiful audiobook!!
- By Philip on 13-02-17
-
Honour
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Colleen Pendergast
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Pembe leaves the Kurdish village of her birth, and her twin sister with it, it is for love. She follows her husband, Adem, to London with the hope of making a new life, but the family soon faces a stark choice: to stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in. When Adem abandons his family, it is Iskender, Pembe’s eldest son, who must step in and prevent shame from falling on the family name. And when Pembe begins a chaste affair with a man named Elias, Iskender will discover that you could love someone with all your heart and yet be ready to hurt them.
-
-
Honour - a clash of culture,murder, family honour
- By AmyAlice on 19-02-14
Summary
Shortlisted for the 2003 Man Booker Prize
This exciting and deeply moving debut novel follows the tumultuous life of Nazneen from her birth in a Bangladeshi village hut, to her arranged marriage to Chanu and the subsequent move to London's Tower Hamlets.
Nazneen's inauspicious entry to the world, an apparent stillbirth on the hard mud floor of a Bangladeshi village hut, imbues in her a sense of fatalism that she carries across continents when she is married off to Chanu. Her life in London's Tower Hamlets is, on the surface, calm. For years, keeping house and rearing children, she does what is expected of her. Yet Nazneen walks a tightrope stretched between her daughters' embarrassment and her husband's resentments. Chanu calls his elder daughter the little memsahib. 'I didn't ask to be born here,' say Shahana, with regular finality.
Into that fragile peace walks Karim. He sets questions before her, of longing and belonging; he sparks in her a turmoil that reflects the community's own; he opens her eyes and directs her gaze -- but what she sees, in the end, comes as a surprise to them both.
While Nazneen journeys along her path of self-realization, a way haunted by her mother's ghost, her sister Hasina, back in Bangladesh, rushes headlong at her life, first making a 'love marriage', then fleeing her violent husband. Woven through the novel, Hasina's letters from Dhaka recount a world of overwhelming adversity. Shaped -- yet ultimately not bound -- by their landscapes and memories, both sisters struggle to dream themselves out of the rules prescribed for them.
Beautifully rendered and, by turns, both comic and deeply moving, Brick Lane establishes Monica Ali as one of the most exciting new voices in fiction.
Critic reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about Brick Lane
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- P1969
- 01-11-14
Fascinating insight into Bangladeshi community
Brick Lane tells the present-day story of two Bangladeshi sisters. Nasreen is married to the older civil servant Chanu, who takes her back to London's Tower Hamlet into a life of narrow and monoglot domesticity. Hasina remains in Bangladesh and appears to make all the wrong choices in a society in which women's opportunities are curtailed on all sides. She makes a love marriage and runs away from home. She works in a garment factory, experiences violence and prostitution, finds another respectable job as a nanny with a local affluent businessman, but never gives up her dream of a better life (with a better man). Nasreen, too, sees passion intrude into her dull and safe marriage to a man who struggles with his own limitations. Will she eventually decide to return to Bangladesh with her husband or choose to stay in London with their two teenage daughters?
These parallel story lines are set against the background of Dhaka and Tower Hamlets, in communities whose characters are delineated economically and beautifully. At the core of the book is not so much romance but self-fulfilment, choice, opportunity, particularly for women whether they are living in rural or urban Asian Muslim communities or as first-generation immigrants in the so-called multicultural West. How do their opportunities compare? How do they meet the crises in their lives, and how do they make their big decisions? This is not to say that the male characters' lives are any easier: in their jobs and on the estates they live they daily encounter racial and religious prejudice; young men resort to drugs and don't live up to their parents' expectations. How does Tower Hamlet's Bangladeshi community meet the prejudice levelled at them in the aftermath of 9/11? It's a thought-provoking and engaging book with memorable characters.
Meera Syal's reading is very good indeed: she offers a distinct voice for each character; the narrative voice might have done with a slightly more lively touch.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mary
- 30-04-16
One of the best
If you could sum up Brick Lane in three words, what would they be?
Funny, wise, human
What was one of the most memorable moments of Brick Lane?
Nasneen's last conversation with Chanu
What does Meera Syal bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Meera Syal was brilliant at conveying character, and has a lovely voice to listen to in straight-forward narration.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Would have if I could have...
Any additional comments?
Just loved it, and didn't even mind getting stuck in traffic when listening to this story. I also got a lot of ironing done - my usual activity when listening to an audiobook. Monica Ali has a brilliant turn of phrase, a wonderful comic touch and all the characters are beautifully drawn.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. M. Sanson
- 20-07-15
Slow start with a pacy ending
Would you listen to Brick Lane again? Why?
I probably wouldn't listen to this repeatedly. It's got a very wistful narrative, meandering between memory and the present action, and I found it easier to listen to rather than read. Meera Syal was fantastic.
Who was your favorite character and why?
My favourite character is that of Nazneen; observing her journey and her dawning sense of self is quite beautiful.
What does Meera Syal bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
I loved the humour and the accents Meera Syal brought to her reading. It gave an appropriate extra level to the understanding of the characters and their backgrounds.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Harriet Ellis
- 20-09-17
Simply brilliant
The reader brought a brilliant book to life one of rare occasions I would honestly say better than reading
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- bohobo
- 21-04-16
Superbly rich story, beautifully narrated.
The struggles of two sisters, one remains in Bangladesh and one is brought to England in an arranged marriage. They've been brought up to accept their fate but find that when fate is cruel they must cut their own path to find what little comfort and happiness they can in the face of those who would take advantage of them.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MAGGS
- 26-02-20
Brick house - great storyline
Brick Lane - great storytelling
Great storytelling & great narration
Interest characters
Love hearing about different cultures
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Denise Buckley
- 12-03-21
Brick Lane
I found the narration irritating as it was the Indian type accent. No need
Quite long and boringly repetitive 👎🏻
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 1Bangle
- 06-01-19
Great book, brilliant reading by Meera Syal
The integrated kindle / Audible comes into its own here. Brick Lane is a big and detailed book, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed thanks to being able to switch between kindle and Audible. Meera Syal reads brilliantly, voices characters well and I felt completely caught up in the book. I’ve been recommending this to friends.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Susan Whitehead
- 02-12-17
Brick Lane
I decided to read this book because l had heard so much about it. It was not the sort of book l would normally read. I found it very slow in parts. It gives an insight into the way of life of people from Bangladesh. I am not sure whether l would recommend it to anyone else.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John
- 12-07-17
Brick Lane
Enjoyed listen. Excellent narrating and interesting content. Well written to show background & content. Worth a listen.
2 people found this helpful