Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Grief Is the Thing with Feathers

  • By: Max Porter
  • Narrated by: Jot Davies
  • Length: 1 hr and 43 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (439 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers cover art

Grief Is the Thing with Feathers

By: Max Porter
Narrated by: Jot Davies
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Wacky Man cover art
Crow cover art
In the Eyes of Mr Fury cover art
Calamity cover art
The Days of Elijah cover art
Jane Eyre cover art
When God Was a Rabbit cover art
The Big Sea cover art
The Covenant of Water cover art
Jellyfish cover art
Crow cover art
I Found My Tribe cover art
She Would Be King cover art

Summary

In a London flat, two young boys face the unbearable sadness of their mother's sudden death. Their father, a Ted Hughes scholar and scruffy romantic, imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness.

In this moment of despair they are visited by Crow - antagonist, trickster, healer, babysitter. This sentimental bird is drawn to the grieving family and threatens to stay until they no longer need him.

As weeks turn to months and the pain of loss gives way to memories, the little unit of three starts to heal.

In this extraordinary debut - part novella, part polyphonic fable, part essay on grief - Max Porter's compassion and bravura style combine to dazzling effect. Full of unexpected humour and profound emotional truth, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers marks the arrival of a thrilling new talent.

©2015 Max Porter (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"An agile, life-affirming account of mourning." ( Sunday Times)
"Utterly astonishing. Truly, truly remarkable." (Nathan Filer)
"A blast and a breeze and, strangely, a delight." (Jonathan Gibbs, Independent)

What listeners say about Grief Is the Thing with Feathers

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    263
  • 4 Stars
    104
  • 3 Stars
    45
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    9
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    298
  • 4 Stars
    52
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    217
  • 4 Stars
    88
  • 3 Stars
    52
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    12

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Extremely Poetic!

Extremely poetic, also I found it to be weirdly relaxing considering the
genre. Apart from it being very repetitive, I thought the writer was extremely talented,
I don't know if Max Porter has written any poetry, but I think he would be very good at it if he did.
I have not figured out if the crow signifies each of the characters minds. I don't what the crow signifies.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

How to miss a mother

The pain and acute sadness of loss is beautifully expressed in this elegy to a loved wife and mother. This poetically describes the grieving process as two little boys and their dad struggle to come to terms with the sudden death and disappearance of the most intimate person in their lives. Although the subject matter is tragic, sometimes it is good and actually uplifting to reflect on what really matters in life, especially when the outside world looks so ominous. I recommend this for a moment of quiet reflection and the joy of an exquisite and moving piece of writing.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Powerful and moving

Jot Davies reads this extraordinary memoir of grief with great skill and poetry. The perfect voice for this powerful and moving account.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just Wonderful

I was fully aware that at 1 hr 43 mins, this was an expensive read for my monthly credit, but do you know what? It was worth a year's worth of credits.

I saved it for an afternoon of filing boredom and what a precious saviour it was.

It's so beautiful written and so tenderly read that it was like listening to a love poem (albeit a quirky one, with colourful language)

I love the way Max Porter writes. I really enjoyed the way that Jot Davies read the words.

A perfect match.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning

Guttural and full gizzarded beautiful pisstaking honest grief and love. My first review. More words? Couldn’t read it better than he narrates it.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Blimey!

This is both heartbreaking and hilarious. And really rings true... thank you very much Max Porter

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not for me

Couldn't get into it. Tried 4 times over last year. Not sure why, too many words in a jumble I can't focus on it like I would a text.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Superlative

A poem, a part paean to grief, a joy of family with all its flaws.
Loved it

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Emotional but self indulgent

Not sure how I feel about this, my feelings are mixed, but then I suppose that is the point. It is beautifully written and emotional, but it also felt a bit self indulgent.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

beautiful language

dream like, spelling, weaving of words. put me in a trance and took me to grief.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful