Olive cover art

Olive

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Olive

By: Emma Gannon
Narrated by: Sian Clifford
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About this listen

*Don't miss Emma Gannon's new novel, Table for One – available to buy now*

‘Explores such an important topic with a lightness and warmth’ Dolly Alderton

‘Thoughtful, funny, and honest’ Elizabeth Gilbert

‘It'll give a voice to countless women’ Marian Keyes

Olive and her friends have shared every milestone.

From first loves and first heartbreaks to flatshares and the first scary steps into the real world, they’ve been through it all – together.

But in the maze of life, through the winding paths that lead to different choices and different futures, will the bonds of friendship hold strong when Olive needs them most?

Moving, memorable and a mirror for anyone at a crossroads, OLIVE is a love letter to the life raft of female friendship and reminds us how, with a little courage, we can all follow our own paths.

Contemporary Contemporary Romance Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Romance Women's Fiction Friendship Comedy

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Critic reviews

‘It explores such an important topic with a lightness and warmth’ Dolly Alderton

‘This tale of four young women trying to sort out the dilemmas of motherhood … will bring relief and recognition to many. It’s a lovely book — thoughtful, searching, funny, and (most importantly) honest’ Elizabeth Gilbert

‘Funny in parts, painful in others, thoughtful throughout, it explores many dilemmas, with characters who feel utterly real’ Sophie Kinsella

‘It'll give a voice to countless women . . . a profound issue wrapped inside an accessible, highly engaging novel’ Marian Keyes

‘Gutsy and refreshing’ HEAT

‘It's warm and charming and yet VERY brave in its honesty about having children and how that impacts female friendships. I suspect a lot of women will feel relieved and seen when they read it’ Holly Bourne

‘Important themes explored by a true champion of women’ Nina Stibbe

‘Thought provoking with a wonderfully relatable hero’ Good Housekeeping

‘So fresh and funny and utterly distinctive . . . I loved it’ Emma Jane Unsworth

‘A delicate, heartbreaking and delicious story that will bring a pang of delightful recognition to every woman who reads it’ Scarlett Curtis

‘A witty, tender portrayal of female friendship under pressure’ Mail on Sunday

‘Honest, relatable, and incredibly real, Olive is going to resonate with an entire generation of young women’ Louise O’Neill

‘In Gannon’s capable hands, women are not so much divided along their disparate lines – but united’ Pandora Sykes

‘Cuts rights to the heart of conversations around women and the stereotypes we either adhere to – or reject’ Cosmopolitan

‘I raced through this brilliant, brilliant book, feeling more thoroughly seen than I have in years. Olive's story is big and bright and beautiful, and holds up a much-needed mirror to society’ Lucy Vine

‘Incredibly warm and loveable, you won’t be able to put Olive down’ Bustle

All stars
Most relevant
I devoured the book within 2 days as I felt so happy to have at long last come across a novel that features a woman's struggle to accept the fact that she doesn't want kids and describes the struggle being accepted by society, from friends to strangers. A topic sadly completely neglected and met with hostility.

There was so much in the book I could so strongly relate to and I found it inspiring how the friends overcame their difficulties that their lives went in so different directions and the very important bottom line that everyone has their struggles and we need to be a bit more forgiving and understanding with each other.

*spoiler alert* Where I think the book has gone a bit wrong is that a) she is portrayed as quite the career woman with the dream job, again playing a bit into the notion that if you aren't a mother you need to excel in something else and b) towards the end of the story she takes over a very motherly role to 2 girls stressing how much purpose it gives her, so in a way she ends up in a motherly role which defeats the purpose of the book.

The book is well written, sad, funny and thought provoking, the narrator has done an amazing job


A needed, thought provoking book with minor flaws

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Loved every word! A story with a difference and a great narrator as well. listened to the entire book in 3 days and couldn't put it away!

A heart warming read.

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I have never listened to a book in less than 24 hours yet I could not get enough of this, absolutely and truly loved it. I have also never resonated with a character so much in my life and it was so utterly refreshing for this to address the taboo friend who doesn't want to follow the normal life path expected of us and to prioritise herself, her wishes and her not wanting children and feeling judged for it. I am truly grateful to Emma Gannon for this book and the narrator was perfect. Absolutely fantastic!

Oh my goodness I absolutely LOVED this book

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This book has been a revelation. A story about a woman who struggles with her perception of being child-free, told in the context of the people around her who have rather strong opinion on that topic. The performance is brilliant, the actress captured each of the characters' way of speaking. It's light reading, and and the same time very poignant and powerful. Would recommend.

Exceptional

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Struggled to finish this book. It was clear what the message was and there were parts that I really enjoyed but generally I just couldn't get into it.

Sadly, didn't really do it for me

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