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Standard Deviation

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About this listen

 ‘I have rarely seen modern marriage reproduced so faithfully in print. It’s about love once the early romance has subsided. Hilarious’ Jojo Moyes, Woman and Home ‘Standard Deviation is a marvel’ Kate Atkinson ‘Addictive reading’ Mail on Sunday ‘A comic masterpiece’ Observer

A divinely funny novel about the challenges of a good marriage, the delight and heartache of raising children, and the irresistible temptation to wonder about the path not taken.

Graham Cavanaugh’s second wife, Audra, is everything his first wife was not. She considers herself privileged to live in the age of the hair towel, talks non-stop through her epidural, labour and delivery, invites the doorman to move in and the eccentric members of their son’s Origami Club to Thanksgiving. She is charming and spontaneous and fun but life with her can be exhausting.

In the midst of the day-to-day difficulties and delights of marriage and raising a child with Asperger’s, his first wife, Elspeth, reenters Graham’s life. Former spouses are hard to categorize – are they friends, enemies, old flames, or just people who know you really, really well? Graham starts to wonder: How can anyone love two such different women? Did he make the right choice? Is there a right choice?

©2017 Katherine Heiny (P)2017 Random House Audio Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Parenting & Families Relationships Romance Romantic Comedy Marriage Comedy Funny Witty Feel-Good

Critic reviews

"Audra Daltry is a singular creation - a character so funny, so appealing, so sure that she can change the world for her family that she will jump right off the page and take up permanent residence in your heart. Standard Deviation is a marvel." (Kate Atkinson, author of Life After Life)
"A book so funny and perceptive I want to be friends with its author." (Laline Paull, author of The Bees)
"I have been a fan of Katherine Heiny's writing for years but my adoration of her reaches a new apex with this, her first novel, Standard Deviation. It's an irresistibly charming novel about age-old institutions: marriage and parenting. But Heiny's brilliantly drawn characters and her keen insights make both topics feel brand new. A delightful, refreshing novel that illuminates the world of complicated relationships." (Elin Hilderbrand, author of Here's to Us)
All stars
Most relevant
Thoroughly enjoyed this novel. This isn’t a book about plot so much as characters. Audra is a simply wonderful creation stealing many of the best lines and I was desperate for her to leap off the pages and invite me to dinner with Graham. The book plays the inner life of a marriage, in all its mundanity and half retreats for different corners turned. The son, Matthew has Aspergers (feeling like it’s de rigeur in modern novels - and I say that as such a father) - but doesn’t quite come alive for me. But that’s perhaps the only slight misstep. This is a witty humorous novel that I simply lapped up. The narration is exquisite because I felt Audra was right there with me, wonderful. Highly recommended.

Looking at the inner life

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This book has happiness and sadness in equal measure. A couple resigned to having to deal with their son’s Asperger’s. They do not seem suited at all, yet they are united by the need to embrace their son’s journey through the modern world and extend that to compassion for the world and themselves.

A glimpse into the lives of others

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Standard Deviation shines a bright light on parenthood and relationships through the unfiltered observations of the author’s characters. Both wonderfully funny and insightful at the same time.

Wonderful exploration of “normal” relationships

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More and more these days, I"m finding books have sections that need to be powered through to get to the good stuff. Not so with Standard Deviation which is such a delightful story full of humour, relatable relationships, weirdness, love, loss and just the way life is. It's intriguing and engrossing from the start, and every listening session was a complete joy.
Cassandra Campbell was the perfect choice for narration and I loved every moment and was sorry to come to the end of this beautiful human story about Audra, Graham, and Matthew.

Delightful and real

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I loved the characters in this funny family story. The humour reminded me of Nora Ephron.

So funny

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