Listen free for 30 days
-
The Bobcat
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Elise Arsenault
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
People who bought this also bought...
-
Among the Lesser Gods
- By: Margo Catts
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elena Alvarez is living a cursed life. From the deadly fire she accidentally set as a child to her mother's abandonment and now an unwanted pregnancy, she knows better than most that small actions can have terrible consequences. Yet when her grandmother calls and asks her to watch over the children of a recent widower in a small, isolated town in Colorado, she takes it as a chance to finally organize her life.
-
Coming Up for Air
- By: Sarah Leipciger
- Narrated by: Elliot Cowan, Deborah McBride, Claudia Jessie
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the banks of the River Seine in 1899, a young woman takes her final breath before plunging into the icy water. Although she does not know it, her decision will set in motion an astonishing chain of events. It will lead to 1950s Norway, where a grieving toy-maker is on the cusp of a transformative invention, all the way to present-day Canada where a journalist, battling a terrible disease, risks everything for one last chance to live.
-
-
A hidden gem
- By Liz on 07-02-21
-
The Illness Lesson
- By: Clare Beams
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1871. At the farm of Samuel Hood and his daughter, Caroline, a mysterious flock of red birds has descended. Samuel, whose fame as a philosopher is waning, takes the birds’ appearance as an omen that the time is ripe for his newest venture. He will start a school for young women, guiding their intellectual development as he has so carefully guided his daughter’s. Despite Caroline’s misgivings, Samuel’s vision - revolutionary, as always; noble, as always; full of holes, as always - takes shape.
-
-
Too long
- By Mrs R. on 17-02-20
-
Cygnet
- By: Season Butler
- Narrated by: Ayesha Antoine
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kid doesn't know where her parents are. They left with a promise to come back months ago, and now their 17-year-old daughter is stranded on Swan Island. Swan isn't just any island; it is home to an eccentric old age separatist community who have shunned life on the mainland for a haven which is rapidly sinking into the ocean. The Kid's arrival threatens to burst the idyllic bubble that the elderly residents have so carefully constructed - an unwelcome reminder of the life they left behind and one they want rid of.
-
The Moon Is Missing
- A Novel
- By: Jenni Ogden
- Narrated by: Cat Gould
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Georgia Grayson has perfected the art of being two people: a neurosurgeon on track to becoming the first female Director of Neurosurgery at a large London hospital, and a wife and mother. Home is her haven where, with husband Adam’s support, she copes with her occasional anxiety attacks. That is until her daughter, 15-year-old Lara, demands to know more about Danny, her mysterious biological father from New Orleans who died before she was born.
-
Clover Blue
- By: Eldonna Edwards
- Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are many things 12-year-old Clover Blue isn't sure of: his exact date of birth, his name before he was adopted into the Saffron Freedom Community, or who his first parents were. What he does know with certainty is that among this close-knit, nature-loving group, he is happy. Here, everyone is family, regardless of their disparate backgrounds - surfer, midwife, Grateful Dead groupie, Vietnam deserter. But despite his loyalty to the commune and its guru-like founder Goji, Blue grapples with invisible ties toward another family - the one he doesn't remember.
-
Among the Lesser Gods
- By: Margo Catts
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elena Alvarez is living a cursed life. From the deadly fire she accidentally set as a child to her mother's abandonment and now an unwanted pregnancy, she knows better than most that small actions can have terrible consequences. Yet when her grandmother calls and asks her to watch over the children of a recent widower in a small, isolated town in Colorado, she takes it as a chance to finally organize her life.
-
Coming Up for Air
- By: Sarah Leipciger
- Narrated by: Elliot Cowan, Deborah McBride, Claudia Jessie
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the banks of the River Seine in 1899, a young woman takes her final breath before plunging into the icy water. Although she does not know it, her decision will set in motion an astonishing chain of events. It will lead to 1950s Norway, where a grieving toy-maker is on the cusp of a transformative invention, all the way to present-day Canada where a journalist, battling a terrible disease, risks everything for one last chance to live.
-
-
A hidden gem
- By Liz on 07-02-21
-
The Illness Lesson
- By: Clare Beams
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1871. At the farm of Samuel Hood and his daughter, Caroline, a mysterious flock of red birds has descended. Samuel, whose fame as a philosopher is waning, takes the birds’ appearance as an omen that the time is ripe for his newest venture. He will start a school for young women, guiding their intellectual development as he has so carefully guided his daughter’s. Despite Caroline’s misgivings, Samuel’s vision - revolutionary, as always; noble, as always; full of holes, as always - takes shape.
-
-
Too long
- By Mrs R. on 17-02-20
-
Cygnet
- By: Season Butler
- Narrated by: Ayesha Antoine
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kid doesn't know where her parents are. They left with a promise to come back months ago, and now their 17-year-old daughter is stranded on Swan Island. Swan isn't just any island; it is home to an eccentric old age separatist community who have shunned life on the mainland for a haven which is rapidly sinking into the ocean. The Kid's arrival threatens to burst the idyllic bubble that the elderly residents have so carefully constructed - an unwelcome reminder of the life they left behind and one they want rid of.
-
The Moon Is Missing
- A Novel
- By: Jenni Ogden
- Narrated by: Cat Gould
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Georgia Grayson has perfected the art of being two people: a neurosurgeon on track to becoming the first female Director of Neurosurgery at a large London hospital, and a wife and mother. Home is her haven where, with husband Adam’s support, she copes with her occasional anxiety attacks. That is until her daughter, 15-year-old Lara, demands to know more about Danny, her mysterious biological father from New Orleans who died before she was born.
-
Clover Blue
- By: Eldonna Edwards
- Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are many things 12-year-old Clover Blue isn't sure of: his exact date of birth, his name before he was adopted into the Saffron Freedom Community, or who his first parents were. What he does know with certainty is that among this close-knit, nature-loving group, he is happy. Here, everyone is family, regardless of their disparate backgrounds - surfer, midwife, Grateful Dead groupie, Vietnam deserter. But despite his loyalty to the commune and its guru-like founder Goji, Blue grapples with invisible ties toward another family - the one he doesn't remember.
-
142 Ostriches
- By: April Davila
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Tallulah Jones was 13, her grandmother plucked her from the dank Oakland apartment she shared with her unreliable mom and brought her to the family ostrich ranch in the Mojave Desert. After 11 years caring for the curious, graceful birds, Tallulah accepts a job in Montana and prepares to leave home. But when Grandma Helen dies under strange circumstances, Tallulah inherits everything - just days before the birds inexplicably stop laying eggs.
-
The Murmur of Bees
- By: Sofia Segovia, Simon Bruni - translation
- Narrated by: Xe Sands, Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the day that old Nana Reja found a baby abandoned under a bridge, the life of a small Mexican town forever changed. Disfigured and covered in a blanket of bees, little Simonopio is for some locals the stuff of superstition, a child kissed by the devil. But he is welcomed by landowners Francisco and Beatriz Morales, who adopt him and care for him. As he grows up, Simonopio becomes a cause for wonder to the Morales family, because when the uncannily gifted child closes his eyes, he can see what no one else can - visions of all that’s yet to come, both beautiful and dangerous.
-
-
Listen for life
- By AmazonSusan Egan on 07-08-19
-
The Ghost Tree
- By: Barbara Erskine
- Narrated by: Vivian Helbrun
- Length: 21 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ruth has returned to Edinburgh after many years of exile, left rootless by the end of her marriage and career and now the death of her father, from whom she had long been estranged. She is faced with the daunting task of clearing his house, believing he had removed all traces of her mother. Yet hidden away in a barely used top-floor room, she finds he had secretly kept a cupboard full of her possessions. Sifting through the ancient papers, Ruth discovers the diary and letters written by her ancestor from the 18th century, Thomas Erskine.
-
-
The Ghost Treee
- By Robbie the Barker on 13-11-18
-
The Girl and the Tiger
- A Novel
- By: Paul Rosolie
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Isha is a girl who loves animals but struggles in the confines of school. When she is sent away to live with her grandparents on the Indian countryside, she discovers a sacred grove where a young Bengal tiger has taken refuge. Isha knows that the ever-shrinking forests of India mean there are few places left for a tiger to hide. When the local villagers also discover the tiger, Isha finds herself embroiled in a life-or-death cultural controversy.
-
The Orphan Master's Son
- A Novel
- By: Adam Johnson
- Narrated by: Tim Kang, Josiah D. Lee, James Kyson Lee, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother - a singer “stolen” to Pyongyang - and an influential father who runs Long Tomorrows, a work camp for orphans. There the boy is given his first taste of power, picking which orphans eat first and which will be lent out for manual labor. Recognized for his loyalty and keen instincts, Jun Do comes to the attention of superiors in the state, rises in the ranks, and starts on a road from which there will be no return.
-
-
Incredible beginning, less convincing second part
- By Marianna on 05-12-12
-
Shadow Is a Colour as Light Is
- By: Michael Langan
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over a century after Cézanne’s death his art still obsesses and enraptures. And for the characters in this multifaceted novel, the painter’s work is of crucial significance. In Hong Kong, will billionaire art collector Walter and his son ever be reconciled? In Liverpool, will artist Nick find peace? In New York, can Joel and Sophie mend their relationship with the help of Cézanne’s work in the Metropolitan Museum? Through these multiple narratives Michael Langan deftly explores human relationships and asks: can art ever save us?
-
The Thief on the Winged Horse
- By: Kate Mascarenhas
- Narrated by: Sophia Myles
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A dazzling mixture of crime, romance, magic and myth from the acclaimed author of The Psychology of Time Travel. The Kendrick family have been making world-famous dolls since the early 1800s. But their dolls aren't coveted for the craftmanship alone. Each one has a specific emotion laid on it by its creator. A magic that can make you feel bucolic bliss or consuming paranoia at a single touch. Though founded by sisters, now only men may know the secrets of the workshop.
-
-
Engaging but maybe lacked a little
- By N. J. Keely on 19-01-21
-
Dance of the Jakaranda
- By: Peter Kimani
- Narrated by: John Sibi-Okumu
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kimani reimagines the rise and fall of colonialism in Africa by telling the story of the birth of Kenya's railroad. Set in the shadow of Kenya's independence from Great Britain, Dance of the Jakaranda reimagines the rise and fall of colonialism and the special circumstances that brought black, brown, and white men together to lay the railroad that heralded the birth of the nation.
-
-
Great book, even greator narration
- By Anonymous User on 29-09-20
-
No Bad Deed
- By: Heather Chavez
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You're driving home from work to your husband and children. Suddenly a woman is front of your car. She's being attacked. You call the police and they tell you to stay in the car. But what if you got out to help? What might the consequences be? You save the woman, but the attacker takes your handbag. And your car. And then, the next day, when you think it's all over, your husband disappears. He's gone without a trace. And then he texts you. I'm sorry. But is it really him? Nothing could have prepared you for what happens next....
-
The Tourist Trail
- A Novel (Across Oceans)
- By: John Yunker
- Narrated by: John Yunker
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Biologist Angela Haynes is accustomed to dark, lonely nights as one of the few humans at a penguin research station in Patagonia. She has grown used to the cries of penguins before dawn, to meager supplies and housing, to spending most of her days in one of the most remote regions on earth. What she isn't used to is strange men washing ashore, which happens one day on her watch. The man won't tell her his name or where he came from, but Angela, who has a soft spot for strays, tends to him, if for no other reason than to protect her birds and her work.
-
Summer House with Swimming Pool
- By: Herman Koch
- Narrated by: Peter Berkot
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a medical procedure goes horribly wrong and famous actor Ralph Meier winds up dead, Dr. Marc Schlosser needs to come up with some answers. After all, reputation is everything in this business. Personally, he's not exactly upset that Ralph is gone, but as a high profile doctor to the stars, Marc can't hide from the truth forever.
-
-
Tiresome Reading of Low Rent "Lolita"
- By MRS DS Clark on 24-08-14
-
Widow's Welcome
- By: D. K. Fields
- Narrated by: Helen Vine
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There's power in stories and this is a story of power. Dead bodies aren't unusual in the alleyways of Fenest. Muggings, brawls gone bad, debts collected - Detective Cora Gorderheim has seen it all. Until she finds a Wayward man with his mouth sewn shut. As Cora pieces together the dead man's story, she's drawn into the most dangerous story in the Union of Realms: the election. All she wants is to catch the killer, but nothing is that simple in an election year.
Summary
Haunting and lyrical, The Bobcat is Katherine Forbes Riley’s magical debut novel in which Laurelie, a young art student who suffers in the aftermath of a sexual assault, has grown progressively more isolated and fearful. She transfers from her busy city university to a small college in rural Vermont, where she retreats into her vivid imagination, experiencing the world through her art. Most comfortable in the company of the child for whom she babysits, and most at ease in the woods, Laurelie has shunned any connection with her peers.
One day, while exploring the woods, she and her young charge encounter an injured pregnant bobcat - and the hiker who has been following it for hundreds of miles. In the hiker and his feline companion Laurelie recognizes someone as reclusive and wary as herself. The hiker, too, finds human companionship painful to endure, yet he is drawn to wounded Laurelie the way he is drawn to the bobcat. As Laurelie moves toward recovery and reconnection she also finds her voice as an artist, and a sense of purpose, maybe even a future, comes into sight. Then the child goes missing in the woods, threatening the bobcat, the hiker, and the fragile peace Laurelie has constructed.
With the hypnotic intensity of Emily Fridlund’s The History of Wolves and Fiona McFarlane’s The Night Guest, Riley has created a mesmerizing love story, in lush, gorgeous prose, that examines art, science, and the magic of human chemistry.
More from the same
Narrator
What listeners say about The Bobcat
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Melaura Wittemyer
- 04-01-21
Stunning debut
Beautiful, lyrical, naturalistic prose about healing and survival. Her writing is poetic and paints a lovely landscape.