The Driver's Seat cover art

The Driver's Seat

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The Driver's Seat

By: Muriel Spark
Narrated by: Dame Judi Dench
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About this listen

Lise is thin, neither good-looking nor bad-looking. One day she walks out of her office, acquires a gaudy new outfit, adopts a girlier tone of voice, and heads to the airport to fly south. On the plane, she takes a seat between two men. One is delighted with her company, the other is deeply perturbed. So begins an unnerving journey into the darker recesses of human nature.

Read by Dame Judi Dench, rediscover this shocking masterpiece in audiobook on the 100th anniversary of Muriel Spark's birth.

©1970 Muriel Spark (P)1970 Canongate Audiobooks Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Scary

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Critic reviews

"An extraordinary tour de force, a crime story turned inside out." (David Lodge)
"Her spiny and treacherous masterpiece."( The New Yorker)
All stars
Most relevant
Couldn't put it down - beautifully narrated - and observed details would definitely recommend - I thinks I will read it many times!

Fabulous novella

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This is without a doubt one of the most extraordinary books I have ever read. Muriel Spark’s masterpiece. It reminded me of Truman Capote’s ‘Miriam’.

A masterpiece

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Even if the story is narrated by Judi Dench, the audio is a problem. The quality of the recording is bad. You can constantly hear background noise. The story was just ok. It deserve a read / listen for the end, which is one of the most disturbing things I've read.

Bad audio

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Any additional comments?

I thought the book a bit light on everything. By the time it ended, I would have helped see off the central character! I love Judi's reading!

Judi Dench Makes This Experience!

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The audio quality was, as I had read in other reviews, a little off, but it by no means outweighed my great enjoyment of the book. Dench’s voice draws you deep into an already intriguing protagonist, and she portrays the other characters’ accents really well. I was a bit worried the book would be a short and aimless ramble, but I was (happily) very wrong!

A short, mysterious, and enjoyable escape

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