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The Edible Woman
- Narrated by: Lorelei King
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Marian is determined to be ordinary. She lays her head gently on the shoulder of her serious fiancee and quietly awaits marriage. But she didn't count on an inner rebellion that would rock her stable routine, and her digestion. Marriage a la mode, Marian discovers, is something she literally can't stomach ...
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Critic reviews
"Written with a brilliant angry energy." ( Observer)
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What listeners say about The Edible Woman
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Helen
- 01-12-15
Compelling
Whilst I did enjoy this audiobook I think I would get more from it on a second listen. Although the story was compelling I wasn't sure what to expect or where it was going during some parts during my original listen.
Lorelei King is a great performer, I have listened to The Thorn Birds as read by her many times and this performance was just as good.
This is only my second Margaret Atwood book and I would definitely try more based on this one.
9 people found this helpful
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- Andrea Edan
- 20-10-18
A great writer even at the beginning of her career
I read this book many years ago, possibly when it was first published in the 70's. I loved it then and love it now and Lorelei King is the perfect narrator for Margaret Atwood's books. MA has never written formulaic books which makes each of her boos all the more remarkable. This debut shows how, even at the age of 26, she showed high originality and the amazing talent that shines from all her work. Have recommended this book to anyone and everyone.
4 people found this helpful
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- Grete Buck
- 03-06-18
Becoming Yourself
Loved this book. A young woman's journey into adulthood in a confusing world. Intelligent, witty with laugh out loud moments and a truly satisfying ending.
3 people found this helpful
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- S OST
- 25-09-18
Loved it
Great narrator, amazing author. An engaging story even now, over 50 years since it was written.
1 person found this helpful
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- Andrea
- 07-07-10
Sometimes there's a reason books get rejected...
I am a die-hard Atwood fan, and I've loved every single book/audiobook of hers UNTIL this one. Long, slow, annoyingly cynical and brow-beatingly propagandistic, I can only hope that the remaining books on my Atwood wishlist prove to be more inspiring.
16 people found this helpful
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- Monica Farris
- 03-06-12
One of my all time favorites of Atwood
This may have been the first book I read of Atwood's - probably 13-14 years ago - a recommendation from a writing mentor, please forgive how pretentious that sounds. (Lady Oracle may have been my first).
Reading this book for the first time as a 22-23 year old, I was amazed by how much I was experiencing the same conundrums as our protagonist. She struggles with feminism and femininity, a woman's place in society and in the home. She is working a job that was just a j-o-b (and during the time this novel was written, it was almost just assumed that when the woman married, she would quit her job - especially when she is marrying someone as Marian is marrying)
While I wasn't getting married, I was watching all my friends take that step. Marian's emotions rang so true to my own emotions at the time, reading this was almost like having drinks with a close friend. Marian behaves so irrationally and emotionally, it makes her so endearing and human.
The narration is ok - I give her 3 stars because her tones and inflections could be slightly better, more in rhythm, but I've listened to the audiobook I think 3 times now, so I obviously don't hate her reading of it. (I've read the book at least twice).
It is not of Atwood's more recent sci-fi ilk, so if that is what you are looking for, move on.
Even though I'm no longer in the same place I was at 22, I still really enjoy this book. It will always be one of my favorites. Great for any young woman who thinks she wants to get married because that's what young women do at her age. I've given it as presents a number of times - not at bridal showers though, I think that might be a little too cruel and cynical.
21 people found this helpful
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- connie
- 20-01-08
Better with age
I read this novel in the early 70's and didn't really expect it to stand the test if time - but I couldn't put this audiobook down! While it's not Atwood's best, I found it more witty and relevant than ever, despite it's early 60's setting. Except for the staccato "she said's", the narration was quite good.
18 people found this helpful
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- Lisa
- 05-02-09
Very disappointed
In the introduction to this book, Ms. Atwood says this is an early work of hers that was published years later -- after she had already published many of those for which she is famous. It shows. The plot is not compelling and you feel no affinity for the characters. I listened to it all the way through, hoping it would get better because everything else I have read of Ms. Atwood's I have enjoyed, but I grew to be actually annoyed by the characters. The conclusion resolves none of the tension the writer created and I was left disappointed by the journey. Aside from not liking the plot and characters, I felt the book contained way too much descriptor language that further burdened the flow. The writing didn't show much discipline and seemed to be mostly writing for writing's sake.
24 people found this helpful
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- Doggy Bird
- 13-12-13
Dissapointed, not much to hang onto
I love Margaret Atwood's later books, but this one seemed unsatisfying, not quite feminist yet not quite traditional, somewhere trembling in between a declaration of independence and complete confusion. I like the narrator - she didn't do a bad job, she was understandable but the performance did nothing to enhance my understanding of the book either. I felt the narration of the main character was a fairly aggressive reading, contrasted with other voices for less important characters that clashed with ideas I had of each of those characters as well. The only way I would recommend this audio would be for a passionate Margaret Atwood fan who most absolutely read everything available.
9 people found this helpful
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- Melissa
- 02-04-10
Slow and unengaging
I just could't become connected to the characters and found myself waiting for something interesting to happen.
11 people found this helpful
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- LaDonna Cherry
- 11-03-10
The Margaret Atwood you never knew!
Written before she became so immersed in science fiction, this is a great first novel by a pre-eminent author.
6 people found this helpful
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- Simone
- 20-11-14
I just didn’t get it
Was it me? Am I missing something obvious? Based on the pedigree of the author, I am more inclined to think I am overlooking something as opposed to this just being a really boring story.
I feel that high-brow people feel obligated to say intelligent things about the book because Margaret Atwood is so renowned … whereas I just think it sucked.
4 people found this helpful
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- Liz Ryan Cole
- 19-11-12
Insight and Perspective: A 40 year old Snapshot
An unexpected pleasure, Atwood's wonderful writing, not yet fully developed, set in a time in which many female baby boomers came of age. I understand myself and my culture better after enjoying this marvelous book.
7 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-11-18
Not very Pleased
I did not care for this book it had too much of everything and nothing.