The Immortalists cover art

The Immortalists

If you knew the date of your death, how would you live?

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About this listen

 'For someone who loves stories about brothers and sisters, as I do, The Immortalists is about as good as it gets. A memorable and heartfelt look at what might happen to a family who knows too much. It's amazing how good this book is' Karen Joy Fowler

It's 1969, and holed up in a grimy tenement building in New York's Lower East Side is a travelling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the date they will die. Four siblings, too young for what they are about to hear, sneak out to hear their fortunes.

We then follow the intertwined paths the siblings take over the course of five decades and, in particular, how they choose to live with the supposed knowledge the fortune-teller gave them that day. This is a story about life, mortality and the choices we make: is it better to live a long and cautious life, or to burn brightly, but for the shortest time?

(P)2018 Headline Publishing Group Ltd©2018 Chloe Benjamin Coming of Age Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

A boundlessly moving inquisition into mortality, grief and passion...The Immortalists is not just a novel about grief; it conjures characters with such dimension that you mourn them too, a magic rare enough to leave one astonished
Immersive and impressive
A captivating family saga
The Immortalists is a compelling and utterly absorbing read with virtuoso storytelling on display. The drive to discover how each character's story unfolds gives the novel a sense of urgency yet Chloe Benjamin's prose - lyrical, tender, perceptive - compels you to linger on every exquisitely crafted sentence: The Immortalists is rich in historical detail and displays immense wisdom in its portrayal of the intensity and messiness of sibling bonds. It is a hugely powerful novel and asks fundamental questions about fate, mortality and life and the ways we choose to live it
For someone who loves stories about brothers and sisters, as I do, The Immortalists is about as good as it gets. A memorable and heartfelt look at what might happen to a family who knows too much. It's amazing how good this book is (Karen Joy Fowler)
Mesmerising, like a well-crafted illusion...Benjamin is a gifted writer, a creator of quiet asides and haunting images, who mines a seam of sad wisdom
Big themes of fate and free will, superstition and rationalism, guilt and legacy bounce back and forth with the lightness of ping-pong balls through this rambunctious novel, as each vividly drawn character grapples with the question of how to live. Benjamin crams her novel with incident, while never stinting on detail. Such is her dazzling sureness of touch that you wonder if here is a writer who is truly capable of anything.
A stunning, immersive novel, which has echoes of Donna Tartt and Elizabeth Strout, but Benjamin's gift for story-telling is all her own. It's a novel that you'll lose yourself in and foist on all your friends and will still be thinking about it long after you've read the final page. I expect this one to be on all the book award shortlists for 2018 and deservedly so
One of those books that whenever I wasn't reading it, all I could think about was getting back to it... Incredibly absorbing, hugely moving and that perfect balance of beautiful writing and brilliant storytelling
Skilled storytelling, a complex structure that spans decades and vivid characters make this an intelligent, entertaining read
Once I started reading The Immortalists, I resented every moment I had to spend away from the book until I'd finished. It's an extraordinarily moving, beautifully told and, at times, almost unbearably tense read
Skilled storytelling, a complex structure that spans decades and vivid characters make this an intelligent, entertaining read
As deft and dizzying as a high-wire act... the reader is beguiled with unexpected twists and stylish, crisp prose...[an] ambitious, unorthodox tale
All stars
Most relevant
i was recommended this book but if I'm honest I didn't find it particularly compelling. It wasn't bad by any means but the story just didn't hold me like I wanted it to

not bad but nothing special

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Beautifully written story about the burden of knowing your fate and choices you make in life, about a life of a family stricken with grief, loss and mental health issues. Great performance.

Beautiful

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Liked the starting idea for the story, but felt it didn't quite live up to my expectations. The four siblings' stories are told sequencially and it almost felt like four completely different books with one common thread only tenuously pulling them together.

Interesting idea, didn't quite deliver...

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Recommend this book. Really enjoyed ready each section of the different characters. Planned out well.

Good read

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I found this story intriguing so when it got going i found that the story was in sections and finished in day's. it's an enjoyable listen and I look forward to others from this author. would recommend although can be upsetting in places.

Such an usual story full of love, life and sadness

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