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The Teacher's Lie

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About this listen

There are some secrets you just can’t bury.

A gripping Audible Original for fans of Jane Harper’s The Dry and Sarah Pearse’s The Sanatorium, The Teacher’s Lie is a psychological thriller set on the harsh and rugged South Australian coast, performed by Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, The Kids Are All Right).

It’s been two years since Anna Cartwright’s life fell apart. During her first school trip as a young teacher, a student went missing and was never found. Not only was her career ruined, she was also accused of having an affair with fellow teacher and prime suspect Graham. Facing questions from journalists, police and family, Anna said she didn’t know what happened. She was lying.

Now, Anna has returned to Australia. Her only hope is Land’s End Area School, an isolated concrete wasteland perched on the cliffs. The failing institution is so understaffed that it is the one place her history might remain hidden. But while the eccentric Headmistress seems welcoming, deputy-head Miss Baxter seems determined to expose her secrets.

With new lies spinning out of control, how long can Anna keep her secret hidden? And is she being haunted by her guilt or by something far more sinister?

©2024 Brid Cummings (P)2024 Audible Ltd. Psychological Thriller & Suspense

About the Creator

Brid Cummings is a writer living in South Australia whose stories veer towards the darker side of fiction. Her love of nature and wild places often provide inspiration for her stories, as does her curiosity about all things mysterious. Brid’s short stories have been published in a range of magazines and anthologies. She was the winner of the inaugural Glencairn Crime Short Story Competition and a winner of The Ghost Story Screw Turn Competition. When not writing fiction, Brid can be found hiking the beautiful trails around South Australia with her independently minded kelpie.

About the Performer

Mia Wasikowska recently starred in Jessica Hausner’s thriller Club Zero, which premiered in competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
Her recent credits include Mia Hansen-Love’s Bergman Island, which had its World Premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, Robert Connolly’s Blueback based on the Tim Winton novel of the same name, Roger Michell’s Blackbird alongside Kate Winslet, Sam Neill and Susan Sarandon, the Netflix feature The Devil All the Time alongside Chris Evans, Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland, and Mirrah Foulkes’ debut feature Judy and Punch, which had its World Premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and earned her a Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actress.
Mia gained international recognition as the title character in Tim Burton’s 2010 retelling of the Lewis Carrol novel Alice in Wonderland, alongside Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter. Her performance earned her the AFI Award for Best International Actress. In 2015, she reprised the role in James Bobin’s sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass.
Her other credits include Nicolas Pesce’s Piercing, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, David Zellner’s Damsel, Cedric Jimenez’ The Man with the Iron Heart, Guillermo Del Toro’s period thriller Crimson Peak, Sophie Barthes’ Madame Bovary, David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars, Richard Ayoade’s The Double, John Curran’s Tracks, Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, Chan-wook Park’s Stoker, John Hillcoat’s Lawless, Rodrigo Garcia’s Albert Nobbs, Cary Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre, Gus Van Sant’s Restless, Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right, Scott Teems’ That Evening Sun, Peter Carstairs’ September, Greg McLean’s Rogue and Paul Goldman’s Suburban Mayhem. Mia also featured in the first season of the acclaimed HBO series In Treatment.
Mia made her directorial debut with Long, Clear View, a segment of The Turning anthology film, based on Tim Winton’s novel, which was nominated for an AACTA Award in 2013. She followed this with Afterbirth, a segment of Madly, an international anthology of short films featuring innovative love stories, which premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2019, Mia made her main stage theatre debut as Ralph in the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Lord of the Flies, directed by Kip Williams.
Mia has also received the Hollywood Breakthrough Actress of the Year Award and the Australians in Film Breakthrough Award.
Photographed by Almin Zrno.

All stars
Most relevant
Got to chapter 7. Had to return. Doesn’t make you want to carry on. Isn’t gripping at all.

Boring

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unfortunately this is very slow boring listen I only managed less than half. it was the narrator that was not easy to listen too. no personality for characters. very difficult

not a good choice

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Base story good, but it was drawn out so much it became boring losing its anticipation of wondering what was to come.

Long moments of too much dialogue

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Ok, so loved the concept of the story and amazing descriptions. Just a bit too dragged out. I listened to the last twenty chapters in fast forward.

Brilliant idea but a bit dragged out

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I don’t think everything was explained but I am not certain as switched off at the end. There was some high drama but not really sure how it all linked together. Lots of random aspects. Why was Emily so troubled? Why didn’t Joy know that the HT was once a school mate? Why did Anna and Graham leave the kids on a school trip to have a quick one. Like this is even slightly plausible!! Where was their risk assessment. Lots of nonsensical aspects. Clearly the author has never been a teacher. I don’t even know why Anna was running seeing as she was in denial. It was ok but I would not recommend.

Ok but erratic storyline

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