The Woman on the Stairs cover art

The Woman on the Stairs

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Woman on the Stairs

By: Bernhard Schlink
Narrated by: Jonathan Oliver
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

 For decades the painting was believed to be lost.

But, just as mysteriously as it disappeared, it reappears, an anonymous donation to a gallery in Sydney. The art world is stunned but so are the three men who loved the woman in the painting, the woman on the stairs.

One by one they track her down to an isolated cottage in Australia. Here they must try to untangle the lies and betrayals of their shared past - but time is running out.

The Woman on the Stairs is an intricately-crafted, poignant and beguiling novel about creativity and love, about the effects of time passing and the regrets that haunt us all.

Read by Jonathan Oliver

(p) 2016 Orion Publishing Group©2014 Diogenes Verlag Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Nine-Chambered Heart cover art
The Two Hotel Francforts cover art
The Passage of Love cover art
The Foundling Boy cover art
My Struggle, Book 1 cover art

Critic reviews

Fans of Bernhard Schlink will recognise in his latest novel the themes of an unconventional love affair played out in the shadow of recent German history
an ingenious set-up
All stars
Most relevant

Would you try another book written by Bernhard Schlink or narrated by Jonathan Oliver?

No!

Would you ever listen to anything by Bernhard Schlink again?

No

Would you be willing to try another one of Jonathan Oliver’s performances?

Perhaps

What character would you cut from The Woman on the Stairs?

The main character- she was most disappointing

Any additional comments?

The plot had too many large holes....I would have spent my time better had I watched some paint dry.

Better to watch paint dry

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.