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This Is How It Always Is
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 11 hrs
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Summary
The Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick.
A New York Times Audio best seller.
This is how a family keeps a secret...and how that secret ends up keeping them.
This is how a family lives happily ever after...until happily ever after becomes complicated.
This is how children change...and then change the world.
This is Claude. He's five years old, the youngest of five brothers, and loves peanut butter sandwiches. He also loves wearing a dress, and dreams of being a princess.
When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.
Rosie and Penn want Claude to be whoever Claude wants to be. They're just not sure they're ready to share that with the world. Soon the entire family is keeping Claude's secret. Until one day it explodes.
Laurie Frankel's This Is How It Always Is is a novel about revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family. And it's about the ways this is how it always is: change is always hard and miraculous and hard again, parenting is always a leap into the unknown with crossed fingers and full hearts, children grow but not always according to plan. And families with secrets don't get to keep them forever.
Critic reviews
"An intelligent, life-affirming, emotionally charged story." (Prima)
"Every once in a while, I read a book that opens my eyes in a way I never expected." (Reese Witherspoon, Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine book pick)
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What listeners say about This Is How It Always Is
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Alexandra (Audible Editor)
- 16-03-17
A completely genius debut
Transgender issues have been talked about from many different perspectives but through the eyes of five-year-old Claude, Laurie Frankel manages to present us with something entirely new. And in the process, she's managed to make me think about gender and identity in a completely different way. As young Poppy gradually emerges, the listener is encouraged to confront the complexities of the situation as well as realising that they by no means define a person or their potential.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Boo
- 11-04-17
An incredible book!
If you could sum up This Is How It Always Is in three words, what would they be?
Engaging, absorbing and brilliant!
What was one of the most memorable moments of This Is How It Always Is?
Claude/Poppy discovering the 'middle way' and Buddhism in Thailand
What does Gabra Zackman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
The narration brings a sensitivity and vulnerability to the voice of Poppy and Claude.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It was at times heartbreaking, at others life-affirming and left me with a sense of optimism
Any additional comments?
I loved the story, the way it was told and will remember the complex cahracters
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4 people found this helpful
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- Ms. Laura Mercier
- 17-06-17
Perfect
One of those stories you don't want to end. Heartbreaking, beautiful and absolutely gorgeous- a must read!
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3 people found this helpful
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- AA
- 07-03-17
An intelligent take on gender issues
Where does This Is How It Always Is rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It comes pretty high up!
Which scene did you most enjoy?
The scenes where Penn reads the bedtime stories
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Absolutely
Any additional comments?
Laurie Frankel has done a brilliant job of presenting to the listener all the most pressing and contentious transgender issues in this accessible, often funny and touching novel. From wanting to wear a dress and carry a handbag on his first day at primary school to hiding a secret from the girlfriends that he loves having sleepovers with, Claude has to navigate some complicated truths on the road to properly becoming Poppy. But the true brilliance of this book is in its consistent ability to make you smile through all the mini-disasters and prejudices of others. And all of that coupled with the fact that this is Frankel's debut!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Sigrin
- 27-06-20
Transgender story told from a family perspective.
This is the story of Rosie and Pen and there four and a half boys.
The story revolves around their last born child who is not sure of which title to use Claude or Poppy. (The Poppy name choice is also a tender sad moment in the book)
The story has a strong moral compass to what is ethically right. I loved the bedtime story of Princess Stephanie and Grimwald which Pen (writer husband) told to his children, It being a metaphor for growing up and difficult scenarios.
I rather like the last few chapters when Rosie and Claude/Poppy worked in Thailand. The Buddhist enlightenment and way of life was very touching and simply. It helped to explain a lot of issues that we sometimes struggle with in western cultures.
The book throws up lots of questions, which it should considering the subject matter.
It has certainly made me relook at how I see those around me.
Effectively the book asks
Is what we have in our pants relevant to the rest of the world?
Does one have to disclose everything about oneself, if one is perceived by society to be abnormal?
Why does society have the right to judge?
I think it’s worth a listen, but who am I to judge.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Chloe
- 14-02-19
Brilliant story
Really enjoyed this book, a lovely coming of age story bought into the 21st century.
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1 person found this helpful
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- creative genius
- 27-06-18
Takes a bit of time
It took me a little bit to get into the story and realise what it was about, but totally worth it. A powerful story about being true to who you are for anyone.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Yarnthyme
- 26-07-17
Disappointed
I really wanted to like this book as it was such an unusual and interesting theme so I was disappointed with the lack of characterisation and the irritatingly repetitive phrasing. It came over as pretentious. I don't know if reading it would be better than hearing it but I honestly didn't really care what happened to any of the characters. There was a short section in the middle which held some tension and the trip abroad was interesting but sat kind of oddly in the narrative. The topic is definitely current and controversial so it was surprising that the book was so dull.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Disorganised Mum
- 05-06-17
Wonderful
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Thought provoking and emotional. Very well done on a tricky subject. Extremely well written.
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1 person found this helpful
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- catherine
- 26-05-17
Brilliant, beautiful, sad and thought provoking
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
For sure. It's brilliantly written and the plot is like nothing i've ever read before. It has changed the way I think about gender.
What was one of the most memorable moments of This Is How It Always Is?
The relationship between mother, father and their 'child' - I loved seeing how they guided Claude/Poppy through her childhood.
What does Gabra Zackman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Softly narrated in a tone that made me cry - more than once!
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
For sure, cry. But in a heart warming way.
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1 person found this helpful