It's great fun listening to narrator Pete Simonelli illuminate the gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood featured in this engaging audiobook by the author of the GOSSIP GIRL series. With lively rhythms he shines a spotlight on the interconnected lives of four affluent families who reside there. The animated and witty characterizations of Roy, a successful novelist; Stuart, a formerly famous musician; Tupper, an odd industrial designer; and Peaches, a bubbly school nurse, along with their spouses and children, will entertain listeners. Simonelli shows considerable range in depicting each character's emotions and is especially adept at portraying the concerns of adolescents. The novel is an amusing slice of contemporary urban life.
Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781797115993
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ireland’s sensitive performance turns what could have been soap-opera melodrama into a poignant family drama.
Marin Ireland is quite wonderful delivering this audiobook that explores a selfish action taken in the ’70s and its consequences years later. Facing a joyless marriage with a husband who shies away from intimacy, Nina leaves him and her family for a more promising life with her next-door neighbor, Finn. The decision shocks their respective families and has an especially devastating effect on Nina’s teenage daughter, Clara. Ireland handles the many voices with professional skill, but her strongest work lies in conveying the inner thoughts and feelings of the people involved. She brings truth to Nina’s guilt, Finn’s sense of urgency, and the children’s pain and disbelief.
Ireland’s sensitive performance turns what could have been soap-opera melodrama into a poignant family drama.Pub Date: yesterday
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780063377707
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2026
Reflective and deeply touching, this open-hearted story may require having tissues close at hand.
Andrew Grace delivers a restrained yet deeply expressive performance in this tender tale, which chronicles events that shape the Hasegawa family as seen through the eyes of the middle son, Kaoru. At the novel’s center is Sakura, the loyal family dog whose steady presence embodies quiet resilience in the face of the family’s joys and tragedies. Grace’s subtle shifts in tone trace the passage of years, revealing the mother’s quiet suffering; the family’s admiration for Hajime, Kaoru’s older brother; and their adoration of his precocious sister, Miki. At each turning point, Sakura becomes both witness and teacher, steadfastly offering comfort as she absorbs the family’s memories.
Reflective and deeply touching, this open-hearted story may require having tissues close at hand.Pub Date: yesterday
Duration: 7 hrs, 55 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063389977
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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