Length10h 35m
About this audiobook
In a provocative novel addressing contemporary immigration by the sharply observant Lionel Shriver, a New York family takes in a Honduran migrant—who may or may not be the innocent paragon she claims to be.
Gloria Bonaventura, a divorced mother of three living with her 26-year-old son Nico in a sprawling house in Brooklyn, decides to participate in a new city program that would pay her to take in a migrant as a boarder. Gloria is thrilled when sweet, kind, helpful Martine arrives. But Nico is skeptical. A classic live-at-home Gen Zer with no interest in adulthood, Nico resents any interruption of his “hovercraft repose.”
As the months go by, Martine endears herself to both Nico’s sisters, while finding her way into Gloria’s heart and even, briefly, Nico’s. But as Martine’s disturbingly dodgy compatriots begin to show up, Nico conceives a dark twin hostile to both his mother’s altruism and the “migrant crisis” in general—and turns out to be anything but a reliable narrator himself.
Based loosely on a program a New York City mayor floated but did not initiate, A Better Life is Lionel Shriver at her best: smart, funny, and sensitive to the moral nuances of perhaps the most divisive issue of our times.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.0 (2.5K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon
GenreFantasy, General Fiction
Length10 hrs 35 mins
Narrated byGeorge Newbern
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateFeb 10, 2026
LanguageEnglish
More from Lionel Shriver
The MandiblesLionel Shriver13h 46m3.8 (13K)$33 · $0.00
Should We Stay or Should We GoLionel Shriver10h 13m3.7 (9.7K)$29 · $0.00
We Need to Talk About Kevin movie tie-inLionel Shriver16h 10m4.2 (252.8K)$33 · $0.00
Big BrotherLionel Shriver13h 2m3.5 (18.6K)$33 · $0.00
Ordinary Decent CriminalsLionel Shriver16h 23m3.3 (434)$40 · $0.00
AbominationsLionel Shriver11h 36m4.0 (737)$29 · $0.00
PropertyLionel Shriver14h 10m3.7 (3.4K)$33 · $0.00
ManiaLionel Shriver9h 23m3.6 (5.3K)$29 · $0.00
The MandiblesLionel Shriver13h 46m3.7 (16.4K)$33 · $0.00
The New RepublicLionel Shriver13h 16m3.3 (2.5K)$33 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book SetToshikazu Kawaguchi18h 55m4.5 (1.4K)$40 · $0.00
The Song of AchillesMadeline Miller11h 15m4.3 (2.3M)$29 · $0.00
The Left and the LuckyWilly Vlautin6h 40m4.4 (1.1K)$24 · $0.00
Hunt of the DragonJuliette Cross9h 46m4.4 (736)$20
Deadly GameChristine Feehan13h 20m4.3 (15.8K)$30
Swimming in the DarkTomasz Jedrowski6h 30m4.2 (98.9K)$24 · $0.00
WildfireIlona Andrews12h 45m4.5 (62.9K)$33 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Lola in the MirrorTrent Dalton13h 40m4.5 (43.9K)$33 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett13h 36m4.5 (163.8K)$33 · $0.00
The Leo Tolstoy CollectionLeo Tolstoy9h 1m4.5 (4.9K)$12 · $0.00
Sword and ShadowMichelle Sagara16h 51m4.5 (2.2K)$40 · $0.00
A Tree Grows in BrooklynBetty Smith14h 55m4.4 (577.6K)$33 · $0.00
Dark GuardianChristine Feehan12h 32m4.5 (26.3K)$33 · $0.00
The Neil Gaiman ReaderNeil Gaiman27h 3m4.5 (3.2K)$53 · $0.00
The HobbitJ. R. R. Tolkien10h 51m4.4 (4.9M)$12 · $0.00
Bad HabitAlana S. Portero5h 37m4.4 (52.3K)$24 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m4.6 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m4.6 (33.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
Death Comes as the EndAgatha Christie7h 12m3.9 (39.9K)$24 · $0.00
A Book of American MartyrsJoyce Carol Oates24h 44m3.9 (8.2K)$5 · $0.00
HomebodiesTembe Denton-Hurst10h 28m3.6 (8.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's WivesLola Shoneyin9h 29m4.1 (20.8K)$29 · $0.00
The WivesTarryn Fisher9h3.7 (320.1K)$29 · $0.00
MercuryMargot Livesey9h 23m3.5 (6.2K)$29 · $0.00
For LoveSue Miller13h 29m3.6 (2.5K)$33 · $0.00
BAEJahquel J.5h 22m4.7 (3.1K)$20
The SurrogateToni Halleen9h 35m3.6 (2.9K)$29 · $0.00
IntellectualsPaul Johnson18h 18m3.9 (9.1K)$28
The Real Mrs. TobiasSally Koslow9h 25m3.6 (3.6K)$29 · $0.00
Trust the PlanWill Sommer8h 13m4.2 (5K)$7 · $0.00
A Doll's HouseHenrik Ibsen2h 57m4.0 (230.4K)$2 · $0.00
What Kind of Man Would I BeBlake Karrington7h 36m4.4 (939)$20
More Than You KnowPenny Vincenzi23h 25m3.8 (3.6K)$30
People Like HerEllery Lloyd10h 23m3.8 (47.6K)$29 · $0.00
A Doll's HouseHENRIK IBSEN3h 6m4.0 (353.3K)$3.50 · $0.00
Girls from da Hood 5Edd McNair, Keisha Ervin, Brenda Hampton9h 23m4.3 (827)$20
The PlaygroundJane Shemilt9h 39m3.7 (7.1K)$29 · $0.00
Take My HusbandEllen Meister11h 45m3.7 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00