Length15h 56m
About this audiobook
A sweeping epic in the vein of Philipp Meyer’s The Son and Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko and inspired by a true story, this stunning US literary debut captures the never-before-told journey of the Baleine Brides: a ship full of young women plucked from a Paris asylum and sent to marry settlers in North America's rough Louisiana Territory.
Paris, 1720. La Salpêtrière hospital is in crisis: too many occupants, not enough beds. Halfway across the world, France's colony in the wilds of North America has space to spare and needs families to fill it. So the director of the hospital rounds up nearly a hundred female “volunteers” of childbearing age—orphans, prisoners, and mental patients—to be shipped to New Orleans.
Among this group are three unlikely friends: a sharp-tongued twelve-year old orphan, a mute ‘madwoman,’ and an accused abortionist. Charlotte, Pétronille, and Geneviève, along with the dozens of other women aboard La Baleine, have no knowledge of what lies ahead and no control over their futures. Strangers brought together by fate, these brave and fierce young women will face extraordinary adversity—pirates, slavedrivers, sickness, war—but also the private trauma of heartbreak and unrequited love, children born and lost, cruelty and unexpected pleasure, and a friendship forged in fire that will sustain through the years.
At once a gorgeously written work of startling depth and emotion and a gripping drama marrying high-seas adventure with pioneer grit, Pelican Girls is a powerful, thought-provoking novel about female friendship and desire and the daunting compromises women are forced to make to survive.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.9 (4.1K)
Includes Goodreads, LibraryThing, Amazon
GenreGeneral Fiction, Historical Fiction
Length15 hrs 56 mins
Narrated byPolly Edsell
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateMar 5, 2024
LanguageEnglish
Ethic IIAshley Antoinette9h 1m4.7 (8K)$20
RiversnowTess Thompson8h 11m4.7 (1.3K)$20
Supreme ClienteleAshley & JaQuavis8h 58m4.7 (3.4K)$20
Body Refinement in a Beast Tamer’s World, Book 1Seth Ring14h 7m4.7 (1.3K)$27
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m4.7 (669)$28 · $0.00
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m4.8 (395)$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m4.7 (726)$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m4.7 (1.2K)$35
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m4.7 (3.8K)$20
BAEJahquel J.5h 22m4.7 (3.1K)$20
Dark RisingJeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews13h 47m4.7 (1.3K)$27
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Grand Opening 2Carl Weber9h 16m4.7 (2.4K)$20
Sons of Valor II: Violence of ActionBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson12h 34m4.6 (3.6K)$23
Malevolent MagicMildred Abbott7h 13m4.7 (1.2K)$17
Bikes, Toys, and Hot BoyzGenesis Woods, Shantaé13h 9m4.7 (722)$23
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
Ghetto BastardK’wan7h 37m4.6 (2.9K)$20
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
Ivanhoe (Annotated)Walter Scott22h 52m4.8 (88)$2 · $0.00
Scaramouche (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini15h 24m4.6 (1.8K)$2 · $0.00
Northern ShadowsDaniel Greene12h 52m4.7 (281)$23
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m4.5 (77.2K)$53 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
Their Castilian OrphanAnna Belfrage14h 45m4.7 (122)$27
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00
Eagles over BritainLee Jackson12h 26m4.5 (18.6K)$23
Rilla of InglesideLucy Maud Montgomery11h 44m4.5 (48.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Viennese DressmakerKathryn Gauci11h 46m4.5 (2.1K)$23 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m4.6 (495)$33 · $0.00
Under the Light of the Italian MoonJennifer Anton12h 28m4.5 (5.3K)$23 · $0.00
Jubilee, 50th Anniversary EditionMargaret Walker15h 43m4.5 (9.5K)$25 · $0.00
Arch of TriumphErich Maria Remarque15h 51m4.4 (36.6K)$28
Serenade for NadiaZülfü Livaneli9h 9m4.4 (20.1K)$20
Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen14h 44m4.4 (4.7M)$2 · $0.00
Flying Colours (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith9h 26m4.4 (10.1K)$2 · $0.00
With Love from HarlemReShonda Tate13h 48m4.5 (2K)$6 · $0.00
Under the Java MoonHeather B. Moore12h 23m4.4 (3.2K)$23
You may also like
At the Foot of the Cherry Tree: The bestselling, heart-warming novel based on a true story of forbidden love & heartbreak SHORTLISTED FOR THE DYMOCKS 2023 BOOK OF THE YEARAlli Parker10h 8m4.4 (5.6K)$29 · $0.00
Prize WomenCaroline Lea11h 27m4.0 (1.9K)$29 · $0.00
IndependenceChitra Banerjee Divakaruni10h 1m4.2 (15.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Secret Wife of Aaron BurrSusan Holloway Scott17h 55m4.2 (6.8K)$30 · $0.00
The Desert CrucibleZane Grey11h 8m4.2 (2.9K)$21
The Lotus ShoesJane Yang12h 20m4.2 (21.4K)$29 · $0.00
RamonaHelen Hunt Jackson15h 48m4.1 (21K)$30
Next Year in HavanaChanel Cleeton11h 16m4.0 (179.2K)$20
The Whisky WidowKaren Brooks18h 27m4.1 (798)$28 · $0.00
Pillars of LightJane Johnson16h 24m3.9 (1.1K)$25
O'Hara's ChoiceLeon Uris14h 56m3.6 (2.3K)$33 · $0.00
The Thread CollectorsShaunna J. Edwards, Alyson Richman10h 43m4.1 (11.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Highland WitchSusan Fletcher12h 58m4.3 (11.8K)$23 · $0.00
The Horsemaster's DaughterSusan Wiggs11h 41m4.3 (2.7K)$27 · $0.00
The HeiressMolly Greeley11h 44m3.8 (6.6K)$29 · $0.00
Clancy of the Overflow (The Matilda Saga, #9)Jackie French14h 24m4.6 (471)$33 · $0.00
Show Boat (Annotated)Edna Ferber12h 26m4.4 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The Angel of WaterlooJackie French13h 59m4.3 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Survivors GuildGabriella Saab12h 34m4.4 (30)$34 · $0.00
Cease firingMary Johnston19h 3m3.5 (68)$2.30 · $0.00