Audio only
Length9h 59m
About this audiobook
“The Capital of Dreams is not so much a novel to read but one to live (and dream) in. A dark, wistfully comic fable that's as imaginative as it is poignant. An entire world that only Heather O'Neill could create.”—Iain Reid, bestselling author of We Spread and Foe
From the hugely acclaimed author beloved by literary lights, including Emily St. John Mandel, Kelly Link, and Mona Awad, a dark dystopian fairytale about an idyllic country ravaged by war—and a girl torn between safety and loyalty.
Sofia Bottom lives in Elysia, a small country forgotten by Europe. But inside its borders, the old myths of trees that come alive and faeries who live among their roots have given way to an explosion of the arts and the consolations of philosophy. From the clarinetists to the cabaret singers, no artist is as revered as Sofia’s brilliant mother, the writer Clara Bottom. How can fourteen-year-old Sofia, with her tin ear and enduring love of ancient myths, ever hope to win her mother’s love?
When the country’s greatest enemy invades, and the Capital is under threat, Clara turns to her daughter to smuggle her new manuscript to safety on the last train evacuating children from the city. But when the train draws to a suspicious halt in the middle of a forest, Sofia is forced to run for her life and loses her mother’s most prized possession. Frightened and alone in a country at war, Sofia must find a way to reclaim what she has lost. On an epic journey through woods and razed towns, colliding with soldiers, survivors, and other lost children, Sofia must make the choice between kindness and her own survival.
In this stunning novel set in an imaginative world yet reflective of our own times, Heather O’Neill delivers a vivid, breathtaking dark fairytale of life, death, and betrayal.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.7 (2.5K)
Includes Goodreads, StoryGraph
GenreDystopia, Fairy Tales and Folklore, General Fiction
Length9 hrs 59 mins
Narrated byPaige McKinney
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJan 7, 2025
LanguageEnglish
More from Heather O'Neill
The Road to Gundagai (The Matilda Saga, #3)Jackie French12h 31m4.6 (1.2K)$33 · $0.00
1984 & Animal Farm (Annotated)George Orwell15h 54m4.5 (220.8K)$3.99 · $0.00
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd & The HollowAgatha Christie14h 6m4.6 (440)$33 · $0.00
The Lincoln MoonMichael Price Nelson7h 38m4.5 (708)$17
The Rose CodeKate Quinn16h 2m4.4 (493.7K)$33 · $0.00
Crack in the SkyTerry C. Johnston21h 57m4.6 (329)$35
The Castilian PomegranateAnna Belfrage15h 35m4.6 (280)$23
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m4.4 (63.6K)$46 · $0.00
Sweet Home Highland ChristmasMay McGoldrick, Jan Coffey2h 54m4.5 (1.2K)$7 · $0.00
Better Lucky and GoodLarry Jeram-Croft8h 7m4.5 (1.2K)$23
Red ClayCharles B. Fancher10h 35m4.4 (6.6K)$25
Philip K. Dick: SF Boxed SetPhilip K. Dick29h 38m4.5 (608)$1 · $0.00
The Act of DisappearingNathan Gower12h 23m4.4 (3.4K)$8 · $0.00
Beyond the Crescent SkyA. L. Sowards13h 6m4.5 (335)$27
The Consequences of FearJacqueline Winspear10h 28m4.4 (26.1K)$29 · $0.00
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
When Nietzsche WeptIrvin D. Yalom MD15h 26m4.4 (81.4K)$23
The Oceans and the StarsMark Helprin21h 37m4.4 (4.8K)$30
The Extinction Cycle Boxed Set, Books 1–3Nicholas Sansbury Smith25h 30m4.4 (3K)$30
Presidential MissionUpton Sinclair26h 46m4.5 (310)$40
No Woman Left BehindJulie Moffett8h 49m4.5 (3K)$25 · $0.00
The Undead PoolKim Harrison16h 13m4.4 (34.6K)$33 · $0.00
Joy in the MorningP. G. Wodehouse6h 57m4.4 (17.4K)$17
The Sweetest FiendRaven Kennedy16h 35m4.3 (21K)$40 · $0.00
TILL WE HAVE FACES (Cupid & Psyche – The Story Behind the Myth)C. S. Lewis9h 51m4.3 (104.5K)$1 · $0.00
Grimm's Fairy TalesThe Brothers Grimm28h 44m4.3 (249.8K)$30
Grimms' Fairy TalesJacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm9h 46m4.3 (256.5K)$2 · $0.00
The Hymns of OrpheusThomas Taylor3h 13m4.4 (777)$21 · $0.00
Solomon vs. LordPaul Levine12h 3m4.3 (8.5K)$23
The Olive Fairy BookAndrew Lang9h 46m4.4 (1.3K)$2.30 · $0.00
The Once and Future King (Annotated)T. H. White28h 26m4.3 (121.8K)$2 · $0.00
Further Tales of the CityArmistead Maupin8h 10m4.3 (20.4K)$26 · $0.00
A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens3h 11m4.3 (1.1M)$1.20 · $0.00
Norse MythologyNeil Gaiman6h 30m4.2 (453.7K)$24 · $0.00
Bambi: A Life In The WoodsFelix Salten4h 43m4.2 (42.2K)$2.30
The Wonder ClockHoward Pyle, Katharine Pyle8h 16m4.3 (2.1K)$1 · $0.00
The Palace of IllusionsChitra Banerjee Divakaruni12h 21m4.2 (104.4K)$23
The Family InheritanceTricia Stringer12h 14m4.3 (2.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Good Wife of BathKaren Brooks19h 48m4.2 (9K)$40 · $0.00
The Wonder Clock, Or, Twenty Four Marvellous TalesHoward Pyle7h 26m4.3 (644)$2.30
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
You may also like
The Boy Who Drew AuschwitzThomas Geve9h 13m4.5 (2.9K)$29 · $0.00
FatelessnessImre Kertész8h 24m4.1 (19.2K)$20
From Miniskirt to HijabJacqueline Saper6h 46m4.3 (932)$17 · $0.00
The Boat RunnerDevin Murphy11h 45m4.0 (6K)$29 · $0.00
The Blood YearsElana K. Arnold12h 40m4.3 (1.9K)$33 · $0.00
Counting Lost StarsKim van Alkemade13h 55m4.4 (22.7K)$33 · $0.00
The Island at the End of EverythingKiran Millwood Hargrave5h 55m4.3 (4.7K)$17
All for NothingWalter Kempowski11h 19m4.2 (5.6K)$23
The Wartime Journal of a Georgia Girl (Illustrated Edition)Eliza Frances Andrews10h 55m4.1 (426)$2 · $0.00
Coming Out of the IceVictor Herman13h 49m4.6 (1.1K)$25
Wartime LiesLouis Begley6h 6m3.9 (1.6K)$20 · $0.00
INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRLHarriet Jacobs9h 56m4.4 (86.9K)$2 · $0.00
Mademoiselle ChanelC. W. Gortner14h 57m4.2 (15.7K)$33 · $0.00
Surviving HitlerAndrea Warren2h 26m4.3 (7.8K)$15
The Magdalen GirlsV. S. Alexander11h 19m3.9 (14.9K)$20 · $0.00
Safiyyah's WarHiba Noor Khan8h 16m4.5 (2.7K)$26 · $0.00
Benedict XVI: A LifePeter Seewald19h 45m4.6 (1.5K)$30
Farewell to ManzanarJeanne Wakatsuki Houston, James D. Houston5h4.0 (26.3K)$24 · $0.00
Sisters in ScienceOlivia Campbell10h 19m3.7 (4.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Capital of DreamsHeather O'Neill10h3.7 (2.4K)$29 · $0.00