NATIONAL BESTSELLER
SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE FINALIST
A propulsive literary page-turner about a family torn apart by a mother’s obsession with a sound that no one else can hear
One night, while lying in bed next to her husband, Claire Devon suddenly hears a low hum. This innocuous sound, which no one else in the house can hear, has no obvious source or medical cause, but it begins to upset the balance of Claire’s life. When she discovers that one of her students can also hear the hum, the two strike up an unlikely and intimate friendship. Finding themselves increasingly isolated from their families and colleagues, they fall in with a disparate group of people who also perceive the sound. What starts out as a kind of neighbourhood self-help group gradually transforms into something much more extreme, with far-reaching, devastating consequences.
The Listeners is an electrifying novel that treads the thresholds of faith, conspiracy and mania. Compelling and exhilarating, it forces us to consider how strongly we hold on to what we perceive, and the way different views can tear a family apart.
JORDAN TANNAHILL is a playwright, novelist and director. His debut novel, Liminal, received France’s 2021 Prix des Jeunes Libraires. His second novel, The Listeners, was a finalist for the Giller Prize and adapted into a limited series for the BBC. His most recent play, Prince Faggot, made its world premiere in New York City in 2025 to widespread acclaim; his debut feature film, Rapture, is in production. He has twice won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, and his work has been presented at the Young Vic and Sadler’s Wells theatres in London, the Kitchen and Lincoln Center in New York City, the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, and elsewhere. Born in Ottawa, he lives in New York City with his husband.View all by Jordan Tannahill
