Audio only

Circle of Wonders

By Kathryn HeymanNarrated by Meredith Penman
Length5h 56m

About this audiobook

From acclaimed writer Kathryn Heyman comes a luminously beautiful and personal novel, Circle of Wonders. It is the story of two deaths, but more importantly, it is the story of the legacy of life that flows from them - an uplifting celebratory song to life, and a homage to human resilience. Roni is running out of time. As cancer claims her body, she begins a Book of Wonders, capturing the small, luminous moments she once overlooked. It's a final gift to the people she loves, and completing it means reckoning with both the flawed life she has lived and the fractured family she's about to leave behind. Over one charged lunar month, the women closest to her gather: Belle, her daughter, fresh from rehab and trying to stay upright; Anna, her brilliant sister, returning from London with all her old certainties cracking; and Sylvie, her estranged mother, approaching her own death across the mountain ridge. Meanwhile, Roni's ex - the Drone, as she's dubbed him - refuses to leave the house, casting shade on the light Roni is fighting to keep burning. Extraordinary, luminous and heart-expanding, Circle of Wonders is about facing death while rediscovering life, and about the messy grace that emerges when people who've hurt one another still choose to love. 'A precious jewellery box of language, bravely capturing the imperfection of being human and probing the mysteries of what matters most - this courageous novel glitters with wonder itself' Suzie Miller, Prima Facie 'Wondrous. Kathryn Heyman has mined the depths of human frailty and hit a seam of gold. Beautifully written, full of life and love, acceptance and forgiveness. I couldn't put it down' Pip Williams, The Bookbinder of Jericho 'Beautiful and devastating. Luminous with death - and life. Circle of Wonders observes the complicated bonds of friendship and family among women, with a wisdom and tenderness that is deeply observed. It is a novel of wild power that reminds me of Katherine Mansfield and Claire Keegan. I gulped it in a day, then ached that it was over' Nikki Gemmell, Wing 'It is breathtaking, ruthless and healing. Beautiful and profoundly moving and riveting. I think this will be a very important book. And enormously meaningful to many people. What a gift' Jaclyn Moriarty, Gravity is the Thing 'A beautifully observed, funny and tender novel about letting love in, and letting love go' Anna Funder, Wifedom 'The most seriously human book I've read in ages, a novel of deep courage and beauty, a serious act of witness to friendship, complexity, and the everyday wonders that sustain us' Chris Cleave, Little Bee 'A bright flare. Heyman's writing makes us look up and savour life' Chloe Hooper, The Mushroom Tapes

Audiobook details

Rating★★★★ 4.1 (48)
Includes Goodreads
GenreFantasy, General Fiction
Length5 hrs 56 mins
Narrated byMeredith Penman
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateMar 31, 2026
LanguageEnglish

More from Kathryn Heyman

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
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
Science Fiction & Fantasy CollectionH. P. Lovecraft16h 32m4.5 (2.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Undead PoolKim Harrison16h 13m4.4 (34.6K)$33 · $0.00
The Edge of DawnBeverly Jenkins10h 15m4.5 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
The Tapestry of FateShannon Chakraborty20h 2m4.4 (3.4K)$46 · $0.00
The Lack of LightNino Haratischwili26h 20m4.4 (9.2K)$53 · $0.00
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m4.4 (63.6K)$46 · $0.00
A Broken People's PlaylistChimeka Garricks6h 40m4.4 (3.7K)$24 · $0.00
Wicked BiteJeaniene Frost8h 56m4.4 (14.6K)$29 · $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
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
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett11h 23m4.5 (189.9K)$29 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
The Book Of NegroesLawrence Hill15h 45m4.5 (107.3K)$33 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00

You may also like

The Death of Ivan IlyitchLeo Tolstoy2h 31m4.2 (236.9K)$10 · $0.00
Without YouAnthony Rapp9h 29m4.2 (7.6K)$20 · $0.00
Pale Morning Light With Violet SwanDeborah Reed8h 53m4.2 (713)$29 · $0.00
This Close to HappyDaphne Merkin9h 31m3.6 (2K)$20 · $0.00
Infinite HomeKathleen Alcott8h 52m3.7 (4.5K)$20 · $0.00
Fractured SoulAkira Mizubayashi5h 21m4.0 (6.4K)$24 · $0.00
Love in Case of EmergencyDaniela Krien7h 3m3.7 (8.2K)$24 · $0.00
We All Want Impossible ThingsCatherine Newman6h 55m4.2 (72.7K)$24 · $0.00
Silas MarnerGeorge Eliot8h 57m3.9 (124.5K)$2 · $0.00
The UntellingTayari Jones8h 21m3.8 (6.7K)$22
Some Bright NowhereAnn Packer7h 14m3.5 (14.5K)$28 · $0.00
That's What Friends Are ForWade Rouse10h 35m4.0 (2.5K)$29 · $0.00
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya SisterhoodRebecca Wells3h 30m4.0 (600.4K)$18 · $0.00
Someday, MaybeOnyi Nwabineli11h 7m4.0 (18.7K)$29 · $0.00
Flip Side of the GameTu-Shonda L. Whitaker5h 3m4.6 (751)$17
The Hour I First BelievedWally Lamb25h 10m4.0 (74.4K)$53 · $0.00
The Cleaner of ChartresSalley Vickers9h 11m3.9 (8.5K)$20 · $0.00
The Knitting CircleAnn Hood9h 52m3.9 (13.5K)$20
The Ocean in WinterElizabeth de Veer13h 26m4.0 (2.7K)$23
The Dressmakers of Prospect HeightsKitty Zeldis10h 33m4.0 (9.4K)$29 · $0.00