Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • The Heart Broke In

  • By: James Meek
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (23 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Heart Broke In

By: James Meek
Narrated by: John Lee
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £19.99

Buy Now for £19.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Would you betray your lover to give them what they wanted? Bec Shepherd is a malaria researcher struggling to lead a good life. Ritchie, her reprobate brother, is a rock star turned TV producer. When Bec refuses an offer of marriage from a powerful newspaper editor and Ritchie's indiscretions catch up with him, brother and sister are forced to choose between loyalty and betrayal.

The Heart Broke In is an old-fashioned story of modern times, a rich, ambitious family drama of love, death and money in the era of gene therapy and internet blackmail.

©2012 James Meek (P)2012 Canongate Books Ltd
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Truth About These Strange Times cover art
Protest cover art
Kartography cover art
The Long Gaze Back cover art
Mother cover art
The Lessons cover art
Killer Women cover art
The Memory Game cover art

What listeners say about The Heart Broke In

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Smart and original

It is very hard to describe this book. Initially it is a tale of a high achieving brother and sister who get along despite an undercurrent of sibling rivalry. Richie is a cheating hedonist who is about to be found out whereas Becks is an almost saintly medical researcher looking for a cure for malaria. Both characters are intensely real and it is impossible to completely like or dislike either of them. The catalyst occurs when Becks breaks her engagement to Val, a high powered newspaper editor and he unleashes a very effective revenge strategy that has far reaching consequences for Becks, her family and even their acquaintances.
Just like life, this book has its annoying moments and some sections are a tad overlong. I also regretted the absence of the very charismatic Val in much of the book, although his actions are plainly evident. Just like life, I can only look back fondly on this remarkable and original story. There are some parts of this book where I would have given a 6 or 7 marking if I could so I think a Straight 5 is a fair assessment of its overall impact.
I wonder if James Meek could be encouraged to write another book about Val? It would be wonderful if he did.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

excellent story and narrator

the narrator is excellent the language rich and evocative the characters well rounded and believable. loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Heartbreaking

It takes a little while until the story picks up speed but you’ll be highly rewarded. It is a very complex story inhabited by very complex characters that Mr.Meek had brought to life in such a brilliant way. They all seem so real and interact in a way which is very realistic but planted into unusual circumstances. I actually started to live with them, and really worry about them - which has never happend before and was quite a unique experience . I loved the book in it’s abundance of life as it is tragic and funny at the same time as well as mirroring the English culture in morals and politics in the 21st century.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

drone

This may be a very good book, but I couldn't bring myself to persevere the drone of the narrators voice beyond chapter 3.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Awful narrator

I have no idea if the story is good but the narrator is AWFUL. Couldn't get past chapter 2. I suspect one to read in the traditional manner...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful