Lessons
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Standard 1-month free trial
Lessons
Buy Now for $35.35
-
Narrated by:
-
Simon McBurney
-
Written by:
-
Ian McEwan
About this listen
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY VOGUE • THE NEW YORKER • THE GUARDIAN • VOX • THE WASHINGTON POST • BOOKPAGE
Both epic and intimate, the story of one man's life across generations and historical upheavals. From the Suez Crisis to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the fall of the Berlin Wall to the current pandemic—from #1 bestselling author Ian McEwan.
When the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has closed, eleven-year-old Roland Baines’s life is turned upside down. 2,000 miles from his mother’s protective love, stranded at an unusual boarding school, his vulnerability attracts piano teacher Miss Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade.
Now, when his wife vanishes, leaving him alone with his tiny son, Roland is forced to confront the reality of his restless existence. As the radiation from Chernobyl spreads across Europe, he begins a search for answers that looks deep into his family history and will last for the rest of his life.
From the Suez Crisis to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the fall of the Berlin Wall to the current pandemic and climate change, Roland sometimes rides with the tide of history, but more often struggles against it. Haunted by lost opportunities, he seeks solace through every possible means—music, literature, friends, sex, politics and, finally, love cut tragically short, then love ultimately redeemed. His journey raises important questions for us all. Can we take full charge of the course of our lives without damage to others? How do global events beyond our control shape our lives and our memories? And what can we really learn from the traumas of the past?
Epic, mesmerising and deeply humane, Lessons is a chronicle for our times—a powerful meditation on history and humanity through the prism of one man’s lifetime.
You may also enjoy...
-
Unsheltered
- A Novel
- Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall125
-
Performance109
-
Story107
New York Times Bestseller Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, O: The Oprah Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek “Kingsolver brilliantly captures both the price of profound change and how it can pave the way not only for future generations...
-
-
disappointed
- By Anonymous on 2019-07-27
Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
-
The Stone Diaries
- Written by: Carol Shields, Penelope Lively - introduction
- Narrated by: Deborah Drakeford
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5
-
Performance4
-
Story4
Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and Shortlisted for the Booker Prize Born in 1905, Daisy Goodwill Flett drifts through the chapters of childhood, marriage, widowhood, remarriage, motherhood, and old age, bewildered by her inability to understand her own...
-
-
An ordinary life
- By Norman on 2025-07-21
Written by: Carol Shields, and others
-
First Person Singular
- Stories
- Written by: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel - translator
- Narrated by: Kotaro Watanabe
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall20
-
Performance19
-
Story19
NATIONAL BEST SELLER A mind-bending new collection of short stories from the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author. “Some novelists hold a mirror up to the world and some, like Haruki Murakami, use the mirror as a portal to a universe hidden beyond it.” —The Wall Street...
Written by: Haruki Murakami, and others
-
Agent Running in the Field
- A Novel
- Written by: John le Carré
- Narrated by: John le Carré
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall123
-
Performance107
-
Story106
“[Le Carré’s] novels are so brilliant because they’re emotionally and psychologically absolutely true, but of course they’re novels.” —New York Times Book Review A thrilling tale for our times from the undisputed master of the spy genre Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain’s...
-
-
Wonderful.
- By Evalina on 2020-01-05
Written by: John le Carré
-
Now You See Us
- A Novel
- Written by: Balli Kaur Jaswal
- Narrated by: Angela Lin
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall7
-
Performance6
-
Story6
Crazy Rich Asians meets The Help! From Reese’s Book Club veteran Balli Kaur Jaswal comes a wildly entertaining and sharply observed story of three women who work in the homes of Singapore’s elite, and band together to solve a murder mystery involving one of their own. “Tender and heartfelt...
-
-
So so good!
- By Naomi on 2023-07-20
Written by: Balli Kaur Jaswal
-
Half of a Yellow Sun
- Written by: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Narrated by: Zainab Jah
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall147
-
Performance128
-
Story130
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST From the award-winning, bestselling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists—a haunting story of love and war. Recipient of the Women’s Prize for Fiction “Winner of Winners” award. With effortless grace, celebrated author...
-
-
Incredible story and amazing narration
- By Laura on 2019-01-30
Written by: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
-
Unsheltered
- A Novel
- Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall125
-
Performance109
-
Story107
New York Times Bestseller Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, O: The Oprah Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek “Kingsolver brilliantly captures both the price of profound change and how it can pave the way not only for future generations...
-
-
disappointed
- By Anonymous on 2019-07-27
Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
-
The Stone Diaries
- Written by: Carol Shields, Penelope Lively - introduction
- Narrated by: Deborah Drakeford
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5
-
Performance4
-
Story4
Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and Shortlisted for the Booker Prize Born in 1905, Daisy Goodwill Flett drifts through the chapters of childhood, marriage, widowhood, remarriage, motherhood, and old age, bewildered by her inability to understand her own...
-
-
An ordinary life
- By Norman on 2025-07-21
Written by: Carol Shields, and others
-
First Person Singular
- Stories
- Written by: Haruki Murakami, Philip Gabriel - translator
- Narrated by: Kotaro Watanabe
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall20
-
Performance19
-
Story19
NATIONAL BEST SELLER A mind-bending new collection of short stories from the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author. “Some novelists hold a mirror up to the world and some, like Haruki Murakami, use the mirror as a portal to a universe hidden beyond it.” —The Wall Street...
Written by: Haruki Murakami, and others
-
Agent Running in the Field
- A Novel
- Written by: John le Carré
- Narrated by: John le Carré
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall123
-
Performance107
-
Story106
“[Le Carré’s] novels are so brilliant because they’re emotionally and psychologically absolutely true, but of course they’re novels.” —New York Times Book Review A thrilling tale for our times from the undisputed master of the spy genre Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain’s...
-
-
Wonderful.
- By Evalina on 2020-01-05
Written by: John le Carré
-
Now You See Us
- A Novel
- Written by: Balli Kaur Jaswal
- Narrated by: Angela Lin
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall7
-
Performance6
-
Story6
Crazy Rich Asians meets The Help! From Reese’s Book Club veteran Balli Kaur Jaswal comes a wildly entertaining and sharply observed story of three women who work in the homes of Singapore’s elite, and band together to solve a murder mystery involving one of their own. “Tender and heartfelt...
-
-
So so good!
- By Naomi on 2023-07-20
Written by: Balli Kaur Jaswal
-
Half of a Yellow Sun
- Written by: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Narrated by: Zainab Jah
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall147
-
Performance128
-
Story130
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST From the award-winning, bestselling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists—a haunting story of love and war. Recipient of the Women’s Prize for Fiction “Winner of Winners” award. With effortless grace, celebrated author...
-
-
Incredible story and amazing narration
- By Laura on 2019-01-30
Written by: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Excellent Novel
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A Compelling Read
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Ian McEwan knows the human spirit
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A lot to process
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Modern history
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.