Listen free for 30 days

  • The Very Marrow of Our Bones

  • Written by: Christine Higdon
  • Narrated by: Allison Riley
  • Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (51 ratings)

1 credit a month, good for any title to download and keep.
The Plus Catalogue—listen all you want to thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks.
$14.95 a month plus applicable taxes after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
The Very Marrow of Our Bones cover art

The Very Marrow of Our Bones

Written by: Christine Higdon
Narrated by: Allison Riley
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $31.27

Buy Now for $31.27

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

Defiance, faith, and triumph in a heartrending novel about daughters and mothers

On a miserable November day in 1967, two women disappear from a working-class town on the Fraser River. The community is thrown into panic, with talk of drifters and murderous husbands. But no one can find a trace of Bette Parsons or Alice McFee. Even the egg seller, Doris Tenpenny, a woman to whom everyone tells their secrets, hears nothing.

Ten-year-old Lulu Parsons discovers something, though: a milk-stained note her mother, Bette, left for her father on the kitchen table. "Wally," it says, "I will not live in a tarpaper shack for the rest of my life."    

Lulu tells no one, and months later, she buries the note in the woods. At the age of 10, she starts running - and forgetting - lurching through her unraveled life, using the safety of solitude and detachment until, at 50, she learns that she is not the only one who carries a secret.

Hopeful, lyrical, comedic, and intriguingly and lovingly told, The Very Marrow of Our Bones explores the isolated landscapes and thorny attachments bred by childhood loss and buried secrets.

©2018 Christine Higdon (P)2018 Audible, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: LGBTQ2S+

More from the same

What listeners say about The Very Marrow of Our Bones

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    18
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    1

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

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

The Narration Put Me Off

The narration is way too fast which does not allow characters to develop or scenes to breath. It sounded flat, like someone was just reading it rather than expressing it. I've given it my best effort but cannot finish it. There may be a good story there but I just can't get past the narration.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

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

Amazing Book

This book carries you through the lives of its characters, not on a wild adventure, but on an honest and introspective look at their lives. An extraordinary read!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

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

A Good Read

I liked this book. I thought it was well written and an interesting story. I was a little worried that the story was going to get too intense for me to enjoy but there wasn't any overly graphic scenes and the ending was happy.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

distressing

great story bound in its complexity. Characters well developed I have known a Lulu what a great portrayal. then there was Better and her scary life, how could she?; we can understand as we get to know who she is

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
  • JBR
  • 2020-01-10

A long listen

I so badly wanted to like this book. In the end I couldn't relate to the characters and the story took too long to unfold.

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
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful story

What a wonderful story and I loved the narrator. I would recommend it to anyone.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Chana Goanna
  • Chana Goanna
  • 2018-12-05

Unanswered questions, plot holes, poor narration

I didn’t care much for this book. A major development left unexplained; unlikable characters; and a timeline that made no sense spoiler whatever enjoyment I might have had. I didn’t like this narrator either; there were several mispronounced words, and most unforgivably, she mispronounces a character’s name wrong several times and then re-reads the sentence to correct it, but the wrong pronunciation was never deleted. Where was the editor on this one? A couple of times I could have overlooked, but it happened so many times it became like nails scraping down a chalkboard.

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
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for kat
  • kat
  • 2019-03-22

Tough One for an Audiobook

I had a challenging time being drawn in to this story. Factors include the non-linear nature of the narrative, which jumps around in time and perspective, and the narrator, who in my opinion lacked timing, inflection, and any sort of ability to differentiate different characters from one another. She may as well have been reading stereo instructions. Narration improved towards the end a little but I was already invested by then. It may improve on repeat listens.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Tee.elle.cee67
  • Tee.elle.cee67
  • 2021-04-19

What Happens next...

This was my first time reading this author. The story starts off slow, then draws you in gradually. I enjoyed it, right up till the end. Then, Wham! It ends abruptly and leaves you hanging. I hate that!! So, what happens next...who knows!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for LT sally
  • LT sally
  • 2020-03-15

boring

pretty poor book if i could not listen to it for 10 minutes. not sure how i managed to put this in my library

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for AmazonKelly
  • AmazonKelly
  • 2019-01-08

Great story, glitches with reading at the end

Loved the detail in this story, I really got into it. In the last quarter of the book the reader mispronounced a name and the editor didn't remove the error so many lines were reread and it became annoying. I'd still recommend the book though I truly loved the story. The ending could have had way more, the author brought it to a close too fast.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for W
  • W
  • 2018-12-14

Sloppy audio production

Issue with the audio recording. During the last portion of the book, many of the sentences are repeated with the name “Bette” and again with “Betty.” It’s quite annoying.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!