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Start giftingSipsworth
Narrator
Christine Rendel
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
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Length
5 hours 9 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“Helen Cartwright is passing the time she has left making tea, listening to the radio, and watching old movies on the BBC. Each day is the equivalent of another shovelful of soil into a grave that she looks forward to occupying. She is alone after the deaths of both her husband and son. One rainy morning, she decides to bring home a fish tank discarded by a neighbor and discovers that a mouse has made his home in it. Caring for the little creature forces Helen to reexamine her life of enforced loneliness and to venture out beyond the confines of her small home and back into the world. Some novels transcend words of praise and inspire a sense of awe in the reader. In its beautifully wrought simplicity, Sipsworth is that kind of novel.”
— Alden • Northshire Bookstore
Over the course of a single week, a woman who is ready to die discovers an unexpected reason to live.
Following the deaths of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to the English village of her childhood after living abroad for six decades. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss.
Helen retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit. Then, one cold autumn night, a chance encounter with an abandoned pet mouse on the street outside her house sets Helen on a surprising journey of friendship.
Sipsworth is a reminder that there can be second chances. No matter what we have planned for ourselves, sometimes the world has plans of its own. Simon Van Booy's lyrical storytelling is a delight even as it will fill your heart.
Simon Van Booy has written over a dozen works of fiction (including Night Came with Many Stars) and is the editor of three volumes of philosophy. His books have been translated into many languages. He grew up in rural Wales but currently lives in New York City, where he works as an author, an editor, and an emergency medic at the Ridgewood Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
Christine Rendel is a British-born audiobook narrator living in New York. Drawing on a strong stage and musical theater background, and a lifelong love of books, she has narrated nearly 100 audiobooks for major publishers as well as smaller independent houses. Her favorite genres include cozy mystery, romance, literature, historical drama, biography, and nonfiction. She also enjoys narrating how-to's and educational texts: retired for some years from an exciting and international healthcare career, Christine's always a teacher and always learning! Christine maintains a professional home studio on the end of eastern Long Island, from which she narrates and produces audiobooks, surrounded by nature, an unruly garden, and her supportive family-who also include two dogs and a lot of Koi fish. She's a proud member of PANA, SAG-AFTRA, the Audio Publishers Association, and Actors' Equity Association.
