Listen free for 30 days
-
Half a World Away
- Narrated by: Kayi Ushe, Joanna Brookes
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Women's Fiction
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £19.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Man I Think I Know
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: Ben Addis, Chris Nayak
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some people just look destined for great things. And sometimes, life has other ideas. Ever since The Incident, James DeWitt has stayed on the safe side. He likes to know what happens next. Danny Allen is not on the safe side. He is more past the point of no return. But it's funny the way life is sometimes. Just when you think you know how everything is, it surprises you. And redemption can come in the most unlikely forms.... Warm, witty and wise, Mike Gayle's new novel is a powerful story of male friendship.
-
-
Brilliant!
- By Angie on 01-02-19
-
The Museum of Ordinary People
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: Witney White
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by a box of mementos found abandoned in a skip following a house clearance, The Museum of Ordinary People is a poignant, thought-provoking but ultimately uplifting story of memory and love, grief, loss and the things we leave behind. It is another brilliant novel from an author who seems to have the absolute knack of writing topical, engaging, heartwarming stories which really connect with listeners.
-
-
Museum of ordinary people
- By Sue T on 11-07-22
-
The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman
- By: Julietta Henderson
- Narrated by: Katherine Parkinson
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Norman and Jax are a legendary comedic duo in waiting, with a five-year plan to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe by the time they're 15. But when Jax dies before they turn 12, Norman decides a tribute act for his best friend just can't wait, so he rewrites their plan.
-
-
Brilliant
- By david blair on 23-05-21
-
The No-Show
- By: Beth O'Leary
- Narrated by: Beth O'Leary, Evanna Lynch, Heather Long, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three women. Three dates. One missing man. The No-Show is the brilliantly funny, heartbreaking and joyful new novel from Beth O'Leary about dating, and waiting, and the ways love can find us.
-
-
Story is underdeveloped and the narration is poor
- By V on 21-04-22
-
Lessons in Chemistry
- By: Bonnie Garmus
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant Nobel-prize-nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
-
-
I laughed and cried. A masterpiece.
- By Nicola on 21-04-22
-
The Hope Family Calendar
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: David Morley Hale
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tom Hope is broken. Ever since his wife, Laura, died he hasn't been the same man and definitely not the same father. Luckily for Tom his mother-in-law, Linda, is around to pick up the pieces and look after his two struggling daughters, Evie and Lola. But Tom getting arrested on the first anniversary of his wife's death is the last straw for Linda. In a last bid attempt to make Tom reconnect with his daughters, she takes drastic action and leaves for Australia.
-
-
Just a great read!
- By Fabulous Book Fiend on 25-04-17
-
The Man I Think I Know
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: Ben Addis, Chris Nayak
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some people just look destined for great things. And sometimes, life has other ideas. Ever since The Incident, James DeWitt has stayed on the safe side. He likes to know what happens next. Danny Allen is not on the safe side. He is more past the point of no return. But it's funny the way life is sometimes. Just when you think you know how everything is, it surprises you. And redemption can come in the most unlikely forms.... Warm, witty and wise, Mike Gayle's new novel is a powerful story of male friendship.
-
-
Brilliant!
- By Angie on 01-02-19
-
The Museum of Ordinary People
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: Witney White
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by a box of mementos found abandoned in a skip following a house clearance, The Museum of Ordinary People is a poignant, thought-provoking but ultimately uplifting story of memory and love, grief, loss and the things we leave behind. It is another brilliant novel from an author who seems to have the absolute knack of writing topical, engaging, heartwarming stories which really connect with listeners.
-
-
Museum of ordinary people
- By Sue T on 11-07-22
-
The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman
- By: Julietta Henderson
- Narrated by: Katherine Parkinson
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Norman and Jax are a legendary comedic duo in waiting, with a five-year plan to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe by the time they're 15. But when Jax dies before they turn 12, Norman decides a tribute act for his best friend just can't wait, so he rewrites their plan.
-
-
Brilliant
- By david blair on 23-05-21
-
The No-Show
- By: Beth O'Leary
- Narrated by: Beth O'Leary, Evanna Lynch, Heather Long, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three women. Three dates. One missing man. The No-Show is the brilliantly funny, heartbreaking and joyful new novel from Beth O'Leary about dating, and waiting, and the ways love can find us.
-
-
Story is underdeveloped and the narration is poor
- By V on 21-04-22
-
Lessons in Chemistry
- By: Bonnie Garmus
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant Nobel-prize-nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
-
-
I laughed and cried. A masterpiece.
- By Nicola on 21-04-22
-
The Hope Family Calendar
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: David Morley Hale
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tom Hope is broken. Ever since his wife, Laura, died he hasn't been the same man and definitely not the same father. Luckily for Tom his mother-in-law, Linda, is around to pick up the pieces and look after his two struggling daughters, Evie and Lola. But Tom getting arrested on the first anniversary of his wife's death is the last straw for Linda. In a last bid attempt to make Tom reconnect with his daughters, she takes drastic action and leaves for Australia.
-
-
Just a great read!
- By Fabulous Book Fiend on 25-04-17
-
All the Lonely People
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In weekly phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Bird paints a picture of the perfect retirement, packed with fun, friendship and fulfilment. But Hubert Bird is lying. The truth is day after day drags by without him seeing a single soul. Until, that is, he receives some good news - good news that in one way turns out to be the worst news ever, news that will force him out again, into a world he has long since turned his back on. Now, Hubert faces a seemingly impossible task: to make his real life resemble his fake life before the truth comes out.
-
-
Be more Hubert. Be more Ashleigh.
- By John Wilberforce on 04-08-20
-
Seeing Other People
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: David Morley Hale
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Father of two Joe Clarke is about seventy-eight per cent sure he's just had an affair. After all that is the hopelessly attractive office intern in bed next to him, isn't it? But then again if he did have an affair why can't he remember anything at all about the night in question? Mortified by his mistake Joe vows to be a better man, but when his adored wife Penny puts two and two together and leaves him, things start to take a turn for the decidedly strange.
-
-
Want To Slap Him Round The Face With A Wet Fish
- By Jules on 23-04-18
-
The Importance of Being a Bachelor
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: Paul Tyreman
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Despite the example of their own parents' enduring marriage, the three Bachelor brothers show no signs of settling down. Adam has a string of unsuitable girlfriends; Luke bears the scars of a savage divorce; and Russell is in love with the one woman he can't have. When their father announces that he wants to try his hand at single life, everything is thrown into turmoil. Are the Bachelor brothers totally hopeless cases or just late starters?
-
-
I wouldn't fall for them
- By Kaggy on 25-08-13
-
Turning Forty
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: Matt Bates
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Matt Beckford's sole ambition is to turn forty with his life sorted. With a Porsche on the drive and a high-flying job, it looks like things are perfect. But when Matt's wife unexpectedly calls time on their marriage, a chain of events is set in motion that very quickly sees him facing forty broke, homeless and completely alone. But all is not lost because Matt has a plan…
-
-
Disappointing
- By liz velji on 26-01-21
-
The Life and Soul of the Party
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: uncredited
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Melissa and Paul: Five years after they split he's still looking for love in all the wrong places while all she wants is him. Chris and Vicky: They are deliriously happy, so why is Chris risking it all for an affair? Cooper and Laura: He wants to settle down, she wants to take a gap year - can their relationship survive a year apart?
-
-
Amazing!!
- By Anonymous User on 03-09-21
-
The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr
- By: Frances Maynard
- Narrated by: Charlie Sanderson
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elvira Carr is 27 and neuro-atypical. Her father - whom she suspects was in the secret service - has passed away and, after several Unfortunate Incidents growing up, she now spends most of her time at home with her overbearing mother. But when her mother has a stroke, Elvira is suddenly forced to look after herself or risk ending up in sheltered accommodation. Armed with her Seven Rules, which she puts together after online research, Elvira hopes to learn how to navigate a world that's full of people she doesn't understand.
-
-
Absolutely brilliant
- By Carole on 22-08-18
-
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
- By: Marianne Cronin
- Narrated by: Sheila Reid, Rebecca Benson
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life is short - no one knows that better than 17-year-old Lenni Petterssen. On the Terminal Ward, the nurses are offering their condolences already, but Lenni still has plenty of living to do. When she meets 83-year-old Margot Macrae, a fellow patient offering new friendship and enviable artistic skills, Lenni's life begins to soar in ways she'd never imagined. As their bond deepens, a world of stories opens up: of wartime love and loss, of misunderstanding and reconciliation, of courage, kindness and joy.
-
-
Devastating
- By julia sheppard on 09-03-21
-
What We Leave Behind
- By: Anna Mansell
- Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is wrapped beautifully, and inside is a notebook, its pages empty. There is no message. But its sender has a story to tell. About a secret. About the little girl you once were. About everything you know about your family. The gifts keep arriving. But when tragedy strikes - leaving your beloved only daughter fighting for her life - the person who has been sending the gifts will have no choice but to come forward. And to finally tell the truth....
-
The Truth About My Mother
- By: Jemma Wallace
- Narrated by: Carolyn Bonnyman
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A multi-generational novel that follows two women from the same family as each embarks on her own journey through single parenthood in the 1950s and the present day. It explores the varying perception of single parenthood and was inspired by Wallace's family as her grandmother raised her mother alone in the 1950s.
-
-
An impressive debut novel brilliantly narrated.
- By Poppa G on 25-02-20
-
Call of the Penguins
- By: Hazel Prior
- Narrated by: Ayoola Smart, Nigel Pilkington, Nicolette McKenzie
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fiercely resilient and impeccably dressed, Veronica McCreedy has lived an incredible 87 years. Most of them alone, in her huge house by the sea. But Veronica has recently discovered a late-life love for family and friendship, adventure and wildlife. More specifically, a love for penguins! And so when she's invited to co-present a wildlife documentary, far away in the southern hemisphere, she jumps at the chance. Even though it will put her in the spotlight, just when she thought she would soon fade into the wings.
-
-
A complete joy
- By Hilary A. on 13-12-21
-
A Terrible Kindness
- By: Jo Browning Wroe
- Narrated by: David Dawson
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tonight 19-year-old William Lavery is dressed for success, his first black-tie do. It's the Midlands Chapter of the Institute of Embalmers Ladies' Night Dinner Dance, and William is taking Gloria in her sequined evening gown. He can barely believe his luck. But as the guests sip their drinks and smoke their post-dinner cigarettes, a telegram delivers news of a tragedy. An event so terrible it will shake the nation. It is October 1966, and a landslide at a coal mine has buried a school: Aberfan.
-
-
A terrible kindness
- By Tracy morgan on 20-01-22
-
Surviving Me
- By: Jo Johnson
- Narrated by: Eilidh Beaton, Mike Paul
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tom has decided he doesn't want to live. Adam wishes he had that choice. Tom's lost his job and now he's been labelled 'spermless'. He doesn't exactly feel like a modern man, although his double life helps. Yet when his secret identity threatens to unravel, he starts to lose the plot and comes perilously close to the edge. All the while Adam has his own duplicity, albeit for very different reasons, reasons which will blow the family's future out of the water.
Summary
From the author of The Man I Think I Know.
Strangers living worlds apart.
Strangers with nothing in common.
But it wasn't always that way....
Kerry Hayes is a single mum, living on a tough south London estate. She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never hope to afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot ever forget her past.
Noah Martineau is a successful barrister with a beautiful wife, daughter and home in fashionable Primrose Hill. Adopted as a child, Noah always looks forward, never back.
When Kerry reaches out to the sibling she lost on the day they were torn apart as children, she sets in motion a chain of events that will have life-changing consequences for them both.
By turns funny and moving, Half a World Away is a story that will stay with you long after you listen its powerfully emotional, heart-breaking final minute.
More from the same
What listeners say about Half a World Away
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- lynnect
- 14-06-19
Absolutely brilliant
Another great book from Mike Gayle. I would recommend that everyone listen this as it’s not only brilliantly written, but the narrators are marvellous. I drove down the M4 in tears listening to it and the Kayi Ushe and Joanna Brooke’s made it so real. I would love to find out what happens to the characters next. If only there were more stars as five just aren’t enough
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- justme
- 18-08-19
Uplifting
This book is very cleverly constructed. There is nothing superfluous. Every chapter moves the story forward or provides explanation. The narrators are just superb. Make sure you have some time available to get through this one as it is difficult to stop listening.. Uplifting and yes possibly life changing.
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jodee
- 24-06-19
Loved it
I have the memory of a sieve but this is one of the rare books that I won't forget.
A lovely storyline and well performed by both readers, making it easy to listen to.
I won't give the plot away but I'm currently going through a similar experience with a friend so I found the book pretty emotional and spot on with some of the descriptions.
Well done Mike, another fab book. Iloved your last book and look forward to your next.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SheMK
- 12-10-19
Fabulous story & performances!
Great book! Narration was brilliant, well done & thank you to Joanna & Kayi for bringing the characters to life. As someone who was born & brought up in Nottinghill I loved Kerry’s accent, it brought back some fab memories! The performances made it feel like you were listening to a play. Really wonderful story, one of those books you’ll remember for a long time and didn’t want to end. Highly recommend!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Melanie Preston Lewis
- 20-06-19
Breathtakingly beautiful
I'd heard so much about this book before I listened to it, I was expecting to sob my way from the first word until the last. I didn't cry, I did well up a few times but didn't actually shed a tear. Please don't misunderstand, this isn't because the book isn't intensely moving and highly emotional, it is both those things and more. It's the writing, which is so exquisite in its eloquence and lyricism I didn't want to miss a word. Mike Gayle's words are poetic, his writing possesses a rhythm so mellifluous I needed to imbibe every beat. As if the words themselves aren't enough of a gift, they are presented to us by the talents of Kayi Ushe and Joanna Brookes who made me feel as if Noah, Kerry and the rest of the cast were performing solely for me, in my own home. It wasn't just the depth of Mr Gayle's understanding of human emotions that was so moving, it was the manner in which he delivered that comprehension to us that has made such a lasting impression. Half a World Away is a paradoxical book, a heartbreaking and desperately sad tale, which left me feeling uplifted and revived. Mr Gayle has made a mark on my heart and my soul, which I imagine will stay with me for many years to come.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Heather Howells
- 15-10-19
This book broke my heart and put it back together!
I absolutely adored this book!!! It's the second book I have read by Mike Gayle, the first being The Man I Think I Know which was also amazing!! The characters were so likeable and I loved the unlikely pairing of souls!! There is depth in his books and this one certainly touched me and made me cry!!! Heartbreaking but heartwarming at the same time!! X
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sigrin
- 28-10-19
A palpable hug of a book
This is the second book I have listened to by Mike Gayle. Whilst it’s not my normal genre it is nice to listen to a gentle non taxing book.
This book delivers, human kindness, life lessons and strong spirit through tears and laughter. Kerry and Noah are believable characters as well as the other people who surround their lives.
It is a simple but in a way complex book and l would highly recommend it.
Lastly the narration was outstanding. How Joanna Brookes pulled off a Geordie south London accent all rolled into one was extraordinary.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- L. Mcfarlane
- 12-02-20
Dull predictable mush
Spoiler! Where does the title come from? He lives in a posh flat she lives in a council flat. In London.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 20-10-19
Best Audio book I’ve listened to
This book had me laughing and crying in equal measure! Loved the characters - 100% recommend
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MRS E MASON
- 23-09-19
A Read Not to be Missed !
Half a World Away was recommended to me by a friend and I am so grateful - it’s a book that you cannot stop listening to: - sad, amusing, shocking and so true to life - a book to make you think & reflect - today I just had to listen to it on and off all day to hear the end.
Buy now it’s worth it 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Barbara Stilwell
- 20-10-19
Ten star story
This is, by far, the best book I have ever read. All the emotions are there, love hate joy sadness. If you don't ever read another book ever, make sure you read this one. The narrators are excellent and capture the mood for all. Peeps dont let yourselves down, get this book and enjoy the midiad of twists and turns, the love, the pain, the hearsore. It is sensational.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 11-02-22
I loved the voices
I could not stop thinking about Carrie & Noah and their families. Beautiful story of sadness, family and overcoming life’s ups and downs. Makes me want to be more like Carrie.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Diaell
- 27-05-22
Small Moments Mean So much
I chose this book after reading Mike Gayle's All the Lonely People. This book is about the acceptance of one's past and much more. It will make you laugh, tear up and cry. The narrators captured the characters wonderfully. Mid way I felt the story did tend to drag, but honestly, I was just anxious. Half a World Away is a good story, and I highly recommend it.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Bonnie H.
- 19-05-22
A truly delightful story..
Excellent excellent excellent experience…once you begin listening you will not be able to stop the story is beautiful and the narration quite enjoyable…I definitely recommend this book..
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sherri
- 19-04-22
Life delivers.
This is a terrific book with great characters.
You fall for them all from the get go - especially Kerry, someone I'd like
to know. It's sad but you don't have to protect yourself from it. And it's joyful.
This book restores your faith in humanity without glossing over how crap life
can be. Mike Gayle is new to me but I'm glad I've found him. I intend to read i.e. listen to many more of
his books and perhaps that's recommendation enough.