Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
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.
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.
Lullaby Beach cover art

Lullaby Beach

By: Stella Duffy
Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

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

Buy Now for £13.00

Buy Now for £13.00

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.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Hidden Years cover art
Searching for Mr Yesterday cover art
The Beach Hut cover art
The Dandelion Clock Boxset cover art
Homesick cover art
Thursday Nights at the Bluebell Inn cover art
Big Panda and Tiny Dragon cover art
The Lies We Hide: An Absolutely Gripping and Darkly Compelling Novel cover art
The Inheritance cover art
The Sapphire Cove cover art
The Killer Inside cover art
Her Sister's Secret cover art
The Ex cover art
Waiting for the Miracle cover art
The Daughter in Law cover art
Something Quite Beautiful cover art

Summary

No more days, no more times, no more tides. No more secrets.

A compelling novel about family secrets and the legacy of trauma, set against the changing fortunes of an English seaside town, from award-winning writer Stella Duffy.

When Lucy discovers the body of her great aunt Kitty, with a puzzling note and empty pill bottles by her bed, she can't believe that the formidable woman who held her family together is gone - or understand why she has taken her own life. 

Lucy is determined to decipher Kitty's final message. What she finds will overturn everything she thought she knew about her family. 

Lullaby Beach takes the listener on a journey through three generations of a complicated, close-knit clan whose joys and misfortunes track many of the most pressing conflicts and concerns of post-war Britain, from the promise and hypocrisies of 1950s London to the political divides and risky freedoms of the present day. 

©2021 Stella Duffy (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"Duffy is a fearless writer.... A portrait of sisterhood in the wider sense - one that's as powerful and gritty as it is wise and celebratory." (Daily Mail

"Lullaby Beach explores familial legacy, generational secrets and the effects of long-lasting trauma with a distinct tenderness." (New Statesman

"A writer who never lets you down." (Ali Smith) 

What listeners say about Lullaby Beach

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

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

I couldn’t stop listening!!

For those who like the smell of a book and say, “I started reading and I couldn’t put the book down!” That’s exactly what happened with my audible book. Loved the story! I can see this being a movie! Stella Duffys writing, the storyline, the characters is exemplary! Loved it and what made it easy to follow was narrator Antonia Beamish! Antonia was great using different voices, accents for different characters. Thank you Antonia. I recommend this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Well told but rather dreary

This book tells the story of a family whose three generations have been hurt by the cruelty of men. Each of the women goes along with the development of bad and then cruel behaviour to begin with, presumably because she has been conditioned by society to do so, or I assume that's what we're supposed to think because there is no actual explanation. None of the women turn to their support system for assistance even though they all have a loving family, and again there is no explanation offered.

The two sides are drawn: the baddies, who are the men who care about money and are property developers, personifications, it seems, of the political right. On the other side are the women, who are the 'goodies', who have little personal agency and whose lives are controlled by bad men, and the occasional rare but good man who is of course on a zero hour contract. It will come as no surprise that race issues are also briefly brought into the book. So are LGBT issues and it's a relief to find that the lesbian relationship is accepted by all and not presented as yet one more political struggle.

While it might be understandable that the central character was unable to assert herself due to the time when she was born, I can see no good reason why the younger generations couldn't show more gumption and there was altogether too much crying for me.

Although the story was well told, I found it dreary and depressing and it was an effort to keep going with the book. I did keep going to the end. I can't honestly say I learned anything.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!