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Magpie cover art

Magpie

By: Elizabeth Day
Narrated by: Tanya Reynolds
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Summary

Sometimes Marisa gets the fanciful notion that Kate has visited the house before. She makes herself at home without any self-consciousness. She puts her toothbrush right there in the master bathroom, on the shelf next to theirs.

In Jake, Marisa has found everything she’s ever wanted. Then their new lodger, Kate, arrives.

Something about Kate isn’t right. Is it the way she looks at Marisa’s boyfriend? Sits too close on the sofa? Constantly asks about the baby they are trying for? Or is it all just in Marisa’s head?

After all, that’s what her Jake keeps telling her, and she trusts him - doesn’t she?

But Marisa knows something is wrong. That the woman sleeping in their house will stop at nothing to get what she wants. 

Marisa just doesn’t know why.

How far will she go to find the answer - and how much is she willing to lose?

©2021 Elizabeth Day (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"A dark, sleek, ever-tightening spiral.... Completely, terrifyingly brilliant." (Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups)

"Elizabeth Day has written that rare book I always go hunting for, something that will keep me breathless with suspense but also buoyant with good energy. It is both sinister and comforting, outrageous but grounded, with a head-spinning plot twist...Magpie is a book that needed to exist in the world. It is the book that was missing." (Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women and Animal)

"The most mind-blowing book of the year." (Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep and Three Things About Elsie)

"A pacy, stylish thriller in which suspense is accompanied by fist-pumping feminism and, perhaps toughest of all, hope." (The Observer)

"Pulse-quickening-tale." (Stylist

"Scintillating." (The Sunday Times, Thriller of the Month) 

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What listeners say about Magpie

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good read

Great book but I thought the twist came a bit early on and I was waiting for another that didn’t really come so the ending almost felt a bit flat. Nice but flat. Annoyed me how the reader said “worry” and didn’t pronounce Provence correctly. Other than that she had a lovely voice that suited the story.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Loved the writing but…..

I mostly enjoyed the book but was pretty disappointed by the hallmark movie style happy ending

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Hard Work

Would make a great short story. Was hard work getting through it. Lots of unessesary descriptive narrative which made it very tedious to get through.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Far-fetched

Story was ill conceived and far fetched, significant errors in describing things shows a lack of real research.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing ending

Fabulous until the nauseous saccharine ending.I was hoping for a twist. You can skip the last chapter as nothing happens.

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6 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Weak story

Disappointing book - very over hyped. Week and unrealistic story, expected more from Elizabeth give her own IVF experience.

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Not really a Thriller

Not a thriller, no twists, once the storyline was revealed it just dragged out, couldn't really say what genre it is.

Was good at first and kept me guessing what was going to happen and waiting for the twists or suspense but there wasn't any, Turned into a bit of a sob story!

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

There’s an ongoing threat that something terrible of shocking might happen…

…but it never really does. A bad thing nearly happens but then it doesn’t. Rather lame, on the whole. Not particularly satisfying!

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this

I enjoyed the development of the story, the main characters were well written, and I enjoyed the narration. Glad I listened to it before reading the other reviews as some of the detail in them would have somewhat spoiled the story. One or two minor mispronunciations in the narration but only noticeable because the narration overall was very good.

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2 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I wanted to like it but didn't

I love Elizabeth Day's podcast How To Fail and have never read any of her books before so had high hopes for this novel. I was disappointed.
I liked the idea of the risks of surrogacy but found the story extreme and far-fetched and the character of the mother-in-law too much of a stereotype. Also, the details of IVF were just too lengthy for me.
I will stick to Elizabeth Day's podcasts and give her books a miss in future.
I thought it was well read by the narrator though.

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1 person found this helpful

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  • Ronda
  • 01-10-21

okay book

a bit disappointed with this one . Had great reviews , but I felt it fell flat in the end

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