Listen free for 30 days
-
The Swimmer
- Quick Reads 2022
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre 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 £4.99
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...
-
A Keeper
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The mystery of Elizabeth Keane's father is one that has never been solved by the people of Buncarragh - not for lack of speculation. Her mother, Patricia, had been assumed a spinster until she began dating a mysterious man from out of town and within months had left Buncarragh and had married. Less than two years later, Patricia was back, with a new baby in her arms but no new husband by her side and unbendingly silent about her recent past. A secret she would take with her to her grave.
-
-
Definitely...A Keeper.
- By Sarah White on 06-10-18
-
Holding
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Graham Norton's masterful debut is an intelligently crafted story of love, secrets and loss. The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama, and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn't always been this overweight; mother of two Brid Riordan hasn't always been an alcoholic; and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn't always felt that her life was a total waste.
-
-
A classic tale of love and loss
- By Panda on 13-11-16
-
Home Stretch
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1987, and a small Irish community is preparing for the wedding of two of its young inhabitants. They're barely adults, not so long out of school and still part of the same set of friends they've grown up with. As the friends head home from the beach that last night before the wedding, there is a car accident. Three survive the crash, but three are killed. And the reverberations are felt throughout the small town.
-
-
Exceptional
- By Anonymous User on 14-10-20
-
Thrown
- By: Sara Cox
- Narrated by: Sara Cox
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The inhabitants of the Inventor's Housing Estate keep themselves to themselves. There are the friendly 'Hellos' when commutes coincide and the odd cheeky eye roll when the wine bottles clank in number seven's wheelie bin, but it's not exactly Ramsay Street. The dilapidated community centre is no longer the beating heart of the estate that Becky remembers from her childhood. So the new pottery class she's helped set up feels like a fresh start. And not just for her.
-
-
I wish authors would use narrators
- By lynnect on 18-05-22
-
The Life and Loves of a He Devil
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Graham Norton has been entertaining audiences and having fun with some of the world's biggest stars for nearly 20 years. He is loved across the nation for his delight in the peculiar and for his ability to find humour and a common ground in all that life brings.
-
-
If you like Graham on telly, you'll love this too.
- By Lakeskip on 21-03-17
-
Murder Before Evensong
- A Canon Clement Mystery
- By: Reverend Richard Coles
- Narrated by: Reverend Richard Coles
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Canon Daniel Clement is rector of Champton. He has been there for eight years, living at the rectory alongside his widowed mother—opinionated, fearless, ever-so-slightly annoying Audrey—and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda. When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn in the community, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of Champton. And then Anthony Bowness is found dead at the back of the church, stabbed in the neck with a pair of secateurs.
-
-
The book holds one’s interest
- By Ms. on 13-06-22
-
A Keeper
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The mystery of Elizabeth Keane's father is one that has never been solved by the people of Buncarragh - not for lack of speculation. Her mother, Patricia, had been assumed a spinster until she began dating a mysterious man from out of town and within months had left Buncarragh and had married. Less than two years later, Patricia was back, with a new baby in her arms but no new husband by her side and unbendingly silent about her recent past. A secret she would take with her to her grave.
-
-
Definitely...A Keeper.
- By Sarah White on 06-10-18
-
Holding
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Graham Norton's masterful debut is an intelligently crafted story of love, secrets and loss. The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama, and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn't always been this overweight; mother of two Brid Riordan hasn't always been an alcoholic; and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn't always felt that her life was a total waste.
-
-
A classic tale of love and loss
- By Panda on 13-11-16
-
Home Stretch
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1987, and a small Irish community is preparing for the wedding of two of its young inhabitants. They're barely adults, not so long out of school and still part of the same set of friends they've grown up with. As the friends head home from the beach that last night before the wedding, there is a car accident. Three survive the crash, but three are killed. And the reverberations are felt throughout the small town.
-
-
Exceptional
- By Anonymous User on 14-10-20
-
Thrown
- By: Sara Cox
- Narrated by: Sara Cox
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The inhabitants of the Inventor's Housing Estate keep themselves to themselves. There are the friendly 'Hellos' when commutes coincide and the odd cheeky eye roll when the wine bottles clank in number seven's wheelie bin, but it's not exactly Ramsay Street. The dilapidated community centre is no longer the beating heart of the estate that Becky remembers from her childhood. So the new pottery class she's helped set up feels like a fresh start. And not just for her.
-
-
I wish authors would use narrators
- By lynnect on 18-05-22
-
The Life and Loves of a He Devil
- By: Graham Norton
- Narrated by: Graham Norton
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Graham Norton has been entertaining audiences and having fun with some of the world's biggest stars for nearly 20 years. He is loved across the nation for his delight in the peculiar and for his ability to find humour and a common ground in all that life brings.
-
-
If you like Graham on telly, you'll love this too.
- By Lakeskip on 21-03-17
-
Murder Before Evensong
- A Canon Clement Mystery
- By: Reverend Richard Coles
- Narrated by: Reverend Richard Coles
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Canon Daniel Clement is rector of Champton. He has been there for eight years, living at the rectory alongside his widowed mother—opinionated, fearless, ever-so-slightly annoying Audrey—and his two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda. When Daniel announces a plan to install a lavatory in church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided: as lines are drawn in the community, long-buried secrets come dangerously close to destroying the apparent calm of Champton. And then Anthony Bowness is found dead at the back of the church, stabbed in the neck with a pair of secateurs.
-
-
The book holds one’s interest
- By Ms. on 13-06-22
-
Where the Crawdads Sing
- By: Delia Owens
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For years, rumors of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved.
-
-
Oh my word...
- By Private on 09-05-20
-
This Much Is True
- By: Miriam Margolyes
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning actor, creator of a myriad of memorable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout, Miriam Margolyes is a national treasure. Now, at last, at the age of 80, she has finally decided to tell her extraordinary life story. And it's far richer and stranger than any part she's played.
-
-
Frank & Funny
- By John C. Patterson on 23-09-21
-
One Last Secret
- By: Adele Parks
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A week at a beautiful chateau in the south of France—it should be a straightforward final job for Dora. She’s a smart, stunning and discreet escort and Daniel has paid for her services before. This time, all she has to do is to convince the assembled guests that she is his girlfriend. Dora is used to playing roles and being whatever men want her to be. It’s all about putting on a front. It will be a last, luxurious look at how the other half lives, before Dora turns her back on the escort world and all its dangers.
-
-
Very enjoyable
- By jo Jo ni on 10-07-22
-
The Couple at No. 9
- By: Claire Douglas
- Narrated by: Kenton Thomas, Nathalie Buscombe
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When pregnant Saffron Cutler moves into 9 Skelton Place with boyfriend Tom and sets about renovations, the last thing she expects is builders uncovering a body - two bodies, in fact. Forensics indicate the bodies have been buried at least 30 years. Nothing Saffy need worry herself over. Until the police launch a murder investigation and ask to speak to the cottage's former owner - her grandmother, Rose. Rose is in a care home, and Alzheimer's means her memory is increasingly confused. She can't help the police, but it is clear she remembers something.
-
-
Claire Douglas back on breathtaking top form again
- By Podenco Fan on 07-10-21
-
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
-
Inheritance
- By: Jenny Eclair
- Narrated by: Jenny Eclair
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In deepest Cornwall, the mansion Kittiwake has seen many pass through its doors since it was bought by American heiress Peggy Carmichael 70 years ago. Over the decades, the keys have been handed down through the family, and now it belongs to Bel's adoptive brother, Lance. It's where he'll be celebrating his 50th birthday, and Bel is invited.
-
-
Fabulous
- By N.A.W. on 06-09-19
-
Just Got Real
- By: Jane Fallon
- Narrated by: Tamzin Outhwaite
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joni never thought she would try online dating. She's so nervous that she posts fake photos—but when she starts talking to Ant, who's desperate to meet her, she doesn't dare come clean. Instead, Joni finds a way to meet Ant without revealing her true identity. It's perfect, it works and she's happy—until a few months in, Joni discovers she wasn't the only one being deceitful: on Ant's phone are intimate messages between him and two other women.
-
-
Nooo!
- By Angela Groom on 24-06-22
-
Oh Dear Silvia
- By: Dawn French
- Narrated by: Dawn French, James Fleet, Llewella Gideon, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who is in Coma Suite Number 5? A matchless lover? A supreme egotist? A selfless martyr? A bad mother? A cherished sister? A selfish wife? All of these. For this is Silvia Shute, who has always done exactly what she wants. Until now, when her life suddenly, shockingly stops. Her past holds a terrible secret, and now that she is unconscious in a hospital bed, her constant stream of visitors are set to uncover the mystery of her broken life. Meanwhile she must lie there, victim of the beloveds, the borings, the babblings and the plain bonkers. Like it or not, the truth is about to pay Silvia a visit. Again, and again and again...
-
-
Hilarious!!!!
- By Indigoleopard on 01-11-12
-
Never Greener
- By: Ruth Jones
- Narrated by: Sharon Small
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Kate was 22, she had an intense and passionate affair with a married man, Callum, which ended in heartbreak. Kate thought she'd never get over it. Seventeen years later, life has moved on - Kate, now a successful actress, is living in London, married to Matt and mother to little Tallulah. Meanwhile Callum and his wife, Belinda, are happy together, living in Edinburgh and watching their kids grow up. The past, it would seem, is well and truly behind them all....
-
-
Sex book
- By Alpha Sierra Echo on 08-12-18
-
The Good Servant
- By: Fern Britton
- Narrated by: Karlyn Stephen
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Don’t miss the sweeping new summer audiobook from Fern Britton.
-
-
Loved it.
- By piskey on 11-06-22
-
Moving
- By: Jenny Eclair
- Narrated by: Judith Boyd, Clare Willie, Andrew Wincott
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It only took one night to tear a family apart. Artist and illustrator Edwina Spinner used to have a busy family life. Now she lives alone in a house that has grown too big for her. She has decided to sell it. As Edwina takes the estate agent from room to room, she finds herself transported back to her life as a young mother. Back to her twins, Rowena and Charlie, and a stepson she cannot bring herself to mention by name.
-
-
A really enjoyable story
- By mrs on 04-02-16
-
Watermelon
- By: Marian Keyes
- Narrated by: Gerri Halligan
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At 29, Claire is full of the joys of life - that is, until her husband leaves her on the day she gives birth to her baby. With a broken heart, a beautiful newly born and an expanding mirror image, she decides to visit her eccentric family in Dublin. There she starts to feel better. So much better, in fact, that James is in for a surprise when he decides to slither back into her life....
-
-
Disappointed in this edit of a favourite book...
- By Dolly Mixtures on 03-03-20
Summary
A new novel from the acclaimed author and broadcaster as part of Quick Reads 2022 and World Book Night.
Helen is a retired teacher living on the Irish coast. She enjoys the peace and quiet—despite the burden of Margaret, her unpleasant sister. Margaret arrived three years ago for a short holiday but somehow managed to stay and worm her way into Helen's life.
One day, Helen sees a man struggling in the sea and decides to investigate. She doesn't quite know what it is, but something about it feels very strange....
More from the same
Author
Narrator
What listeners say about The Swimmer
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 19-04-22
Lovely, atmospheric short story
The best of Graham wrapped into an oddly soothing 1,5 hour listen. I say 'oddly', because usually, crime isn't soothing. But the way Graham describes things has the same effect on me as a warm cardigan and a cup of tea or soup (all of which, by the way, star in this short story). Graham's descriptions always make you feel like you know a person or even a place in a few sentences.
I'm very surprised at some of the reviews. If you bought this thinking it's a full-size novel, that's on you. The length is very clearly displayed under the title, and the description specifically mentions this was released for the Quick Reads series. I can imagine that some people might not think 1,5 hrs is worth a credit, but that's not the point - it's very clear what you're buying before you do.
For me, it WAS worth it.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joanna
- 03-08-22
Another gem by Graham Norton.
Retired school teacher; annoying sister; missing or dead swimmer; a few red herrings. Written in Norton's inimitable style. Humour in the darkness. Likeable characters. A bit of mystery, some bits more obvious than others. Good balance.
Read so beautifully with that hint of humour always just under the skin, so to speak.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JessyG
- 01-08-22
Norton wins my heart over once again
I love absolutely everything Graham Norton has written so far. His characters are just magical and his narration is skilful and charming. I can’t get enough of his stories. More please!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 14-07-22
Very short story
I was just getting into the story and really enjoying it, then I realised that it was over. I liked but but that spoiled it for me..
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 27-06-22
Buyer beware!
I loved it but I wish I had noticed just how short it was before I spent a whole credit on it!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ann O.
- 12-06-22
Another beautifully crafted human story
Love the small town, Irish feel of Norton’s novels. They literally transport you to the places you’ve been on Ireland’s west coast. Light and simple but smart and witty at the same time. I love this.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carmel Hutchcraft
- 08-06-22
More please
I think a lot more depth ciuld have been added to the book and made it longer. I still loved it though it was shirt and sweet
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lesley
- 04-06-22
The swimmer
Far too short. Does not match the standard of storyline of other GM novels. Not worth it
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jean Mc
- 19-05-22
Lovely tiny thriller.
An excellent well crafted read. Well drawn characters and written with his his usual skill and charm.
All the people complaining that they didn't expect it to be a short story are laughable. It says Quick reads and clearly states the length so how did they miss that!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mrs.P.M.T.Harris
- 05-05-22
Too short and obvious plot
Not up to Graham Nortons usual standard. Prefer previous work. Disappointed in this particukar story.