Luster
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $15.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Ariel Blake
-
By:
-
Raven Leilani
About this listen
Razor sharp, provocatively thrilling and surprisingly tender, Luster by Raven Leilani is a painfully funny debut.
Winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize 2021
Shortlisted for the British Book Awards Fiction Debut of the Year
Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2021
Edie is just trying to survive. She’s messing up in her dead-end admin job in her all-white office, is sleeping with all the wrong men and has failed at the only thing that meant anything to her, painting. No one seems to care that she doesn’t really know what she’s doing with her life beyond looking for her next hook-up. And then she meets Eric, a white, middle-aged archivist with a suburban family, including a wife who has sort-of-agreed to an open marriage and an adopted black daughter who doesn’t have a single person in her life who can show her how to do her hair. As if navigating the constantly shifting landscape of sexual and racial politics as a young Black woman wasn’t already hard enough, with nowhere else left to go, Edie finds herself falling head-first into Eric’s home and family.
A Best Book of the Year: Guardian, New York Times, New Yorker, Boston Globe, Literary Hub, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times, Glamour, Time, Good Housekeeping, InStyle, NPR, O Magazine, Buzzfeed, Electric Literature, Town & Country, Wired, New Statesman, Vox, Shelf Awareness, i-D, BookPage and more.
One of Barack Obama’s Favourite Books of 2020
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award.
©2020 Raven Leilani (P)2021 Macmillan Publishers International LtdCritic Reviews
"A taut, sharp, funny book about being young now. It’s brutal - and brilliant." (Zadie Smith, author of Swing Time)
"Remarkable, the most delicious novel I’ve read." (Candice Carty-Williams, author of Queenie)
"Ridiculously good.... I will follow this author anywhere she wants to take me." (Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties)
What listeners say about Luster
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Giulia
- 02-02-2021
Delicious
Some inconsistencies with audio but such a gorgeously written story. Despite unlikable protagonist, I could not get enough.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Miss D
- 30-01-2021
Wonderful
I loved everything about this book. The author’s use of language was casual, but simultaneously delicious. The narration was so easy to listen to. Terrific!
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
-
Performance
-
Story
- ANGELA GOODWIN
- 06-05-2021
Stunning
I adored this writing, the writer and the story most thoroughly.
It felt like a warm indulgence
Have recommended it over a hundred times
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anthony Collins
- 25-01-2021
wonderful young black female voice
I could be picky about some plot events, but why bother, when the writing is just so honest and witty and beautiful. I had a couple of laught out loud moments, but many more wow moments at the brilliant observations and revelations. Young female writers are really kicking arse these days.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 31-01-2021
Loved this novel!
I loved this story and the narration. The story is raw and compelling. Worth coming back to.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 08-09-2022
Fantastic
I really loved this book, it’s gritty, funny, creepy and brutally honest.
Amazing performance, highly recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!