The Godmother cover art

The Godmother

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Godmother

By: Hannelore Cayre, Stephanie Smee - translator
Narrated by: Julia Franklin
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $29.99

Buy Now for $29.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

A taut and darkly funny account of an unusual woman and her voyage into the underground ecosystem of crime and justice in contemporary France.

Meet Patience Portefeux, 53, an underpaid Franco-Arab judicial interpreter for the Ministry of Justice who specialises in telephone tapping.

Widowed after the sudden death of her husband, Patience is now wedged between university fees for her two grown-up daughters and nursing home costs for her ageing mother. She’s laboured for 25 years to keep everyone’s heads above water.

Happening upon an especially revealing set of police wiretaps ahead of all other authorities, Patience makes a life-altering decision that sees her intervening in - and infiltrating - the machinations of a massive drug deal.

She thus embarks on an entirely new career path: Patience becomes The Godmother

This is not life in the French idyll of postcards and stock photos. With a gallery of traffickers, dealers, police officers and politicians who are more real than life itself, a sharp and amusing gaze on everyday survival in contemporary France and an unforgettable woman at its centre, Hannelore Cayre’s best-selling novel shines a torchlight on a European criminal underground that has rarely been seen.

©2019 Hannelore Cayre (P)2019 Bolinda Publishing
Crime Fiction Mystery France Fiction

What listeners say about The Godmother

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    56
  • 4 Stars
    25
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    56
  • 4 Stars
    18
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    49
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

‘Listen to it, you’ll love it.’

A story about immigrants. A wonderful story that is reasonably complex but easy to follow. Loved the literary references. The humour is fast paced and very colourful. The narrator really added to the story. If you liked the movie La Haine you will like this book.
I would recommend.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Terrific story

I really enjoyed The Godmother I was taken to Paris and into her life. Don’t suppose it was a life I would agree with but as a story great.
Loved the narrator Julia Franklin. Must find her in other stories.
I recommend it.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So much fun

What an entertaining listen and clever twists throughout. A first generation refugee brought up in a privileged gangster’s household finds financial independence back in the hood.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wild Pace, Rich, Biting Humor!

Really liked this for it's glorious descriptions, dark humor of a fantastically original protagonist! The author sets up the irony and comedy of such a juxtaposition of worlds extremely well, thoroughly enjoyed 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
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Delightful - loved it

It is a great performance lifting the text. I very much enjoyed it and I would love to see it as a film

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.