Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Blackbird House  By  cover art

Blackbird House

By: Alice Hoffman
Narrated by: John Lee, Xe Sands, Amy Rubinate, Richard Powers, Bernadette Dunne, Tavia Gilbert, Cassandra Campbell, Hillary Huber
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $15.56

Buy for $15.56

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Hoffman follows her celebrated bestseller The Probable Future with an evocative work that traces the lives of the various occupants of an old Massachusetts house over a span of two hundred years.

In a rare and gorgeous departure, beloved novelist Alice Hoffman weaves a web of tales, all set in Blackbird House. This small farm on the outer reaches of Cape Cod is a place that is as bewitching and alive as the characters we meet: Violet, a brilliant girl who is in love with books and with a man destined to betray her; Lysander Wynn, attacked by a halibut as big as a horse, certain that his life is ruined until a boarder wearing red boots arrives to change everything; Maya Cooper, who does not understand the true meaning of the love between her mother and father until it is nearly too late. From the time of the British occupation of Massachusetts to our own modern world, family after family's lives are inexorably changed, not only by the people they love but by the lives they lead inside Blackbird House.

These interconnected narratives are as intelligent as they are haunting, as luminous as they are unusual. Inside Blackbird House more than a dozen men and women learn how love transforms us and how it is the one lasting element in our lives. The past both dissipates and remains contained inside the rooms of Blackbird House, where there are terrible secrets, inspired beauty, and, above all else, a spirit of coming home.

Narrated by John Lee, Se Sands, Amy Rubinate, Paul Michael Garcia, Bernadette Dunne, Tavia Gilbert, Cassandra Campbell, Hillary Huber, Kirsten Potter, Carrington McDuffie, Kate Reading, and Laura Hicks.

©2004 Alice Hoffman (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Blackbird House

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    619
  • 4 Stars
    462
  • 3 Stars
    267
  • 2 Stars
    93
  • 1 Stars
    48
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    814
  • 4 Stars
    330
  • 3 Stars
    125
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    18
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    530
  • 4 Stars
    375
  • 3 Stars
    244
  • 2 Stars
    99
  • 1 Stars
    57

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
    4 out of 5 stars

Stories set around a property

I didn't realize this was a collection of stories about a run down property and the families that lived there over generations. It took a couple of stories until I realized the web running through. The book didn't disappoint though.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

can't make my mind

I liked it but at the same time it is as if it was short stories not a continuation of characters

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

Delightful!

More from a master storyteller. These are stand-alone stories centered on an old seaside farmhouse and its inhabitants, that are also linked to the preceeding story. Interesting and entertaining, I throughly enjoyed both the writing and narration. I do 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

Just, Wow!

This was the first book I have read by Alice Hoffman. She is an incredibly gifted writer. I will be reading everything she has written!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Very good, but too short!

Very good story concept. Got the hang of it quickly, but it ended way too soon!

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

My favorite Alice Hoffmann yet!!!

I adore Hoffmann which is provably obvious, though sometimes she could nail home a point more succinctly. But this book of short stories is quite special, even for her. It’s magical and lovely.

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

Cozy in on a rainy weekend.

Wonderful family history set on the same property through many generations. Great quick book for a rainy weekend

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Lyricle Nostalgia

Clasic Hoffman review does not require more words than that I do not like this requirement

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

A lovely listen

I am a Hoffman fan, and enjoyed this lovely little book of short stories. I only wish it was a bit longer.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

The writing seemed rushed.

I like the change in narrates. It made the story easier to follow even though it seemed rushed or shortened.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!