Now That You Mention It

By: Kristan Higgins

Narrated by: Xe Sands

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Following the success of If You Only Knew and On Second Thought comes the highly anticipated new novel by New York Times best-selling author Higgins - a funny and bittersweet story of a woman who returns to her hometown after a decade's absence hoping to resuscitate her relationship with her family, only to discover that her homecoming is not as welcome as she had imagined.

It's been over a decade since Nora left her hometown of Scupper Island, Maine, and very seldom looked back. She's carved out a successful life in Boston, where no one knows her as the awkward girl with the delinquent sister and the dad who left, but a not-as-dramatic-as-it-sounds brush with death has her taking stock of her life. Inspired to reconnect with her prickly mother and snarky teenage niece, Nora returns home for the summer, where she's forced to face the people she's spent the last ten years trying to avoid and where some revelations about her family could either heal her or send her scrambling back to Boston on the next ferry.

©2017 Kristan Higgins (P)2017 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"The first-person point of view, coupled with a skilled narration by Xe Sands, immediately draws the listener into Nora Stuart's story.... Sands smartly voices the Maine accent of Nora's mother and other islanders. Sands has the listener laughing as she brings the comedic elements alive and pulls their heartstrings at the sad moments, both of which give the story rich dimension." (AudioFile)

Totally enjoyable

Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins is my 1st book by this author. I am not sure what has gotten me in this mode of reading books about these dysfunctional and wounded but wonderful characters but this is one of several books this year that fall in this type of genre. I guess I find it fascinating to read about their messed up lives and how they over come all the heartaches and mistakes to find a beautiful and fulfilling life.

Nora Stuart has been bullied all her life .. she has been called a troll, fat, she has been pushed, shoved, and knocked down, she has been threaten by her fellow classmate and even her little sister Lily. It all started when Nora at the age of 12 had a life changing event happens to both her and her little sister Lily, their Dad suddenly leaves with not a word as to why and where he has gone. At the age of 18 Nora see a chance to change her life and sets out with grit, resolve and determination to win the a full Tufts Scholarship bestowed on a local senior. Upon winning the scholarship Nora leaves the a small island Scupper Island off the coast of Maine, heads to off to Boston where she is transformed; she loses weight, goes off to medical and becomes a very successful specialist to be hired at prestigious Boston Gastroenterology office. Life events interfere in Nora’s life once again; she is almost raped and murdered, a year later gets hit by a van, sustaining severe injuries to only wake up to find he boyfriend hitting on another woman. All of this leads Nora into taking a leave of absence and return to after 17 years to Scupper Island. Back to a mother that is distant, cold, uncaring and just not happy to see her back, back to a home town that blames her winning a scholarship that causes the local hero, Luke's downfall. Back to find her surly 15-year-old niece, Poe is living with Nora’s mother while sister Lily is incarcerated in Seattle.

Now That You Mention It is Nora’s heartbreaking, emotional and finally joyful journey of finding her confidence and accepting herself; along this journey she discovers family secrets and love once more. I highly recommend this book and have added several other Kristan Higgins books to my TBR list.

This book was narrated by Xe Sands. I almost returned the book because of the narration but in the end so glad I did not, total enjoyable.

Xe Sands' voice...

Xe Sands' voice is so annoying. I loved this book and the last two by this author but Xe Sands bizarre cadence is really working on ruining these for me.

I loved it!

I loved the story! It made me feel all the emotions - anger, sadness, happiness... I cried, gasped and laughed.

the only thing I didn't like was the way the narrator pronounced Gabrielle.. I'm assuming it's supposed to be Gabrielle, not Jabrielle, unless that really was the character's name... but it made it sound weird.

I definitely recommend this book!

Enjoyed this book

This book has a lot of emotions. Funny, sad, anger, etc.
Recommend this book.
Enjoyed the narrator also, she made the book come alive.

A Must Read

Kristin's use of characters makes you easily relate to them. Experiencing real life circumstances that at some point you can see yourself in or someone you know. In this one, Nora left her hometown of Scupper Island a long time ago, vowing to never return. Finding herself very successful in Boston, she now has faced a life and death experience and needs time to regroup. Going home is hard. Her mother, as snippy as ever and a niece that has attitude, Nora finds herself trying to make things right. Being a very awkward child, seeing people from her past is not high on her list of to do's but she can't avoid them. Trying to reconnect is difficult and she will either make it or run back to Boston. This is not a romance book but a true life type story with wonderful characters. Kristin has written this with feeling and it's a hard book to put down. I listened on Audible and the narrator did a wonderful job. I'd highly recommend.

Adore this book!

So many aspects of this book were relatable. I seriously laughed, cried, cringed, and reflected. I loved the narrators voice for the main character. Some of it was predictable, yes, but I don’t care. This book was worth every minute!

Loved this book!

I really enjoyed this feel good story. It kept my attention all the way through, and the narrator was great. I would recommend this book to anyone that wants an easy listen, and a little sweet romance. It was pg-13 with its romance scenes, which I appreciate.

I loved it great story. I didn't want the story to end xe sands read the beautiful I highly recommend it

My 1st Kristan Higgins book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the narrator, also! I wanted to go out for coffee/drinks with the characters!

Ex Sands 10 Stars

As always Ms Sands could make a bad book good but this one on both counts was excellent! I never wanted it to end.