A Hundred Small Lessons: A Novel

  • Author: Ashley Hay
  • Narrator: Fiona Hardingham
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Duration: 8:49:02
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Synopsis

Through the richly intertwined narratives of two women from different generations, Ashley Hay, known for her “elegant prose, which draws warm and textured portraits as it celebrates the web of human stories” (New York Times Book Review) weaves an intricate, bighearted tale of the many small decisions—the invisible moments—that come to make a life.

“Readers who loved the quiet introspection of Anita Shreve’s The Pilot’s Wife and Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge will enjoy the detailed emotional journeys of Hay’s characters. Their stories will linger long after the final page is turned” (Library Journal).

When Elsie Gormley falls and is forced to leave her Brisbane home of sixty-two years, Lucy Kiss and her family move in, eager to make the house their own. Still, Lucy can’t help but feel that she’s unwittingly stumbled into an entirely new life—new house, new city, new baby—and she struggles to navigate the journey from adventurous lover to young parent.

In her nearby nursing facility, Elsie traces the years she spent in her beloved house, where she too transformed from a naïve newlywed into a wife and mother, and eventually, a widow. Gradually, the boundary between present and past becomes more porous for her, and for Lucy—because the house has secrets of its own, and its rooms seem to share with Lucy memories from Elsie’s life.

Luminous and deeply affecting, A Hundred Small Lessons is a “lyrically written portrayal” (BookPage, Top Pick) of what it means to be human, and how a place can transform who we are. It’s about a house that becomes much more than a home, and the shifting identities of mother and daughter; father and son. Above all else, this is a story of the surprising and miraculous ways that our lives intersect with those who have come before us, and those who follow.

Chapters

  • AHundredSmallLessons 01 Open

    Duration: 14s
  • AHundredSmallLessons 02 Ch1

    Duration: 24min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 03 Ch2

    Duration: 13min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 04 Ch3

    Duration: 16min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 05 Ch4

    Duration: 09min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 06 Ch5

    Duration: 08min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 07 Ch6

    Duration: 39min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 08 Ch7

    Duration: 16min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 09 Ch8

    Duration: 13min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 10 Ch9

    Duration: 26min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 11 Ch10

    Duration: 12min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 12 Ch11

    Duration: 19min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 13 Ch12

    Duration: 29min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 14 Ch13

    Duration: 31min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 15 Ch14

    Duration: 26min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 16 Ch15

    Duration: 10min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 17 Ch16

    Duration: 32min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 18 Ch17

    Duration: 29min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 19 Ch18

    Duration: 18min
  • AHundredSmallLessons 20 Ch19

    Duration: 05min
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