Poor Things cover art

Poor Things

 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.

Poor Things

By: Alasdair Gray
Narrated by: Russ Bain, Kathryn Drysdale
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $25.99

Buy Now for $25.99

About this listen

Winner of the Whitbread Novel Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize

A life without freedom to choose is not worth having.

Godwin Baxter's scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realized when he finds the drowned body of the beautiful Bella, who he brings back to life in a Frankenstein-esque feat. But his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless's jealous love for his creation...

But what does Bella think?

This story of true love and scientific daring whirls the listeners from the private operating-theatres of late-Victorian Glasgow through aristocratic casinos, low-life Alexandria and a Parisian bordello, reaching an interrupted climax in a Scottish church.

'A magnificently brisk, funny, dirty, brainy book' London Review of Books

'Visionary, ornate and outrageous' The Independent

'Witty and delightfully written' New York Times

'A brilliant marriage of technique, intelligence, and art.' Kirkus Reviews

©1992 Alasdair Gray (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd Genre Fiction Gothic Horror Literary Fiction Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Fiction Scary Witty Funny
All stars
Most relevant  
I don't feel I can say anything without giving something away, but I do love the mystery that is left behind, some wondering that remain. thank you x

Interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The voice acting really took me on a splendid adventure - couldn’t fault it, perfect. After seeing and loving the movie this did not disappoint.

Perfect

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very original storyline with an unexpected twist.
Very well read and kept me interested and wanting to keep listening. Finished this one quickly!

Very interesting listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent narration and a clever, unpredictable story. I think I’ll listen to it again to catch the bits I missed.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
‘You poor daft silly thing, queer rotten old fucker. Fuck off.’ Looking forward to seeing the film.

Fabulous

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really exellent reading by both actors. I liked the basis of the story of the medical 'reincarnation' and the 2 different possible stories. I loved the Glasgow setting which for me made the story come alive and added to it's plausibility and the possible reality of the characters. Being audio we missed the author's illustrations and I wasn't sure about the need for the extensive references and postscript which I felt too long and we're a slight distraction from the main players' stories. Overall though very interesting enjoyable and original

whimsical and unusual and very Scottish

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the story and links to history. Read it before watching the movie you won't regret it.

Unique and enlightening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A brilliant story from start to finish. I was sad to see the end in sight, not wanting it to end.

Brilliantly written and performed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What a boring performance. The story was *somewhat* interesting but the narrator was impossible to listen to. Didn’t even finish it.

So hard to listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The stories structure with the historical Context at the begging and the end. Absolutely Facinating

Facinating historical Context

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
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.