Try free for 30 days

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
The Imitator cover art

The Imitator

By: Rebecca Starford
Narrated by: Anna Skellern
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $25.83

Buy Now for $25.83

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.

Publisher's Summary

We trade in secrets here, Evelyn. There’s no shame in having a few of your own. Our only concern is for who might discover them.

Out of place at boarding school, scholarship girl Evelyn Varley realises that the only way for her to fit in is to be like everyone else. She hides her true self and what she really thinks behind the manners and attitudes of those around her. By the time she graduates from Oxford University in 1939, ambitious and brilliant Evelyn has perfected her performance.

War is looming. Evelyn soon finds herself recruited to MI5 and the elite counter-intelligence department of Bennett White, the enigmatic spy-runner. Recognising Evelyn’s mercurial potential, White schools her in observation and subterfuge and assigns her the dangerous task of infiltrating an underground group of Nazi sympathisers working to form an alliance with Germany.

But befriending people to betray them isn’t easy, no matter how dark their intent. Evelyn is drawn deeper into a duplicity of her own making, where truth and lies intertwine and her increasing distrust of everyone, including herself, begins to test her better judgement. When a close friend becomes dangerously ensnared in her mission, Evelyn’s loyalty is pushed to breaking point, forcing her to make an impossible decision. A powerfully insightful and luminous portrait of courage and loyalty and the sacrifices made in its name.

©2021 Rebecca Starford (P)2020 W F Howes

Critic Reviews

"The Imitator gripped me to the end: I devoured it. What a rare treat to find a novel that offers both white-knuckled suspense and evocative, beautiful prose. I loved it." (Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites and The Good People)

"I can’t think of a single person who wouldn’t love this novel. Both a gripping thriller and a deep character study, it will appeal to those who love espionage epics as well as lovers of literary classics." (Bri Lee, author of Eggshell Skull)

"Rebecca Starford seems to be the inheritor of the cool, narrative elegance of Graham Greene and John le Carré...a plot that runs like milk and honey." (Tom Keneally, author of The Dickens Boy)

More from the same

What listeners say about The Imitator

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2

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

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

great story

I only struggled a little with this story as I didn't like the main character until right at the end of the book

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
  • Dee
  • 29-05-2021

Good not great

Well performed and gripping but I would have preferred it to explore the complexities of characters a little more deeply. The last few chapters felt rushed.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Not good

I hate to say but the narration was dreadful.
Put me off ever remotely enjoying the book

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.