The Motion of the Body Through Space cover art

The Motion of the Body Through Space

 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.

The Motion of the Body Through Space

By: Lionel Shriver
Narrated by: Laurence Bouvard
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

From the Orange Prize-winning author of We Need to Talk About Kevin

All her life Serenata has run, swum, and cycled – but now that she’s hit 60, all that physical activity has destroyed her knees. And her previously sedentary husband Remington chooses this precise moment to discover exercise.

As he joins the cult of fitness, her once-modest husband burgeons into an unbearable narcissist. When he announces his intention to compete in a legendarily gruelling triathlon, Serenata is sure he's going to end up injured or dead – but the stubbornness of an ageing man in Lycra is not to be underestimated.

The story of an obsession, of a marriage, of a betrayal: The Motion Of The Body Through Space is Lionel Shriver at her hilarious, sharp-eyed, audacious best.

©2020 Lionel Shriver (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Dark Humour Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Sports Marriage Physical Exercise Witty Cycling Comedy

Critic Reviews

"Enjoyably abrasive...a compelling read...sardonic and elegant." (Evening Standard)

"Scabrously funny...few authors can be as entertainingly problematic as Shriver." (Guardian)

"With laugh-out-loud and sad moments, it’s a pinpoint-sharp novel." (Woman and Home)

All stars
Most relevant  
Excellent narration of an entertaining and thought provoking novel about marriage and aging in a swiftly changing society.

A brilliant and necessary work

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
not my usual genre but I loved it. would recommend
10 out of 10 give it a go

not my usual genre but I loved it. would recommend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoy the way Shriver winds a social commentary on the pursuit of fitness around a married couple and their lives. In this story, I could see myself, friends and family so clearly in her characters that our uniqueness clearly only exists in my imagination. Unfortunately the reading wasn’t the best in my opinion and distracted me from the brilliant story.

Spotlight on a modern social phenomenon

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you can overlook the terrible narration for the husband's character, this is a really enjoyable listen.

The protagonist, Serenata is a woman in her 60s who narrates audiobooks and maintains (maintained) an exemplary working out regime believing beyond her time that exercise is the key to longevity and good health. Her husband, Remington, only discovers the joy of exercise after forced early retirement, and after Serenata's knees have given up and need replacing. Remington takes it to the next level, much to the chagrin of his debilitated wife and her worn out knees.

The book is an all too real commentary on a marriage approaching retirement and a couple realising who the other really is while they ponder the yonder years together (or not).

Erudite and articulate

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I was quite impressed by the observations in this book. There were some laugh out loud moments and some thought provoking moments as well. All in all an interesting listen. The narrator is excellent. Some of the characters are horrible people and some are gullible, but all of them fit together really well to make a story worth considering. Not a waste of time :)

What an interesting listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The author creates minority characters that are awful to encourage the reader to hate minority groups. Anyone with religious views, dark skin, and basically anyone who believes in equality is a character you’re designed for you to hate. Racism and sexism are excused- Trump would love this book! If it wasn’t on my bookclub list I would have stopped reading when a character is told she should stop exercising so her husband stops beating her (leaving her husband is proposed as a fake secondary option and the character is made to feel selfish that she would choose exercise over her family).

Truly despicable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
My main issue is that the voice of the second central character, Remington, is not consistent with the character depicted. He sounds gruff and cranky and this was jarring and off putting. The voice of the main character, Serenata, was fine. Voices of all the male characters were not convincing. In this instance, a second narrator would have made a huge difference. Listeners should also be prepared for the cynicism of the author.

Interesting but also annoying

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