The Weekend cover art

The Weekend

 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 Weekend

By: Charlotte Wood
Narrated by: Taylor Owynns
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

From the Winner of the 2016 Stella Prize for The Natural Way of Things.

Four older women have a lifelong friendship of the best kind: loving, practical, frank and steadfast. But when Sylvie dies, the ground shifts dangerously for the remaining three. Can they survive together without her? They are Jude, a once-famous restaurateur, Wendy, an acclaimed public intellectual, and Adele, a renowned actress now mostly out of work.

Struggling to recall exactly why they've remained close all these years, the grieving women gather for Christmas at Sylvie's old beach house - not for festivities but to clean the place out before it is sold. Without Sylvie to maintain the group's delicate equilibrium, frustrations build and painful memories press in.

Fraying tempers, an elderly dog, unwelcome guests and too much wine collide in a storm that brings long-buried hurts to the surface - and threatens to sweep away their friendship for good.

©2019 Charlotte Wood (P)2019 Allen & Unwin Pty Limited Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Holidays Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Christmas

Critic Reviews

“A compelling and vivid look at the friendships we make as women. Honest, unsettling and, like all good literature, had me asking questions about life and myself.” (Heather Rose, author of The Museum of Modern Love, winner of the 2017 Stella Prize)

All stars
Most relevant  
Loved this book, what a wonderful story hope there is a sequel, thank you! Charlotte

The weekend - review

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great story with strong female characters. So good to listen to a story about older female relationships with all their flaws.

The Weekend

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Shoot me now. I almost died of boredom trying to get through the first hour. Perhaps because I grew up on Sydney’s Nth Shore I live in fear of becoming one of these women. For that reason I couldn’t or wouldn’t engage with the narrative. The story was pedestrian and suffocatingly inane - like their lives. Was Charlotte Wood taking a pot shot at aging Nth Shore housewives? Narrow minded and Boring self obsessed women? If so, she nailed it!

Tedious

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thought the story was a bit jumpy and kept "losing" what was happening. Failed to hold my interest so took a while to finish. The last part of the book was probably better and way more interesting than the beginning.

Not bad

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book was definitely not my usual read but I did enjoy it. Much of the internal dialogue was very familiar and I felt like I could see flashes of girlfriends I have in the characters. I don’t think too much about old but this book made me reflect on that reality - what will stay with me was the writer asking “if we hadn’t been friends for 30years would I choose to be friends with this person?” Food for thought.

Something different

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved every word of it, the acting, the perfect wording and voice. Very thoughtful acting.

Excellent narration!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found it very slow and could not believe these three women were life long friends. I love that there is a book about women's friendships, so I wanted to love it, but was sadly disappointed.

Could not quite believe

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A beautiful reflection of female relationships; their flaws and the different types of love that hold them together.

Really enjoyed this!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I felt the book contained tedious characters that did not appeal to me at all

Not for me

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved this story from beginning to end. Will make you re-think friends and friendships, aging and dying, life and living.

A great read!

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.