Don't Be a Stranger

A Novel

By: Susan Minot

Narrated by: Susan Minot

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE • A mesmerizing new novel from the author of Evening: the story of a woman swept into a love affair at mid-life • A luminous story about erotic obsession, the hunger for intimacy, communication, and oblivion that will appeal to listeners of Miranda July's All Fours

“Minot exquisitely explores desire and denial, intimacy and illusion in a ravishing, haunting, and insightful tale of sexual ecstasy and emotional torment, integrity and creativity, self and motherhood.”—Booklist (starred review)

"Minot’s writing is like a diamond knife on ice.”—Elizabeth Strout, Pulitzer Prize winning author

Ivy Cooper is 52 years old when Ansel Fleming first walks into her life. Twenty years her junior, a musician newly released from prison on a minor drug charge, Ansel’s beguiling good looks and quiet intensity instantly seduce her. Despite the gulf between their ages and experience the physical chemistry between them is overpowering, and over the heady weeks and months that follow Ivy finds her life bifurcated by his presence: On the surface she is a responsible mother, managing the demands of friends, an ex-husband, home; but emotionally, psychologically, sexually, she is consumed by desire and increasingly alive only in the stolen moments-out-of-time, with Ansel in her bed.

Don't Be a Stranger is a gripping, sensual, and provocative work from one of the most remarkable voices in contemporary fiction.

©2024 Susan Minot (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"As she dependably has for some 35 years now, Minot once again uses her sharp fiction as a vehicle to explore female desire, staging a romantic collision between a divorced mother and a much younger musician. Rather than a book you 'can’t put down,' it’s one you might pause from precisely to prolong its mild suspense and poetic pleasures."—The New York Times Book Review

“Minot exquisitely explores desire and denial, intimacy and illusion in aravishing, haunting, and insightful tale of sexual ecstasy and emotional torment, integrity andcreativity, self and motherhood.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Spare and polished. . . . Minot is an elegant writer, her sentences and paragraphs stylishly cropped, her dialogue quotation mark-free, her epigraphs chosen from classic sources: Rilke, Emerson, Lao Tzu, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, Rumi. In pellucid prose she captures each of the emotional states Ivy cycles through on the roller coaster of erotic fascination, delusion, bliss, mania, devastation—while also buffeted by the emotions and responsibilities of motherhood and of a career as a writer.”—Kirkus Reviews

Intimate portrait of motherhood and female sexuality, beautifully read by the author

Minot’s narration presented this hugely resonant story of modern womanhood and maternal conflicts with patience and pathos. Her concise prose coupled with her deep understanding of the female subconscious struck chord after chord. I loved every quiet moment, every touching reveal as Ivy’s story unfolded. Walk — don’t run — as you listen to (or read) this book, so that you can fully revel in Minot’s mastery of her form.

Excellent

Beautiful, lyrical writing. The main character, Ivy, is a lost soul whose unrequited love for a self-centered man-child impacts her life. Ms. Minot doesn't explain everything -- there are a lot of unexplained motivations and history allowing the reader to fill in the blanks or not. While not fast moving, it's the perfect pace for Ivy's endless waiting. Admittedly, I couldn't understand why Ivy let herself be so physically and emotionally available/vulnerable to a self-actualized man ho, especially given her age. That, however, is the point of this story.

I don't think this book is for everyone. It's not a fast-paced, action packed, sex-filled romp with a muscle-bound love machine. Sadly, the cad doesn't get what he deserves (or if he does, we aren't told). It's a book about life, transitions in life, personal growth, and finding peace being with yourself.

The narration is ok. Ms Minot reads the book---she doesn't use different voices or try to modulate her voice the way a professional reader/actor might. I actually prefer this, but I'm probably in the minority in the Audible world.

I am looking forward to her next work. The writing is just stunning and I was loathe for this one to end.

Difficult narration with little variation in intonation.

Difficult narration and the main character’s weaknesses can be hard to endure. I found myself wishing she would exhibit more confidence and less neediness with her love interest.

Horrible

This book was so lame I couldn’t get through the first chapter. Poorly written, cheesy story line and the narrator was annoying. So I couldn’t get into it at all. Not my kind of novel.

First time ever giving up on an audio book

Susan Minot may be a good writer, but she is a horrible narrator. Maybe I would have finished it if the narration had been at all engaging, but not sure because the story just meanders and I was never able to get into it. This was the first time I ever gave up on an audio book.

Perplexed

I’ve only leave stars as a review. I actually finished this one and I would like to analyze why I finished. The narrator was so monotone. I felt like I was listening to a diary entry. I’m not even sure why I’m bothering with leaving this review. Good luck.