Girl in Pieces

By: Kathleen Glasgow

Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kathleen Glasgow

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Georgia Peach Book Award

For fans of Girl, Interrupted, Thirteen Reasons Why, and All the Bright Places comes a novel Nicola Yoon, author of Everything, Everything, calls "a haunting, beautiful, and necessary book that will stay with you long after you've read the last page".

Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At 17 she's already lost more than most people do in a lifetime. But she's learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don't have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you.

Every new scar hardens Charlie's heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge.

A deeply moving portrait of a girl in a world that owes her nothing, and has taken so much, and the journey she undergoes to put herself back together. Kathleen Glasgow's debut is heartbreakingly real and unflinchingly honest. It's a story you won't be able to look away from.

Includes an author's note read by the author.

"Equal parts keen-eyed empathy, stark candor, and terrible beauty. This book is why we read stories: to experience what it's like to survive the unsurvivable; to find light in the darkest night." (Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King)

"Raw, visceral, and starkly beautiful, with writing that is at times transcendent in its brilliance.... An unforgettable story of trauma and resilience." (Kerry Kletter, author of The First Time She Drowned)

"A breathtakingly written book about pain and hard-won healing.... I want every girl to read Girl in Pieces." (Kara Thomas, author of The Darkest Corners)

“A Girl, Interrupted for a new generation.... The story of the mad girl is ultimately a story about being a girl in a mad world, how it breaks us into pieces and how we glue ourselves back together." (Melissa Febos, author of Whip Smart and Abandon Me)

“Dark, frank, and tender, Girl in Pieces keeps the reader electrified for its entire journey. You’re so uncertain if Charlie will heal, so fully immersed in hoping she does.” (Michelle Wildgen, author of Bread and Butter and You’re Not You)

"Girl in Pieces has the breath of life; every character in it is fully alive. Charlie Davis' complexities are drawn with great understanding and subtlety." (Charles Baxter, author of National Book Award finalist The Feast of Love)

©2016 Kathleen Glasgow (P)2016 Listening Library

Critic reviews

A New York Times Bestseller

An Amelia Bloomer Project Award Selection

A New York Public Library Best Book for Teens

“Girl, Interrupted meets Speak.”—Refinery29

“A dark yet powerful read.”—Paste Magazine

“One of the most affecting novels we have read.”—Goop

Fantastic book

Absolutely loved this book! I cried at the end simply because it was over and I so much wanted to hear more. The story was so real and the struggles were so familiar even for a non-cutter.

Obsessed with this story

I am absolutely overwhelmed with joy to listen to this story. Definitely a major trigger warning for some... but it's a brilliant performance and a well written piece. I find myself trying to prolong the time left of the book and I'm already sad that it will eventually end. The characters are real, raw and relatable. I genuinely am obsessed with this story and so very glad I stumbled across the audiobook.

Eye Opener

I couldn't stop listening! This book was all I could think about when I wasn't in my car I would find ways to listen at other times as well! I work at a chemical dependency recovery unit and this has been so incredibly interesting because not all of our clients are willing to open up about what goes through their minds while in treatment but also getting an understanding of their possible concerns once they leave treatment. How a few unfortunate events can completely unravel someones life and to know that fundamentally this girl had so many barriers to overcome just due to her upbringing. There were so many times I wanted to reach out and hug Charlie while listening.

This book is on repeat

I’ve read this book 5 times through. It’s fucking angelic #ForeverAStrangeGirl. Such a touching story and I can relate to so much. Kathleen Glasgow needs to write another book

Beautifully Portrayed!!!

Phenomenal!!! This story is so important, to let others who suffer from mental illness know that they are not alone. Especially, in this particular story, cutters. With all their scars showing on the outside, but the truest ones hidden on the inside. How they fight to go on in life, find their outlet to deal with what’s trapped inside. With Charlie her outlet was drawing. But also that group of true, and healthy, friends that you can talk to.

The author did an amazing job on this story, getting the message across in a way that we felt it and all the struggles Charlie dealt with. The narrators did a great job of taking the story and giving it life!!! Truly a touching story that I will NEVER forget!!!

I love it

The book is so amazing and I feel like it gave me hope to find happiness

Breath stopping

I have not listened to a book in many years that I can honestly say stole the breath from my lungs and made my soul ache for more. This book has done those things and more! I would recommend this book to anyone who has had some time in their own healing process, not a book for a someone newly healing. Cannot wait to hear more from this author!!

Loved it

Narrator did an awesome job at telling the story. The voices with characters were nicely done. This was a book that you didn't want to put down.

Powerful.

Such a powerful book. I felt so many emotions while listening to it and I completely recommend it. Some parts were hard to listen to because they were just written so well. It is completely worth spending the credit on.

Much needed story

This story hit home deep in my soul. She brought a hard topic to a beautiful story. I couldn’t stop listening and hoping for the character.