Bleaker House: Chasing My Novel to the End of the World
Kindle
$13.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$11.88
Paperback
$17.00
Audible Logo Your audiobook is waiting!
Enjoy a free trial on us
$0.00
  • Click above for unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
  • One credit a month to pick any title from our entire premium selection — yours to keep (you'll use your first credit now).
  • You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
  • $14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.
Learn more about membership
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
List Price: $15.75
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice.
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

Bleaker House: Chasing My Novel to the End of the World Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Nell Stevens (Author, Narrator), Random House Audio (Publisher)
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 165 ratings
See all formats and editions

A whimsical blend of memoir and travelogue, laced with wry writing advice, Bleaker House is a story of creative struggle that brilliantly captures the self-torture of the writing life.

Twenty-seven-year-old Nell Stevens was determined to write a novel, but life kept getting in the way. Then came a game-changing opportunity: she won a fellowship that would let her spend three months, all expenses paid, anywhere in the world to research and write a book. Would she choose a glittering metropolis, a romantic village, an exotic paradise? Not exactly. Nell chose Bleaker Island, a snowy, windswept pile of rock in the Falklands. There, in a guesthouse where she would be the only guest, she could finally rid herself of distractions and write. In three months, surely she'd have a novel.

And sure enough, other than sheep, penguins, paranoia, and the weather, there aren't many distractions on Bleaker. Nell gets to work on a delightful Dickensian fiction she calls Bleaker House - only to discover that total isolation and 1,100 calories a day are far from ideal conditions for literary production. With deft humor, the memoir traces Nell's island days and slowly reveals details of the life and people she has left behind in pursuit of her writing. They pop up in her novel, too, and in other fictional pieces that dot the book. It seems that there is nowhere Nell can run - an island or the pages of her notebook - to escape the big questions of love, art, and ambition.

As Nell races to finish her book, Bleaker House marks the arrival of a remarkable literary talent.

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    7 hours and 9 minutes
  2. Author
    Nell Stevens
  3. Narrator
    Nell Stevens
  4. Audible release date
    March 14, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Random House Audio
  7. ASIN
    B01N10X2W7
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
Next page

Read & Listen

Switch between reading the Kindle book & listening to the Audible audiobook with Whispersync for Voice.
Get the Audible audiobook for the reduced price of $7.99 after you buy the Kindle book.

Product details

Listening Length 7 hours and 9 minutes
Author Nell Stevens
Narrator Nell Stevens
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date March 14, 2017
Publisher Random House Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B01N10X2W7
Best Sellers Rank #398,494 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#961 in General South America Travel Guides
#1,025 in Writing & Publishing
#1,278 in Travel Writing & Commentary

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
165 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Gail R. Gilbert
5.0 out of 5 stars In a class by itself
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2017
Verified Purchase
This book breaks lots of rules but showcases the author's impressive skills. I'd like to read more from her, i.e, any of the stories within this story carried through to the end. In a class by itself. Kudos, Nell.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
KimK
4.0 out of 5 stars I also enjoyed the excerpts from the (unfinished) novel about Ollie
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2017
Verified Purchase
As other reviewers have noted, the strongest parts of this book are those about the author's own life and her trip to Bleaker Island. I also enjoyed the excerpts from the (unfinished) novel about Ollie. But the book includes other material -- excerpts from less successful, unfinished novels or stories. These would get one or two stars at the most. They aren't well-integrated into the rest of the memoir and I didn't care about any of the characters. Still, I enjoyed reading about Bleaker Island and the unusual kind of solitude it offered, and the author came to some important realizations about life during her time there. I hope to see more works of memoir from this author in the future.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
fmdhk
3.0 out of 5 stars A strange little book
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
I am very torn on this book, but on balance I enjoyed it. The good: I am predisposed to like books about travel to isolated places and the Falklands was certainly that! It was fascinating to learn more about it and how an outsider adapted to such a harsh environment. The author is adept at concisely describing details with a turn of phrase that paint a picture and I like the cadence of her writing. However, overall the book is not cohesive and doesn’t come together. There are too many snippets that don’t make a satisfying narrative arc. It would have been better if she had focused on two parallel stories -- one of her Falklands experience and the other of her fictional novel she was trying to write, and thematically tieing them together. Underlying this is a certain annoyance at her monumental lack of preparation for her sojourn in the Falklands. As well, it was grating to me that it seemed as though her venture was akin to someone who “wants to be famous for being famous.” Her only goal is to write a book – without any idea of what she wants to write a book about. If you don’t have a burning desire to tell a certain story, and instead just flail trying to find inspiration and even the seed of an idea, why not turn your writing talent into a more focused, productive and natural direction? Despite this criticism, it was a different sort of read which was refreshing and I did enjoy seeing inside her mental processes as she was going through her experience.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
A.G.L.
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading.
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2017
Verified Purchase
I found it interesting to see how she dealt with the weather and the isolation on the island. I couldn't help but wonder what food I would have taken with me.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2019
Verified Purchase
It's different. It's interesting and it is it's own metaphor in that it's hard to know whether some of the vignettes are true, and what relevance it has to this memoir of writing this book. When the author is in memoir mode it's very engaging. Some of the vignettes are awkward, make for uncomfortable reading. I like how the author handled the idea of writing about other people's hearts. That was utterly brilliant.
Helpful
 Report
charles jones
3.0 out of 5 stars Strange concept
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2020
Verified Purchase
I don’t really get the concept of the book. Not recommended
Helpful
 Report
happymusic
2.0 out of 5 stars Only so-so
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2020
Verified Purchase
The premise was interesting and the writing rang true. But it seemed that the author ran out of ideas so the ending was unsatisfying
Helpful
 Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2017
Verified Purchase
Loved this - a real insight into how hard it is to write a book! Engaging and kept you wanting to know what happened next.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Kunde
3.0 out of 5 stars .
Reviewed in Germany on July 18, 2017
Verified Purchase
The book itself is of high quality materials. It is a pity to have that awful red sticker on it but I managed to remove it with care. The story itself wasn't very compelling for me
Report
Kentish lass
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant first novel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 16, 2017
Verified Purchase
Bought this book on the strength of reviews I'd read elsewhere and read it over a couple of rainy days on holiday in the West Country and found myself immersed in the author's description of living alone on a desolate island, counting out raisins and allowing her mind to drift backwards and forwards in time. A bit baffling in places but ultimately satisfying. I hope there's another soon.
4 people found this helpful
 Report
SusannahB
3.0 out of 5 stars A Rather ‘Padded-Out’ Memoir
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 1, 2024
Verified Purchase
After winning an all-expenses paid fellowship which offered the recipient of the award the opportunity to travel anywhere in the world to write, Nell Stevens eschewed the more idyllic settings that other fledgling writers may have chosen and instead opted for Bleaker Island “a snowy, windswept pile of rock in the Falklands”, where she felt the isolation would help her to focus on her writing. On Bleaker Island with only birds, sheep and penguins for company, Ms Stevens waited for inspiration to strike; however, the creative process proved rather elusive and soon Nell was wondering whether her choice of location was the problem or whether the task she had set herself was an achievable one.

I found parts of this memoir interesting to read and I enjoyed the author’s descriptions of Bleaker Island - however, I felt that there was not enough here to fill out a decent-length memoir and the author seemed to agree as, interspersed with her account of her time on the island, Ms Stevens included extracts from the novel she was supposedly attempting to write. I have to say that I didn’t find these excerpts to be particularly good and, if they were actually chapters from an intended novel, the author clearly didn’t think they were publishable because my edition of this memoir was published in 2017 and, to my knowledge, there was no novel to follow it. I do, however, own a copy of Ms Stevens’ ‘Mrs Gaskell and Me’ and am hoping to find this a more satisfying read.

3 Stars.
Report
Sue A
4.0 out of 5 stars The first novel that wasn't - fascinating!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2018
Verified Purchase
I loved this book. I was drawn to it initially because I've been lucky enough to visit the Falklands twice, though not Bleaker Island. Clearly it isn't the novel that Nell thought she would write, but I loved reading about her efforts and what she put herself through on this isolated spot, with barely enough food to sustain her. Such discipline to maintain just one Ferrero Rocher a day! Hugely original. I loved her style of writing and very much look forward to reading Mrs Gaskell and Me.
Report
DanieWP
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and insightful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 14, 2018
Verified Purchase
A wonderful exploration of how living according to your plans confounds your expectations. An enjoyable read and a real page-turner!
3 people found this helpful
 Report