The First Day of Spring
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Kristin Atherton
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Written by:
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Nancy Tucker
About this listen
"Tense, addictive and powered by an unforgettable narrative voice." (Paula Hawkins)
"Gripping.... The voices of Chrissie and Julia reside deep in your skull: visceral and wicked, sad and wonderful, all at the same time." (The New York Times)
"Fans of Lisa Jewell and smart psychological suspense will eagerly await Tucker’s next." (Publishers Weekly)
"So that was all it took," I thought. "That was all it took for me to feel like I had all the power in the world. One morning, one moment, one yellow-haired boy. It wasn't so much after all."
Meet Chrissie....
Chrissie is eight and she has a secret: she has just killed a boy. The feeling made her belly fizz like soda pop. Her playmates are tearful and their mothers are terrified, keeping them locked indoors. But Chrissie rules the roost - she's the best at wall-walking, she knows how to get free candy, and now she has a feeling of power that she never gets at home, where food is scarce and attention scarcer.
Twenty years later, adult Chrissie is living in hiding under a changed name. A single mother, all she wants is for her daughter to have the childhood she herself was denied. That’s why the threatening phone calls are so terrifying. People are looking for them, the past is catching up, and Chrissie fears losing the only thing in this world she cares about, her child.
Nancy Tucker leaves the listener breathless as she inhabits her protagonist with a shocking authenticity that moves the reader from sympathy to humor to horror to heartbreak and back again.
©2021 Nancy Tucker (P)2021 Penguin AudioYou may also enjoy...
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What the critics say
“Gripping, unsettling debut novel.... Chrissie’s observations are immaculate, loyal to her age and her desperation.... By the end of the novel, the voices of Chrissie and Julia reside deep in your skull: visceral and wicked, sad and wonderful, all at the same time.” (The New York Times Book Review)
"A stunning debut.... Suspenseful? You bet. Heart-rending? From beginning to end." (The Washington Post)
“Too original to be missed.” (PopSugar)
What listeners say about The First Day of Spring
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Kimberley
- 2021-09-21
Incredible
I couldn’t put this book down. It was incredibly disturbing but well written. The characters were like real people to me. It’s hard to imagine such sadness exists in the world.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Courteous Reader
- 2021-10-07
Heavy, intense
Wow. This book was heavy on the emotional intensity, but incredibly well-written and marvelously performed.
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Overall
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Performance
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- Carolanne Gill
- 2025-01-07
Incredibly captivating
Deeply heart wrenching story, couldn’t put it down. The look into what abuse and neglect do to a child on a psychological level felt very realistic, the characters felt so real and well written.
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Overall
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Performance
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- Sophie
- 2022-04-06
Great narration perspective from a kid, but nothing really happened?
I was recommend this book as it was said to be quite dark and twisty, and I suppose it is as it revolves around a young girl who kills a child, but the rest of the book really had no climax it was building to so I was underwhelmed at the end. If that’s your thing you like then go for it, but for me it was kind of just a story about the protagonist’s life without anything leaving you hanging on the edge.
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