Audition A Novel

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ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR FINALIST FOR THE 2025 BOOKER PRIZE INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER “A tightly wound family drama that reads like a psychological thriller."—NPR “Bold, stark, genre-bending, Audition will haunt your dreams.”—The Boston Globe One woman, the performance of a lifetime. Or two. An exhilarating, destabilizing Möbius strip of a novel that asks whether we ever really know the people we love. Two people meet for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant. She’s an accomplished actress in rehearsals for an upcoming premiere. He’s attractive, troubling, young—young enough to be her son. Who is he to her, and who is she to him? In this compulsively readable, brilliantly constructed novel, two competing narratives unspool, rewriting our understanding of the roles we play every day – partner, parent, creator, muse – and the truths every performance masks, especially from those who think they know us most intimately. Taut and hypnotic, Audition is Katie Kitamura at her virtuosic best.

Reviews

Photo of katie h.
katie h.Apr 13, 2026
4 stars
Page turning
Original
Refreshing
Surprising
Photo of Xi Hui Teo
Xi Hui TeoJan 11, 2026
3 stars
This review contains a spoiler
Artistic
Photo of Karmen
Karmen Jan 4, 2026
4 stars
Magnetic
Intense
Obnoxious
Photo of c0up
c0upDec 16, 2025
4.5 stars

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