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    Devotion: A Novel
    Devotion: A Novel
    Devotion: A Novel
    Audiobook8 hours

    Devotion: A Novel

    Written by Madeline Stevens

    Narrated by Sarah Naughton

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    About this audiobook

    A captivating debut novel about a woman who falls into an overwhelming mutual obsession with the Upper East Side mother who hires her as a nanny.

    Ella is flat broke: wasting away on bodega coffee, barely making rent, seducing the occasional strange man who might buy her dinner. Unexpectedly, an Upper East Side couple named Lonnie and James rescue her from her empty bank account, offering her a job as a nanny and ushering her into their moneyed world. Ella’s days are now spent tending to the baby in their elegant brownstone or on extravagant excursions with the family. Both women are just 26—but unlike Ella, Lonnie has a doting husband and son, unmistakable artistic talent, and old family money.

    Ella is mesmerized by Lonnie’s girlish affection and disregard for the normal boundaries of friendship and marriage. Convinced there must be a secret behind Lonnie’s seemingly effortless life, Ella begins sifting through her belongings, meticulously cataloguing lipstick tubes and baby teeth and scraps of writing. All the while, Ella’s resentment grows, but so does an inexplicable and dizzying attraction. Soon Ella will be immersed so deeply in her cravings—for Lonnie’s lifestyle, her attention, her lovers—that she may never come up for air.

    Riveting, propulsive, and startling, Devotion is a masterful debut novel where mismatched power collides with blinding desire, incinerating our perceptions of femininity, lust, and privilege.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateAug 13, 2019
    ISBN9780062930521
    Author

    Madeline Stevens

    Madeline Stevens is a writer from Boring, Oregon, currently based in Los Angeles. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and her work has been published in a variety of literary magazines. She spent seven years working as a nanny in New York City. Devotion is her first novel.

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    Reviews for Devotion

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    • 4/5
      Good book. A bit odd, but odd is okay with me! I enjoyed listening to the narrator’s voice and think, overall, she did a good job. One criticism I have here is there didn’t seem to be any distinction in voice between the two main female characters, so at times it was difficult to understand which of them was talking.

      I enjoyed the author’s style of writing and the very intimate location of the story taking place within the protagonist’s mind. As a “girl”, I would characterize this as very much definitely a girl’s book, and I could really relate to the ongoing thoughts and generalized chatter going on inside this young woman’s head.

      I might categorize this book as somewhat within the Noir genre, but not entirely. There are a whole slew of topics that are addressed in this story including but not limited to death, the paranormal, identity, sex and sexuality, and loyalty to oneself as well as to others.

      Overall, I quite enjoyed this book. Towards the end, however, it became a little convoluted for me, and I thought the ending to be messy and not all that satisfying. Still, not sorry I took the time to listen!

      1 person found this helpful