Once More with Feeling

Arthur MacDonald, 85, is having an end-of-life crisis.

He’s about to fail the obligatory ‘older driver’ practical test for parallel parking more than five hundred millimetres from the curb. His beloved, dying wife of over sixty years no longer knows who he is. His older brother still has all his hair and a wife almost half his age. The man his middle-aged daughter is dating has a ponytail. His teenage grandson wants to make desserts for a living. And his daughter wants him to move into Silvermine, the retirement home down the road, an Alcatraz for old people.

But when Arthur unexpectedly meets the mysterious, radical, eighty-something-year-old Robbie Johnson, he begins to see he's still got a whole lot more to learn: not only how to bribe his way into passing some of life’s more absurd tests, but how to live fully, how to behave badly, and how to love better.

Listener Reviews:

 An absolutely delightful gem

“What a beautiful book. It had me both chuckling out loud and then later crying while I listened. Highly recommended. Great narrator.” - Mrs. Angela M. Fouhy

Thought provoking and Beautiful.

“I loved this book. The author has navigated their way through a sensitive topic with love and respect. A beautiful story with thought provoking undertones.” - Amazon Customer

 “Such a beautiful and heart warming story, introducing us to characters that show us that you’re never too old to grow!”

Highly recommended reading!

“What a fabulous story! So very well researched, engaging and entertaining all at the same time. It explores topics such as society's deplorable attitudes towards it's more senior citizens, the heart-wrenching pain of dementia for both the sufferer and their family, finding love and excitement in old age and finally euthanasia. Now this might sound like quite a miserable list of topics, but the author discusses them with love, warmth and a good sprinkling of humour. :-D This book is a must-read for everyone - particularly those who want to embrace an adventurous and enjoyable life when they too get older.” - Wednesday's Child

“A refreshingly honest and candid insight into the pitfalls of growing old-with a ‘feel good’ ending that gives all of us hope that we might find, or have, our own soulmate to share that period with.” - parko

A must read book

“Made me grin, laugh and cry like an idiot, absolutely love the way the narrator pulled off multiple characters! Highly recommend everyone to have a read or listen to this book. It made me think and reflect.” - Anonymous User

Read all the reviews on Audible

Life After Truth follows five close friends over a Harvard College 15th reunion weekend.

Jules, already a famous actor when she arrived on campus as a freshman, is changing in mysterious ways as she approaches forty, but won’t share what is haunting her. Mariam and Rowan, who married young, are struggling with the demands of family life, and starting to regret prioritizing meaning over wealth in their careers. Eloise, now a Harvard professor who studies the psychology of happiness, is troubled by her much younger wife’s radical politics. And Jomo, founder of a luxury jewellery company, has been carrying an engagement ring around in his pocket for months, unsure whether his girlfriend is his soulmate.

Fifteen years after graduating from the most prestigious university in the world, on the cusp of middle age, they are still trying to pursue happiness (though it remains elusive), while wondering if they’ve wasted their youthful opportunities. But the soul-searching begins in earnest when the most infamous member of their Class of 2003, Frederick Reese – senior advisor and son of recently elected and loathed President Reese – turns up dead.

Old friends often think they know everything about one another, but time has a way of making us strangers to those we love – and to ourselves.

Listener Reviews:

Intelligent and Entertaining

“This is an insightful and humorous exploration of the passage from youth into maturity - contrasting the euphoric expectations of student life at an elite university with the realities of work and parenthood. It’s a great read with believable and interesting characters.” - Jeanne

A compelling, beautifully crafted, emotive book that everyone will be able to relate to!

“Ceridwen Dovey’s book, Life after Truth, was amazing. I loved every minute and found each chapter so descriptive and emotive. It was so thoughtfully written so that each character became my friend and I felt like I too was at the reunion! Listening to this story made me want more of her work- she has cleverly crafted this book to perfection!” - Anonymous User

Highly addictive & thoroughly enjoying

“I absolutely loved this book to the point of cleaning out all my cupboards just so I could keep listening to it. The characters are complex and relatable and I’m already missing them. Several laugh out loud moments, and many ideas & issues I’ll be thinking about long after finishing. Would highly recommend to fans of Donna Tart, Christos Tsiolkas & Leanne Moriarty... or any lover of good literature!” - Amazon Customer

Great listen, complex characters

“Really enjoyed the characters, their complexity and their reflections on adulthood and also the thinly veiled parody? Of the Trump presidency” - Kate Johnson

Adeline Knight

Under my nom de plume Adeline Knight, I write feel-good fiction for Audible, and love to craft stories that will make you smile and remember that humans are loveable (in spite of it all!). These books explore what it looks and feels like when things actually work out for two people in matters of the heart...not about things falling apart. And I'll always try to sneak an Aussie into the story line :)

Lonely Hearts Radio

It's 1999, and Eira Hart and Ru Tattersall are set up to co-host The Lonely Harts Club, a new late-night radio show to help New Yorkers find love. It's a last chance attempt for both Eira, expert in Celtic mythology and amateur Welsh matchmaker, and Ru, once-hot-shot Aussie DJ, to achieve their New York dreams.

The thing is, you either click with a co-host, or you don’t. It’s a bit like falling in love. There’s co-host chemistry, or there isn’t.
With the countdown to a new millennium, it feels like the world as they know it is about to end.

Radio is becoming commercialized and superficial. Lower Manhattan is gentrifying. The Lonely Harts Club feels like the last chance to hold on to something real. As confessions pour out over the late-night airwaves and their show gathers an impressive following of happily matched couples, can The Lonely Harts Club make one last true match?

Background

Right from the beginning, my amazing publisher at Audible, Karen Yates, wanted this book to be something new: an audio-only novel that was written and designed to create a special listening experience...somewhere between an audiobook and audio play, with many cast members bringing the scenes to life. I wrote it to explore new creative possibilities in this golden age of audio storytelling, and key to that was having a mix of traditional audio narration (as Eira and Ru have in their chapters), plus loads of other audio elements (like Eira and Ru's live 'Lonely Harts' call-in radio show, and the scenes where other actors become part of the narrative). It was so exciting to see (or 'hear'!) how the audio production came together, thanks to the hard work of the Audible team; Mike Cowap at Princess Pictures; the director Stuart McDonald; and the whole cast of voice actors, including the fabulous Adam Demos and Erin Richards.

Listener Reviews

Gorgeous

Beautifully written and performed. This is the first time I’ve listened to a fiction audiobook. I’m so glad this was the first one. Romantic, heartfelt and so sweet. – Rosa Cortez

A week on and I'm still missing the characters!

This was pure delight from beginning to end. Clever, funny and pure heart. I fell head over heels in love with the characters and the story.

Absolutely adored the 90s nostalgia, the Celtic mythology and living vicariously in NYC through the eyes of two cultures. I hadn't heard an audiobook acted like this before, almost like a radio play, and it was so engrossing and binge-worthy. Wish it had been longer! Have been recommending to all. – Amazon customer

Everything a feel good romance should be!

This book is everything a feel good romance should be. Hilarious (laugh out loud funny), but also such a gorgeous, moving love story. Loads of 90s nostalgia, loved it! Never wanted it to end. Made me feel better about myself, and the world! – Anonymous User

So sweet

Compliments to everyone involved in this production. Listening was like being wrapped in a warm hug and brought back memories of life back then. – Anonymous User

Clever and insanely delightful

This is a clever, delightful strangers to lovers with such smart interludes; stories within stories, psychology asides, fascinating Welsh and Australian contexts, characters with believable arcs and impediments. This is a writer who absolutely knows what she is doing. You are in such safe hands. Treat yourself! – Tori Haschka

Hear a sample on Audible here

Wild Hearts - now out!

It's been three years since Bo Sullivan lost her dream job as one of the producers of the hit wildlife docu-series, Wild Hearts. Three years since her twin brother Max started battling cancer and she returned home to Lord Howe Island and put her life on hold. Three years since Griffin Marr, one-time crush and partner-in-crime, stole her job to become the lead producer of Wild Hearts.

With Max now in remission, and Bo with a surprise podcast hit on her hands, it's time to start living again. Especially when Wild Hearts, now struggling in the ratings, comes to Lord Howe Island to film a special series on its unique environment and wildlife. This is the chance Bo's been waiting for – get her job back, broadcast the plight to extend the island’s marine conservation area, and get revenge on Griffin, all in one fell swoop.

But with Bo’s experience as a producer, she should know that there’s always more to the story than meets the eye. Maybe the Wild Hearts job isn’t quite the dream scenario she thought it was. And maybe Griffin isn’t the villain she’s assumed him to be. As Bo and Griffin work together behind the camera to produce the special, she realizes that maybe there’s room to rekindle the old magic between them as well – and this time, not just for Wild Hearts.

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Read the ABC News profile about Ceridwen (writing as Adeline Knight) and the story behind her new feel-good romance novel Wild Hearts

Keep an eye out for Adeline Knight’s forthcoming feel-good romance, Mending Hearts (out in 2025).