Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Life Before Man  By  cover art

Life Before Man

By: Margaret Atwood
Narrated by: Deborah Burgess, Libby Lennie, Geoff Bowes
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

From the author of the New York Times best-selling novels The Handmaid’s Tale - now an Emmy Award-winning Hulu original series - and Alias Grace, now a Netflix original series.

Imprisoned by walls of their own construction, here are three people, each in midlife, in midcrisis, forced to make choices - after the rules have changed. Elizabeth, with her controlled sensuality, her suppressed rage, is married to the wrong man. She has just lost her latest lover to suicide. Nate, her gentle, indecisive husband, is planning to leave her for Lesje, a perennial innocent who prefers dinosaurs to men. Hanging over them all is the ghost of Elizabeth's dead lover...and the dizzying threat of three lives careening inevitably toward the same climax.

©1979 O.W. Toad Limited 1979 (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Love Books? You'll Love Audible.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Transform your day

Replace endless scrolling with endless listening. Chores can be fun.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Listen everywhere

Download titles to listen offline, wherever you are in the world.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Carry your entire Library

Your stories go where you go. Audiobooks don’t weigh a thing.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Listen and learn

Discover stories that can change your mind, your well-being, and your life.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Reach your reading goals

You can’t turn pages while you drive—but you can press play.

Placeholder Image Alt Text

Find your niche

WIth thousands of titles to explore, there’s something for everyone.

Try for $0.00 $14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

What listeners say about Life Before Man

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    23
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

The title still perplexes me.

Interesting character development but a mundane story nevertheless.
I suppose the title refers to the fact that people never really evolve… either like Auntie Muriel because they don’t want to or like Nate because they are stuck or Elizabeth seething…..or like Lasja waiting…..

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not my favorite

Margaret Atwood is in my top author list, but this was honestly a disappointment. Although beautifully written by Atwood, I agree with other reviewers that nothing really happened. I would say skip this one...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful