Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Before I Met You

By: Lisa Jewell
Narrated by: Imogen Church, Sofia Greenacre
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

London, 1920. Arlette works in Liberty by day and by night is caught up in a glamorous whirl of parties, clubs, cocktails and jazz. But when tragedy strikes she flees the city, never to return.

More than half a century later, in the grungy mid-'90s, her granddaughter Betty arrives in London.

She can't wait to begin her new life. But before she can do so, she must find the mysterious woman named in her grandmother's will.

What she doesn't know is that her search will uncover the heartbreaking secret that changed her grandmother's life and might also change hers for ever....

©2012 Lisa Jewell (P)2020 Penguin Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Last Thing She Told Me cover art
A Gift of Time cover art
The Alice Network cover art
A Summer Scandal cover art
Lessons in Laughing Out Loud cover art
Shelter in Place cover art
The Photographer's Wife cover art
Poppy Day cover art
A Fire Sparkling cover art
Anna cover art

What listeners say about Before I Met You

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    443
  • 4 Stars
    119
  • 3 Stars
    59
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    406
  • 4 Stars
    98
  • 3 Stars
    56
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    21
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    414
  • 4 Stars
    97
  • 3 Stars
    54
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    10

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

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

Addictive

Listened to this at every spare moment I had.
Brilliant intriguing story made all the better by the amazing narrators. Absolutely loved this book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Great story

Another winner from Lisa Jewell. Not dark but totally entertaining. If thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

An enjoyable listen

Lisa Jewel has an engaging way of writing that is enjoyable to listen to even when the story isn't that exciting.
In this one we follow Betty (aged 21) as she researches the life of her grandmother Arlette when she was a similar age. It turns out that grandmother wasn't always an old lady wrapped in a shawl, living in a big cold house in Guernsey.
Anyway, Grandmother left a sum of money in her Will to somebody called Clara Pickle. The suspense is waiting to see who this lady turns out to be,
As others have commented, the actor reading the parts from 1920 is absolutely awful and distracts the listener from the actual story, She puts on comic voices as if she is reading to a 3-year-old.
There's a lot of discussion about "the negro" in the 1920 sections, Doesn't sound very PC to modern ears.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Lovely story. beautifully read.

A story to get lost in - I loved the two worlds the author created. I loved both narrators.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Great book

A little different to some of her other stories but with great twits and interesting characters. I am growing to love Lisa Jewell!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

So upset it had to end!!!

I absolutely LOVED this book. Oh my goodness Lisa Jewell, I just lost 2 days of my life because of you, but it was worth every wonderful listening moment! I feel too emotional that its over to write any more. If you're unsure whether to download this but want a beautifully written story with excellent narration please, please, please do... you won't regret it.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

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

Sandy Beach and Arlette

I really enjoyed this book. There was very little time that I felt bored.
It is a sensual love story, I recommend it.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Great story

Thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. Great story and great narrator. Love this author

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Great listen

Kept me hooked I loved it fantastic narrator very good definitely one to listen too.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Stunning

At the beginning, I didn’t think I was going to like this turned out I loved it. I didn’t want it to end. Beautifully written and narrated.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!