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  • Heartburn

  • By: Nora Ephron
  • Narrated by: Meryl Streep
  • Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,342 ratings)
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Heartburn cover art

Heartburn

By: Nora Ephron
Narrated by: Meryl Streep
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Summary

Audie Award Finalist, Solo Narration - Female, 2014

Is it possible to write a sidesplitting novel about the breakup of the perfect marriage? If the writer is Nora Ephron, the answer is a resounding yes. For in this inspired confection of adultery, revenge, group therapy, and pot roast, the creator of Sleepless in Seattle reminds us that comedy depends on anguish as surely as a proper gravy depends on flour and butter.

Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband, Mark, is in love with another woman. The fact that the other woman has "a neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb and you should see her legs" is no consolation. Food sometimes is, though, since Rachel writes cookbooks for a living. And in between trying to win Mark back and loudly wishing him dead, Ephron's irrepressible heroine offers some of her favorite recipes. Heartburn is a sinfully delicious novel, as soul-satisfying as mashed potatoes and as airy as a perfect soufflé.

©2011 Nora Ephron (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

"Great fun. . . . Though Heartburn bristles ferociously with wit, it's not lacking in soul." ( The New York Times Book Review)
"Nora Ephron's first novel is warm, witty and wise." ( Harper's Bazaar)

What listeners say about Heartburn

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

In 1983, he cheated and she waited for him

Nora Ephron wrote this book in 1983. Meryl Streep who is absolutely amazing (at everything!) narrated this book in 2013. As such, there was such a jarring difference between a woman in 1983 just passively taking it while her husband cheated on her and how this would have been dealt with in 2013 or now in 2018. I just got so angry and was so full of rage that Rachel just pretty much sat there, pregnant, crying and cooking while Mark sneaked off to be with Thelma, buying her jewelry and going on vacations with her. Rachel watched power being taken away from her relationship and settled for being the victim, while justifying that she would never respond in a feminist manner. This was 1983. What a pathetic time to be a woman. Fortunately, Meryl Streep is the narrator and in the last 10 minutes of the book, one finally hears the strength, utter contempt and anger coming, served with key lime pie. I cannot believe that I stuck around listening for 5 hrs and 30 mins, and please enough already with the recipes! I needed the last 10 minutes of Meryl Streep to save this book.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

inspiring and funny

It can sound in certain moments like a babbling of a member of a new-yorkee intelectual micro-cosmos but actually there is much more to it. It's funny, true and it's worth every minute of listning thanks to Meryl Streep's outstanding performance.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So great!! I don't want it to end!

Where does Heartburn rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is a great story - and the reading is just perfect.

What other book might you compare Heartburn to, and why?

Never read anything like it.

Which character – as performed by Meryl Streep – was your favourite?

Rachel.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Did not enjoy the narration

Oh dear. This did not work.
Good narration lets the story be the star, not the narrator. Meryl Streep's narration was so mannered and so actorly. Deeply irritating and it got in the way of Nora Ephron's fine writing and sharp observations.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed Meryl Streeps reading of this!

Light hearted, easy to listen to and very enjoyable. Meryl Streep reads the book brilliantly.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Pioneer Chic Lit

I went into this was rather blind. This story was recommended in an article about famous people who have narrated stories. I didn't know who Nora Ephron was our that this was published in 1983! I only knew that Meryl Streep was the narrator and that was enough for me.
By the title, I assumed it would have to do with food and/or pregnancy. It does. Both.
Initially I was rather disappointed to discover that it was yet another cheating story. However, after I did some research about Nora, I realised that in 1983, this type of story was probably not that common. It is also loosely based on her own life.
As an aspiring writer, my favourite part of this book was the lack of adjectives. It's refreshing to see simple straightforward dialogue and be allowed to interpret the characters for yourself.
I'm OK with the low level of plot.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Unexpected pleasure

I knew nothing about Norah Ephron other than that she had been married to one of the Watergate journalists, Carl Bernstein, but I was attracted to this audiobook by the fact that it was narrated by the superlative actress, Meryl Streep. It did not disappoint. Meryl Streep really brings the story to life by putting persuasive emotion into the account of a woman who is cheated on by her husband when she is 8 months pregnant. It turns out that this is not the first time and the questions are - stay or go? forgive or not forgive? divorce or try and save the marriage? It could so easily have been a depressing and dire story, but it is not. It is whimsical on occasions, bitter on others, but never anything less than entertaining. I have since found out that Norah Ephron was a journalist, essayist, novelist, playwright, Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a movie director. So sad that such a multi- talented woman died at only 71. However, this beautifully performed audiobook is a great tribute to her memory. I recommend it.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful, wry, honest and amusing

Nora Ephron is astute, self deprecating, hilarious, wry, touching and honest all in equal measure. This is the apparently fictional tale of the collapse of a marriage following the husband’s infidelity, but is effectively the account of Ephron’s own marriage to Carl Bernstein. I hadn’t realised that Merck Streep played the protagonist, Rachel, in the film of this book. Suffice to say Streep is a genius and this reading is as brilliant as everything else she does. I laughed and cried along with this audio book, it kept me enthralled through many long hours on the motorway, and I heartily recommend it to anyone - (except for people currently having an affair - those involved in infidelity do not come out of this book well!)

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved her voice

Methyl Streep made this story so real, I loved it. Not a happy tale, it shows real insight into the intricacies of relationships and how some are just beyond our control. A beautifully crafted story, the skill of the writer shone through. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Greatly improved by the genius of Meryl.

Funny in parts, somewhat dated now, but greatly improved by the genius of Meryl reading it.

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1 person found this helpful