Little Disasters: A Novel

Written by Sarah Vaughan

Narrated by Sophie Roberts, Esther Wane, Elliot Fitzpatrick and Sarah Feathers

This “thrilling and emotional depiction of family drama, friendship, and trust will have you on the edge of your seat” (CNN) as it explores the complexity of motherhood from the bestselling author of the inspiration behind the hit Netflix series Anatomy of a Scandal.

You think you know her…but look a little closer.

She is a stay-at-home mother-of-three with boundless reserves of patience, energy, and love. After being friends for a decade, this is how Liz sees Jess.

Then one moment changes everything.

Dark thoughts and carefully guarded secrets surface—and Liz is left questioning everything she thought she knew about her friend, and about herself. The truth can’t come soon enough.

Evocative and haunting, Little Disasters is “an important book as well as a brilliant read” (Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Aug 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781508267935

Sarah Vaughan

Sarah Vaughan read English at Oxford and went on to become a journalist. After training at the Press Association, she spent eleven years at the Guardian as a news reporter and political correspondent before leaving to freelance and write fiction. Her first two novels, The Art of Baking Blind and The Farm at the Edge of the World, were followed by her first psychological thriller, Anatomy of a Scandal: a Sunday Times bestseller, and Richard & Judy pick of the decade, developed as a Netflix series starring Rupert Friend, Michelle Dockery and Sienna Miller. Her fourth novel, Little Disasters, a Waterstone’s thriller of the month, was published in 2020. Reputation is her fifth novel.

Reviews for Little Disasters

[tracy feller · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Gave up a third of the way in. Just didn’t care. The book is well written in the sense of well-crafted sentences but the plot drags along. Although there are precise time stamps on each chapter it means nothing because nothing really happens beyond the initial event (How did the baby get hurt? Who would hurt a baby? Wow I can’t believe the baby got hurt. Yep this baby got hurt. ) Maybe if it were called a slow-paced domestic drama I would have been prepared—it is not a psychological thriller in any sense. One star for the narrator who was extremely good.

[Megan Leonard · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

If you are looking for a case study of post partum OCD, this book is for you. If you are looking for a good thriller, look elsewhere. Very depressing listen. Although I did finish it so obviousky something must be ok.

[Sarita Kolhatkar · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

It was very boring snd repetitive and long winded. I couldn’t finish the book after 10 chapters.

[monica clay · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The book meanders. It starts out great and then it just loses steam. Trying to interject Liz’s mom was too much. I just didn’t care about her. Took to long to find out what happened to Betsy and not enuf of Ed and Charlotte. Wasted too much time, paper, words and energy of my life I will never ever get back.

[Sandra Gurvis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Brings home some good points but a little too overwrought and neat at the end. A 1950s melodrama for the 21st century.

[Jess W · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As a mom who suffered from postpartum depression, I was very happy to find great book that dared to look into the issues of mental health, and abuse. I thought the depictions were realistically raw and jarring.

I liked the change in perspective by changing the narrator throughout. This book was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise, although the subject matter is anything but.

[Caro S · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sizzling, Ruminating, Revenant —awakens memories of childhood and mothering young children, the solitude, fear, hope, and hopelessness. Delves into community, scapegoating, mental illness, and child abuse. Never didactic, a riveting, complex story!

[KristiMcClelland · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book! The reader was very engaging and the twist at the end was very unexpected.

[allisonewoldt · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A deep dive into the complexities of mental illness, motherhood, parent child relationships, friendship, betrayal, and in some ways the meaning of life.

[Cassandra Stromgren · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a good story, good character and plot development but does drag on a bit. The narrator who voices Liz unfortunately swallows frequently and has a dry mouth sound which is loud and hard to ignore. I had to take a break several times simply because I couldn't listen to the mouth noises any longer, but I'm very sensitive to those kinds of noises. It might not bother others to the degree that it did me.

[Rlynoyb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was different from what I normally listen to. It is mostly a story about how complicated and difficult it is to be a parent, especially a mother. I am only a mom to furry children so it was interesting to me from the aspect of never experiencing motherhood. So many things can go wrong and to some extent I think people and the legal system today are a bit too helicopter for me. As a kid I played outside, got dirty, broke bones, fell off my bike and many other little disasters. Today people have to be mandatory reporters, etc. because of probably a few really horrible parents. These were all good parents who just needed to ask for more help. The best way to sum this up is if you are a mum who is overwhelmed don't be afraid to ask for help from friends and family.

[Suzanne Coe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was very difficult to listen to at quite a few times which is a testament to how well it was written. It addressed a very sensitive subject from multiple perspectives.

[Ada Lynn Allison · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was a good story from what I could get, but the audio skipped entire chapters that would not play

[Jessi Harris · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent writing and character building! Highly recommend a listen to!