Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    An Unfinished Life
    An Unfinished Life
    An Unfinished Life
    Audiobook7 hours

    An Unfinished Life

    Written by Mark Spragg

    Narrated by Tony Amendola and Judith Marx

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    An estranged daughter-in-law, a bitter father, and his suffering best friend are reunited for the sake of a child in this powerful tale of love, loss, and homecoming.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateAug 23, 2004
    ISBN9781598871470
    An Unfinished Life

    More audiobooks from Mark Spragg

    Related to An Unfinished Life

    Related audiobooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      March Fiction

      Feb 15, 2022

      Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson (Century, £20) In 2018 the ever-prolific James Patterson got together with Bill Clinton to write the best-selling The President Is Missing: a novel that combined Clinton’s insider knowledge with Patter

      2 min read

    • Article

      Amor Towles Creates An American Road Trip Of Epic Proportions

      Oct 5, 2021

      In “The Lincoln Highway,” Amor Towles tells an American tale with Homeric scope, but the novel ultimately fails to arrive at its destination.

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires

      Mar 25, 2020

      RELEASED 7 APRIL 408 pages | Paperback/ebook/audiobook Author Grady Hendrix Publisher Quirk Books Grady Hendrix writes women beautifully, never more so than in his terrific coming-of-age horror My Best Friend’s Exorcism, so it’s an absolute joy to re

      1 min read

    • Article

      Under The Whispering Door

      Nov 3, 2021

      ▶ RELEASED OUT NOW! 376 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook ▶ Author TJ Klune ▶ Publisher Tor An uneven yet goodhearted hybrid of Dead Like Me and The Good Place, Under The Whispering Door ponders what happens when you don’t start actually living your l

      1 min read

    • Article

      'The Help' Tops Netflix During Protests, And Twitter Is Shaking Its Head

      Jun 8, 2020

      After a historic week of protests decrying the state of race relations in America, a 2011 movie about black servants and their white employers has become one of the most popular movies on Netflix. Starring Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Emma Stone,

      2 min read

    • Article

      Romantic Entanglements Bring Humor And Heartache To Small Town

      Jun 21, 2021

      Katherine Heiny’s novel transplants readers to Boyne City, Michigan, through the keen eyes of the town’s new schoolteacher.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Top 10 Books

      Jun 16, 2023

      Top 10 Books
      1 min read

    • Article

      Home Before Dark

      Apr 2, 2020

      Home Before Dark
      1 min read

    • Article

      Havenfall

      Feb 26, 2020

      RELEASED 3 MARCH 304 pages | Paperback/ebook Author Sara Holland Publisher Bloomsbury Adolescence is hard enough at the best of times, but throw in a murdered brother, a mother on death row and a high school full of bullies that really don’t apprecia

      1 min read

    • Article

      ‘I Hear The Screams’: 107-year-old Survivor Of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Testifies To Congress In Call For Justice

      May 20, 2021

      Moments after falling asleep on 31 May, 1921, seven-year-old Viola Fletcher was awakened by her family and told to leave her home in the Greenwood neighbourhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Outside, a white mob drove thousands of Black residents from their ho

      3 min read

    • Article

      'The Cadaver King And The Country Dentist' Will Shake Your Faith In The US Justice System

      Feb 28, 2018

      The authors focus on the wrongful convictions of two black men, Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer, each charged in separate murders during the early 1990s in Mississippi.

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for An Unfinished Life

    4.5/5

    15 ratings10 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      I wasn't really crazy about this book. It was predictable and I didn't like the way it was written.
    • 5/5
      Best book I have read in awhile. I looked at it to see what Nancy Stauffer might mean by "utterly sprung to life characters." Got it. I, like the other old men in the book, am completely smitten by the 10 year old brave little girl. Wonder what Spragg is doing next and what it would take to get him to Torrey House.
    • 5/5
      Audio book performed by Tony Amendola and Judith Marx

      Jane Gilkyson has finally decided to leave her abusive boyfriend. With her 10-year-old daughter, Griff, she takes off in her ancient car, headed for the Pacific Ocean. But when the car dies and she’s left stranded, she has nowhere to turn but to her father-in-law, a man who blames her for the death of his son, and who is living his life in bitterness and misery on a small ranch in Ishawooa, Wyoming. Einar Gilkyson would probably be dead by now, too, except his oldest friend needs him, and that’s about all that keeps him going. It will be up to Griff to help them all see the need to let go of recrimination and regret, and to embrace love and forgiveness.

      This is the first book by Mark Spragg that I’ve read, and it won’t be the last. He has mastered the art of “show, don’t tell,” giving us insight into these characters and their complex relationships without spelling anything out. His writing is rather spare, yet he conveys a strong sense of place. The dialogue is spot on; Griff asks intelligent questions but nothing a 10-year-old wouldn’t wonder, especially one who has grown to be a keen observer of others and learned to hold her questions until “the right time.” Einar and Mitch spar like the close friends they are – almost like an old married couple, they can anticipate each other’s thoughts and reactions. There is no pretty bow tying up the ending, either. There is hope for these people, but they still have a ways to go. I like a little ambiguity in my endings.

      Spragg alternates different characters’ points of view. This lets the reader know what each character is thinking, but also serves to build suspense in that we aren’t privy to all the information at once. The audio book is masterfully performed by Tony Amendola and Judith Marx.
    • 5/5
      I was browsing used books and a title caught my eye. An Unfinished Life, by Mark Spragg. Something seemed familiar but I couldn't place it. I looked at it very briefly. There was a back cover endorsement by Jim Harrison, which I didn't bother to read. Harrison wrote Legends of the Fall, so his name as an endorsement was good enough for me. I began to read. Spragg is an excellent storyteller and in the opening chapters there were two separate story lines that seemed to be moving towards each other. There were some elements of the story that seemed familiar, and one of the characters reminded me of a role Morgan freeman played in a movie. Now what was the name of that movie? Then, about 85 pages into the book, it hit me. The move was An Unfinished Life! No wonder the title caught my attention and the character seemed like the one played by Freeman! They were one and the same!That said, this is an excellent story, told in a captivating manner. The movie was pretty good, but this book is excellent. Spragg brings out things in the characters, in terms of both their actions and thoughts, that just isn't captured well in a screenplay or on film. The theme of reconciliation is played out in a way that is both beautiful and poignant. I invite you to read it for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.
    • 4/5
      Great book - I loved the relationships between the characters; they could be very touching. The writing was very good. Didn't see the movie as I am always disappointed if I have already read the book.
    • 5/5
      Great story of grief, commitment and connections.
    • 4/5
      I was a little dismayed when I found out that Spragg was already working on the script for the film version before he had actually finished the novel, but overall I fell under the spell of this tale of a family in disrepair.
    • 5/5
      A very good "story" told in the different voices of the main characters in the audio version. There is a wonderful relationship between the two older men. The development of their feelings about Griff---as well as her complete appreciation of them, is a very satisfying reading experience. She is a very old ten-year-old.
    • 4/5
      Jean and daughter, with nowhere else to run, go to Jean’s father-in-law, who blames her for his son's death. Loved the language and simplicity of description. Also, Einar (the father-in-law) and Mitch’s lifelong friendship is wonderfully rich and deceptively simple.
    • 4/5
      I'm sure that I read this book before - but I don't remember when. The movie was on t.v. a few weeks ago and the story was so familiar that I was surprised not to find the book in my LibraryThing account. I rectified that by re-reading the book. This is a beautiful book of redemption, of being able to forgive, of love. The characters are so well drawn and, with the exception of Roy, very likable, despite their flaws. There is some rough language, particularly when the story is told from the point-of-view of Roy - which makes sense but might be objectionable.