Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Below the Big Blue Sky

  • By: Anna McPartlin
  • Narrated by: Simone Kirby
  • Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (115 ratings)

$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.
Below the Big Blue Sky cover art

Below the Big Blue Sky

By: Anna McPartlin
Narrated by: Simone Kirby
Try for £0.00

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

Buy Now for £27.99

Buy Now for £27.99

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.
activate_primeday_promo_in_buybox_DT

Listeners also enjoyed...

Waiting for the Miracle cover art
The Woman at 72 Derry Lane cover art
Surviving Me cover art
One Last Day of Summer cover art
The Vanishing of Margaret Small cover art
The Girl I Used to Know cover art
Impossible To Forget cover art
Summer in Greece cover art
The Midwife's Secret cover art
Overdrawn cover art
The Dandelion Clock Boxset cover art
There's Something I Have to Tell You cover art
Quicksand of Memory cover art
Liars cover art
Leave Well Alone cover art
The Yorkshire Pudding Club cover art

Summary

This audio edition features original music composed and recorded for the audiobook.

How does a family pick up the pieces when the one person who held them all together has gone?

When 40-year-old Rabbit Hayes dies, she leaves behind a family broken by grief. Her mother, Molly, is distraught and in danger of losing her faith. Her father, Jack, spends hour upon hour in the family attic, poring over his old diaries, losing himself in the past.

Rabbit's brother, Davey, finds himself suddenly guardian to her 12-year-old daughter, Juliet. Juliet might be able to fill a hole in Davey's heart - but how can he help Juliet through her grief when he can barely cope with his own?

Meanwhile, Rabbit's sister, Grace, is struggling with the knowledge that she carries the same gene that made her sister ill, and Rabbit's best friend, Marjorie, is lost, struggling to remain a part of a family she has always wished was her own now that her link to them is gone.

But even though the Hayes family are all fighting their own battles, they are drawn together by their love for Rabbit and their love for each other. In the years that follow her death they find new ways to celebrate and remember her, to find humour and hope in the face of tragedy, and to live life to its fullest, as Rabbit would have wanted.

Below the Big Blue Sky will make you laugh, cry and shout with joy for the colourful, unruly Hayes family as they battle with the loss of their beloved Rabbit, the daughter, mother, sister and friend, who in her own crazy way taught each of them how to live and goes on showing them how to love from beyond the grave.

©2020 Anna McPartlin (P)2020 Bonnier Books UK

What listeners say about Below the Big Blue Sky

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    94
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    92
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    84
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

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

Well-written and interesting story.

I found this book difficult to get into initially, but glad that I stuck with it. Obviously, it starts off on a depressing note, which you need to be in the right frame of mind to get through, but it does get more hopeful although still tackling related complex emotional problems themes and offers interesting insights into difficult subjects and may be of comfort to people experiencing similar issues. Ultimately, it is a story of love and hope finding a way out of grief or living alongside it. I don’t think anyone could fail to be moved emotionally in some way by the end of this book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

what roller coaster!

I absolutely loved this audio book. The characters and the swearing in the loveable Dublin accent reminds me if my cousins over the water and my visits from England 3 times a year. I listen to audio books as I walk my dog and have to say it was embarrassing sometimes people giving me a wide birth as I laughed and cried. The song at the end was the final straw! This book was Ab Fab well done.

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

Poignant funny and real

Loved the Last days of Rabbit Hayes and Brilliant to catch up with the family.
It bought back some personal experiences for me and unexpectedly answered some questions.
❤️

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Brilliant sequels to The last days of Rabbit Hayes.

I absolutely loved this book. Really hoping it will turn out to be a trilogy.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

An incredible follow up.

I loved this book as much as The Last Days of Rabbit Hays. It's Grand.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Beautiful

This book is full of tenderness and laughter. Read The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes first. Enjoy. They are both magical.

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

Wonderful

Absolutely wonderful. The fabulous Hayes family. I didn’t want this to end.
The narration is superb.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Family love

Wow what a story , I felt so many emotions. I highly recommend just brilliant.

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

Brilliant!

I loved The Last days of Rabbit Hayes and this book carries on the story . It is brilliantly written . I laughed out loud and I cried it is such a tender subject which is handled so well . Below the Big Blue Sky is a must read especially if you have read The last days of Rabbit Hayes .

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Fabulous!!

Such a brilliant book. First class narration. It has it all, tears of joy and sadness. Perfect 💕

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!