God's Own Country cover art

God's Own Country

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
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.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

God's Own Country

By: Ross Raisin
Narrated by: Oliver J. Hemborough
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
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.
Cancel

About this listen

In his celebrated debut novel, God’s Own Country, Ross Raisin tells the story of solitary young farmer, Sam Marsdyke, and his extraordinary battle with the world.

Expelled from school and cut off from the town, mistrusted by his parents and avoided by city incomers, Marsdyke is a loner until he meets rebellious new neighbour Josephine. But what begins as a friendship and leads to thoughts of escape across the moors turns to something much, much darker with every step.

Ross Raisin was born in 1979 in West Yorkshire. His first novel, God's Own Country was published to great acclaim in 2008 and was shortlisted for nine literary awards including the Guardian First Book Award and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. His second novel, Waterline, followed in 2011 and was a Radio 4 Book at Bedtime.

In 2009 Ross Raisin was named the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year and in 2013 he was named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists.

©2008 Ross Raisin (P)2013 Audible Ltd Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Waterline cover art
Two Cows and a Van Full of Smoke cover art
Fallow cover art
The Wacky Man cover art
Escape and Evasion cover art
The Kingdom by the Sea cover art
The Emotional Craft of Fiction cover art
The Owl Service cover art

Critic reviews

"A truly memorable and distinctive voice. Very impressive" ( Daily Mail
"Powerful, engrossing, extraordinary, sinister, comic. A masterful debut" ( Observer)
"Astonishing, funny, unsettling... An unforgettable creation [whose] literary forebears include Huckleberry Finn, Holden Caulfield and Alex from A Clockwork Orange" ( The Times)
"Compelling... What makes this novel remarkable is Raisin's creation of an entirely original voice" ( Sunday Times)
"One of the outstanding first novels of 2008... as the plot takes a sinister turn, Raisin ratchets up the suspense" ( Sunday Telegraph)
All stars
Most relevant  
This is a marvellous debut novel. Sam Marsdyke is a deeply troubled young man. He is mistrusted by his parents and an outsider in a close knit Yorkshire farming community. He spends his time wandering the moorland landscape, playing tricks on people and performing acts of cruelty like a malevolent pixie. His actions are spiteful and petty but there is an sense that he may have been mistreated in the past. The tale takes an even darker turn when he meets a young girl and they form an unlikely friendship.

This story conveys a sense of impending doom which kept me hooked throughout. I thought the ending was clever and original and totally in keeping with the intelligent nature of the tale.

The story is written from the perspective of the main character and is in the Yorkshire dialect. Although the words are different, their meaning is perfectly clear, and enables the narrator gives an authentic voice to Sam's character. The pace of the narrative was perfect, with not a wasted word. This for me is was a 100% 5 star listening experience.

Is he mad, bad or misunderstood?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great narration and brilliant story. Really gripped throughout the story. Thank you very much. Would recommend.

Loved it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It was part of my book club, if it wasn't I don't think I would have preserved with it. I really struggled with the main character and the storyline. I would have liked to have heard from the other characters and their perspectives. I wouldn't recommend.

Slightly disturbing

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