By Erica Wiggins
The Listeners is Jordan Tannahill’s second fiction novel. Tannahill is a new-to-me author, so I did some research before diving in. First off, he’s Canadian; second, he’s young; and third, he is VERY successful. He has made short films and written and produced plays, along with writing nonfiction and fiction books. In fact, this book is being adapted into an opera which is set to premier in 2022. I was excited to dive in.
“The thing I struggle to wrap my head around is how did something so small, so innocuous precipitate the complete unraveling of my life. How all of this soul-searching, transcendence and devastation could begin with a low and barely perceptible sound.”
The Listeners tells the story of Claire, who one night hears a humming sound which no one else seems to be able to hear. She checks around the house to try to find the source but has no luck. As time goes on and the hum continues, her daily life is impacted. Her family thinks she is crazy and she is unable to work. After a hiatus from her job, Claire realizes she must pretend that she no longer hears the hum and heads back to work. There she makes a connection with one of her students, Kyle, who also hears the hum. They work together to find the source of the hum and it leads them to a group of people who hear the hum. In an almost cult-like fashion this group comes together to meet and discuss the hum. While some just want the hum to stop, others are fascinated and believe that they are the elite, that the hum can bring them to a euphoric state. These believers work to convince the group that the hum makes them special.
I enjoyed that the story was written from the perspective of Claire as a sort of record of what happened to her and her involvement in this group. I quickly became invested in Claire—the decisions she made, the way she interacted with her family, and the impact that this event had on her life. I found myself thinking about what I would do in this situation and how easy it can be to fall into a group of people who you feel are going through the same thing regardless of how that group looks. It also made me question what was happening. As we are only getting Claire’s perspective, how accurate is her view of the story? Is she being honest in her retelling?
I went into this story knowing that it was being developed into an opera and wondered how it would translate. In a way, I believe this helped me to visualize the story. Tannahill wove a story that revolves around sound in a beautiful and haunting way. I could see how this would play out on stage, especially when the group begins to meet. While I did enjoy the story, it felt like it wasn’t complete. Perhaps this was intentional, and I would be interested to see it play out on stage. It feels like a story that you need to experience rather than read.
I would recommend this book to those who are able immerse themselves in the world of the story they are reading and visualize the events.
Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!