
Room and Board
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Eileen Stevens
-
By:
-
Miriam Parker
About this listen
A charming and redemptive novel about unexpected second chances, following a publicist who, after the sudden implosion of her career, takes a job as a dorm mom at a Sonoma boarding school that happens to be her alma mater
Gillian thought she had everything she ever wanted—as a successful publicist running her own Manhattan firm and working with a high-profile-celebrity clientele, she finally made herself at home among the elite who eluded her throughout her youth. That is, until her career implodes, leaving her jobless, friendless, and with a googleable reputation that follows her everywhere. So, when she receives an offer to become a “dorm mom” at Glen Ellen Academy, the prestigious Sonoma boarding school she attended two decades earlier on scholarship, she leaps at the opportunity for a change of scene—at least until she can figure out how to rehabilitate her career.
But Gillian is surprised to find herself enjoying her new life: Her role as a mentor is unexpectedly fulfilling, she finds a community, and most surprisingly of all she runs into an old flame from her own time at school, who is just as dashing now as he was then. However, just as she begins to feel comfortable, a scandal surfaces on campus that threatens to derail everything, and Gillian must figure out how to save her job, her students, her friends, and her new romance before it’s too late.
©2022 Miriam Parker (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Little Ghosts
- By: Gregg Dunnett
- Narrated by: Katie Villa
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As I sit in her dimly lit bedroom, surrounded by flickering candles, I feel the crushing weight of my daughter’s absence. It's been two years since Layla was murdered. The police have searched tirelessly for her killer, but they've found nothing – it's like whoever did it vanished into thin air. My once-perfect marriage is falling apart, we can hardly look at each other anymore. Our ten-year-old son Gale is struggling. He’s changed since she died. He’s more secretive and also…
-
-
Oh my! Another British audiction I craved!
- By Karenique on 08-13-23
By: Gregg Dunnett
-
The Senator's Wife
- A Novel
- By: Liv Constantine
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a tragic chain of events led to the deaths of their spouses two years ago, D.C. philanthropist Sloane Chase and Senator Whit Montgomery are finally starting to move on. The horrifying ordeal drew them together, and now they're ready to settle down again—with each other. As Sloane returns to the world of White House dinners and political small talk, this time with her new husband, she's also preparing for an upcoming hip replacement—the latest reminder of the lupus diagnosis she's managed since her twenties.
-
-
Not my favorite LC
- By Raya on 07-05-23
By: Liv Constantine
-
Bad Summer People
- A Novel
- By: Emma Rosenblum
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he’s the tennis pro. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other. Until a body is discovered, face down, off the side of the boardwalk.
-
-
Not a thriller, not a mystery
- By Anonymous User on 05-25-23
By: Emma Rosenblum
-
Thank You for Listening
- A Novel
- By: Julia Whelan
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Sewanee Chester, being an audiobook narrator is a long way from her old dreams, but the days of being a star on film sets are long behind her. She’s found success and satisfaction from the inside of a sound booth and it allows her to care for her beloved, ailing grandmother. When she arrives in Las Vegas last-minute for a book convention, Sewanee unexpectedly spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger.
-
-
Julia Whelan is the GOAT
- By echo404 on 08-03-22
By: Julia Whelan
-
The Most Likely Club
- By: Elyssa Friedland
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Melissa Levin, Priya Chowdhury, Tara Taylor, and Suki Hammer were going places when they graduated high school in 1997. Their yearbook superlatives were Most Likely to Win the White House, Cure Cancer, Open a Michelin-Starred Restaurant, and Join the Forbes 400, respectively. Fast forward twenty-five years and nothing has gone according to plan. Reunited at their reunion, the women rethink their younger selves. Is it too late to make their dreams come true?
-
-
Easy read
- By Lisa R Bercze on 07-27-24
By: Elyssa Friedland
-
City of Girls
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Blair Brown
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love. In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance.
-
-
A strong story
- By Anita Kristensen on 06-08-19
-
Little Ghosts
- By: Gregg Dunnett
- Narrated by: Katie Villa
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As I sit in her dimly lit bedroom, surrounded by flickering candles, I feel the crushing weight of my daughter’s absence. It's been two years since Layla was murdered. The police have searched tirelessly for her killer, but they've found nothing – it's like whoever did it vanished into thin air. My once-perfect marriage is falling apart, we can hardly look at each other anymore. Our ten-year-old son Gale is struggling. He’s changed since she died. He’s more secretive and also…
-
-
Oh my! Another British audiction I craved!
- By Karenique on 08-13-23
By: Gregg Dunnett
-
The Senator's Wife
- A Novel
- By: Liv Constantine
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a tragic chain of events led to the deaths of their spouses two years ago, D.C. philanthropist Sloane Chase and Senator Whit Montgomery are finally starting to move on. The horrifying ordeal drew them together, and now they're ready to settle down again—with each other. As Sloane returns to the world of White House dinners and political small talk, this time with her new husband, she's also preparing for an upcoming hip replacement—the latest reminder of the lupus diagnosis she's managed since her twenties.
-
-
Not my favorite LC
- By Raya on 07-05-23
By: Liv Constantine
-
Bad Summer People
- A Novel
- By: Emma Rosenblum
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he’s the tennis pro. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other. Until a body is discovered, face down, off the side of the boardwalk.
-
-
Not a thriller, not a mystery
- By Anonymous User on 05-25-23
By: Emma Rosenblum
-
Thank You for Listening
- A Novel
- By: Julia Whelan
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Sewanee Chester, being an audiobook narrator is a long way from her old dreams, but the days of being a star on film sets are long behind her. She’s found success and satisfaction from the inside of a sound booth and it allows her to care for her beloved, ailing grandmother. When she arrives in Las Vegas last-minute for a book convention, Sewanee unexpectedly spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger.
-
-
Julia Whelan is the GOAT
- By echo404 on 08-03-22
By: Julia Whelan
-
The Most Likely Club
- By: Elyssa Friedland
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Melissa Levin, Priya Chowdhury, Tara Taylor, and Suki Hammer were going places when they graduated high school in 1997. Their yearbook superlatives were Most Likely to Win the White House, Cure Cancer, Open a Michelin-Starred Restaurant, and Join the Forbes 400, respectively. Fast forward twenty-five years and nothing has gone according to plan. Reunited at their reunion, the women rethink their younger selves. Is it too late to make their dreams come true?
-
-
Easy read
- By Lisa R Bercze on 07-27-24
By: Elyssa Friedland
-
City of Girls
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Blair Brown
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love. In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance.
-
-
A strong story
- By Anita Kristensen on 06-08-19
-
The Summer Place
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Weiner
- Narrated by: Sutton Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When her twenty-two-year-old stepdaughter announces her engagement to her pandemic boyfriend, Sarah Danhauser is shocked. But headstrong Ruby has already set a date (just three months away!) and spoken to her beloved safta, Sarah’s mother Veronica, about having the wedding at the family’s beach house in Cape Cod. Sarah might be worried, but Veronica is thrilled to be bringing the family together one last time before putting the big house on the market. But the road to a wedding day usually comes with a few bumps
-
-
Jennifer Weiner???
- By kimberly on 05-19-22
By: Jennifer Weiner
-
The Intern
- A Novel
- By: Michele Campbell
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Madison Rivera lands the internship of a lifetime working for Judge Kathryn Conroy. But Madison has a secret that could destroy her career. Her troubled younger brother Danny has been arrested, and Conroy is the judge on his case. When Danny goes missing after accusing the judge of corruption, Madison’s quest for answers brings her deep into the judge’s glamorous world. Is Kathryn Conroy a mentor, a victim, or a criminal? Is she trying to help Madison or use her as a pawn? And why is somebody trying to kill her?
-
-
Another Terrific Michele Campbell Novel
- By William G. Stuart on 11-15-23
By: Michele Campbell
-
Meant to Be
- A Novel
- By: Emily Giffin
- Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt, Robert Petkoff, Emily Giffin
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Kingsley family is American royalty, beloved for their military heroics, political service, and unmatched elegance. In 1967, after Joseph S. Kingsley, Jr. is killed in a tragic accident, his charismatic son inherits the weight of that legacy. But Joe III is a free spirit—and a little bit reckless. Despite his best intentions, he has trouble meeting the expectations of a nation, as well as those of his exacting mother, Dottie.
-
-
Lousy
- By francine m donachie on 07-11-22
By: Emily Giffin
-
Romantic Comedy (Reese's Book Club)
- A Novel
- By: Curtis Sittenfeld
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sally Milz is a sketch writer for The Night Owls, a late-night live comedy show that airs every Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, she’s long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life. But when Sally’s friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begins dating Annabel, a glamorous actress who guest-hosted the show, he joins the not-so-exclusive group of talented but average-looking and even dorky men at the show.
-
-
Not really for me
- By Emma on 04-19-23
-
Two by Two
- By: Nicholas Sparks
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At 32 Russell Green has it all: a stunning wife, a lovable six-year-old daughter, a successful career as an advertising executive, and an expansive home in Charlotte. He is living the dream, and his marriage to the bewitching Vivian is the center of that. But underneath the shiny surface of this perfect existence, fault lines are beginning to appear, and no one is more surprised than Russ when he finds every aspect of the life he took for granted turned upside down.
-
-
I Am Stunned At The Good Reviews!
- By Wendi on 10-17-16
By: Nicholas Sparks
-
When We Were Bright and Beautiful
- A Novel
- By: Jillian Medoff
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cassie Quinn may only be twenty-three, but she knows a few things. One: money can’t buy happiness, but it’s certainly better to have it. Two: family matters most. Three: her younger brother Billy is not a rapist. When Billy, a junior at Princeton, is arrested for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Cassie races home to Manhattan to join forces with her big brother Nate and their parents, Lawrence and Eleanor. The Quinns scramble to hire the best legal minds money can buy, but Billy fits the all-too-familiar sex-offender profile—white, athletic, and privileged—that makes headlines and sways juries.
-
-
Identity politics
- By chickadee on 08-07-22
By: Jillian Medoff
-
The Overdue Life of Amy Byler
- By: Kelly Harms
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Overworked and underappreciated, single mom Amy Byler needs a break. So when the guilt-ridden husband who abandoned her shows up and offers to take care of their kids for the summer, she accepts his offer and escapes rural Pennsylvania for New York City. Usually grounded and mild mannered, Amy finally lets her hair down in the city that never sleeps. She discovers a life filled with culture, sophistication, and - with a little encouragement from her friends - a few blind dates.
-
-
Enjoyable narration. Story is an easy read.
- By Em Jay Reads on 07-18-19
By: Kelly Harms
-
Olga Dies Dreaming
- A Novel
- By: Xochitl Gonzalez
- Narrated by: Almarie Guerra, Inés del Castillo, Armando Riesco
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo” are bold-faced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular Congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan’s powerbrokers. Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the one percent, but she can’t seem to find her own...until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets.
-
-
Funny, romantic, serious, substantial—all of these things and more
- By Diana on 01-07-22
By: Xochitl Gonzalez
-
Can't Look Away
- A Novel
- By: Carola Lovering
- Narrated by: Caitlin Davies, Karissa Vacker, Zachary Webber
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2013, 23-year old Molly Diamond is a barista, dreaming of becoming a writer. One night at a concert in East Williamsburg, she locks eyes with the lead singer, Jake Danner, and can’t look away. Molly and Jake fall quickly and deeply in love, especially after he writes a hit song about her that puts his band on the map.
-
-
Enjoyable but hard to listen to one narrator
- By Laura P. on 02-27-23
By: Carola Lovering
-
Nora Goes Off Script
- By: Annabel Monaghan
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it’s her job. But when her too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage’s collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it’s picked up for the big screen and set to film on location at her 100-year-old-home. When former Sexiest Man Alive, Leo Vance, is cast as her ne’er do well husband Nora’s life will never be the same.
-
-
Not enough smut for me
- By Anonymous User on 07-26-23
By: Annabel Monaghan
-
Blush
- By: Jamie Brenner
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, the Hollander Estates winery has been the premier destination for lavish parties and romantic day trips on the North Fork of Long Island. But behind the lush vineyards and majestic estate house, the Hollander family fortunes have suffered and the threat of a sale brings old wounds to the surface. For matriarch Vivian, she fears that this summer season could be their last - and that selling their winery to strangers could expose a dark secret she's harbored for decades.
-
-
If you loved Judith Krantz....
- By TMBURNS on 07-27-21
By: Jamie Brenner
-
The Female Persuasion
- A Novel
- By: Meg Wolitzer
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To be admired by someone we admire - we all yearn for this: the private, electrifying pleasure of being singled out by someone of esteem. But sometimes it can also mean entry to a new kind of life, a bigger world. Greer Kadetsky is a shy college freshman when she meets the woman she hopes will change her life. Faith Frank, dazzlingly persuasive and elegant at 63, has been a central pillar of the women’s movement for decades, a figure who inspires others to influence the world.
-
-
Quitting 3 hours in and returning it
- By NMwritergal on 04-07-18
By: Meg Wolitzer
Critic reviews
“Parker’s novel explores second chances in a beautiful setting—the picturesque academy and delectable wine country scenery bring out the best in her writing.” —Kirkus
“Room and Board is for all of us who dream of a do-over, of returning, older and wiser, to the place and the person that broke our heart for the first time. Miriam Parker writes with humor and grace about how it feels when a life-long What if? is suddenly a reality: the bittersweet knowledge that no matter how much time has passed, some things will always stay the same.” —Laura Zigman, author of Separation Anxiety
“When one door closes, so they tell us, another one opens—and we’re all lucky that the one Miriam Parker throws wide for us in Room and Board is to the prestigious west coast Glen Ellen Academy, where thirty-something former student Gillian takes a job as a dorm mom after a rough patch in New York City sends her packing from her high-profile job. Just scandal-filled enough to be juicy, goodhearted enough to be charming, with a first-rate cast of characters, Room and Board proves that while you may not be able to go home again, you can definitely go back to boarding school—and you might like it even better the second time around.” —Meg Mitchell Moore, author of Two Truths and a Lie and Vacationland
What listeners say about Room and Board
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JennyD
- 09-27-22
high school drama for adults?
I had hope for this book, but all the "drama" surrounding the main character seemed childish and not really dramatic at all. Like watching my daughter go thru her high school dramas, I just rolled my eyes and thought "get over it." Maybe this book is YA? It was like a book about adult things, written for a child. Characters were flat. Reader performed the book like she was smiling the whole time. (SPOILER!) Author missed a huge opportunity for Jillian to grow by not bringing Miranda into the present day story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!