
The Fat Woman's Joke
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 $18.89
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Gemma Dawson
-
By:
-
Fay Weldon
About this listen
Esther Wells goes on a diet and the scales fall from her eyes. Depriving themselves of fatty foods, both husband and wife have new perspectives on each other, and the process is one of slow destruction of their marriage. Esther tells in flashback, from the depths of her basement apartment in Earls Court, the history of her marital disaster - in between her consumption of chocolate cake, tinned fruit, sweet sherry and a host of other high-calorie goodies.
This novel examines the role of Womanhood. The time is the mid-sixties when sex role stereotypes are being examined and rejected, and Fay Weldon's book reflects the passions, humor, and anger of an era when women's self-analysis entailed a good deal of disruption. This novel depicts the rage and outrage of that traumatic era.
©1967 Fay Weldon (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Fledgling
- By: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly unhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted - and still wants - to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself.
-
-
Why is everyone okay with the child porn imagery?
- By JG on 07-18-20
-
The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
- By: Fay Weldon
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In New York Magazine, Rhoda Koenig calls The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, "...a novel of blazingly hot revenge, one that amply illustrates the saying about heaven having no rage like love turned to hate, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."
-
-
Sweet, brutal, and over the top revenge!!
- By Wayne on 04-10-17
By: Fay Weldon
-
Mexican Gothic
- By: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.
-
-
Lacking, Disappointing, Not Developed
- By Bitten and Seven Forever on 07-10-20
-
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
- The Definitive Edition
- By: Anne Frank
- Narrated by: Selma Blair
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has since become a world classic - a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a 13-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building.
-
-
First review I've written - Had to write it
- By Cynthianna on 12-21-10
By: Anne Frank
-
The End of the Affair
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Colin Firth
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Graham Greene’s evocative analysis of the love of self, the love of another, and the love of God is an English classic that has been translated for the stage, the screen, and even the opera house. Academy Award-winning actor Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man) turns in an authentic and stirring performance for this distinguished audio release.
-
-
Colin Firth Kills It
- By Em on 05-09-12
By: Graham Greene
-
The Last Anniversary
- A Novel
- By: Liane Moriarty
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sophie Honeywell always wondered if Thomas Gordon was the one who got away. He was the perfect boyfriend, but on the day he was going to propose, she broke his heart. A year later, he married his travel agent, while Sophie has been mortifyingly single ever since. Now, Thomas is back in her life because Sophie has unexpectedly inherited his aunt Connie's house on Scribbly Gum Island - home of the famously unsolved Munro Baby mystery.
-
-
Re-Released Title
- By Calmeridian Tink on 08-01-20
By: Liane Moriarty
-
Fledgling
- By: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly unhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted - and still wants - to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself.
-
-
Why is everyone okay with the child porn imagery?
- By JG on 07-18-20
-
The Life and Loves of a She-Devil
- By: Fay Weldon
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In New York Magazine, Rhoda Koenig calls The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, "...a novel of blazingly hot revenge, one that amply illustrates the saying about heaven having no rage like love turned to hate, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."
-
-
Sweet, brutal, and over the top revenge!!
- By Wayne on 04-10-17
By: Fay Weldon
-
Mexican Gothic
- By: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.
-
-
Lacking, Disappointing, Not Developed
- By Bitten and Seven Forever on 07-10-20
-
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
- The Definitive Edition
- By: Anne Frank
- Narrated by: Selma Blair
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has since become a world classic - a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a 13-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building.
-
-
First review I've written - Had to write it
- By Cynthianna on 12-21-10
By: Anne Frank
-
The End of the Affair
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Colin Firth
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Graham Greene’s evocative analysis of the love of self, the love of another, and the love of God is an English classic that has been translated for the stage, the screen, and even the opera house. Academy Award-winning actor Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man) turns in an authentic and stirring performance for this distinguished audio release.
-
-
Colin Firth Kills It
- By Em on 05-09-12
By: Graham Greene
-
The Last Anniversary
- A Novel
- By: Liane Moriarty
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sophie Honeywell always wondered if Thomas Gordon was the one who got away. He was the perfect boyfriend, but on the day he was going to propose, she broke his heart. A year later, he married his travel agent, while Sophie has been mortifyingly single ever since. Now, Thomas is back in her life because Sophie has unexpectedly inherited his aunt Connie's house on Scribbly Gum Island - home of the famously unsolved Munro Baby mystery.
-
-
Re-Released Title
- By Calmeridian Tink on 08-01-20
By: Liane Moriarty
-
Tara Road
- A Novel
- By: Maeve Binchy
- Narrated by: Katherine Borowitz
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ria lived on Tara Road in Dublin with her dashing husband, Danny, and their two children. She fully believed she was happily married, right up until the day Danny told her he was leaving her to be with his young, pregnant girlfriend. By a chance phone call, Ria meets Marilyn, a woman from New England unable to come to terms with her only son's death and now separated from her husband. The two women exchange houses for the summer with extraordinary consequences, each learning that the other has a deep secret that can never be revealed.
-
-
Material good - quality, not-so-much
- By B. W. on 09-05-08
By: Maeve Binchy
-
Three Daughters
- A Novel
- By: Consuelo Saah Baehr
- Narrated by: Karen Peakes
- Length: 23 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in rural Palestine, just before the dawn of the 20th century, Miriam adores her father and is certain his love will protect her, but she soon finds that tradition overrides love. Uprooted by war, Miriam enters a world where the old constraints slip away with thrilling and disastrous results. Miriam's rebellious daughter, Nadia, is thrilled with the opportunity for a modern life that her elite education provides. But when she falls in love with an outsider, the clan reins her back with a shocking finality.
-
-
Thrilling
- By valerie on 12-18-14
-
Mr. Loverman
- A Novel
- By: Bernardine Evaristo
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Ron Butler
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Barrington Jedidiah Walker is 74 and leads a double life. Born and bred in Antigua, he's lived in Hackney, London, for years. A flamboyant character with a fondness for William Shakespeare, Barrington is a husband, father, grandfather - and also secretly gay. His deeply religious and disappointed wife, Carmel, thinks he sleeps with other women. When their marriage goes into meltdown, Barrington wants to divorce Carmel and live with Morris, but after a lifetime of fear and deception, will he manage to break away?
-
-
Don’t miss this one.
- By Ruth Johnson on 05-04-21
-
Talking It Over
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey, Alex Jennings, Clare Higgins
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Introducing Stuart, Gillian and Oliver. One by one they take their turn to speak straight out to the camera - and give their side of a contemporary love triangle. What begins as a comedy of misunderstanding slowly darkens and deepens into a compelling exploration of the quagmires of the heart.
-
-
The Narrative Gimmick Works
- By Alan on 11-22-11
By: Julian Barnes
-
Bittersweet
- By: Colleen McCullough
- Narrated by: Cat Gould
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Together they decide to enroll in a training program for nurses - a new option for women of their time who have previously been largely limited to the role of wives, and preferably mothers. As the Latimer sisters become immersed in hospital life and the demands of their training, they meet people and encounter challenges that spark new maturity and independence.
-
-
1920s Australia
- By Jean on 09-04-14
-
The Lemon Table
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Timothy West, Prunella Scales
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a collection that is wise, funny, clever and moving, Julian Barnes has created characters whose passions and longings are made all the stronger by the knowledge that, for them, time is almost at an end.
-
-
A Real Downer
- By Cariola on 07-03-12
By: Julian Barnes
-
Light a Penny Candle
- By: Maeve Binchy
- Narrated by: Kate Binchy
- Length: 2 hrs and 45 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evacuated from Blitz-battered London, shy and genteel Elizabeth White is sent to stay with the boisterous O'Connors in Kilgarret, Ireland. It is the beginning of an unshakeable bond between Elizabeth and Aisling O'Connor, a friendship which will endure through 20 turbulent years of change and chaos, joy and sorrow, soaring dreams and searing betrayals.
-
-
Abridged
- By Amazon Customer on 01-16-18
By: Maeve Binchy
-
Evening Class
- By: Maeve Binchy
- Narrated by: Kate Binchy
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Mountainview School in working-class Dublin boasts a brightly festooned room brimming with paper flowers and Renaissance posters. There, in an evening class, "An Introduction to Italian," come Aiden Dunne, the supervisor, Signora, the professoressa, and 30 or so students, whose hopes and dreams are bound up in the Tuesday and Thursday lessons.
-
-
Why an abridgment?
- By I'm all ears on 05-17-15
By: Maeve Binchy
-
Fraud
- By: Anita Brookner
- Narrated by: Anna Massey
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Anna Durrant is reported missing her friends seem unconcerned at her disappearance. After all, her life has been one of concealment. For years Anna submitted to the protective dependence of her mother, and even after Amy Durrant’s death she simply conformed to the expectations of others. Increasingly, Anna feels herself trapped by these expectations.
-
-
Top Shelf Brookner
- By David P on 09-15-15
By: Anita Brookner
-
The Only Story
- A Novel
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Guy Mott
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One summer in the 60s, in a staid suburb south of London, Paul comes home from university, aged 19, and is urged by his mother to join the tennis club. In the mixed-doubles tournament he's partnered with Susan Macleod, a fine player who's 48, confident, ironic, and married, with two nearly adult daughters. She is also a warm companion, their bond immediate. And they soon, inevitably, are lovers. Clinging to each other as though their lives depend on it, they then set up house in London to escape his parents and the abusive Mr. Mcleod.
-
-
One of the best, at this best
- By Joe Kraus on 01-15-20
By: Julian Barnes
-
Fifth Business
- The Deptford Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Robertson Davies
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This first novel in The Deptford Trilogy introduces Ramsay, a man who returns from World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross but who is destined to be caught in a no man's land where memory, history, and myth collide. As we hear Ramsey tell his story, we begin to realize that, from childhood, he has influenced those around him in a perhaps mystical, perhaps pernicious way.
-
-
Been waiting for this
- By Vinity on 12-10-11
By: Robertson Davies
-
Word Child
- By: Iris Murdoch
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hilary Burde was a rising star in academia until a tragic accident plunged him and his mentor and rival, Gunnar Jopling, into two decades of depression and guilt. Hilary, unable to overcome his pain, abandoned his promising career for an unfulfilling job as a civil servant. But at age 41, Hilary crosses paths again with Gunnar - initiating a series of events that will change their lives forever.
-
-
A vortex
- By Montcalm on 01-31-17
By: Iris Murdoch