A Spot of Bother cover

A Spot of Bother

by Mark Haddon

Narrated by Alex Jennings

3.65 ABR Score (38.0K ratings)
★ 3.5 Goodreads (38.0K) ★ 4.2 Audible (10)
6h 8m Released 2006 Literature & Fiction

Why Listen to This Audiobook?

George is convinced a skin lesion will kill him — Mark Haddon knows his family might get there first.

  • Great if you want: dark British domestic comedy with real emotional bite
  • Listening experience: slow-burn and character-driven; no plot urgency, all texture
  • Narration: Jennings handles the family's colliding disasters with precise comic timing
  • Skip if: you need a plot — this is a mood, not a story

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About This Audiobook

Mark Haddon's follow-up to his celebrated debut centers on George Hall, a newly retired Englishman who prefers the quiet company of historical novels and a well-organized shed to the messy realities of family life. When his daughter announces a wedding that nobody quite approves of, the Hall family fractures along every fault line it has been carefully ignoring for years. Secrets surface, loyalties splinter, and George, unnoticed amid the chaos, begins a quiet, private unraveling of his own.

Alex Jennings brings Haddon's ensemble of well-meaning, self-deceiving characters to vivid life with a gift for distinguishing voices without ever tipping into caricature. His understated delivery suits the novel's tone perfectly, finding the humor in catastrophe and the sadness beneath the comedy. At just over six hours, the runtime is tight enough to sustain momentum across a multi-strand narrative that rewards close listening. Jennings makes George's dignified disintegration genuinely moving.