Under the Whispering Door cover art

Under the Whispering Door

A cosy fantasy about how to embrace life - and the afterlife - with found family

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Under the Whispering Door

Written by: TJ Klune
Narrated by: Kirt Graves
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Buy Now for ₹323.00

Buy Now for ₹323.00

About this listen

Witty, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is a gift for troubled times. TJ Klune brings us a warm hug of a story about a man who spent his life at the office - and his afterlife building a home.

From the author of joyous New York Times bestseller The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Welcome to Charons Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own sparsely-attended funeral, Wallace is outraged. But he begins to suspect she’s right, and he is in fact dead. Then when Hugo, owner of a most peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace reluctantly accepts the truth.

Yet even in death, he refuses to abandon his life – even though Wallace spent all of it working, correcting colleagues and hectoring employees. He’d had no time for frivolities like fun and friends. But as Wallace drinks tea with Hugo and talks to his customers, he wonders if he was missing something.

The feeling grows as he shares jokes with the resident ghost, manifests embarrassing footwear and notices the stars. So when he’s given one week to pass through the door to the other side, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in just seven days.

Fans of A Man Called Ove and The Good Place will fall for this queer love story by TJ Klune.

Praise for TJ Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea:

'I loved it. It is like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket. Simply perfect.'
- V. E. Schwab, no.1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

'A modern fairy tale about learning your true nature and what you love and will protect. It's a beautiful book.'
- Charlaine Harris, no.1 New York Times bestselling author

'1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in. Touching, tender, and truly delightful.'
- Gail Carriger, New York Times bestselling author of Soulless

'A witty, wholesome fantasy that’s likely to cause heart-swelling.'
- The Washington Post

Fantasy Literature & Fiction Paranormal Paranormal & Urban Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy

Critic Reviews

Under the Whispering Door is a kind book, full of faith in the goodness of people . . . It broke my heart with its unflinching understanding that grief never goes away, never empties, only settles into the room of your soul like a strange souvenir. And then it healed me in the next breath (Cassandra Khaw)
A whimsical, warm-hearted fantasy that suggests it is never too late to make a positive change in life – or afterwards (Guardian)
Tenderness, wit, and skillful worldbuilding elevate this delightful tale. Fans of queer fantasy wont want to miss this
TJ Klune is doing powerful work that inspires and impresses. He is a gift to our troubled times, and his novels are a radiant treat to all who discover them
I loved it. It is like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket. Simply perfect (V. E. Schwab on The House in the Cerulean Sea)
Narrator Kirt Graves strikes just the right notes in this thoughtful exploration of grief, life, and the afterlife. When a decidedly un-Grim Reaper escorts Wallace Price away from his own funeral, he is seriously annoyed. He doesn’t have time to be dead, much less whatever comes after that. As Wallace learns to be a ghost and a better person, Graves softens his tone from snappish frustration to a gentler sincerity. He also conjures depth for the characters who fill Charon’s Crossing Teahouse — from patient Hugo and delightfully cranky Nelson to the sublimely ridiculous medium, Desdemona Tripplethorne. Graves matches his narrative pace to the measured unwinding of the story’s layers, focused but unhurried, in the same way that Hugo brews his therapeutic cups of tea.
All stars
Most relevant
Loved it. The narrator does a wonderful job, and the story is amazing. I found it difficult initially to understand where it was going, and there are a few areas in between where it appears to drag. But overall I loved the book, and the inspiration behind the story, and I'm so glad I got to listen to it.

👌

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I often have trouble staying focused with audiobooks, but this narrator does such an amazing job - I was hooked! The story is lovely as well, although a b it repetitive at times. I’m convinced that the narration helped me move along those bits and stay engaged. Loved it.

The narrator is amazing

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I wouldn't have been able to read the book,but thanks to the narrator,enjoyed each character

LOVED THE NARRATOR

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I feel like I have done a great injustice towards this book in the way that I read it. I started this with my sister (us listening together on a road trip) but we weren’t quite ever in the mood for such a serious and deep and beautiful book so I dropped it for 10+ days. I continued it during another road trip of sorts but I found it quite difficult to reeeally get into until the first quarter or so. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had been able to read this in a flow but oh well, what’s done is done.

As I mentioned above, I found the first quarter to be slow and I was a bit annoyed at how everyone was saying the same things to Wallace. But things definitely picked up once we got into the romance and it was so sweet and deep and meaningful and all words that I can use seem inadequate to describe it.

I think this book was toooo deep for me to understand at times but it was lovely all the same and I would highly recommend it if you are looking for a serious yet funny book, with a hint of the ability for it to make you question life and death and the point of it all.

3.8/5

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Dialogues and moments repeat almost every second chapter. The narration was tough to get through at 1.2x speed. It almost sounded like a whine throughout.

I’ve enjoyed House on the cerulean sea. So I tried this. Okayish and predictable.

Good story but repetitive

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