Alena Dillon has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 9 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 24 ratings. The most-rated is Mercy House.
Mercy House
Summary
“A life-altering debut featuring fierce, funny, and irreverent women who battle the most powerful institution in the world. This is the book we’ve all been waiting for.” (Amy Schumer) She would stop at nothing to protect the women under her care. Inside a century-old row house in Brooklyn, renegade Sister Evelyn and her fellow nuns preside over a safe haven for the abused and abandoned. Gruff and indomitable on the surface, warm and wry underneath, little daunts Evelyn, until she receives word that Mercy House will be investigated by Bishop Hawkins, a man with whom she shares a dark history. In order to protect everything they’ve built, the nuns must conceal many of their methods, which are forbidden by the Catholic Church. Evelyn will go to great lengths to defend all that she loves. She confronts a gang member, defies the church, challenges her own beliefs, and faces her past. She is bolstered by the other nuns and the vibrant, diverse residents of the shelter - Lucia, Mei-Li, Desiree, Esther, and Katrina - whose differences are outweighed by what unites them: They’ve all been broken by men but are determined to rebuild. Amidst her fight, Evelyn discovers the extraordinary power of mercy and the grace it grants, not just to those who receive it, but to those strong enough to bestow it.
©2020 Alena Dillon (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers
I Thought We Agreed to Pee in the Ocean
Summary
From mourning the finale of a beloved television series to accidentally attending a pole dancing class intended for professional strippers, this collection captures life's absurdities through the perspective of an everywoman. Alena Dillon invites listeners to laugh along with her as she reflects on universal experiences including diet frustration (the devil is in the Doritos), as well as situations uniquely Dillon's own, such as pounding on the side of a moving Mister Softee truck. Her widely recognizable stories of love, rejection, body image, snarky baristas, bargain hunting, ill-timed snorting, and, of course, public urination, will leave you reeling.
©2013 Alena Dillon (P)2015 Alena Dillon
The Happiest Girl in the World
Summary
From the acclaimed author of Mercy House comes a gripping new novel about a young woman’s dreams of Olympic gymnastic gold - and what it takes to reach the top. For Sera Wheeler, the Olympics is the reason for everything. It’s why she trains 30 hours a week, starves herself to less than 100 pounds, and pops Advil like Tic Tacs. For her mother, Charlene, hungry for glory she never had, it’s why she rises before dawn to drive Sera to practice in a different state and why the family scrimps, saves, and fractures. It’s why, when Sera’s best friend reports the gymnastics doctor to the authority who selects the Olympic Team, Sera denies what she knows about his treatments, thus preserving favor. Their friendship shatters. But Sera protected her dream - didn’t she? Sera doubles down, taping broken toes, numbing torn muscles, and pouring her family’s resources into the sport. Soon she isn’t training for the love of gymnastics. She’s training to make her disloyalty worthwhile. No matter the cost. The Happiest Girl in the World explores the dark history behind an athlete who stands on the world stage, biting gold. It's about the silence required of the exceptional, a tarnished friendship, and the sacrifices a parent will make for a child, even as a family is torn apart. It’s about the price of greatness.
©2021 Alena Dillon (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers