All the Words We Know

Name: All the Words We Know
Brand: Simon & Schuster Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Bruce Nash
ISBN: 9781797196510

Author: Bruce Nash

Narrator: Abbe Holmes

Unabridged: 7 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Published: 07/01/2025

Categories: Fiction, Women, Mystery & Detective

Synopsis

With wicked humor, genuine poignancy, and clever insight, this is an unforgettable novel about murder, secrets, and memory that is perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Fredrik Backman, and “will be loved by readers wanting to have their heart strings plucked” (The Guardian).

Rose may be in her eighties and suffering from dementia, but she’s not done with life just yet. Alternately sharp as a tack and spectacularly forgetful, she spends her days roaming the corridors of her assisted living facility, musing on the staff and residents, and enduring visits form her emotionally distant children and granddaughters. But when her friend is found dead after an apparent fall from a window, Rose embarks on an eccentric and determined investigation to discover the truth and uncover all manner of secrets…even some from her own past.

About Bruce Nash

Bruce Nash is the author of three novels, with All the Words We Know being his first to be published in the United States. He has been shortlisted for several writing awards and his short stories have appeared in several anthologies. He is a retired teacher and now lives on the southern coast of New South Wales, Australia. Find out more at BruceNashAuthor.Wordpress.com.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Rowan on April 12, 2024

All the Words We Know follows Rose, a lady in her eighties with dementia that resides in an aged-care facility. When her friend is found dead, Rose sets out to discover the truth. “Somebody fell out a window. One of the upper-floor rooms. Dead in the car park.” I enjoyed this to begin with. Rose m......more

Goodreads review by Suz on February 27, 2024

A gentle and unique story about Rose, her words, her love, her memory, and her family. It is refreshing to see a completely new way to tell a story, and when that method contains words, and a completely new way of looking at them.. well, this is quite simply something I think we’ve not seen before a......more

Goodreads review by Laura on May 11, 2025

This book was pretty rough for me. Written from the perspective of someone with dementia, it tried to capture the fragmented mind, but instead just turned into constant repeating. It got very repetitive and boring, and I skimmed the last 25% of the book. I appreciate the effort, however. Thank you to......more

Goodreads review by Amanda on February 07, 2025

All the Words We Know is a hilarious whodunit where the narrator is utterly unreliable, but determined to ferret out the truth even if it costs her - but she probably will forget the cost anyhow. This book is full of witty malapropisms that kept me laughing, punny plant humor, and a beguiling inabil......more

Goodreads review by Fiona on January 18, 2024

What a refreshing work of genius this book is. A first person narrative from someone with dementia that is so revelatory about the world we live in. Through Rose's confusion, brilliant word play and searing simplicity, complicated layers are stripped back to show us the world and our place in it. It......more

Quotes

"Rose, the octogenarian narrator of Australian writer Bruce Nash’s American debut, captures listeners’ hearts, tickles listeners’ funny bones, and challenges listeners’ mystery-solving skills. Narrator Abbe Holmes tells the indomitable Rose’s story, projecting her determination to find the right words and make sense of the strange happenings at her care home. Holmes uses a vocal tremor that conjures a friendly elderly woman who is eager to be heard. Listeners hear her frustration as she works to be taken seriously. From the unintentional humor that meanders through her sentences to her often-used “whats-its-name” word substitutions, Rose invites listeners’ empathy."