A bittersweet love story told in four phone conversations, starring Minnie Driver and Billy Crudup.
Julia Fletcher takes her job seriously. Even as she’s planning to leave her post as the U.K.’s Minister of Loneliness, a government role designed to address the emotional epidemic plaguing modern citizens, Julia is invested in her successor, choosing to conduct the interviews herself. When an internet rabbit hole leads her to Henry Hall, a writer and iconoclastic, beloved professor at New York University, Julia’s interest is piqued. Henry is an unlikely choice: an academic located an ocean away from the Minister’s office in London, but Julia sees something in his writings that makes him a standout candidate in her eyes.
During a series of unorthodox, thought-provoking phone interviews, Julia asks Henry tough, philosophical questions aimed to get at deep truths. And Henry doesn’t hold back, displaying a vulnerability neither of them were expecting, even getting Julia to open up as well. Within their deep and winding conversations, the two of them quickly develop a comedic language all their own, the kind of which is usually reserved for life-long friends or soulmates. Well into middle age and at inflection points in their careers, both Henry and Julia are contemplating life, legacy, what it’s all for. Whom it’s all for. Soon, Henry has answered all of Julia’s questions and is left with one, burning question for her: Why is she leaving this job she’s clearly so passionate about? It’s the one question Julia isn’t ready to answer.
Lines are blurred—personal, professional. Circumstances and emotions get complicated. And somehow, two people acutely acquainted with loneliness form an unshakable connection.
Available in Dolby Atmos on Audible.
Audible Audiobook
– Original recording
