Audiobooks Like The People We Keep

Julia Whelan narrates The People We Keep with a plaintive warmth that suits a young woman building a life out of fragments — there's a quality in her voice of hard-won hopefulness that tracks April's arc over 11 hours without letting the sentiment get ahead of the story. Whelan narrates all ten picks here, and the list leans toward emotionally intelligent contemporary fiction and coming-of-age narratives where her instinct for restraint and her talent for making grief feel lived-in are exactly the right tools.

10 audiobooks for fans of The People We Keep

  1. 1
    Home of the American Circus cover

    Home of the American Circus

    by Allison Larkin

    Narrated by Julia Whelan

    4.11 ABR Score (14.1K ratings)
    ★ 4.07 Goodreads (13.9K) ★ 4.65 Audible (209)
    13h 8m listening time • Released 2025

    Julia Whelan's narration transforms what could be a quiet homecoming story into something luminous—her voice captures both the brittleness and resilience of two women rebuilding their fractured family with absolute precision.

  2. 2
    Atmosphere: A GMA Book Club Pick cover

    Atmosphere: A GMA Book Club Pick

    by Taylor Jenkins Reid

    Narrated by Kristen DiMercurio, Julia Whelan, Taylor Jenkins Reid

    4.68 ABR Score (778.0K ratings)
    ★ 4.33 Goodreads (758.2K) ★ 4.7 Audible (19.8K)
    9h 52m listening time • Released 2025

    Multiple narrators embody the fierce ambition and competing loyalties of women breaking into NASA, making this feel like you're in the room with them rather than just hearing their story.

  3. 3
    Carrie Soto Is Back cover

    Carrie Soto Is Back

    Reidverse

    by Taylor Jenkins Reid

    Narrated by Stacy Gonzalez, Mary Carillo, Patrick Mcenroe, Rob Simmelkjaer, Brendan Wayne, Max Meyers, Reynaldo Piniella, Vidish Athavale, Tom Bromhead, Heath Miller, Julia Whelan, Sara Arrington

    4.38 ABR Score (739.9K ratings)
    ★ 4.2 Goodreads (731.6K) ★ 4.45 Audible (8.3K)
    10h 30m listening time • Released 2022

    The all-star narrator ensemble brings Reid's tennis comeback story to life with such pitch-perfect performances that you'll forget you're listening to a book, not watching a prestige drama unfold.

  4. 4
    Girl in Pieces cover

    Girl in Pieces

    by Kathleen Glasgow

    Narrated by Julia Whelan, Kathleen Glasgow

    4.30 ABR Score (276.0K ratings)
    ★ 3.93 Goodreads (273.5K) ★ 4.59 Audible (2.5K)
    10h 42m listening time • Released 2016

    Julia Whelan's raw, unflinching performance transforms this into essential listening for anyone who's felt untethered—she captures Charlie's fragmentation so viscerally you'll feel each scar, not just hear about it.

  5. 5
    The Boys' Club cover

    The Boys' Club

    by Erica Katz

    Narrated by Julia Whelan

    4.14 ABR Score (18.9K ratings)
    ★ 3.91 Goodreads (16.9K) ★ 4.49 Audible (2.0K)
    11h 36m listening time • Released 2020

    Julia Whelan nails the moral quicksand of a woman ascending a corrupt power structure, making every compromise feel thrilling and then devastating. It's the rare workplace thriller that works as well on audio as on the page.

  6. 6
    These Summer Storms cover

    These Summer Storms

    by Sarah MacLean

    Narrated by Julia Whelan

    4.12 ABR Score (109.3K ratings)
    ★ 3.77 Goodreads (106.9K) ★ 4.47 Audible (2.5K)
    13h 17m listening time • Released 2025

    Julia Whelan's narration elevates MacLean's sharp family drama into something irresistible—she makes every barbed conversation crackle with genuine tension and desire. If you want a mystery that's equal parts gossipy and genuinely moving, this is the one.

  7. 7
    Last Summer at the Golden Hotel cover

    Last Summer at the Golden Hotel

    by Elyssa Friedland

    Narrated by Julia Whelan

    4.01 ABR Score (30.4K ratings)
    ★ 3.74 Goodreads (29.1K) ★ 4.41 Audible (1.3K)
    9h 26m listening time • Released 2021

    Julia Whelan captures the bittersweet nostalgia of a Catskills dynasty crumbling in real time, making every family argument and romantic entanglement feel like you're eavesdropping on your own relatives.

  8. 8
    Maybe in Another Life cover

    Maybe in Another Life

    by Taylor Jenkins Reid

    Narrated by Julia Whelan

    3.98 ABR Score (397.1K ratings)
    ★ 3.79 Goodreads (395.9K) ★ 4.26 Audible (1.2K)
    9h 25m listening time • Released 2023

    Julia Whelan's dual performance makes the parallel timelines feel like two distinct emotional universes—you'll find yourself rooting for different versions of Hannah simultaneously, which is exactly the point.

  9. 9
    Workbook on People We Meet on Vacation cover

    Workbook on People We Meet on Vacation

    by BookMaster

    Narrated by Julia Whelan

    3.97 ABR Score (24.0K ratings)
    ★ 5 Goodreads (2) ★ 4.39 Audible (24.0K)
    10h 46m listening time • Released 2021
  10. 10
    Summary : the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - (Taylor Jenkins Reid) cover

    Summary : the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - (Taylor Jenkins Reid)

    by Good Reads Publishing

    Narrated by Alma Cuervo, Julia Whelan, Robin Miles

    4.33 ABR Score (96.6K ratings)
    ★ 4.07 Goodreads (133) ★ 4.63 Audible (96.4K)
    12h 10m listening time • Released 2017

    Three stellar narrators trade off to bring Evelyn's glamorous secrets to life, and their distinct voices make each confession feel like a private confession rather than a summary.

How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →