The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood, read by Lorelei King (HarperCollins, 4 tapes, 6 hrs, £12.99 in UK)

From its stunning opening line, "Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge", this Booker Prize-winning novel ventures fearlessly into the murky undercurrents of domestic life, redefining the term "family saga" as it does so. Forget the mushy dramas for which the genre is renowned - cool, stylish, formidable, The Blind Assassin marries Atwood's customary politico-sexual awareness to a mastery of narrative structure so complete it's almost like a circus trick. And that's how this reading works - ah, yes, you say, nodding in recognition, and wham! You're hooked. Regular listeners may be disturbed by the voice of Lorelei King, usually associated with crime fiction; but it's a good voice, and this is a terrific audiobook.