This Is How It Always Is audiobook vs book: which should you choose?
A family secret is told in order by one narrator. Against that, a critic found the humour lost in a subdued reading, and nobody has described how the running fairy tale is set out in print.
Short answer: for This Is How It Always Is audiobook vs book choice, we say listen on Audible (64% confidence, close call). Gabra Zackman reads Macmillan Audio’s 2017 recording in 11 hours on Audible UK (11h 7m on Audible US), unabridged. AudioFile called her Claude ‘glorious’ but found her ‘subdued tone’ left ‘moments of levity’ lost. Praised narration and a long main edition point to audio; that criticism points to print.
Listen on Audible
Praised narration and a 480-page main edition point to audio, while a critic who found the reading too subdued points to print.
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Confidence 64%, which puts it in the close call band. Bands run from close call at 50 to 64, through leaning at 65 to 79 and clear at 80 to 94, up to clear cut at 95 and above.
The audiobook at a glance
| Recording | UK edition, our verdict (Macmillan Audio) | US edition (same recording) |
|---|---|---|
| Narrator | Gabra Zackman | Gabra Zackman |
| Length | 11 hours (11h) | 11 hours 7 minutes (11h 7m) |
| At 1.5x | 7h 20m | about 7h 25m |
| At 2x | 5h 30m | about 5h 34m |
| Abridged or unabridged | Unabridged | Unabridged |
| Audio publisher and year | Macmillan Audio, 2017 (Headline Review tag on Audible UK) | Macmillan Audio, 2017 |
| Print length | 480 pages (Headline paperback; UK hardback 336) | 336 pages (Flatiron hardback) |
| Price (snapshot) | £14.35 on Audible UK | $20.24 on Audible US |
Audible UK carries two Zackman listings, 11 hours and 11 hours 7 minutes; the position-one UK length is used. Whether the UK and US files are one recording or two is not confirmed, but the narrator and publisher match.
Lengths checked 19 October 2026. Speed times are calculated from the listed length. Prices are a snapshot from the same day.
This Is How It Always Is
Laurie Frankel
- Genre
- Contemporary fiction
- Published
- 2017
- Length
- 480 pages (Headline paperback)
- On audio
- 11 hrs, Gabra Zackman
- On screen
- In development as a series (Publishers Weekly, November 2023); nothing scheduled
- Cover
- Headline UK paperback, ISBN 9781472241610
On this page
Why we reached this verdict
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions. They are based on research into what most people find easier to follow in each format, not on whether the book is any good.
Listening: award-winning or praised narration (6), long book (3), 9 points. Reading: narration criticised (5), 5 points. 64% of the confirmed points favour listening, so the verdict is listen on Audible at 64% confidence (close call).
The recording in detail
- Two Audible UK listings, one US
- Macmillan Audio, Gabra Zackman: 11h at position 1 on Audible UK, with a second UK listing at 11h 7m and no ratings; 11h 7m on Audible US
- Casting
- Zackman reads solo. Frankel is not credited
- Production
- Unabridged. No music or PDF mentioned; whether the author’s note is on the audio is not confirmed
- Critic on the recording
- AudioFile (March 2017): Zackman’s Claude is “glorious”, but her “subdued tone” loses the “moments of levity” and makes Penn sound “seemingly emotionless”
- Listener ratings
- 4.6 from 632 ratings on Audible UK and 4.7 from 13,886 on Audible US, as of October 2026
- What you miss
- However print sets out the Grumwald fairy tale and the section headings
What this book actually is
This Is How It Always Is is Laurie Frankel’s 2017 novel, published by Flatiron in the US and Headline in the UK, 336 pages in hardback and 480 in the Headline paperback. Rosie and Penn have five sons; the youngest, Claude, wants to be a girl when he grows up, and the family’s decision to keep Claude’s change to Poppy a secret shapes everything that follows, from Madison, Wisconsin to Seattle to Thailand. Publishers describe it as a novel about a family secret kept “until it explodes”. Frankel has a transgender daughter and has said the book is “very, very made up” and “This isn’t her story.”
Running through it is Penn’s bedtime story for the boys about Grumwald, a prince by day and Princess Stephanie by night, which Kirkus calls “a running metafictional fairy tale” mirroring Poppy’s own. Section headings borrow the form (“Once Upon a Time, Claude Was Born.”). Publishers Weekly reported in November 2023 that it was being developed as a series; nothing has been filmed or scheduled. It was requested through this site’s search, which is why it is here.
The case for reading it
The case for print rests on the fairy tale. Penn’s Grumwald story recurs through the novel as a story within the story, and the sections carry fairy-tale headings. If print sets the Grumwald passages apart, in italics or as separate sections, a reader sees the switch between the family’s life and Penn’s telling of it, where a listener depends on the narrator’s change of register. No source describes how the passages are set, so this is a question rather than a confirmed advantage.
There is also the humour. AudioFile found the “moments of levity” lost on the recording; in print, readers can find them at their own pace. And the names come in pairs, Roo and Roosevelt, Rosie and Rosalind, Claude and Poppy, which is simpler to track when you can see them. The Kindle edition runs 480 pages in the Headline paperback.
The case for listening to it
The book follows one family and one secret, with one narrator, told in order from the older boys’ births onwards. That kind of structure works well on audio, and the same structure gave Tom Lake and Eleanor Oliphant a verdict to listen. Listeners rate the audiobook highly: 4.6 on Audible UK and 4.7 from nearly 14,000 ratings on Audible US, as of October 2026, with reviews calling Zackman an “excellent narrator”.
AudioFile’s review is the only critical one, and it is mixed. Zackman’s voice for Claude is “glorious”, the reviewer says, and the problem is tone rather than skill: a “subdued” delivery that undersells the jokes and leaves Penn, the family’s storyteller, sounding flat. Listen to a sample to find out whether that bothers you. Nothing in print is confirmed to favour reading instead.
The audiobook in detail
Gabra Zackman reads the only recording, for Macmillan Audio, released in 2017. Audible UK lists it at position one at 11 hours, with a second, unrated listing at 11 hours 7 minutes; Audible US lists it at 11 hours 7 minutes. The position-one UK length is used here. Whether the UK and US files are one recording or two is not confirmed. At 1.5x it takes 7 hours 20 minutes, at 2x 5 hours 30 minutes.
AudioFile reviewed the recording in March 2017, the only critic who has. No award was found, and no bonus content. Whether the author’s note is read on the audio is not stated.
Who should ignore this verdict
Anyone who wants the Grumwald fairy tale as its own thing in print, or who found a subdued narrator a problem before, should read it. Anyone who wants the whole family story in a working week of commutes, at seven and a half hours at 1.5x, should listen, and the listener ratings say most people are happy they did.
Audiobook
- Read by Gabra Zackman
- 11h, or 7h 20m at 1.5x
- The only recording, Macmillan Audio
Kindle
- 480 pages (Headline paperback)
- The Grumwald passages and section headings as printed
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Related verdicts
Tom Lake
This is a family novel built around a parent telling a story, and either format works.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely FineGail HoneymanSame verdictEleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
This is contemporary fiction with humour alongside pain, and the verdict is to listen, with clear confidence.
Hamnet
This book is about parents and children, and the verdict is to read it in print.
Start hereHow we decide
The thirteen questions behind every verdict on this site.
Questions people ask
Who narrates the This Is How It Always Is audiobook?
Gabra Zackman reads it solo for Macmillan Audio. It is the only recording, on Audible UK and Audible US.
How long is the This Is How It Always Is audiobook?
The This Is How It Always Is audiobook is 11 hours (11h) on Audible UK and 11 hours 7 minutes on Audible US, unabridged. At 1.5x the UK edition takes 7 hours 20 minutes; at 2x 5 hours 30 minutes (calculated).
Is the This Is How It Always Is audiobook abridged?
No. Both the Audible UK and Audible US listings are unabridged.
Should I read or listen to This Is How It Always Is?
Listen on our checks (64% confidence, close call). AudioFile’s praise for the narration and a 480-page main edition point to audio, against its criticism that the subdued tone loses the humour.
Is This Is How It Always Is based on the author’s child?
Frankel has a transgender daughter, but she has said the book is “very, very made up” and “This isn’t her story.” Publishers describe Claude and Poppy in their own terms, and this page follows them.
What is the Grumwald fairy tale?
It is Penn’s bedtime story for his sons about Grumwald, a prince by day and Princess Stephanie by night, which runs through the novel as a mirror of Poppy’s own story. Kirkus calls it “a running metafictional fairy tale”.
Is This Is How It Always Is being made into a TV series?
It was reported as being developed as a series by Publishers Weekly in November 2023. Nothing has been filmed or scheduled as of October 2026.
Do you agree with this verdict?
We said listen on Audible. One tap, no sign-up.
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How this verdict was reached
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions, set in advance and applied identically to every title. They are based on research into what readers and listeners generally find easier to follow in each format, not on personal preference, and they are published in full so you can check the reasoning yourself. Verdicts are never paid for, sponsored or influenced by affiliate partners.
- The criteria: read the thirteen questions in full.
- What we checked for this book: the Audible UK and Audible US listings, the AudioFile review of March 2017, Kirkus and Publishers Weekly on the book, LitCharts on the narration, Waterstones and Open Library for the Headline editions, and Frankel’s own published remarks on the book’s relationship to her family.
- Verdict last reviewed: 23 October 2026. Editions and narrators change, so verdicts are rechecked annually.
- Prefer different criteria? The app, coming soon, will let you change which of the thirteen questions matter to you.
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