The Waiting List: An emotional rollercoaster, an agonising dilemma and a blistering book club debut
Matilda Wilding
Feb 2026 · Bloomsbury GB Audio · Narrated by Bea Holland
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11 hr 6 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
Bloomsbury presents The Waiting List by Matilda Wilding, read by Bea Holland.
'Clever and brilliantly observed' Emily Edwards, author of The Herd
'Gripping, thought-provoking, and impossible to put down' Emily Freud
Whose life means the most?
'Clutched tight in my hand is a scrawled list of names... A list of people who could save my life.'
Liv wants to be the mother she never had
Liv has always dreamt of the moment she will hold her own baby. But just at the moment her new life – as a devoted mother to Max, a loving wife to Justin – should be starting, it looks like it may be ending. An undiagnosed heart condition, worsened by her pregnancy, has thrown her whole future into doubt. If she doesn't receive an urgent transplant, she won't live much longer.
But what if she can't be here for her son?
As she grows weaker, her determination to raise her baby grows stronger. Without her to protect him, what future does Max face? Slowly Liv begins to ask herself a terrible question: she needs someone's healthy heart to replace her failing one. For that to happen, an accident would have to befall someone else. But what if she could engineer that accident herself? What if she could choose someone to die in order that she could live?
If the end of someone else's life offers you the chance of saving your own, whose life means the most?
A powerful and completely gripping novel about love, sacrifice and how life forces you to do the unthinkable.
'Clever and brilliantly observed' Emily Edwards, author of The Herd
'Gripping, thought-provoking, and impossible to put down' Emily Freud
Whose life means the most?
'Clutched tight in my hand is a scrawled list of names... A list of people who could save my life.'
Liv wants to be the mother she never had
Liv has always dreamt of the moment she will hold her own baby. But just at the moment her new life – as a devoted mother to Max, a loving wife to Justin – should be starting, it looks like it may be ending. An undiagnosed heart condition, worsened by her pregnancy, has thrown her whole future into doubt. If she doesn't receive an urgent transplant, she won't live much longer.
But what if she can't be here for her son?
As she grows weaker, her determination to raise her baby grows stronger. Without her to protect him, what future does Max face? Slowly Liv begins to ask herself a terrible question: she needs someone's healthy heart to replace her failing one. For that to happen, an accident would have to befall someone else. But what if she could engineer that accident herself? What if she could choose someone to die in order that she could live?
If the end of someone else's life offers you the chance of saving your own, whose life means the most?
A powerful and completely gripping novel about love, sacrifice and how life forces you to do the unthinkable.
Bloomsbury presents The Waiting List by Matilda Wilding, read by Bea Holland.
'Clever and brilliantly observed' Emily Edwards, author of The Herd
'Gripping, thought-provoking, and impossible to put down' Emily Freud
Whose life means the most?
'Clutched tight in my hand is a scrawled list of n...
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About the author
Matilda Wilding studied English at the University of Cambridge and now balances writing with working full time as a Film and TV executive. The Waiting List is her debut novel, which she wrote while on maternity leave. She and her partner and son live in East London.
Matilda Wilding studied English at the University of Cambridge and now balances writing with working full time as a Film and TV executive. The Waiting List is her debut novel, which she wrote while on maternity leave. She and her partner and son live in East London.
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