Under the Whispering Door cover art

Under the Whispering Door

A cosy fantasy about how to embrace life - and the afterlife - with found family

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

Under the Whispering Door

By: TJ Klune
Narrated by: Kirt Graves
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £10.05

Buy Now for £10.05

Witty, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is a gift for troubled times. TJ Klune brings us a warm hug of a story about a man who spent his life at the office - and his afterlife building a home.

From the author of joyous New York Times bestseller The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Welcome to Charons Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own sparsely-attended funeral, Wallace is outraged. But he begins to suspect she’s right, and he is in fact dead. Then when Hugo, owner of a most peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace reluctantly accepts the truth.

Yet even in death, he refuses to abandon his life – even though Wallace spent all of it working, correcting colleagues and hectoring employees. He’d had no time for frivolities like fun and friends. But as Wallace drinks tea with Hugo and talks to his customers, he wonders if he was missing something.

The feeling grows as he shares jokes with the resident ghost, manifests embarrassing footwear and notices the stars. So when he’s given one week to pass through the door to the other side, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in just seven days.

Fans of A Man Called Ove and The Good Place will fall for this queer love story by TJ Klune.

Praise for TJ Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea:

'I loved it. It is like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket. Simply perfect.'
- V. E. Schwab, no.1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

'A modern fairy tale about learning your true nature and what you love and will protect. It's a beautiful book.'
- Charlaine Harris, no.1 New York Times bestselling author

'1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in. Touching, tender, and truly delightful.'
- Gail Carriger, New York Times bestselling author of Soulless

'A witty, wholesome fantasy that’s likely to cause heart-swelling.'
- The Washington Post

Fantasy Fiction Literature & Fiction Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy Feel-Good Paranormal Witty Haunted Funny Heartfelt Tear-jerking Ghost Reaper
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

Under the Whispering Door is a kind book, full of faith in the goodness of people . . . It broke my heart with its unflinching understanding that grief never goes away, never empties, only settles into the room of your soul like a strange souvenir. And then it healed me in the next breath (Cassandra Khaw)
A whimsical, warm-hearted fantasy that suggests it is never too late to make a positive change in life – or afterwards (Guardian)
Tenderness, wit, and skillful worldbuilding elevate this delightful tale. Fans of queer fantasy wont want to miss this
TJ Klune is doing powerful work that inspires and impresses. He is a gift to our troubled times, and his novels are a radiant treat to all who discover them
I loved it. It is like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket. Simply perfect (V. E. Schwab on The House in the Cerulean Sea)
Narrator Kirt Graves strikes just the right notes in this thoughtful exploration of grief, life, and the afterlife. When a decidedly un-Grim Reaper escorts Wallace Price away from his own funeral, he is seriously annoyed. He doesn’t have time to be dead, much less whatever comes after that. As Wallace learns to be a ghost and a better person, Graves softens his tone from snappish frustration to a gentler sincerity. He also conjures depth for the characters who fill Charon’s Crossing Teahouse — from patient Hugo and delightfully cranky Nelson to the sublimely ridiculous medium, Desdemona Tripplethorne. Graves matches his narrative pace to the measured unwinding of the story’s layers, focused but unhurried, in the same way that Hugo brews his therapeutic cups of tea.
All stars
Most relevant
UTWD is remarkable in conveying its message without mysticism, esoterism, superstition, religion or spirituality. What I got from UTWD is that no-one gets to change the day that they die and no-one really knows what happens when we do die; what we do know is that for as long as we have breath, we get to choose how best to live. The language is simple enough so that anyone moving through grief understands it. The prose is eloquent enough to resonate with jaded souls. Heed the trigger warnings but be assured that the tone here is positive and unceasingly uplifting.

🎧 Kirt Graves performance in UTWD had a certain ‘X’ factor. Reading from the soul, Mr. Graves perfectly balanced the heaviness and gravitas of death with the undercurrent of hope and redemption in his narration. His performance ensured that UTWD was conveyed as it was written by TJ Klune: as a beautiful, moving and fearless exploration of grief.

Beautiful. Moving. Fearless.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

After listening to the house in the Cerulean sea this couldn’t complete, it’s interesting and I enjoyed it mainly because of the performance. Is ok

Sad and drawn out but ok

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What an incredible story, so heartfelt, charming and utterly devastating at times. This book had all my emotions going, sometimes In the same sentence. You warm to every character and the narrator is just perfect. I’ll be listening to everything by this author now.

My new favourite Author!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This reallllly got me, wonderfully read silly, heartbreaking and heartwarming story. I was bawling by the end honestly. I just love the way klune writes family dynamics including the Added bonus: loveable ghost dog!

:,)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I had “read” the house on the cerulean sea and thought I’d give his another go.
Oh my….
Simply beautiful from start to finish it was unexpected, funny, sad, warm, etc etc
The narrator was superb at identifying with each different character and moment and it was brought to life with his words.
Makes you think!

Absolutely brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews