---
product_id: 262219070
title: "A Little Life"
price: "243 Lei"
currency: RON
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.ro/products/262219070-a-little-life
store_origin: RO
region: Romania
---

# A Little Life

**Price:** 243 Lei
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** A Little Life
- **How much does it cost?** 243 Lei with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.ro](https://www.desertcart.ro/products/262219070-a-little-life)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

Buy A Little Life by Yanagihara, Hanya from desertcart's Fiction Books Store. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction.

Review: One of the best books I have read - Every year I look at the Booker Prize shortlist and buy a couple of books from it, and frequently I read the winning book as well. A Little Life was on the shortlist in 2015 and has been sitting on my shelf for two years, until my break in August when I decided to actually read it, and it was well worth the wait. This is one of those books that will surely go down as a modern classic, it is so brilliant. The plot follows four friends who meet at college through life's up and downs and personal tragedies; JB an artists, Malcolm an architect, Willem an actor and Jude a lawyer. Jude is the glue to this group, and is the main focus of the narrative. There are a few chapters narrated in the first person by Willem and Harold, who is Jude's law professor, mentor and the nearest thing to a father her has. The writing of this book is sublime in its language and Hanya Yanagihara is able to write plot lines, that in some parts are harrowing, in a beautiful and lyrical way. I actually found her prose hypnotic, I was drawn into this book and couldn't tear my eyes away from the page. There are lots of difficult issues discussed in this book, rape, abuse, suicide, drug abuse, and many more but still I was entranced by this book. Hanaya Yanagihara shows a great understanding, intelligence and empathy towards these subjects. Her characterisation is again wonderful, with all her characters so true to life that at times I felt like I was reading a biography/autobiography rather than a piece of fiction. In a way A Little Life is a dark Fairytale with good, evil and romance at its centre. Jude is the main character in A Little Life, and all the other character's stories are all linked to his. In all my years of reading I don't think I have ever come across a character as damaged psychologically and physically as Jude. When we first meet him in the book we know he has physical problems and throughout the book his past is gradually revealed to the reader. Jude has experienced the best and worst of humanity through his life, and seen love in many guises from destructive love to the love of friendship that is all encompassing. Even though his story is hard to read in places, I found him a compelling character who I was really down to and wanted him to find happiness. Willem is the person whom he is closest to, a friendship that is unconditional and intense in places; it is Willem that is there for Jude at some of his lowest moments. Malcolm is different in that he comes from a wealthy family, very different from Jude who has no family and Willem whose parents are dead. His relationship with JB can be tense around the subject of race; Malcolm has a white mother and black father where as JB's parents are both black. JB is the typical troubled artist, very talented but also open to addiction. Through his story there is the time old discussion of what is art, figurative painting versus the modern art of the instillation, photography and performance art. I was really drawn into this as it something I studied with my degree and always find it a fascinating subject. To say A Little Life is a masterpiece, a Magnus opus, feels like an understatement. I have read the winner of the Booker Prize from 2015, A Brief History of Seven Killings, and have to say I think A Little Life is so much better. There are very few novels, except from the classics, that I keep to read again but this book will be added to that shelf to join other books that I found through the Booker Prize; Possession by A.S Byatt, Amsterdam by Ian MacEwan and The Goldfinch and The Secret History by Donna Tartt being on that shelf. This is a mesmerising, intelligent, all encompassing read and one that will stay with me forever. This is a monumental novel in my opinion and one I will always recommend as well as those mentioned above. A Little Life is fiction at its absolute best; the perfect novel.
Review: Heartbreaking, joyous, mindset changing... - Beautifully written, compulsive reading (I read this book very quickly, at one point I had a straight 10 hour session). It's a really tough read at points, so I can't imagine what it must have taken out of Ms Yanagihara to write. I think this book will stay with me, but I'm not sure I'll ever want to read it again; it was so gutwrenchingly heartbreaking at points that I had to put it down, try not to cry, remember "it's not real, it's not happening to me and my friends" (even though it felt like, feels like, it was exactly that). Whilst I was reading this, I happened to see a review online that said: "It's not overstating it to say that this book has changed my pre-conceived ideas of what friendship is" - or something like that. I couldn't have put it better.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | 154,617 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 18 in Coming of Age 72 in Literary Fiction (Books) 132 in Contemporary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (86,150) |
| Dimensions  | 13.34 x 3.63 x 20.35 cm |
| Edition  | Reprint |
| ISBN-10  | 0804172706 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0804172707 |
| Item weight  | 599 g |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 832 pages |
| Publication date  | 28 Aug. 2024 |
| Publisher  | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |

## Images

![A Little Life - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71If19m2RXL.jpg)
![A Little Life - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51TpUraYJQL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ One of the best books I have read
*by B***I on 5 September 2018*

Every year I look at the Booker Prize shortlist and buy a couple of books from it, and frequently I read the winning book as well. A Little Life was on the shortlist in 2015 and has been sitting on my shelf for two years, until my break in August when I decided to actually read it, and it was well worth the wait. This is one of those books that will surely go down as a modern classic, it is so brilliant. The plot follows four friends who meet at college through life's up and downs and personal tragedies; JB an artists, Malcolm an architect, Willem an actor and Jude a lawyer. Jude is the glue to this group, and is the main focus of the narrative. There are a few chapters narrated in the first person by Willem and Harold, who is Jude's law professor, mentor and the nearest thing to a father her has. The writing of this book is sublime in its language and Hanya Yanagihara is able to write plot lines, that in some parts are harrowing, in a beautiful and lyrical way. I actually found her prose hypnotic, I was drawn into this book and couldn't tear my eyes away from the page. There are lots of difficult issues discussed in this book, rape, abuse, suicide, drug abuse, and many more but still I was entranced by this book. Hanaya Yanagihara shows a great understanding, intelligence and empathy towards these subjects. Her characterisation is again wonderful, with all her characters so true to life that at times I felt like I was reading a biography/autobiography rather than a piece of fiction. In a way A Little Life is a dark Fairytale with good, evil and romance at its centre. Jude is the main character in A Little Life, and all the other character's stories are all linked to his. In all my years of reading I don't think I have ever come across a character as damaged psychologically and physically as Jude. When we first meet him in the book we know he has physical problems and throughout the book his past is gradually revealed to the reader. Jude has experienced the best and worst of humanity through his life, and seen love in many guises from destructive love to the love of friendship that is all encompassing. Even though his story is hard to read in places, I found him a compelling character who I was really down to and wanted him to find happiness. Willem is the person whom he is closest to, a friendship that is unconditional and intense in places; it is Willem that is there for Jude at some of his lowest moments. Malcolm is different in that he comes from a wealthy family, very different from Jude who has no family and Willem whose parents are dead. His relationship with JB can be tense around the subject of race; Malcolm has a white mother and black father where as JB's parents are both black. JB is the typical troubled artist, very talented but also open to addiction. Through his story there is the time old discussion of what is art, figurative painting versus the modern art of the instillation, photography and performance art. I was really drawn into this as it something I studied with my degree and always find it a fascinating subject. To say A Little Life is a masterpiece, a Magnus opus, feels like an understatement. I have read the winner of the Booker Prize from 2015, A Brief History of Seven Killings, and have to say I think A Little Life is so much better. There are very few novels, except from the classics, that I keep to read again but this book will be added to that shelf to join other books that I found through the Booker Prize; Possession by A.S Byatt, Amsterdam by Ian MacEwan and The Goldfinch and The Secret History by Donna Tartt being on that shelf. This is a mesmerising, intelligent, all encompassing read and one that will stay with me forever. This is a monumental novel in my opinion and one I will always recommend as well as those mentioned above. A Little Life is fiction at its absolute best; the perfect novel.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Heartbreaking, joyous, mindset changing...
*by B***2 on 8 May 2025*

Beautifully written, compulsive reading (I read this book very quickly, at one point I had a straight 10 hour session). It's a really tough read at points, so I can't imagine what it must have taken out of Ms Yanagihara to write. I think this book will stay with me, but I'm not sure I'll ever want to read it again; it was so gutwrenchingly heartbreaking at points that I had to put it down, try not to cry, remember "it's not real, it's not happening to me and my friends" (even though it felt like, feels like, it was exactly that). Whilst I was reading this, I happened to see a review online that said: "It's not overstating it to say that this book has changed my pre-conceived ideas of what friendship is" - or something like that. I couldn't have put it better.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great but problematic
*by A***R on 13 November 2016*

So, I loved this book. I'll say that up front. I loved reading it as much as I hated reading it. But it has a lot of problems. Firstly, the bits that I loved the most rotated around the potential for kindness and love that all human beings possess. The parts with Harold and Julia, and how they love Jude unconditionally. The flashbacks to Willem's earlier years with his brother. How sweet Jude's friends are towards him (generally speaking) and their ways of supporting him as a disabled character. I loved following the characters' stories along such a lengthy period of time. And I didn't mind the length of the book AT ALL; in fact I wished it were a bit longer. However. HOWEVER. I have one huge issue with this book. I am not saying that everything that happened in Jude's past is 'unlikely'. Of course there are people who suffer terrible abuses like those that he has been through. But I thought it was unnecessary. I couldn't help feel that Jude could have been through 'less' (I say 'less' but I realise any single one of incidents he suffered is appalling and you can't compare them) - and still been legitimately traumatised. This is a fiction book after all. I felt that it sent out the message that you had to have been through the levels of horror that Jude has endured in order to feel the way he does, which is simply not true. You can be depressed, suicidal or self harm, without having been through anything like the sort of things that Jude suffered. I just felt as if the author tried to come up with the worst series of things she could imagine, and it was just entirely unnecessary. He could just be depressed. That's fully legitimate. Also a lot of the tension of the book then becomes about wanting to 'find out' what happened to Jude, purely out of our own horrible curiosity. Also, despite Jude supposedly being this kick-ass lawyer, there seems to be very little justice for Jude's abusers. Again I think this sends out a very negative message to survivors of real-life abuse... That even this millionaire successful male lawyer just ends up suffering to the very end and never really 'gets over it'. Not that you'd expect anybody to really get over abuse like that... But there is no vindication for Jude. I actually think this book would have been a lot better if it didn't specify Jude's history at all. We don't need to know the gruesome details, and 90% of the other characters don't know about it either. Jude doesn't WANT them to know, so why should we know either? However despite that, I did enjoy the characters, and it moved me to tears in many places - most of the scenes with Harold had me sobbing! There are a lot of beautiful scenes, and some great prose. I've read criticism about her writing style, and my girlfriend (an editor) was driven insane by the way it was written. But I didn't mind that, and in places I loved it. I would recommend it... but probably not to anybody who has struggled themselves with abuse or mental health issues. It's not an easy read, and should come with a trigger warning on the front cover.

## Frequently Bought Together

- A Little Life
- The Handmaid's Tale
- 1984: 75th Anniversary

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.ro/products/262219070-a-little-life](https://www.desertcart.ro/products/262219070-a-little-life)

---

*Product available on Desertcart Romania*
*Store origin: RO*
*Last updated: 2026-02-14*