LIMITED TIME OFFER. Get 3 months for $0.99 a month. Get this deal.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe cover art

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

A Novel

 Preview
Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.
Amazon Prime member exclusive: get any 2 titles with your free trial. Terms apply.
Just $0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 audiobook per month of your choice from our unparalleled catalog.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Written by: Fannie Flagg
Narrated by: Lorna Raver
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offers ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $23.31

Buy Now for $23.31

About this listen

Folksy and fresh, endearing and affecting, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is the now-classic novel of two women in the 1980s; of gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two women - of the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Rut - -who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, a Southern kind of Cafe Wobegon offering good barbecue and good coffee and all kinds of love and laughter, even an occasional murder. And as the past unfolds, the present - for Evelyn and for us - will never be quite the same again...

©1987 Fannie Flagg (P)2010 Random House Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Women's Fiction
adbl_web_adaptive_pdp_alc_button_t1

What the critics say

"Airplanes and television have removed the Threadgoodes from the Southern scene. Happily for us, Fannie Flagg has preserved a whole community of them in a richly comic, poignant narrative that records the exuberance of their lives, the sadness of their departure. Idgie Threadgoode is a true original: Huckleberry Finn would have tried to marry her!" (Harper Lee, Author of To Kill a Mockingbird)

"A real novel and a good one...[from] the busy brain of a born storyteller." (The New York Times)

"It's very good, in fact, just wonderful." (Los Angeles Times)
All stars
Most relevant
I’ve watched the film many times but was always curious about the source material - turns out that both the film and the novel are excellent in their own ways, the film for condensing the narrative effectively, and the novel for weaving a wonderful tale with so many unforgettable characters - I especially appreciated how the author was able to tease out the suspense right until the end of the book by purposely withholding choice information - as a side note: I feel that the last chapter could have been omitted; Evelyn’s last chapter is perfectly sufficient for a satisfactory ending.

The narrator was excellent - this was the perfect audiobook - strongly recommended!

#Audible1

Wonderful narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read this book every single year if I can! It's an endearing tale of an unlikely friendship and the transformation of the main character into a secure and happy woman. What's not to love? To the people saying the book is racist...hello! It's an accurate representation of the old South. If you think things weren't like that and aren't still like that...you're living in a dream world. The author was merely telling the truth of how things were. My advice...if you're particularly sensitive to those kind of things, this isn't your book.
I, personally love the raw reality of it.
Please read the book first before watching the movie! They are 2 completely different animals.

A New Classic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fried green tomatoes has always been one of my favourite movies and the book gives so much more in-depth back story to all of the characters ive always loved! obviously the book and the movie have a ton of differences, but both are a delight!

Ive always loved this story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Lorna Raver is perfection. She does sweet justice to Fanny Flagg’s incredible characters and beautifully woven story. There are parts of this story that are difficult to read but that is Ms. Flagg’s brilliance - the ugliest of humanity contrasted with the exquisite. I shed as many tears of joy as of sorrow. I’m a bit heartbroken that it all had to end but I have the sequel in book form and I can’t wait to start it. Good bye Whistle Stop and all the folks… for now.

Delicious! A tasty listen that is sure to delight and satisfy!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Outstanding, amazing, beautiful story about love, friendship. its a classic and I'll be recommending to everyone loves to read/listen a good story.

The whole thing!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book was a favorite as a young kid, got me into reading. The heartbreak and sorrow as well as the joy it brings made me realize a lot of things. Will always be one of my favorite books. This audio version was done really well, would recommend.

Certified Classic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
TW: spousal abuse, rape, racism

I was a big fan of the 1991 movie adaptation, which I watched several times, and I was afraid to read the book and feel disappointed.
Silly me.
The author also wrote the screenplay and received a nomination for an Oscar for the best writing/screenplay.
As I read the book the whole movie played along in my head, as if I was watching it instead of reading.
I simply loved the interaction/dynamic between Ninny (a septuagenarian or octogenarian character) and Evelyn.
The timeline changes back and forth between 1980s and 1920s
Ninny, while in a nursing home, tell stories from her life and people that she knew in the past. Her accounts are funny and also heartbreaking.
Evelyn is going through some middle age crisis and takes comfort in Ninny.
This relationship is quite heartwarming and funny.
But the book has plenty of unforgettable characters, hilarious dialogues and heartbreaking moments.
The accounts related to people of color may be described as stereotyped, but I don’t think that it was the author’s intention to ignore the racism of the time. Perhaps the accounts were not very realistic and those characters were too passive, but, in my opinion, the author had no obligation to tell us how unfair society treated them back then (and still do), after all this is a work of fiction.
I was highly entertained, from beginning to end, hence my ratings.

Ebook (Kobo): 361 pages (127 chapters), 98k words

audiobook marvellously narrated by Lorna Raver: 11 hours and 27 minutes (normal speed) - there is an abridged version narrated by the author.

Great narrative and dynamic!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The book was a little slow to get into but overall a good listen. #Audible1

Not Bad

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