Beautiful story

I come back to this book over and over again. I never fail to see something new. Joe Jamieson is just the perfect narrator for it too. Highly recommend.

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Brilliant

A superb reading by an expert and extremely talented reader of this classic story of love and redemption. A must listen.

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2 people found this helpful

At last

An unusual Renault novel set during WW2. A gay love story which doesn’t end in tragedy. It’s a moving novel recommend it highly. It’s beautiful read too.

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Magnificent performance of a wonderful book

I was totally gripped by this story and the characters. Some may find the attitudes a bit dated, but they are true to their time. Mary Renault's ability to understand human nature and get inside the heads of different characters is quite breathtaking. I only wish there was a sequel. But regardless, these characters will live with me for a long time.

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3 people found this helpful

Great read

I remember reading a few of her historical books when I was young but not this one. 50 more years on, I finally discover that she wrote books that weren't sent in ancient Greece. This is of its time but also ahead of that time in many ways. She has woven such an absorbing tapestry of human connection and emotion.

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Extraordinary landmark gay novel

I read Mary Renault’s seminal novel several years ago but always felt I hadn’t read it closely enough and missed too many of its subtleties. Noticing that Joe Jameson, my favourite fiction narrator, was the audiobook narrator, I decided it was time to revisit. I read on kindle and listened to the audiobook simultaneously. It was a fantastic combination. Joe Jameson’s characterisation is, as usual, pitch perfect, especially his voicing of Laurie (Spud) Odell, Ralph Lanyon and Andrew Raynes. Renault’s writing about male homosexual relationships and love is both hard-hittingly true for the times in which it was written but also incredibly sensitive and nuanced. I confess I missed the sex the first time round! Renault’s best novel rendered superbly in audio version with impressive panache by Jameson.

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Wonderful

Not my usual listen, but is very absorbing and the author really captures a sense of time and place. What makes this audible so enjoyable is the work of the narrator, incredibly gifted, I had to check there wasn't more than one narrator as the Voices seem so different.

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Haunting, evocative brilliant prose....

Where do I start with this one?? The prose outdoes Harper Fox herself…and I didn’t think that could be done. Haunting, evocative, brilliant writing, which captures the tense atmosphere and downbeat mood of the early WWII years extremely well. Who to trust, what to say, how to behave…these weren’t just issues for the gay population to think about and concern themselves with at that time, although they obviously had much more to lose should their ‘secret’ see the light of day.

Yes, it is a love story of sorts, although there is no HEA. It was fairly obvious to me that Ralph was aware of [and was keen on] Laurie even when they were at school, and although Laurie probably wasn’t that aware of it himself then, he idolised Ralph. After Ralph is ‘sent down’ in disgrace from school, they meet again 7 years later under very different circumstances….Ralph is in charge of the Merchant Navy vessel that has picked up several injured survivors from the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940, and Laurie just happens to be one of those survivors.

I’m not going into too much detail. There were characters I really liked, and there were a few I actually despised [Bunny, Sandy, Laurie’s mum and future step father in law, take a bow], but the main thrust of the story is about Laurie…his hopes and ideals, his 'innocence', his reluctance to accept himself for what he is AND his meeting a young man, Andrew, who knew even less about himself than Laurie did. Andrew was a CO [conscientious objector] who was being forced to help out as an orderly in the hospital that Laurie was convalescing in. Laurie was smitten, and up until meeting Ralph again at a party, was perfectly happy to drift along in an almost dreamlike state imagining how the future could be. Andrew's character was almost too good to be true really, and Ralph who made mistakes, drank like a fish and smoked like a chimney was his complete opposite really, but oh…so much more fleshed out as a ‘real’ person.

As far as Joe Jameson’s performance as narrator is concerned, I was very impressed. He’s really good at accents, at female voices and at voicing numerous characters [as in this particular story] with ease. Yes, I’m aware that Joe Jameson is Hamish Long of Brothers of the Wild North Sea and Rusty Coles of The Lost Prince, and to be honest, the problem I had with him in Brothers of the Wild North Sea was evident in this one too, but it was a minor niggle and I was much too involved in the story to bother about it.

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1 person found this helpful

A complex and poignant love story far ahead of its time

Wonderful to see Mary Renault's marvellous work now available on Audible. I hope that it will open it up to a wider audience.

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A most compelling listening experience

The novel's philosophical ambiguity, rich language, & subtle,touching, complete characterisation are quite wonderfully caught by a narrator whose variety, emotional conviction and pace are superb, I have never heard narration like this: it is like having a dramatisation with a first rate, perfectly differentiated cast of greats with the story itself rendered with unmatched elan and at the same time astonishingly intelligent restraint. Absolutely wonderful. If you are like me, you will find it incredible that all this is coming through one voice.

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