
Rustication
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
John Lee
-
By:
-
Charles Palliser
About this listen
A vertiginous gothic masterpiece from the best-selling author of The Quincunx. Charles Palliser's work has been hailed as "so compulsively absorbing that reality disappears" (New York Times). Since his extraordinary debut, The Quincunx, his works have sold over one million copies worldwide. With his new novel, Rustication, he returns to the town of Thurchester, which he evoked so hauntingly in The Unburied.
It is winter 1863, and Richard Shenstone, aged 17, has been sent down - "rusticated" - from Cambridge under a cloud of suspicion. Addicted to opium and tormented by sexual desire, he finds temporary refuge in a dilapidated old mansion on the southern English coast inhabited by his newly impoverished mother and his sister, Effie. Soon, graphic and threatening letters begin to circulate among his neighbors, and Richard finds himself the leading suspect in a series of crimes and misdemeanors ranging from vivisection to murder.
Atmospheric, lurid, and brilliantly executed, Rustication confirms Palliser's reputation as "our leading contemporary Victorian novelist" (Guardian).
©2013 Charles Palliser (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Lake House
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 21 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Living on her family’s gorgeous lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, clever, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented fourteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure ...One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest son, Theo, has vanished without a trace.
-
-
Enjoyed the writing, but oy vey, this book
- By Jennifer S on 12-28-18
By: Kate Morton
-
The Crimson Petal and the White
- By: Michel Faber
- Narrated by: Jill Tanner
- Length: 41 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
NOW A MAJOR BBC DRAMA starring Romola Garai, Chris O'Dowd, Gillian Anderson, Richard E. Grant, Shirley Henderson and Mark Gatiss. 'Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need them....' So begins this irresistible voyage into the dark side of Victorian London. Amongst an unforgettable cast of low-lifes, physicians, businessmen, and prostitutes, meet our heroine Sugar, a young woman trying to drag herself up from the gutter any way she can.
-
-
Loved this Book!!
- By anniepaints on 06-16-11
By: Michel Faber
-
Great Expectations
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most revered works in English literature, Great Expectations traces the coming of age of a young orphan, Pip, from a boy of shallow aspirations into a man of maturity. From the chilling opening confrontation with an escaped convict to the grand but eerily disheveled estate of bitter old Miss Havisham, all is not what it seems in Dickens’ dark tale of false illusions and thwarted desire.
-
-
The narrator!!
- By Dana on 06-13-13
By: Charles Dickens
-
A Place Called Freedom
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This lush novel, set in 1766 England and America, evokes an era ripe with riot and revolution, from the teeming streets of London to the sprawling grounds of a Virginia plantation. Mack McAsh burns with the desire to escape his life of slavery in Scottish coal mines while Lizzie Hallim is desperate to shed a life of sheltered subjugation to her spineless husband. United in America, their only chance for freedom lies beyond the Western frontier - if they're brave enough to take it.
-
-
Expected better than a historical romance
- By Lynette Garet on 01-09-17
By: Ken Follett
-
The Meaning of Night
- A Confession
- By: Michael Cox
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn's for an oyster supper." So begins the extraordinary story of Edward Glyver - booklover, scholar, and murderer. As a young boy, Glyver always believed he was destined for greatness, and a chance discovery convinces him that he was right. Greatness does await him, along with immense wealth and influence. Overwhelmed by his discovery, he will stop at nothing to win back a prize that he knows is rightfully his.
-
-
Almost but not quite....
- By Booksmith on 10-13-06
By: Michael Cox
-
The Wings of the Dove
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 22 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milly Theale is a young, beautiful, and fabulously wealthy American. When she arrives in London and meets the equally beautiful but impoverished Kate Croy, they form an intimate friendship. But nothing is as it seems: materialism, romance, self-delusion, and ultimately fatal illness insidiously contaminate the glamorous social whirl.
-
-
Not an easy read but SO worth it!
- By Julie Gray on 10-31-17
By: Henry James
-
The Lake House
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 21 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Living on her family’s gorgeous lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, clever, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented fourteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure ...One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest son, Theo, has vanished without a trace.
-
-
Enjoyed the writing, but oy vey, this book
- By Jennifer S on 12-28-18
By: Kate Morton
-
The Crimson Petal and the White
- By: Michel Faber
- Narrated by: Jill Tanner
- Length: 41 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
NOW A MAJOR BBC DRAMA starring Romola Garai, Chris O'Dowd, Gillian Anderson, Richard E. Grant, Shirley Henderson and Mark Gatiss. 'Watch your step. Keep your wits about you; you will need them....' So begins this irresistible voyage into the dark side of Victorian London. Amongst an unforgettable cast of low-lifes, physicians, businessmen, and prostitutes, meet our heroine Sugar, a young woman trying to drag herself up from the gutter any way she can.
-
-
Loved this Book!!
- By anniepaints on 06-16-11
By: Michel Faber
-
Great Expectations
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most revered works in English literature, Great Expectations traces the coming of age of a young orphan, Pip, from a boy of shallow aspirations into a man of maturity. From the chilling opening confrontation with an escaped convict to the grand but eerily disheveled estate of bitter old Miss Havisham, all is not what it seems in Dickens’ dark tale of false illusions and thwarted desire.
-
-
The narrator!!
- By Dana on 06-13-13
By: Charles Dickens
-
A Place Called Freedom
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This lush novel, set in 1766 England and America, evokes an era ripe with riot and revolution, from the teeming streets of London to the sprawling grounds of a Virginia plantation. Mack McAsh burns with the desire to escape his life of slavery in Scottish coal mines while Lizzie Hallim is desperate to shed a life of sheltered subjugation to her spineless husband. United in America, their only chance for freedom lies beyond the Western frontier - if they're brave enough to take it.
-
-
Expected better than a historical romance
- By Lynette Garet on 01-09-17
By: Ken Follett
-
The Meaning of Night
- A Confession
- By: Michael Cox
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn's for an oyster supper." So begins the extraordinary story of Edward Glyver - booklover, scholar, and murderer. As a young boy, Glyver always believed he was destined for greatness, and a chance discovery convinces him that he was right. Greatness does await him, along with immense wealth and influence. Overwhelmed by his discovery, he will stop at nothing to win back a prize that he knows is rightfully his.
-
-
Almost but not quite....
- By Booksmith on 10-13-06
By: Michael Cox
-
The Wings of the Dove
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 22 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milly Theale is a young, beautiful, and fabulously wealthy American. When she arrives in London and meets the equally beautiful but impoverished Kate Croy, they form an intimate friendship. But nothing is as it seems: materialism, romance, self-delusion, and ultimately fatal illness insidiously contaminate the glamorous social whirl.
-
-
Not an easy read but SO worth it!
- By Julie Gray on 10-31-17
By: Henry James
-
The Girl on the Train
- A Novel
- By: Paula Hawkins
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, India Fisher
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives. Every day the same. Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
-
-
The Girl on The Train
- By BookReader on 12-30-15
By: Paula Hawkins
-
A Dangerous Fortune
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1866, tragedy strikes the exclusive Windfield School when a young student drowns in a mysterious accident. His death and its aftermath initiate a spiraling circle of treachery that will span three decades and entwine many lives. From the exclusive men’s clubs and brothels that cater to every dark desire of London’s upper class to the dazzling ballrooms and mahogany-paneled suites of the manipulators of the world’s wealth, one family is splintered by a shared legacy.
-
-
Predictable Fun
- By Rebecarol on 05-24-08
By: Ken Follett
-
Crime and Punishment (Recorded Books Edition)
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett - translator
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 25 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment is universally regarded as one of literature's finest achievements, as the great Russian novelist explores the inner workings of a troubled intellectual. Raskolnikov, a nihilistic young man in the midst of a spiritual crisis, makes the fateful decision to murder a cruel pawnbroker, justifying his actions by relying on science and reason, and creating his own morality system. Dehumanized yet sympathetic, exhausted yet hopeful, Raskolnikov represents the best and worst elements of modern intellectualism. The aftermath of his crime and Petrovich's murder investigation result in an utterly compelling, truly unforgettable cat-and-mouse game. This stunning dramatization of Dostoevsky's magnum opus brings the slums of St. Petersburg and the demons of Raskolnikov's tortured mind vividly to life.
-
-
Masterful narration of a masterpiece
- By John on 07-30-08
By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, and others
-
The Secrets of Wishtide
- By: Kate Saunders
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mrs. Laetitia Rodd, aged 52, is the widow of an archdeacon who makes her living as a highly discreet private investigator. Her brother, Frederick Tyson, is a criminal barrister living in nearby Highgate with his wife and 10 children. Frederick finds the cases, and Laetitia solves them using her arch intelligence and her immaculate cover as an unsuspecting widow. When a case arises involving the son of the highly connected Sir James Calderstone, Laetitia sets off for Lincolnshire undercover as the family's new governess.
-
-
Thoroughly enjoyable
- By Episteme on 12-31-16
By: Kate Saunders
-
The Dead Key
- By: D. M. Pulley
- Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1998, and for years the old First Bank of Cleveland has sat abandoned, perfectly preserved, its secrets only speculated on by the outside world. Twenty years before, amid strange staff disappearances and allegations of fraud, panicked investors sold Cleveland's largest bank in the middle of the night, locking out customers and employees and thwarting a looming federal investigation. In the confusion that followed, the keys to the vault's safe-deposit boxes were lost.
-
-
Not good.
- By Guy on 05-05-17
By: D. M. Pulley
-
Devils
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 28 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Exiled to four years in Siberia, but hailed by the end of his life as a saint, prophet, and genius, Fyodor Dostoevsky holds an exalted place among the best of the great Russian authors. One of Dostoevsky’s five major novels, Devils follows the travails of a small provincial town beset by a band of modish radicals - and in so doing presents a devastating depiction of life and politics in late 19th-century Imperial Russia.
-
-
Excellent translation and narration
- By L. Kerr on 09-06-13
-
Black Spring
- By: Alison Croggon
- Narrated by: Kim Hicks
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lina is the enchanting but willful daughter of a village lord. She and her childhood companion, Damek, have grown up privileged and spoiled, and they're devoted to each other to the point of obsession. But Lina's violet eyes betray her for a witch, and witches are not tolerated in a brutally patriarchal society. Her rank protects her from persecution, but it cannot protect her from tragedy and heartbreak. An innocent visitor stands witness to the devastation that ensues as destructive longing unleashes Lina's wrath, and with it her forbidden power.
-
-
No passion and boring characters
- By Verity on 07-24-15
By: Alison Croggon
-
The Cater Street Hangman
- By: Anne Perry
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a maid in the upper class Ellison household is strangled, Inspector Pitt is called in to investigate. He finds a world ruled by strict manners and social customs, where the inhabitants of the Ellison's neighborhood appear to be more outraged by the thought of scandal than they are by murder. Inspector Pitt finds a most unlikely ally in Charlotte, the Ellison's spirited daughter. But as the murders continue, Charlotte and Pitt find themselves drawn together by more than the investigation.
-
-
I really like this book but it's not for everone
- By Ancient Warrior on 03-14-11
By: Anne Perry
-
Oblomov
- By: Ivan Goncharov
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A member of the landed gentry, with a seemingly guaranteed income from his estate in the country, Oblomov lives in Petersburg, uninterested in the business that provides his living and barely aware that the revenue is diminishing. Not that he leads a dissolute life of extravagance, balls and entertainment. Instead he is a dreamer, a sybarite, content above all to spend most of the day supine, in bed. The novel opens with Oblomov thus ensconced, attended only by his dirty, grumbling, indolent servant Zahar, who has looked after him since childhood, catering to his every need.
-
-
funny and smart
- By Bennett Weiss on 07-29-20
By: Ivan Goncharov
-
Mask of Duplicity
- The Jacobite Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Julia Brannan
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor, Will M. Watt
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the death of their father, Beth's brother, Richard, returns from the army to claim his share of the family estate. However, Beth's hopes of a quiet life are dashed when Richard, dissatisfied with his meager inheritance and desperate for promotion, decides to force her into a marriage for his military gain. He will stop at nothing to get his way.
-
-
Historical fiction w/ excellent dual narration.
- By Mair on 03-07-19
By: Julia Brannan
-
Bleak House
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett, Teresa Gallagher
- Length: 35 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A complex plot of love and inheritance is set against the English legal system of the mid-19th century. As the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce drags on, it becomes an obsession to everyone involved. And the issue on an inheritance ultimately becomes a question of murder.
-
-
WONDERFUL NARRATIONS!
- By KT on 08-25-11
By: Charles Dickens
-
The Hanover Square Affair
- Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries
- By: Jennifer Ashley, Ashley Gardner
- Narrated by: James Gillies
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars, burned out, fighting melancholia, his career ended. His interest is piqued when he learns of a missing girl, possibly kidnapped by a prominent member of Parliament. Lacey's search for the girl leads to the discovery of murder, corruption, and dealings with a leader of the underworld.
-
-
Regency Reality
- By Nadine Gardner Author on 01-30-15
By: Jennifer Ashley, and others
What listeners say about Rustication
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Here-and-faraway
- 07-27-15
We're All Mad Here...
Where does Rustication rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I've been an audible member for a loooong time, so it would be hard for me to rank this novel. I can say that the book was well worth the credit.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Richard, the narrator. Charles Palliser did such a great job creating him. Richard is a self-absorbed, "girl crazy" seventeen year old who thinks of himself as the hero of the story. He has no idea how naive he is to both the reader and others around him. It was a lot of fun getting inside Richard's twisted, naive, and narcissistic mind.
What about John Lee’s performance did you like?
I've enjoyed other books narrated by John Lee, but I was initially surprised when I realized he was going to be "playing" a seventeen year old. Lee is a great actor, but he doesn't sound seventeen. That said, he did a fabulous job. His performance was lovely.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes. Although I was able to guess who the killer was about half way through the novel, I still wanted to listen because it was so much fun. What I enjoyed about the book was Lee's performance and all of the twisted characters.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RueRue
- 03-15-15
Unusual and suspenseful
Difficult to catagorize, a very suspenseful story with an unsympathetic first person narrator.
Definitely kept my interest.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kya
- 07-25-18
wonderfully woven tale with top notch performance
Charles palliser does an excellent job writing this story, intelligently incorporating numerous characters and leaving the reader rooting for the main character, Richard. I look forward to more books by palliser being made available by audible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- anne maniscalco
- 01-24-14
Dark story with twists and turns
Would you listen to Rustication again? Why?
loved the story, did not like the narrator.
What did you like best about this story?
Was a very dark story ,no sugar coating. But a good story with twists
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- julie
- 04-22-14
A mind bender
Any additional comments?
Definitely different but surprisingly engrossing. I thought the narration was good and since I like John Lee as a narrator- I am use to his pace and inflections. I thought he was perfect for this dark character and yes.... It is a Twisted story!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- rifenbc
- 02-07-16
Great Mystery Story-right to the end!
It's one of those plots with lots of twists and turns. You will have to be a detective to figure out the ending.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Three
- 03-13-23
Leaden and dull
The book consists of a litany of characters with no individuality or depth, crossing paths in a needlessly complicated plot about which I really couldn't bring myself to care. The main character is unlikeable.
The priggish reader certainly does not help.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Phebe
- 01-12-16
Make at least ONE of your characters likeable!
Dreary, dreary. But --- Bleak House was dreary, after all, and complex and Victorian, and we loved it, right? What's the difference? Bleak House had many admirable and wholly likeable characters. Rustication has only despicable or obnoxious persons, including the protag, an immoral, predatory, addicted and generally worthless young man. Remind me why I would want to identify with such a character??? Oh, because all these faults make him INTERESTING? No, they don't. They make him a failure and of no interest.
One sees that so often these days: Women writers, for instance, make their women characters irritable drunks, nervous and easily frightened so they'll be "interesting," as in the recent "The Dead Key" and "The Girl on the Train." Writers forget that if we cannot identify --- and who can identify with all that --- many will close the book in disgust. I lasted about halfway through.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful