The Bells
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Richard Powers
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By:
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Richard Harvell
About this listen
Dazzling, enchanting, and epic, The Bells is the confession of a thief, kidnapper, and unlikely lover - a boy with the voice of an angel whose exquisite sense of hearing becomes both his life's tragic curse and its greatest blessing.
Moses Froben was born in a belfry high in the Swiss Alps, the bastard son of a deaf-mute woman, banished to the church tower to ring the loudest and most beautiful bells ever each day. His life is simple but content, until the day his father recognizes Moses' singular sense of hearing and its power to expose his sins. Cast into the world with only his ears to protect and guide him, Moses finds refuge in the choir of the historic Abbey of St. Gall and becomes its star singer, only to endure the horrifying act of castration, meant to preserve his angelic voice and turn him into a musico.
In a letter to his son, Moses recounts his humble birth in 18th-century Switzerland and his life as a novice monk, and he tells of the two noble friends - and a forbidden lover - whom he cherished during the chaotic years he spent in Mozart's Vienna as apprentice to the great Gaetano Guadagni. But in this letter, he also reveals the astonishing secrets of his past and answers the question that has shadowed his fame: How did Moses Froben, world-renowned musico, come to raise a son he could never have sired?
Recounting his birth in the 1700s in a belfry high in the Alps, to his appearance on Europe’s greatest stages, this epic novel is the story of the greatest ears on earth - from a deaf mother's cries, to the beating of a forbidden lover's heart, to the arias of Vienna's greatest opera house, and the deadly booming of the world's loudest, most glorious bells.
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Editorial reviews
A novel set predominantly inside the great opera houses of Europe, The Bells is written with great attention to music, performance, and sound. With this unique emphasis, Richard Harvell’s story of an underprivileged boy growing up in the Swiss Alps only to later become one of the greatest musicians in Vienna is best experienced through the theatrical narration of Paul Michael Garcia. Garcia’s performance further enhances the gravitas Harvell has achieved in The Bells, offering a vocal rendition that serves the novel’s acute understanding of early music history very well.
In The Bells, Harvell’s thoughtful investigation of 18th-century classical music explores its rich beauty, but it also does not shy away from the darker corners of the art. Born in an impoverished village cast away in the Swiss Alps, Moses Froben had endured considerable hardship in his youth. His gift of music came from his mother, a deaf-mute woman disbanded from society who spent her days ringing the bells of the church tower in the village. Her pregnancy caused both her and her unborn son great misfortune, but when young Moses washed up on the shores nearby St. Gall, a kind monk took him into the Abbey, where his gift of music was eventually discovered and nurtured. This nurturing did not come without further abuse, though, when the director of the boy’s choir betrayed the comfort Moses had found in the abbey by castrating the young boy in order to preserve his beautiful soprano voice (a horrific act that, though controversial, was alarmingly prevalent in this era).
When the act was discovered in the Abbey later when Moses’ voice and angelic appearance did not change, he was looked upon with both grave pity and mild disgust. He found himself a social outcast once again in his troubled life. Only the streets and theater houses in Vienna, where he traveled in search of acceptance and his long lost love, a young woman he had shared a brief yet emotionally passionate romance with in the Abbey, offered Moses a new opportunity to flourish in his extraordinary artistic talent.
The Bells, much like many of the great operas written in this era, is a tumultuous narrative that is as beautiful as it is horrifying. Garcia carves into its rich structure where music and sound are so important; I was able to experience Moses’ remarkable gift for myself through his narration. Suzanne Day
Critic reviews
“Astonishing in its originality, epic in its scope, luminous in its richness, The Bells is a novel to be savoured page by glorious page.” (Cathy Marie Buchanan, New York Times best-selling author)
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Bloodleaf
- By: Crystal Smith
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Princess Aurelia is a prisoner to her crown and the heir that nobody wants. Surrounded by spirits and banned from using her blood-magic, Aurelia flees her country after a devastating assassination attempt. To escape her fate, Aurelia disguises herself as a commoner in a new land and discovers a happiness her crown has never allowed. As she forges new bonds and perfects her magic, she begins to fall for a man who is forbidden to rule beside her.
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Not Understanding All the Praise
- By GPChlorine on 08-23-19
By: Crystal Smith
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The Clockwork Three
- By: Matthew Kirby
- Narrated by: Marc Thompson
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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A team of unlikely friends - an orphaned street musician, a hard-working girl from the tenements, and a talented clockmaker's apprentice - discover that together they can overcome even the darkest of fears.
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HASTY CLIMBERS SUFFER SUDDEN FALLS
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 09-17-17
By: Matthew Kirby
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The Moon in the Palace
- The Empress of Bright Moon, Book 1
- By: Weina Dai Randel
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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There is no easy path for a woman aspiring to power. A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the emperor's attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. But young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the emperor a gift he can never forget.
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One of the most annoying narrations
- By Foodiewife on 01-28-17
By: Weina Dai Randel
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The Book of Boy
- By: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Boy has always been relegated to the outskirts of his small village. With a large hump on his back, a mysterious past, and a tendency to talk to animals, he is often mocked and abused by the other young people in his town. Until the arrival of a shadowy pilgrim named Secondus. Impressed with Boy's climbing and jumping abilities, Secondus engages Boy as his servant, pulling him into an expedition across Europe to gather the seven precious relics of Saint Peter.
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What an adventure!!
- By Dana on 05-28-20
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The Book of Kells
- By: R. A. MacAvoy
- Narrated by: Alan Robertson
- Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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A contemporary man, John Thornburn (a meek, non-violent and unpredictable artist) and woman, Derval (his tough, confrontational, strong and warrior-like lover) time travel to ancient Ireland to avenge a Viking attack. Packed with fascinating details of historical time and place in Irish history and delicately balanced on the border between realism and fantasy, the story centers around one of the most famous and beautiful illuminated manuscripts in history, the legendary but entirely real Book of Kells.
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The Book of Irish Fantasy
- By S. Wells on 12-10-12
By: R. A. MacAvoy
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The Architect's Apprentice
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Piter Marek
- Length: 16 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1540, 12-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul. As an animal tamer in the sultan's menagerie, he looks after the exceptionally smart elephant Chota and befriends (and falls for) the sultan's beautiful daughter Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan to Mimar Sinan, the empire's chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as they construct (with Chota's help) some of the most magnificent buildings in history.
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I feel like I should like it more than I do
- By nyog on 04-19-17
By: Elif Shafak
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House of Furies
- By: Madeleine Roux
- Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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After escaping a harsh school where punishment was the lesson of the day, 17-year-old Louisa Ditton is thrilled to find employment as a maid at a boardinghouse. But soon after her arrival at Coldthistle House, Louisa begins to realize that the house's mysterious owner, Mr. Morningside, is providing much more than lodging for his guests. Far from a place of rest, the house is a place of judgment, and Mr. Morningside and his unusual staff are meant to execute their own justice on those who are past being saved.
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One of the characters is Satan..lots of the occult
- By Angela Briggs on 07-25-19
By: Madeleine Roux
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The Monstrumologist
- By: Rick Yancey
- Narrated by: Steven Boyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Dr. Warthrop is a scientist who tracks and studies real-life monsters. Assisted by his 12-year-old apprentice, Will Henry, Dr. Warthrop discovers a pod of Anthropophagi and launches a hunt to destroy the foul beasts.
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Reader Be Warned
- By Eddie on 01-25-15
By: Rick Yancey
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Into the Dim
- By: Janet B. Taylor
- Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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When fragile 16-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. And she's alive, though currently trapped in the 12th century, during the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Hope has 77 hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time.
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Typical YA
- By Lucy on 03-08-16
By: Janet B. Taylor
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The Crown
- By: Nancy Bilyeau
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In this debut historical thriller, an aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father’s life and preserve all she holds dear. When novitiate nun Joanna Stafford learns her rebel cousin is condemned by King Henry VIII to be burned at the stake, she makes the decision to break the sacred rule of enclosure and flee her Dominican order in Dartford to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, Sir Richard Stafford, is sent to the Tower of London.
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Torture
- By S. Wells on 03-24-13
By: Nancy Bilyeau
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All the Ever Afters
- The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother
- By: Danielle Teller
- Narrated by: Jane Copland
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In the vein of Wicked, The Woodcutter, and Boy, Snow, Bird, a luminous re-imagining of a classic tale, told from the perspective of Agnes, Cinderella’s "evil" stepmother. We all know the story of Cinderella. Or do we? As rumors about the cruel upbringing of beautiful newlywed Princess Cinderella roil the kingdom, her stepmother, Agnes, who knows all too well about hardship, privately records the true story...
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Not what I was expecting...
- By IonyWinter on 07-15-19
By: Danielle Teller
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Angelique's Descent
- By: Lara Parker
- Narrated by: Lara Parker
- Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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The dashing heir of a New England shipping magnate, Barnabas Collins captures the heart of the exquisite, young Angelique amidst the sensual beauty of Martinique, her island home. But Angelique's brief happiness is doomed when Barnabas deserts her and becomes engaged to another. With this one betrayal, Barnabas unleashes an evil that will torment him for all time.
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I loved this!
- By Alabama purchaser on 07-19-15
By: Lara Parker
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Spindle Fire
- By: Lexa Hillyer
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king's headstrong illegitimate daughter whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close. And then everything changes with a single drop of Aurora's blood, a Faerie Queen who is preparing for war, a strange and enchanting dream realm - and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.
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Lovers of fairy tale romance rejoice!
- By Elley Murray on 11-23-17
By: Lexa Hillyer
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Beauty and the Highland Beast
- Highland Fairytale Series, Book 1
- By: Lecia Cornwall
- Narrated by: Ruth Urquhart
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Powerful and dangerous Highlander Dair Sinclair was once the favored son of his clan, the Sinclairs of Carraig Brigh. With Dair at the helm, Sinclair ships circled the globe bringing home incredible fortune - until one deadly mission drives him mad. When a pagan healer predicts that only a virgin bride can heal his son's body and mind, Dair's father sets off to find the perfect wife for his son. At the castle of the fearsome McLeods, he meets lovely and kind Fia MacLeod.
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A great read all around.
- By victoria porter on 08-31-17
By: Lecia Cornwall
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Cruel Beauty
- By: Rosamund Hodge
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom - all because of a reckless bargain her father struck. And since birth, she has been training to kill him. Betrayed by her family yet bound to obey, Nyx rails against her fate. Still, on her 17th birthday, she abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, disarm him, and break the 900-year-old curse he put on her people. But Ignifex is not what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle - a shifting maze of magical rooms - enthralls her.
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Seemed promising; ultimately hollow
- By barefoot rabbit on 04-03-14
By: Rosamund Hodge
What listeners say about The Bells
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Laurelaine
- 04-17-15
Wish I could give 4.5 stars!
Rich story, beautifully written. I find it hard to believe this was a first novel for this author. He is an inspired writer, for certain.
Wonderful pairing with the narrator who did an exceptional job giving distinct personality to each character.
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- Coni R
- 07-31-17
Excellent!!! Highly recommend!
Love!!! In my top 5! It has so much depth. Really enjoyed this story. The reading made it that much more enjoyable.
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- Diane
- 12-31-11
More soap than accuracy
I heard the author interviewed on NPR and looked forward to a novel based on historical research which might illumine what the world of the castrati was like. Instead, this book is of the romantic genre and is often painfully anachronistic. There are few interesting sections dealing with the cross-cultural custom of male castration, but overall it's a bodice ripper with a eunuch doing the ripping.
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