The Old Wives' Tale
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Narrated by:
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David Haig
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By:
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Arnold Bennett
About this listen
Exclusively from Audible
'An old woman came into the restaurant to dine. She was fat, shapeless, ugly, and grotesque. She had a ridiculous voice, and ridiculous gestures. It was easy to see that she lived alone, and that in the long lapse of years she had developed the kind of peculiarity which induces guffaws among the thoughtless.
I reflected, concerning the grotesque diner: "This woman was once young, slim, perhaps beautiful; certainly free from these ridiculous mannerisms. Very probably she is unconscious of her singularities. Her case is a tragedy. One ought to be able to make a heartrending novel out of the history of a woman such as she."'
So said Arnold Bennett when explaining what inspired the creation of The Old Wives' Tale.
Broken up into four parts, the lives of two sisters are laid bare; one timid and unassuming, the other romantic and adventurous. From working as children in their family's drapery shop to their later years, Constance and Sophia's journey through life could not be more different. While one travels the world and defies male expectations, the other becomes a dutiful wife and mother.
Despite this, Bennett's skilful and witty narrative ultimately leads our protagonists in the same direction, making The Old Wives' Tale an intriguing interpretation of the circle of life and, unsurprisingly, his most popular work.
Arnold Bennett wrote over 20 novels and 10 plays, including Anna of the Five Towns, Clayhanger, These Twain, Hilda Lessways and Buried Alive. In June 2017, to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth, the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery commissioned a bronze statue of the author. He was elegantly immortalised sitting in a chair and holding an open book in his left hand.
Narrator Biography
David Haig is a classically trained actor, writer and LAMDA graduate. His film appearances include Two Weeks' Notice, Florence Foster-Jenkins and Four Weddings and a Funeral.
He wrote The Good Samaritan which opened at the Hampstead Theatre in 2000 to great reviews. His first script, entitled My Boy Jack, had also been performed at the Hampstead Theatre in 1997 and later broadcast on ITV, starring David Haig and Daniel Radcliffe.
Haig's theatre credits include Our Country's Good, for which he won a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award, Tom and Viv, which took him to Broadway, and the musicals Mary Poppins and Guys and Dolls.
His notable television roles in series such as Doctor Who, The Darling Buds of May, The Thin Blue Line, and Penny Dreadful have also been exemplary of his varied acting skills and dynamic voice.
Other than The Old Wives Tale, David has also contributed to the narration of The National Archives' In Their Own Words: A History in Letters.
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- Narrated by: Rebecca Hall
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In this rich new audio production, acclaimed British American actress Rebecca Hall brings one of E. M. Forster's most admired works to life in this classic tale of human struggle. A charming young Englishwoman, Lucy Honeychurch, is wooed by both free-spirited George Emerson and wealthy Cecil Vyse while vacationing in Italy. Though attracted to George, Lucy becomes engaged to Cecil despite twice turning down his proposals. On hearing of the news, George confesses his love, leaving Lucy torn between marrying the more socially acceptable Cecil or George, the man she knows would bring her true happiness. Should Lucy choose social acceptance or true love?
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A lovely performance, and a wonderful story
- By Robert on 01-19-19
By: E. M. Forster
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The Short Stories of Anton Chekhov, Volume 1
- By: Anton Chekhov
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, (1860-1904), was born in Russia at Taganrog on the Sea of Azov. His name has become synonymous with a certain literary style much admired and widely copied since his death. Typically, a Chekhov story is a "mood", a state of mind, usually with regard to relations between one person and another. Under the influence of the constant, infinitesimal, and unforeseen pinpricks of life, there occurs a gradual transformation of that state of mind.
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A Box of Chocolates
- By Darlene on 02-08-05
By: Anton Chekhov
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Father Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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Impoverished young aristocrat Eugene de Rastignac is determined to climb the social ladder and impress himself on Parisian high society. While staying at the Maison Vauquer, a boarding house in Paris's rue Neuve-Sainte-Genevieve, he encounters Jean-Joachim Goriot, a retired vermicelli maker who has spent his entire fortune supporting his two daughters. The boarders strike up a friendship and Goriot learns of Rastignac's feelings for his daughter Delphine. He begins to see Rastignac as the ideal son-in-law, and the perfect substitute for Delphine's domineering husband. But Rastignac has other opportunities too....
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Astounding performance
- By Laurence Grey on 04-05-21
By: Honoré de Balzac
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Howards End
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Howards End is a beautifully subtle tale of two very different families brought together by an unusual event. The Schlegels are intellectuals, devotees of art and literature. The Wilcoxes are practical and materialistic, leading lives of "telegrams and anger". When the elder Mrs. Wilcox dies and her family discovers she has left their country home - Howards End - to one of the Schlegel sisters, a crisis between the two families is precipitated that takes years to resolve.
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Fantastic Narration in Delightful Story
- By Wren on 05-05-18
By: E. M. Forster
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Lady Audley's Secret
- By: Mary Elizabeth Braddon
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
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A fast-paced Victorian thriller that will delight audiences today as it did 100 years ago, Lady Audley's Secret has subterfuge, kidnapping, jealousy, and fraud, all thrown into the mix and shaken up for good measure.
A mystery which keeps a listener guessing until the last moments, this production is a must-listen for anyone who enjoys playing detective.
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Narrator creates the listen
- By connie on 02-06-12
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The Forsyte Chronicles, Vol. 2
- A Modern Comedy
- By: John Galsworthy
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 34 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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John Galsworthy's magnificent trilogy of power and passion chronicles the wealthy Forsyte family. The complete Chronicles are divided into three volumes, containing nine books and four interludes in total. Volume 2, A Modern Comedy, focuses on Soames's vivacious daughter, Fleur. Soames tries constantly to protect her but is baffled by the carefree attitudes in post-war London. Fleur and her husband Michael Mont host society gatherings, but her previous affair with Jon Forsyte leaves embers of a passion that are ready to ignite - with dreadful consequences.
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Very worthwhile
- By Jonathan Kalkstein on 09-27-22
By: John Galsworthy
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Buddenbrooks
- The Decline of a Family
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 26 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.
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Where Have You Been All My Life, Thomas Mann?
- By Virginia Waldron on 03-30-17
By: Thomas Mann
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Beware of Pity
- By: Stefan Zweig
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In the twilight of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a young cavalry officer is invited to a dance at the home of a rich landowner. There - with a small act of attempted charity - he commits a simple faux pas. But from this seemingly insignificant blunder comes a tale of catastrophe arising from kindness and of honour poisoned by self-regard. Beware of Pity has all the intensity and the formidable sense of torment and of character of the very best of Zweig's work. Definitive translation by the award-winning Anthea Bell.
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One of my favorite authors
- By Adeliese Baumann on 03-21-18
By: Stefan Zweig
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Jane Eyre
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Thandiwe Newton
- Length: 19 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Following Jane from her childhood as an orphan in Northern England through her experience as a governess at Thornfield Hall, Charlotte Brontë's Gothic classic is an early exploration of women's independence in the mid-19th century and the pervasive societal challenges women had to endure. At Thornfield, Jane meets the complex and mysterious Mr. Rochester, with whom she shares a complicated relationship that ultimately forces her to reconcile the conflicting passions of romantic love and religious piety.
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Perfect!!
- By Amazon Customer on 04-21-16
By: Charlotte Brontë
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A great reader reads a great writer
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Superb! Story and Narration A++
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another great abridgement
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In this brilliant, multi-layered novel, a young Southerner, Stingo, wants to become a writer. In Brooklyn, he meets Nathan, a brilliant Jewish intellectual involved in a turbulent love-hate affair with Sophie, a beautiful Polish woman. She has a terrible wound in her past, one that impels both Sophie and Nathan toward destruction.
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THIS IS ABRIDGED
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Story
When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American, is brought to Europe by her wealthy aunt Touchett, it is expected that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to enjoy the freedom that her fortune has opened up and to determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors, declaring that she will never marry. It is only when she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the cultivated but worthless Gilbert Osmond that she discovers that wealth is a two-edged sword.
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Highly recommended
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What listeners say about The Old Wives' Tale
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bill
- 11-16-24
The life stories of two sisters
The stories of two sisters from youth, through each marriage, and old age. The difference of personality and outlook are emphasized during their youth and marriages but they are reunited in their old age and dotages.
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Overall
- Marc
- 03-29-10
Wonderful
This is a wonderful book, beautifully read. I have always liked Bennett. (Perhaps some one will do The Statue, that he wrote with Eden Phillpotts, another good story.) It is amazing what a good writer can do with such "quiet" material. The lives of two sisters: One quite ordinary and the other forced by circumstances to survive by force of will. My only complaint is the same I have with so many audio books, and that is the horrible music. It sounds as if it were played by a speaker-phone on hold. I hope this penchant in audio books goes away for it is always distracting. The reader here was excellent, but he did pronounce Sophia, Sofia a couple of times which confused me. Still, this was one of the best books I've listened to all year. I doubt that you will forget the charactors and situations in this story for a long time.
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8 people found this helpful
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- David C.
- 11-21-23
How English Novels Can Be Tolerable
How English Novels Can Be Tolerable
I confess that I have an inherent bias against "quintessential English novels" as I usually find every character exasperating and unlikeable. And while I didn't find myself falling in love with any character of #oldwivestale by #arnoldbennett , I didn't find myself too terribly hating them either. As a rule, I find Victorian Era English novels tedious and exasperating because that generally describes the characters and, of course, being products of the generation, these characters are true to form. What I found different was that I could extend a measure of pity and compassion because, generally speaking, these characters are all seemingly naive.
This is apparently the fifth of a series of books dubbed "The Five Towns" which talks of life in these villages of the industrial Midlands of England in what is now Staffordshire. The focal point is the relationship of two sisters, Sophia and Constance Baines, daughters of a respected drapery merchant in the town of Bursley. While older sister Constance can't imagine herself anywhere but in the old town and the family trade, the fetching younger Sophia can imagine a life very different than the industrial town of her birth. The book covers a 70 year period that has them pursuing very different paths and, eventually, reconciling their differences after decades of separation. There is much sadness and frustration as they confront a rapidly modernizing world at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th Century. I hadn't heard of the novel before my introduction to it as #87 of the #modernlibrarytop100novels . While interesting and beyond the average fare of the time and place, I don't find myself curious enough to want to read the other five novels in the series.
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Overall
- Daniel
- 08-19-11
Beauty and frailty of human endeavor
Biography of 2 English sisters spanning later half of 19th century. Constance, the good-natured older sister, grew up, married and raised a family all in the bonding accordance of social and familial expectation, while the beautiful Sophia's stubbornly independent streak propelled her to elope from her family, country and tradition into an utterly varied life. Both main characters are brilliantly etched inside and out, divulging both the beauty and frailty of human endeavor.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Virginia Waldron
- 12-13-11
Loved Every Word
The narrator is simply perfect. I listened with my eyes closed whilst I was on the treadmill every day. I have lost over 22 pounds doing this with other books as well as this one. An hour just flies. I just don't want to get off. Well, this story is spell-binding. The style of writing is lovely. The setting and characters are charming and the author makes the listener feel part of the whole scene. I have read the book prior to listening to this version and loved it but the superb narration has made me totally fall in love with this author. Fabulous in every way. Just love it all. I couldn't stop listening but I didn't want the story to end. Hooray for this narrator.... thank-you so much for your wonderful work... it has given me such immense pleasure and enjoyment. Who would have thought working out could be so much fun!
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12 people found this helpful
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- Marsha
- 10-08-19
On overlooked bit of history
My first reaction: How did anyone have enough leisure time to write this extremely long and detailed book? It follows the life of two sisters from their early teens through their soon-to-be-separate lifetimes in two different countries as they cope with rapidly changing Western culture into the capitalistic, corporate, Industrial Age. Business, real estate and traditional family expectations undergo enormous changes that ultimately morphed into today's society. More interesting as a peek into everyday life in historical times than merely the people involved, although the diametrically different sisters are interesting in their own right and emblematic of the era. Not a page-turner, but a book that keeps you interested to the end.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Michael Engler
- 09-26-23
A hidden treasure
Brilliantly read by David Haig, it’s a witty and insightful story of big fish in a small pond, and vice versa.
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Overall
- Bebe
- 06-09-10
A charming, funny book
I enjoyed this book more than any I've listened to in a long time. It has some really funny sections. I especially enjoyed the birthday party for the 4-year-old boy. If you have ever had workmen at your home, you'll enjoy that description.
If you like Trollope, give this a listen.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 12-16-18
Excellent...but slow
This book is a very good read following two sisters throughout their lives in the late 1800s.
The characters are deep and realistic and the story is subtle, funny, and touching.
The story does not have much tension or action, it is a story of tiny incremental transformations of real life.
I love long stories covering a lifetime with excellent character development, which this book did well and I am glad I read it. Yet, this did not stick with me. Although pleasant, it was slow and I never really connected with the characters...it was like viewing the characters from above instead of being immersed in the story.
The narration was excellent (but I did not like the musical interludes)
A good read if you like this kind of book, but I don't think it is an essential read.
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- Kindle Customer
- 02-19-23
Life is too short for B rate authors
After plodding through this book, I will be reluctant to try all books from slightly renowned authors. It is not necessary to write down every thought that has ever come into existence. This drivel should probably just be left on the shelf.
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