The Servant
Valancourt 20th Century Classics
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Narrated by:
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Richard Turner
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By:
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Robin Maugham
About this listen
In this dark, haunting tale, Richard Merton recounts the story of his close friend, Tony, a young lawyer recently returned from the war and the subtle, sinister destruction of his personality by his servant, Barrett.
Seeking ease and comfort, Tony hires Barrett to cater to his needs, not realizing that his new servant has a hidden agenda. As Barrett gradually and insidiously leads his employer into physical and moral degradation, the roles of master and servant will become grotesquely reversed.
Robin Maugham’s modern classic The Servant (1948) was hailed by The New York Times as "a masterpiece of writing" and was adapted for a celebrated 1963 film version directed by Joseph Losey and scripted by Harold Pinter.
This new edition includes a preface by Maugham from the 1973 edition, explaining the origins of the novel and a new introduction by William Lawrence.
"A highly skilled portrait . . . succeeds as a horror story of considerable brightness and sharpness." (Kirkus Reviews)
"It’s shocking, brilliantly written, completely absorbing." (Chicago Daily News)
"The story has a quiet and absolutely terrifying inevitability...reminiscent of Henry James himself." (News Chronicle)
"An exquisite work of art...a masterpiece of observation and craftsmanship." (Sheffield Telegram)
"One of those little story gems you seldom come across these days...a plausible picture of human collapse told with insight and considerable skill." (New York World Telegram)
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Story
Mitford's most enduringly popular novel, The Pursuit of Love, is a classic comedy about growing up and falling in love among the privileged and eccentric. Mitford modeled her characters on her own famously unconventional family. We are introduced to the Radletts through the eyes of their cousin, Fanny, who stays with them at Alconleigh, their Gloucestershire estate. Uncle Matthew is the blustering patriarch; Aunt Sadie is the vague but doting mother; and the seven Radlett children, despite the delights of their unusual childhood, are recklessly eager to grow up.
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Unlistenable
- By Michael on 10-17-21
By: Nancy Mitford
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Maurice
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Peter Firth
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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'Ah for darkness...not the darkness of a house which coops up a man among furniture, but the darkness where he can be free!' Maurice Hall knows he must choose between living life in the shadows or denying himself a chance at love and fulfilment. Aware of his attraction to the same sex, in a time where it was considered unlawful and immoral to have homosexual desires, Maurice must decide whether to battle or submit to a prejudiced 20th-century English society.
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Finally!!! It's past time!
- By Christopher P. on 11-18-10
By: E. M. Forster
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Spring Magic
- By: D. E. Stevenson
- Narrated by: Lesley Mackie
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Young Frances Field arrives in a scenic coastal village in Scotland, having escaped her dreary life as an orphan, treated as little more than a servant by an uncle and aunt. Once there, she encounters an array of eccentric locals, the occasional roar of enemy planes overhead and three army wives - Elise, Tommy and Tillie - who become fast friends. Elise warns Frances of the discomforts of military life, but she’s inclined to disregard the advice when she meets the dashing and charming Captain Guy Tarlatan.
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WWII Home Front
- By Jerri C on 06-05-19
By: D. E. Stevenson
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The Beautiful and Damned
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Published in 1922, Fitzgerald's second novel chronicles the relationship of Anthony Patch, Harvard-educated, aspiring aesthete, and his beautiful wife, Gloria, as they await to inherit his grandfather's fortune. A devastating satire of the nouveaux rich and New York's nightlife, of reckless ambition and squandered talent, it is also a shattering portrait of a marriage fueled by alcohol and wasted by wealth. The Beautiful and Damned, Fitzgerald wrote to Zelda in 1930, "was all true."
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i loved it
- By Emily on 01-20-05
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The Bermondsey Bookshop
- By: Mary Gibson
- Narrated by: Anne Dover
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in 1920s London, this is the inspiring story of Kate Goss' struggle against poverty, hunger and cruel family secrets. Her mother died in a fall, her father has vanished without trace, and now her aunt and cousins treat her viciously. In a freezing, vermin-infested garret, factory girl Kate has only her own brave spirit and dreams of finding her father to keep her going. She has barely enough money to feed herself, or to pay the rent. The factory where she works begins to lay off people and it isn't long before she has fallen into the hands of the violent local money-lender.
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A glimpse into the past
- By Luci-Lu on 10-27-21
By: Mary Gibson
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Keep the Aspidistra Flying
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Gordon Comstock loathes dull, middle-class respectability and worship of money. He gives up a 'good job' in advertising to work part-time in a bookshop, giving him more time to write. But he slides instead into a self-induced poverty that destroys his creativity and his spirit. Only Rosemary, ever-faithful Rosemary, has the strength to challenge his commitment to his chosen way of life.
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Gordon's Grey World is Colored with Grant
- By Timothy on 09-25-11
By: George Orwell
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Cocaine Blues
- By: Kerry Greenwood
- Narrated by: Stephanie Daniel
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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It's the end of the roaring twenties, and the exuberant and Honourable Phryne Fisher is dancing and gaming with gay abandon. But she becomes bored with London and the endless round of parties. In search of excitement, she sets her sights on a spot of detective work in Melbourne, Australia. And so mystery and the beautiful Russian dancer, Sasha de Lisse, appear in her life. From then on it's all cocaine and communism until her adventure reaches its steamy end in the Turkish baths of Little Lonsdale Street.
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A series that just gets better
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 02-01-11
By: Kerry Greenwood
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Staying On
- By: Paul Scott
- Narrated by: Paul Shelley
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Tusker and Lily Smalley stayed on in India. Given the chance to return ‘home’ when Tusker, once a Colonel in the British Army, retired, they chose instead to remain in the small hill town of Pankot, with its eccentric inhabitants and archaic rituals left over from the days of the Empire. Only the tyranny of their imposing landlady threatens to upset the quiet rhythm of their days.
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A Pleasant Meander
- By Ian C Robertson on 09-22-14
By: Paul Scott
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Tempest-tost
- The Salterton Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Robertson Davies
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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An amateur production of The Tempest provides a colorful backdrop for a hilarious look at unrequited love. Mathematics teacher Hector Mackilwraith, stirred and troubled by Shakespeare's play, falls in love with the beautiful Griselda Webster. When Griselda shows she has plans of her own, Hector despairs on the play's opening night.
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First of the first (and shows it)
- By Mary on 12-22-09
By: Robertson Davies
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The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
- By: Agatha Christie
- Narrated by: Charles Armstrong
- Length: 1 hr and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In this short story, Hercule Poirot is asked to attend a Christmas celebration in order to apprehend a jewel thief who has taken advantage of an unwary Eastern prince.
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I Great story and plot.
- By SARALEE SAENZ on 12-01-21
By: Agatha Christie
What listeners say about The Servant
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bridget C.
- 01-30-20
Upstairs Downstairs has never been so creepy
I listened to the entire audiobook in one sitting. The narrator was fantastic; the kind of voice that could read you the phone book. I kept having to pause and verify that this book was originally published in 1948... one can only imagine how scandalously it would have read back then. I kept thinking of Quint from The Turning of the Screw and Thomas Barrow from Downton Abbey and getting scrummy chills and shudders
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jeffrey C.
- 01-16-20
Short and wicked
A fine, grotesque novella, wonderfully narrated by Richard Turner. Can never go wrong with Valancourt.
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- tru britty
- 03-20-20
A Tale of a Very Creepy Manservant
The Servant is a slow-burn suspense novella that takes place after World War II. It's a quick read, with good writing, excellent dialogue, not much action but with some morally suspect characters whose interactions leave the reader feeling uneasy. What's going on here?
The story begins with the narrator going about his business when a friend from the war, Tony, suddenly gets in touch. The Servant really is about Tony and his manservant, Barrett,. The two friends haven't seen each other in five years. Apparently, Tony has just come back from military or overseas government service in the Far East. He's ready to let his hair down and do what he pleases.
And so he hires Barrett to take care of all the essentials of life he, Tony, would rather not both with. He's lazy. And there's the crux of the problem. The oh-so-perfect Barrett has an eagle-eye for the foibles and moral failings of his employers and knows how to use them.
Apparently, The Servant was adapted to the big screen and the stage. The author talks about this in his preface. He also relates to two episodes from his life that provided the origins of The Servant.
The narrator Richard Turner is excellent.
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- Bill
- 01-20-20
Not completely horrible. Just mildly boring
Not completely horrible. Just mildly boring. Evidently there was some underlying social commentary here from the late 40’s that I missed. It was probably there...somewhere. On the plus side I really enjoyed the narration.
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