
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
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Narrated by:
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Alex Jennings
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Jenny Agutter
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By:
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Anne Brontë
About this listen
Exclusively from Audible
The story of a woman's struggle for independence from an abusive husband. Helen 'Graham' has returned to Wildfell Hall in flight from a disastrous marriage and to protect her young son from the influence of his father.
Exiled to the desolate moorland mansion, she adopts an assumed name and earns her living as a painter. Gilbert Markham, a local man intrigued by the beautiful young 'widow' offers his friendship but becomes distrustful when her reclusive behaviour sparks rumours and speculation. When she offers her diary for him to read only then does he discover the dark truth of her shocking past.
The second and last novel written by Anne Brontë, the youngest of the six Brontë children, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall deals with alcoholism, physical and emotional abuse, unhappy marriages and adultery. Anne's novels are distinctly different from that of her sisters, filled with gritty realism. After her death, Anne's sister, Charlotte, prevented its republication perhaps due to her belief that it was overly graphic and an 'entire mistake'.
Despite first being published in 1848, The Independent described it as a 'frighteningly up-to-date tale of single motherhood and wife-battering.' It is considered one of the more shocking of the Brontë stories and due to Helen's breaking of social convention and law holds firm as one of the first feminist novels.
Narrator Biography
Three-time Olivier Award winner actor Alex Jennings is known for portraying Prince Charles in The Queen (2006) as well as appearing in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), Babel (2006) and The Lady in the Van (2015). His television work has included Cranford (2007), Silk (2011-2014), and Victoria (2016). He has narrated many audiobooks including Charlie Connelly's Attention All Shipping, which in 2008 was chosen as one of the top 40 audiobooks of all time.
Jenny Agutter began her acting career as a child in 1964's East of Sudan and is well known for appearing in three adaptations of The Railway Children. She starred in the critically acclaimed 1971 film Walkabout as well as receiving a string of Hollywood roles. She won an Emmy for her role in The Snow Goose (1971), as well as a BAFTA for her role in Equus (1997). More recently she has appeared in several television dramas, including Spooks (2002-2003), and Call the Midwife since 2012. She has performed in numerous theatre productions, including roles with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has also narrated audiobooks Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle and Jane Austen's Emma and featured in the Doctor Who audio dramas The Bride of Peladon and The Minister of Chance. In 2012 she was appointed OBE for her charity work.
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Why didn't we get to read this one at school
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Wonderful performance, but chapters are mislabeled
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Must read for Feminists
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highly recommended
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Well done
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My Favorite Bronte Story
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The best audiobook of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
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Performance well done; monotonous storyline at times.
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Who was your favorite character and why?
Gilbert Markham, a very human hero, for his acceptance and support of Mrs. Graham and her young son in spite of the community's turning against her, and for his patience.Which character – as performed by Alex Jennings and Jenny Agutter – was your favorite?
Alex Jennings as Gilbert Markham. Mr. Jennings was a wonderful narrator. Until The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, I had only listened to books with female narrators, and, I have to admit, I wasn't sure if I would like a male narrator speaking the female dialogue. But his voicing of the female roles, even Helen Graham, was subtle and well-done.Jenny Agutter's narration of Helen Graham's letters in the middle of the book was just fine, but she didn't distinguish between the characters as much as Mr. Jennings, and sometimes her narration was just slightly clunky, thought still very fine once I got used to it and when I was immersed in the story. If just Mr. Jennings had narrated, I would have given the performance 5 stars.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No - too long for that!Any additional comments?
I've read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and the BBC adaptation is one of my favorites, so I looked forward to listening. I hadn't remembered the way the BBC series departed from the original story, and not having read the novel for a number of years, the audiobook was almost new to me in parts! This is another great audiobook - recommend it to fans of the Bronte's novels.Another Bronte favorite
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Great, but Mislabeled Chapter
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