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The Mysteries of Udolpho
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins
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Editorial reviews
Ann Radcliffe’s most popular novel, The Mysteries of Udolpho, with its titular enigmatic castle, vivid landscapes, supernatural portents, and brooding characters is considered by many to be the standard by which all Gothic novels are judged. When her father dies, Emily is forced to live at the castle of her aunt’s new husband, the malevolent Count Montoni. The drama unfolds as Emily is treated cruelly by Montoni and alarming events constantly trouble her. Alison Larkin performs the grotesque and the sumptuous elements of the audiobook with equal dexterity, excelling at the villainous men who inhabit the story. If you’re ready to escape into a romantic and chilling world, you won't want to stop listening to this classic tale.
Publisher's summary
This was the most popular novel of Radcliffe's time; Radcliffe's portrayal of her heroine's inner life raised the Gothic romance to a new level. The atmosphere of fear and the gripping plot continue to thrill today.
This is the story of the orphaned Emily St Aubert, who finds herself separated from the man she loves and confined within the Castle of Udolpho by her aunt's new husband Montoni. Here she must cope with an unwanted suitor, Montoni's threats, and the wild imaginings and terrors which threaten to overwhelm her.
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- Narrated by: Orson Welles
- Length: 59 mins
- Original Recording
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Starring Orson Welles, Anges Moorehead, and Ray Collins, The Count of Monte Cristo is a tale of revenge and retribution. Edmond Dantès, a young, energetic sailor, is falsely accused of treason on his wedding day and incarcerated in the forbidding Château d'If. His escape and ultimate revenge on those who wronged him makes this one of the most thrilling stories in French literature, as compelling now as when it was first published in 1846.
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Excellent
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By: Orson Welles
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Northanger Abbey
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Harriet Stevens
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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As Jane Austen's first completed novel that was submitted to be published, Northanger Abbey is a miraculously weaved tale of love, society, and deception, themes that would come to be synonymous in literature with Austen's name. The young Catherine Morland receives a fantastic opportunity to explore the city of Bath with some family friends, and while there, she experiences a level of mental and emotional growth that was as yet unparalleled in her life.
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Great Listening Experience
- By Robert Jennings on 05-18-16
By: Jane Austen
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A Sicilian Romance
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Overall
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A Sicilian Romance by Ann Radcliffe is considered the pioneer of the gothic novel.
On the northern shore of Sicily, the magnificent remains of a castle, which formerly belonged to the noble house of Mazzini, can still be seen. It stands in the center of a small bay, and upon a gentle acclivity, which, on one side, slopes toward the sea, and on the other rises into an eminence crowned by dark woods....
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A little wordy, but still enjoyable.
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Great performance for a classical story.
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Loved it
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horrible technically - echoes at most of the words
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Perfect pair
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Thomas Hardy lesser known work
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Fallen Woman Finds Redemption
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Ethan Frome, a poor, downtrodden New England farmer, is trapped in a loveless marriage to his invalid wife, Zeena.When Zeena's young cousin Mattie arrives to help care for her, Ethan is immediately taken by Mattie's warm, vivacious personality. They fall desperately in love as he realizes how much is missing from his life and marriage.
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Slow is smooth and smooth is Fast until it isn't
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What listeners say about The Mysteries of Udolpho
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer
- 03-17-19
A classic horrid mystery ♡
definitely a little silly, dated and wordy, but fun nonetheless. Also a great performance made it easier to get through. A nice follow up to listen to after Northhanger Abbey.
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- Drone Boy
- 06-27-21
Long Winded but Beautiful, Dark and Sweet
The Mysteries of Udolpho is slow but beautifully slow. Yes, it has a slouching overbelly of a plot, and a self-righteous heroine so pious its infuriating, you want to give her a good spanking sometimes. But Radcliffe's shafting Alpine environments, ruined chateaus, gaping chasms and naked chambers of Gothic sexiness and horror, make the novel's mechanical mellodrama worth drudging through. Moreover, the writing, and particularly the interjecting poetry, is very sweet and Alison Larkin's voice is very flavoursome, seeming to shift from chaste English country girl to predatory Italian bandit with the seductive ease of a well educated mature lady of feminine omnipotence. If god were a woman, i'd hope she'd have Larkin's voice.
I would recommend this title to anyone interested in the history of the novel, Romanticism and the gothic romance in particular. Reading this book you can clearly see the bridge between Augustanism, Sentimentalism, Regency and Victorian Literature emerging. You can see Mary Shelley reading and loving this novel, just as you can see Charlotte Bronte reading and loving this novel. But yes, it is a long and hard read, and with many a moan and bump along the way. Indeed, i think the length of the novel says something about the desiring nature of Radcliffe's audience. For many a young lady in England in 1794, it must have been a long wait to get to the mysteries of Udolpho.
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- Joyce
- 07-21-12
Thank You, Audible
Any additional comments?
I have been waiting for this English classic to come out on audio for years. A brilliant performance by the narrator ranging from upper class English to serving maids, from lords to thieving brigands all rendered with exactness and enthusiasm that carries us through the narrative like a Harry Potter story. I'll have to reread my Jane Austen collection now that I can fully understand all her "Udolpho" references. One more benefit of this audio.
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25 people found this helpful
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- Scarletmeadow
- 03-23-16
lovely
this has been my favorite book for many years and this recording is perfectly lovely
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- Johanna
- 03-01-14
Delightful book!
I've been wanting to read this book ever since I read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, which is probably the reason why most people read it today. What a fun listen! Admittedly, this book is somewhat shallow; it's kind of like the late 1700s equivalent of the Twilight series, but without the vampires. I think it would have appealed to the same audience of teenage girls. Anyway, it's a delightful book if taken in context, and the performance is good.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Michael
- 01-30-13
Only Alison Larkin Could have Narrated This Story
If you could sum up The Mysteries of Udolpho in three words, what would they be?
Love.
Loss.
Surprise.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Mysteries of Udolpho?
One of the most memorable moments was the heroine was reunited with her lover.
What does Alison Larkin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
This book has sentences that seem to go on like arias in an opera. Only Alison Larkin could give the listener every subtle sense of meaning behind every word. Alison Larkin helped carry me along an experience that was like riding a great wave of powerful prose. I could only ride the wave because she gave me the support--through her clear evocation of every emotion and through every description--that we were moving towards an exciting shore.
I have never heard a story with such deep descriptions of every mental, and emotional experience. Only Alison Larkin has the range of tone and wit and sympathetic and sometimes passionate delivery to have made such a story a great and moving work of art.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
This book and Alison Larkin's brilliant interpretation of every line was much too grand an experience to try to absorb in one sitting.
I decided early on to let this remarkable experience--like listening to the greatest symphony of life and loves--continue over time. I would listen to it in the evenings.
All day I would look forward to hearing Alison Larkin's melodic voice give powerful meaning to a story that seemed to have almost every possible emotion in it.
Any additional comments?
I am grateful that Alison Larkin narrated this story for us. Without her remarkably sensitive and powerful reading of this material it might not have come alive in such a dramatic way.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Suzanne
- 08-29-24
The Narrator
I have been looking for an audible version of this tale that doesn’t leave out its essence by unfortunate editing… however those that do this without a great narrator also fail. Here in this version we have perfect harmony.
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- Leslie
- 02-24-18
Whew it can be hard to keep up with!
I enjoyed this book. I picked it bc I had read where people named Anne Ward Radcliffe as the mother of modern mystery fiction and I love mystery/thriller and historical fiction! I listen to A Lot of books set in London in this time but I confess that listening to a book that was actually written in the 1700’s is different! I did have to go back and relisten to some parts bc I’d realize I wasn’t sure who somebody was or who was talking etc. I love a long historical fiction novel so I didn’t mind but it did take me longer than usual and I did find I needed to focus on listening rather than hearing a little more than usual but then again that’s not necessarily a bad thing!
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- Bruce
- 12-14-21
Hard to argue with 2+ centuries of popularity
Larkin is fantastic. If 31 hours is too much, the 2.0x selection works well. And to think Radcliffe did this without a typewriter.
Note to self: read more 18th century literature; a great counterpoint to 21st century focus on action only.
I first of all noticed her highlighting the rationality/sensibility debate - puts human touch on the 17th-20th century philosophers on all sides of the issue. And shows that Austen/Bronte etc did not start from scratch.
Any society that can tolerate Game of Thrones from beginning to end shouldn't be complaining about a long book.
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-15-21
A Gothic education!
I wanted to read this being a fan of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. I really enjoyed it. It is very long so I particularly appreciated being able to multi-task as one can with Audible. I always enjoy the rich language of any late 18th Century writings. It made me smile quite often and I can see why Jane Austen wanted to satirise it! I admire Mrs Ratcliffe’s audacity in describing in great detail places she’d never been to. She did it rather well as she was good at creating atmosphere. The fainting females made me laugh as did the terror as one couldn’t take it too seriously - no nightmares for me! The plot was a bit convoluted but it was a good read/listen! Alison Larkin is an excellent narrator. The main characters are all French and Italian but the accents had to be British - I’m not sure that she could have contrived it any other way. Thank you Audible.
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