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A lovely narration but it includes descriptions belonging to the illustrations that clearly should be left out in a narrated book - not sure how this managed to escape the production team.

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Excellent Narration!

I am not sure I actively liked it but it is wonderfully atmospheric and carries the starkness and confusion of a dream. In this case an opium dream. There are some delightful descriptions and worthy of listening just for those. But there lacks the texture of life that often raises his books to their highest writing.
The post-script by Lucinda Hawksley is well presented but really chases its own tail with the insight that no one knows, although there is some interest in the people around Dickens. But that said the way Dickens wrote was an ever-moving feast of ideas so even if known one day did not mean that is what would follow.
Billy Howle is an excellent narrator and captures the essence of each character.

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A beautiful, enriching mystery

Right from the start the Mystery of Edwin Drood strikes a note of fever dream, through the eyes of a waking opium addict trying to disentangle hallucination from reality.
In an ingenious opening chapter, said opium addict, John Jasper, runs from his opium den to don a choir master's robes and join his colleagues at Cloisterham Cathedral, Dicken's fictional Cathedral town and principal setting of the novel. It is a quick rug pull of a change of perspectives, and typical of the unfinished novel's tendency to describe a world where nothing is what it seems.
Jasper is apparently zealous for the protection of his young nephew, Edwin Drood. Edwin and a young woman called Rosa have been betrothed to marry as part of a dying father's legacy. So, they have been engaged since birth.
Other characters begin to crowd the stage; the kindly and principled Rev Crisparkle, the short fused Neville Landless and his sister Helena, placed with the Rev Crisparkle for their education by a bullying philanthropist, the wonderfully named Mr Honeythunder, the booze loving stonemason Durdles, a capering child called Deputy with a fondness for stoning things, an eccentric bachelor lawyer Mr Grewgious who is the guardian of Rosa and in charge of executing the legacy betrothal.
Edwin and Rosa's relationship is 'complicated' by this arrangement and they come to a mutual, and very mature decision to end their betrothal. Shortly after, Edwin disappears, apparently drowned, and the finger of suspicion rests on young Landless, as the two have quarrelled and Neville's unjustified reputation is that of a murderous thug. Meanwhile, a pompous and conceited auctioneer, Mr Sapsea, is politically courted by Jasper. John Jasper seems to be manipulating events, and as we reach the novel's perpetual cliff-hanger, is the chief suspect in Edwin's disappearance and presumed murder, especially after he corners Rosa declaring his sick love for her and causing her to flee.
This is a fascinating and compelling read that I will never forget. There is an atmosphere of menace and mental sickness throughout, be that addiction or sociopathic cruelty and obsession. The trademark Dicken's humour and love of the absurdities and playfulness of human conversation is all there, and there are some of his grotesque character pen portraits, but this is darker fare. The story is compelling, and the mystery deepens as the tension increases, until we reach the point where the novel ends, mid paragraph, as the writer is claimed by illness and death.
A brilliant and enlightening post-script by Lucinda Hawksley, the great great great Granddaughter of Dickens, gives some background to the story and describes how writers such as Conan Doyle and others have tried to complete the story, and there is a fascinating description of a mock 'trial' of John Jasper which had to be abandoned because it got so unruly. But the truth is Dickens left very few clues, and no one can ever really say how it was meant to play out. Some versions will be more convincing than others according to the skill of the storyteller and their fidelity to the logic of the source material, but we will never know, and in the end, we are left with beautiful, enriching mystery.
Billy Howle does a fantastic job with the narration, he really gets the energy of Dickens and the essence of each character; the tired rasp of John Jasper, the rising optimistic cadences of the Rev Crisparkle, for instance. Audible really does seem to be making excellent choice for the narrators of its Dickens Collection, as with Owen Teale’s reading of Dombey and Son, and Kobna Holbrook Smith’s Nicholas Nickelby.

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8 people found this helpful

Awful narration!

I'm amazed that so many people think the narration is good. I found it so painful. It really spoilt my enjoyment of the book. It was like a bad am-dram or a precious kid really trying too hard.

That aside, the book is worth a listen, esp the afterword. Dickens lasting mystery. Wish he could have gone on forever

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Virtuoso reading by Billy Howle

An enjoyable reading by Billy Howle which voices the characters and creates atmosphere. Of course the mystery remains as Edwin Drood is unfinished since Dickens died halfway through his composition.,Lucinda Hawksley provides an interesting afterword.

Deputy, the small boy, who stones Durdles, the stone mason to wake him up and Princess Puffer who runs an opium den are vivid grotesques. If you have never read the novel, like me then try this reading.

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Superb Reading by Howle

Billy Howle's amazing capacity for so many different characters from one voice box is formidable!

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1 person found this helpful

Essential reading!

I nearly didn’t bother with this book - after all why read an unfinished novel, even if it’s by Charles Dickens? Well, because there’s a fantastic cast of characters (my favourite is Mrs Billickin) there’s an intriguing plot and, unlike most of Charlie’s stuff, it doesn’t take 30+ hours to get through!
Well read by Billy Howle.

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Brilliant—just love Dickens!

Finally got round to reading this after being a Dickens fan for so long and reading all his other novels. Absolutely wonderful! Great story with some hilarious satire and gothic elements. Very well read.

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Decent story but narration a bit stilted.

It was a good story up until the point it was curtailed. Narration was clear enough but came across as stilted due to being overly careful with the pronunciation. Enjoyable overall though.

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