Listen free for 30 days
-
A Place of Greater Safety
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 33 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £34.79
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Ship of Brides
- By: Jojo Moyes
- Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Australia, 1946: 650 brides are departing for England to meet the men they married in wartime. But instead of the luxury liner they were expecting, they find themselves aboard an aircraft carrier, alongside a thousand men. On the sun-baked decks, old loves and past promises become distant memories, and tensions are stretched to the limit as brides and husbands change their minds. And for Frances Mackenzie, it soon becomes clear that the journey is more important than the destination....
-
-
History made personal
- By Kirstine on 10-07-18
-
A Place of Execution
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Paddy Glynn
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the Peak District village of Scarsdale, 13-year-old girls didn’t just run away. So when Alison Carter vanished in the winter of '63, everyone knew it was a murder. Catherine Heathcote remembers the case well - a child herself when Alison vanished. Now a journalist, she persuades DI George Bennett to speak of the hunt for Alison. But when a fresh lead emerges, Bennett tries to stop the story - plunging Catherine into a world of buried secrets and revelations.
-
-
'Nice'
- By Kathleen M Moon on 18-12-15
-
The Long Call
- Now a major ITV series starring Ben Aldridge as Detective Matthew Venn
- By: Ann Cleeves
- Narrated by: Ben Aldridge
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In North Devon, where the rivers Taw and Torridge converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father's funeral takes place. The day Matthew turned his back on the strict evangelical community in which he grew up, he lost his family, too. Now he's back, not just to mourn his father at a distance, but to take charge of his first major case in the Two Rivers region; a complex place not quite as idyllic as tourists suppose.
-
-
Slow, Oh so Slow
- By Maggie Foster on 14-04-21
-
Along Came a Spider
- Alex Cross, Book 1
- By: James Patterson
- Narrated by: Ako Mitchell
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Random House presents the audiobook edition of Along Came a Spider by James Patterson. The international best seller introducing Detective Alex Cross. Two children have been kidnapped from an elite private school in Washington, DC, and Alex Cross is charged with finding them. The kidnapper is their maths teacher, a man named Gary Soneji. As Cross gets pulled deeper into the strange world of the kidnapper, it becomes clear he is not what he seems....
-
-
Easy-read, fast moving detective thriller.
- By K. J. Kelly on 16-10-18
-
The Key to Rebecca
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Tim Downie
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He is known to the Germans as 'Sphinx', to others as Alex Wolff, a European businessman. He arrives suddenly in Cairo from out of the desert, armed with a radio set, a lethal blade and a copy of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca - a ruthless man with a burning, relentless conviction that he will win at all costs. The stakes are high, for the survival of the British campaign in North Africa is in the balance. Only Major William Vandam, an intelligence officer, and the beautiful courtesan Elene can put an end to Wolff's brilliant clandestine reports of British troop movements and strategic plans.
-
-
The key to Rebecca
- By Banjoman on 22-06-20
-
Down and Out in Paris and London
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Jeremy Northam
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An autobiographical study, Down and Out in Paris and London follows Orwell as he tramps around both Paris and London. Pawning his belongings to buy food, unemployment, drinking heavily and jostling for a place in homeless hostels are but a few of the experiences related with candour and insight in this unabridged exclusive audiobook. Orwell was arguably one of the first 'gonzo' journalists.
-
-
Superb
- By Richard Blant on 20-07-15
-
The Ship of Brides
- By: Jojo Moyes
- Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Australia, 1946: 650 brides are departing for England to meet the men they married in wartime. But instead of the luxury liner they were expecting, they find themselves aboard an aircraft carrier, alongside a thousand men. On the sun-baked decks, old loves and past promises become distant memories, and tensions are stretched to the limit as brides and husbands change their minds. And for Frances Mackenzie, it soon becomes clear that the journey is more important than the destination....
-
-
History made personal
- By Kirstine on 10-07-18
-
A Place of Execution
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Paddy Glynn
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the Peak District village of Scarsdale, 13-year-old girls didn’t just run away. So when Alison Carter vanished in the winter of '63, everyone knew it was a murder. Catherine Heathcote remembers the case well - a child herself when Alison vanished. Now a journalist, she persuades DI George Bennett to speak of the hunt for Alison. But when a fresh lead emerges, Bennett tries to stop the story - plunging Catherine into a world of buried secrets and revelations.
-
-
'Nice'
- By Kathleen M Moon on 18-12-15
-
The Long Call
- Now a major ITV series starring Ben Aldridge as Detective Matthew Venn
- By: Ann Cleeves
- Narrated by: Ben Aldridge
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In North Devon, where the rivers Taw and Torridge converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father's funeral takes place. The day Matthew turned his back on the strict evangelical community in which he grew up, he lost his family, too. Now he's back, not just to mourn his father at a distance, but to take charge of his first major case in the Two Rivers region; a complex place not quite as idyllic as tourists suppose.
-
-
Slow, Oh so Slow
- By Maggie Foster on 14-04-21
-
Along Came a Spider
- Alex Cross, Book 1
- By: James Patterson
- Narrated by: Ako Mitchell
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Random House presents the audiobook edition of Along Came a Spider by James Patterson. The international best seller introducing Detective Alex Cross. Two children have been kidnapped from an elite private school in Washington, DC, and Alex Cross is charged with finding them. The kidnapper is their maths teacher, a man named Gary Soneji. As Cross gets pulled deeper into the strange world of the kidnapper, it becomes clear he is not what he seems....
-
-
Easy-read, fast moving detective thriller.
- By K. J. Kelly on 16-10-18
-
The Key to Rebecca
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Tim Downie
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He is known to the Germans as 'Sphinx', to others as Alex Wolff, a European businessman. He arrives suddenly in Cairo from out of the desert, armed with a radio set, a lethal blade and a copy of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca - a ruthless man with a burning, relentless conviction that he will win at all costs. The stakes are high, for the survival of the British campaign in North Africa is in the balance. Only Major William Vandam, an intelligence officer, and the beautiful courtesan Elene can put an end to Wolff's brilliant clandestine reports of British troop movements and strategic plans.
-
-
The key to Rebecca
- By Banjoman on 22-06-20
-
Down and Out in Paris and London
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Jeremy Northam
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An autobiographical study, Down and Out in Paris and London follows Orwell as he tramps around both Paris and London. Pawning his belongings to buy food, unemployment, drinking heavily and jostling for a place in homeless hostels are but a few of the experiences related with candour and insight in this unabridged exclusive audiobook. Orwell was arguably one of the first 'gonzo' journalists.
-
-
Superb
- By Richard Blant on 20-07-15
-
The Hollow Crown
- The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some of the greatest heroes and villains in British history were thrown together in these turbulent times: Henry V, whose victory at Agincourt and prudent rule at home marked the high point of the medieval monarchy; Edward IV, who was handed his crown by the scheming soldier Warwick the Kingmaker, before their alliance collapsed into a fight to the death; and the last Plantagenet, Richard III, who stole the throne and murdered his own nephews, the Princes in the Tower.
-
-
More unbelievable then Game of Thrones!!
- By Foxhole on 28-01-19
-
EMPEROR: The Gates of Rome, Book 1 (Unabridged)
- By: Conn Iggulden
- Narrated by: Robert Glenister
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a small estate just outside Rome in the first century BC, two boys become blood brothers, little imagining the extraordinary future that lies before them. As friends and rivals, Gaius and Marcus are destined to find lasting fame.
-
-
Superb but there is an issue
- By Anonymous User on 02-01-19
-
Dead Simple
- Roy Grace, Book 1
- By: Peter James
- Narrated by: Tim Bruce
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was meant to be a harmless stag-night prank. A few hours later Michael Harrison has disappeared, and his friends are dead. With only three days to the wedding, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace - a man haunted by the shadow of his own missing wife - is contacted by Michael's beautiful, distraught fiancée, Ashley Harper. Grace discovers that the one man who ought to know Michael Harrison's whereabouts is saying nothing.
-
-
LOVED it!
- By Keetz on 31-03-16
-
Whisky from Small Glasses
- A D.C.I. Daley Thriller, Book 1
- By: Denzil Meyrick
- Narrated by: David Monteath
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
DCI Jim Daley is sent from the city to investigate a murder after the body of a woman is washed up on an idyllic beach on the West Coast of Scotland. Far away from urban resources, he finds himself a stranger in a close-knit community. Love, betrayal, fear and death stalk the small town, as Daley investigates a case that becomes more deadly than he could possibly imagine, in this compelling Scottish crime novel infused with intrigue and dark humour.
-
-
Well written characters let down by tired tropes of female victims
- By lizzie on 23-08-17
-
A Mind to Murder
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An Adam Dalgliesh mystery. Set in London, A Mind to Murder is the second novel in the Adam Dalgliesh series and a thrilling work of crime fiction from P.D . James, the award-winning author of Death Comes to Pemberley and The Children of Men. A piercing scream, shattering the evening calm, brings Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh hurrying from his literary party to the nearby Steen Psychiatric Clinic, where he discovers the body of a woman sprawled on the basement floor, a chisel thrust through her heart.
-
-
Excellent story brought alive
- By Linda on 04-12-15
-
The House at Sea's End
- By: Elly Griffiths
- Narrated by: Jane McDowell
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A team of archaeologists, investigating coastal erosion on the north Norfolk coast, unearth six bodies buried at the foot of a cliff. How long have they been there? What could have happened to them? Forensics expert Ruth Galloway and DCI Nelson are drawn together again to unravel the past. Tests reveal that the bodies have lain, preserved in the sand, for sixty years. The mystery of their deaths stretches back to the Second World War, a time when Great Britain was threatened by invasion.
-
-
My favourite out of the first three!
- By Ann D on 05-03-16
-
The Various Haunts of Men
- Simon Serrailler 1
- By: Susan Hill
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A woman vanishes in the fog up on "the Hill", an area locally known for its tranquillity and peace. The police are not alarmed; people usually disappear for their own reasons. But when a young girl, an old man, and even a dog disappear, no one can deny that something untoward is happening in this quiet cathedral town.
-
-
An unusual way to start a series
- By Linda on 27-06-14
-
I Capture the Castle
- By: Dodie Smith
- Narrated by: Jenny Agutter
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"I write this sitting at the kitchen sink" is the first line of a novel about love, sibling rivalry, and a bohemian existence in a crumbling castle in the middle of nowhere. Cassandra Mortmin's journal records her fadingly glamorous stepmother, her beautiful, wistful older sister, and the man to whom they owe both their isolation and poverty: Father. The author of one experimental novel, and a minor cause celebre, he has since suffered from writer's block and is determined to drag his family down with him.
-
-
funny and well written
- By Patricia Moffett on 22-05-06
-
Call for the Dead
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This novel, set in London in the late 1950s, finds George Smiley engaged in the humdrum job of security vetting. But when a Foreign Office civil servant commits suicide after an apparently unproblematic interview, Smiley is baffled. Refusing to believe that Fennan shot himself soon after making a cup of cocoa and asking the exchange to telephone him in the morning, Smiley decides to investigate – only to uncover a murderous conspiracy.
-
-
A refreshing change
- By eatough1999 on 27-01-15
-
Bring Up the Bodies
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By 1535 Thomas Cromwell, the blacksmith's son, is far from his humble origins. Chief Minister to Henry VIII, his fortunes have risen with those of Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, for whose sake Henry has broken with Rome and created his own church. In Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel explores one of the most mystifying and frightening episodes in English history: the destruction of Anne Boleyn.
-
-
Worthy sequel to Wolf Hall
- By catsatcastle on 14-11-12
-
Wolf Hall
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 24 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need, comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor.
-
-
Mannered style. Dreary reading. Left me cold.
- By Amazon Customer on 14-06-18
-
Mimi's Ghost
- A Novel
- By: Tim Parks
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Morris Duckworth can't get over Massimina, or Mimi, as he likes to refer to her. But then, he should have thought of that before he kidnapped and killed her. Only now, living in Verona and married to Mimi's sister, does he appreciate how much he misses her and how blindly he has stumbled into a trap of fate. Struggling to adjust to his good fortune, with a lavish house and cushy job, our unsavory hero finds that his new success is rife with tribulation: not least his pushy bride's staggering sexual appetite.
Summary
A tour-de-force of historical imagination, this is the story of three young men at the dawn of the French Revolution. Georges-Jacques Danton: zealous, energetic, debt-ridden. Maximilien Robespierre: small, diligent, and terrified of violence. And Camille Desmoulins: a genius of rhetoric, charming, handsome, but erratic and untrustworthy.
As these key figures of the French Revolution taste the addictive delights of power, they must also come to face the horror that follows.
More from the same
What listeners say about A Place of Greater Safety
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S
- 13-08-14
A human study of good intent, power and corruption
A gripping tale based on historical events, extremely well read, each character having his own voice.
A great study of human behaviour, illustrates well the tensions between the educated and uneducated, those able to understand widely and those with narrow views. It also shows how ready we are to sacrifice 'others' for the 'good of society' as if we really understand what that is. A 'must listen to again'.
The following quote from Robespierre's private notebooks really resonated with me - sadly!
What is our name?
The constitution for the benefit of the people.
Who are likely to oppose us?
The rich and corrupt.
What methods will they employ?
Slander and hypocrisy.
What factors will encourage the use of such means?
The ignorance of ordinary people.
When will the people be educated?
When they have enough to eat and when the rich and the government stop bribing treacherous tongues and pens to deceive them; when their interests are identified with the people.
When will this be?
Never.
35 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Maddy
- 04-06-14
Highly recommended
I like Hilary Mantel and I had tried reading this in book form and not got very far. The reader was excellent with voices for all the characters and made sense of the beginning of the book where all the characters are introduced and it can get a bit confusing. You don't need to know anything about the French Revolution to be able to follow this book which focusses on 3 of the main protagonists. Like her later 'political' books, Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies (also highly recommended - the reader of Wolf Hall is particularly good) this mixes the political and the personal with great insight into the development of political extremism and its consequences. The portrayal of Robespierre is particularly astute. You can see how the author honed her writing skills to go from this to Wolf Hall - this has the same tautness and, despite its length, conciseness of expression and vividness of imagery. Highly recommended.
46 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Georgie Anniss
- 16-04-14
Brilliant
Would you listen to A Place of Greater Safety again? Why?
Yes - the book contains so much historical detail that listening to the whole book again will bring out the bits that I missed the first time around (and just be a great pleasure).
What was one of the most memorable moments of A Place of Greater Safety?
I love the way that Hilary Mantel uses language; I am constantly surprised and delighted by her ability to capture the essence of a character or scene in just a few perfectly chosen words.
Which scene did you most enjoy?
I have not studied this period of history and so I found the development of the characters and the way in which the progression of the revolution is described really fascinating.
Any additional comments?
I loved the narrator - I found his voice incredibly soothing and the range and diversity of his characterisations was unbelievable.
28 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mrs
- 08-12-13
Fascinating
This is a big book, and tells the stories of three leading figures from the French Revolution - Robespierre, Danton and Camille Desmoulins. They are different in character, but united, initially, by political ideal and by friendship.
This is not an easy listen - you have to pay attention, think and try to understand. There is blood, politics, machinations abounded.
I found it fascinating, and was drawn into an understanding of the terrible events, as well as wondering, overall, how much difference it made.
Highly recommended
28 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Aroura Boriales
- 05-09-13
Loved it!
Hillary Mantell is surely the queen of historical fiction. This book is every bit as good as her two Cromwell novels and it is fascinating to see in this earlier book how she develops the techniques which make those books so gripping. Only she could invest characters who bored the pants off me in my history A level with such life. The Frech Revolution comes alive vividly in all it's passion and horror. It is a long book but is totally gripping from beginning to end. Can't wait for the next one!
34 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Christine
- 26-08-13
Long and satisfying.
This was an excellent experience overall, with wholly believable characterisations (particularly Camille). I wish those reviewers who gave the superb Jonathan Keeble only 1 star for performance would explain. It just doesn't make sense!
26 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jim
- 15-04-14
Wide screen historical fiction
I loved Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies. Well written genre fiction is such a treat; good dialogue, believable characters and a great story brought together by someone who really knows what they're about. I read Iain M. Banks or Elmore Leonard and I want all science fiction or crime novels to be that good and unfortunately they're not. But Hilary Mantel writes so wonderfully that I was surprised that the reviews of this novel were a bit lukewarm and it put me off buying it for a while. In the end though a combination of "How bad can it be?" and a primitive sense that 34 hours was really good value prompted me to buy it and I'm very glad I did.
The "Cromwell" books achieve a standard for me that this couldn't quite reach; hence the possibly unfair 4 stars; but by any standard it's great writing. She has a lot of characters to pull together and the twists and turns of the French Revolution are incredibly complicated but she marshals a huge cast of characters in service of a great story. I found myself gripped by their fates and fascinated by the big picture stuff at the same time. One example of this is a touching moment where Marie Antoinette is about to get into the cart that will take her to her execution and she has a moment of dread about what's waiting for her at the other end of the journey. She needs to urinate and has to squat in the street. This story is apparently true and for a moment it made me genuinely pity her as a real person, which isn't all that easy when dealing with such strong historical archetypes.
In summary, this is a great listen. It doesn't benefit from the kind of sympathetic central character that the "Cromwell" books have but in fairness it's trying to tell the story of a much more chaotic period featuring many more historical characters who left behind a mountain of documentary evidence. Pretty much everyone comes off as callous or vindictively murderous at some point. So Mantel has a different, difficult job to do and she does it characteristically well.
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Julian Summer
- 10-01-15
Overlong and Boring
It is easy to see a Place of Greater Safety as Hilary Mantel learning her trade, an rough draft which she later polished into Wolf Hall. It is, however, far from as enjoyable as Wolf Hall and suffers greatly from there being no main protagonist, such as Thomas Cromwell, who is a three dimensional character, about whom we care. Instead there are three(at least) main characters, all of whom lack detailed characterisation and about whom we care little. In addition new characters pop up at random and then often vanish without explanation. It is a very odd book, being neither a history book, nor a novel, as it is largely factual, plus invented dialogue. As a result an uncomfortable mixture of both. Its attempt to cover the period in great detail makes the pace very slow and Mantel's relentless use of the historical present merely serves to jar and annoy. The reader on the other hand, is excellent, especially his women and his ability to keep different voices for several men is very clever. Without him I couldn't have finished this,.
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Axel
- 13-11-13
a bit too much
What did you like about this audiobook?
The second half was more engaging than the first.
What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?
Overall quite good narration.
Do you have any additional comments?
Hillary Mantel has obviously developed her own style and I loved her other books. To my mind she overdoes it a little bit especially in the beginning of this work. Changes of perspectives, developing too many strands and also adding a fair share of unnecessary linguistic acrobatics I nearly decided to stop listening about 8 hours into the book. I made it to the end and overall I am glad I did but if ever Hillary Mantel decided to take my advice it would be : Sometimes less is more
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ben
- 31-05-13
A fascinating, cold and brutal slice of history
99.9% of people picking up this book will be people who've finished with Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies and want more coldly calculated beheadings from Mantel. The history is fascinating, as are the three main characters. Her prose isn't yet what it would become in her later novels, it's almost entirely just clean and functional, and the moments of embellishment come across as a little purple by contrast. The pronoun references can be hard to follow in the audiobook, with so many characters performing similar roles and the narrative's habit of jumping between scenes and perspective without warning. With so many players all involved in the backstabbing, show trials and sexual misadventures, you start wishing for the narrator to put on more hammy but distinct accents, like the narrator of Wolf Hall or Roy Dotrice who does The Song of Ice and Fire books. That said, Desmoulin's stutter perfectly captures his fey charisma
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Emily
- 01-12-13
No cast of characters available
I'm sure I will love this book when I can get hold of the cast of characters - it is in the print edition and the kindle edition and is vital to keeping track of the story with hundreds of minor characters. Unfortunately the Kindle sample has the list at the end (so it's not in the free sample and you would have to buy the book to get it). The only failing of the audiobook format.
For Hilary Mantel's other books (Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies) a friend sent me a photo of the first few pages of her hard copy and I referred to them frequently as I was listening.
Some solution to this problem from Audible would be much appreciated!!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Bjerkana
- 06-07-14
Living breathing flesh on history's bare bones
If you've learned about the French Revolution at school, you've probably assembled a jumble of facts about the dramatic actions of the revolutionaries and the mob and the outcome of it all. Hilary Mantel dives beneath that to breathe life into the characters who populated the events.
In this well-researched book, she draws flesh and blood portraits of the leaders of the revolution and what led them to the events of that stormy time. You feel embedded in it, experiencing what drove them from crisis to crisis and directed their actions. You see their relationships, their trials and their temptations. Although the details have to be surmised, they are based on careful analysis of the writings of the real people involved, drawing out their motivations and beliefs.
This is an immensely powerful book, a tour de force, which drew me so into the times that I found it difficult sometimes to relate to my day-to-day 21st century life after a session of listening.
Jonathon Keeble's brilliant performance, complete with consistent and identifiable voices for the characters, enhanced it further, making it an experience I won't readily forget. I felt I lived the times. I look forward to further offerings from this author and this narrator.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jenny
- 20-09-13
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose -
If you could sum up A Place of Greater Safety in three words, what would they be?
Detailed, very detailed
What was one of the most memorable moments of A Place of Greater Safety?
One, and I stress only one, of the most memorable descriptions is that of the execution of Marie Antoinette. Little snippets, like having had her hair dressed up and off her neck because she anticipated that it would be necessary, the executioner hacks it off to the required length anyway - and burns it, so that it will never become a relic.
This may be how it was for Madame Guillotine, or it may be the author's detailing, but this happens over and over again.
What does Jonathan Keeble bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
I don't think I could read the book. It is, like Hilary Mantel's two and soon to be three historical books on the Tudors, a meandering tale that moves from past to present tense; in and out of dialogue; with many characters, each of whom Jonathan Keeble brings to life using a different voice/ accent.It is the narration that gives life and colour to this edition; and helps to sort out the very many characters along the way.
If you could take any character from A Place of Greater Safety out to dinner, who would it be and why?
Lucile Desmoulins, wife of Camille Desmoulins - a clever and observant woman, much underrated initially, as Desmoulins' first love was her mother and he only married Lucile because Annette/Anne would not consider divorcing her husband. Lucile was in the midst of the group - Robespierre, Danton, Desmoulins, Marat and the many other men who drove the French Revolution with their commitment and foresight.
If she was not available - and she was executed before him - I would invite Maximilien Robespierre. Mind you, I doubt if he would accept - he wasn't quite a recluse, but he was not a social adept. Kept his energies focussed on the task in hand, which for him, was to improve the wellbeing and lives of the poor people of France. I liked his gentility and kindness.
Any additional comments?
4 sections and almost 34 hours - the book takes some commitment to read/listen to. And that is one of its remarkable virtues - imagine having written it! It is very detailed and the point of view changes a lot, making it a challenge to keep up with the characters and scene, never mind picking up the thread if you have to stop listening for any length of time.
The writing is so very good. Very Hilary Mantel. It is worth bearing in mind that this was her first - that's right - first novel and was written when she was 22 years old! In the interview that she does at the end of the Kindle version, she tells the interviewer that it nearly killed her; that she put it onto a shelf for decades before it was resurrected by new circumstances in her writing career.
In a word of warning, if you know nothing about the French Revolution, this is not the best book from which to increase your knowledge. It helped that I had some idea of dates and times and events and, to a lesser degree, persons from that cataclysmic time in the history of France. Get out your encyclopaedias, your Baroness Orczy and Jean Plaidy, and there is always good old Google.
Then come to Hilary Mantel, for an entirely new, and surprisingly intimate, perspective on The French Revolution.
2 people found this helpful