Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Our Mutual Friend cover art

Our Mutual Friend

By: Charles Dickens,Lucinda Hawksley - introduction
Narrated by: Meera Syal,Lucinda Hawksley - introduction
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £31.99

Buy Now for £31.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Hard Times cover art
Little Dorrit cover art
The Pickwick Papers: Dickens on Dickens cover art
The Old Curiosity Shop cover art
Dombey and Son cover art
David Copperfield cover art
Nicholas Nickleby cover art
Martin Chuzzlewit cover art
Barnaby Rudge cover art
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A Radio Dramatization cover art
A Tale of Two Cities cover art
The Charles Dickens BBC Radio Drama Collection: The Later Years cover art
The Mystery of Edwin Drood cover art
Oliver Twist cover art
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby cover art
A Tale of Two Cities [Naxos] cover art

Summary

This definitive performance of Our Mutual Friend - Dickens' final completed novel - features expert narration by Meera Syal and an exclusive introduction written and read by Lucinda Hawksley, great-great-great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens. Hawksley is a biographer, author and lecturer whose wealth of knowledge on Dickens is both research-led and personal. She introduces us to the themes in Our Mutual Friend and tells us how they connect to the life of Dickens himself.

Full of both satire and social analysis, Our Mutual Friend looks at what could happen in Victorian England when a fortune passes to a working-class couple. The audiobook will enchant the listener with its larger-than-life characters, its poignant depiction of social injustice and the singular seed of hope with which Dickens hints at the possibility of a better tomorrow.

About the author

Having experienced the incarceration of his father, Charles Dickens had to abandon his studies at a young age and set to work in a factory so as to support himself. Despite his short-lived education, Dickens went on to write 15 novels, various articles, novellas and short stories. He lectured and led campaigns for children's rights and education and arguably became the ultimate self-made man.

About the narrator

Comedian, writer and actor Meera Syal rose to prominence as one of the creators of comedy sketch show Goodness Gracious Me and cemented herself as a household name in the UK portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, Ummi, in The Kumars at No. 42.

Multitalented Syal has penned novels, scripts and screenplays as well as lending her vocals to various songs and albums. Here she uses her voice to tell our Dickensian story with all the mastery you would expect from this talented performer.

Public Domain (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

Behind the scenes with Meera Syal

The British comedian and narrator of Our Mutual Friend shares her thoughts on Dickens' final completed novel.
0:00

What listeners say about Our Mutual Friend

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    158
  • 4 Stars
    39
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    156
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    11
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    150
  • 4 Stars
    34
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Audible have let Meera Syal down

Meera Syal is brilliant, so why have Audible directed this reading so badly? Compared to her interesting, lively, natural voice (see video clip on the book's webpage), this recording is slow, lacking in life, and sounds like it's being read for junior school children. Other Meera Syal audiobooks have been excellent, and I've listened to other versions of OMF many times - so anticipating this combination of narrator and book had me really excited - but I've ended up really disappointed, and after two tries, of nearly 3 hours each, I've finally, reluctantly - and sadly - thrown in the towel. I blame Audible for not sorting this out, and for letting down a brilliant narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I loved this book - the story is fantastic - but the narration nearly undid it for me. Shame as I like Meera Syal as an actor

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awful, awful narration

I can’t believe how highly others have rated this. It’s one of my favourite Dickens books but Meera Syal is a dreadful narrator. That she was narrating was actually one of the selling points for me because I generally really like her, but her style of reading is totally at odds with classic literature and would be more suited to children’s stories. She stresses all of the wrong words in sentences and the whole style really jars with the book. I’m so disappointed. I was really looking forward to listening to this having not read it for years. I couldn’t get past the first chapter.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Dreadful overacting

Had to give up on this book as I couldn’t bear listening to it anymore - dreadful overacting with the characters being given ridiculous voices, it’s like a parody.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narration detracts from the story

There is a mildly disinterested tone to the narration which really lets this audiobook down. Dickens demands vivacity and sparkle even in his darkest moments. The rest of this series demonstrate this magnificently. Meera Syal is a great actor, but somehow that disappears in this production. There is no drive or pace to it and you begin feel that no one cares much about anything and that nearly 35 hours is going to feel a lot longer. I had to stop.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not the narrator for me

Prefer David Timson by far, sorry. I really wanted to like Meera Syal but I didn't understand why some of the London characters didn't have London voices and it started to grate after a while. Also I felt the pace of the narration was a bit slow. Great story and characters, as always.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Meera Syal is an excellent narrator!

It took me a little while to get used to the language of the book, but once it got going I found myself enjoying it immensely. Meera Syal is so good at doing all the different voices of the characters (of which there are many); that you could tell who was speaking throughout. I'd love to see her narrating more books on audible, as she is such a delight to listen to!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Didn’t enjoy narration

I like Meera Syal, but I didn’t enjoy her narration. Her voice is quite nasal and I found it quite grating. I gave up after about 3 hours. The story had not really got going yet and it was too slow.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dickens at his very best !

Wonderfly narrated. Charles Dickens epic classic is beautifully delivered. A great tale that touches on the expectations of society and the perils trappings and evils of money

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Can't get into it

I love Meera as an actress, but I've really really struggled to listen to this. She's been great in character but otherwise really boring to listen to. I've only managed to listen to 5 chapters and with other narrators of Dickens I haven't been able to switch off the device because I've been so immersed. I'll try again but for now I'm taking it off my device. disappointed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful