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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall cover art

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

By: Anne Brontë
Narrated by: Alex Jennings,Jenny Agutter
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Summary

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.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc

What listeners say about The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Another book I studied for English Literature. I liked this one! I liked the fact that two different narrators were used: one for Markham and one for Helen. Jenny Agutter excels. Very enjoyable.
My only criticisms are you can hear a tiny bit of background noise very briefly, but it is acceptable. Also, at the part where Markham starts to narrate again, one has just got used to J.A's reading which is superior, and I don't feel he did justice to their agonising meeting. This rather spoilt it for me. I think it would have been better to dramatise it with the two readers at that point.
Other than that this is a fine narration.

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25 people found this helpful

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

Poor direction.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It's a good story.

Any additional comments?

Unfortunately several parts of the narration were inaudible due to low volume. When Alex Jennings was speaking some of Helen's dialogue he did it in a whisper. No doubt this was for dramatic effect, however without increasing the volume it is inaudible. This is irritating and inconvenient. This is by no means a criticism of Alex Jennings narration, it is a criticism of direction/production.

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16 people found this helpful

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

Performance better than the material

This book has been on my read/listen list for many years. I have recently been using Audible to get me through some 'classics' that I've avoided in the past so this was one of these books.

I enjoyed it just enough to give it 3 stars, a low score for me, though I rate the reading as 4 star value.

I understand that it was a ground-breaking work when it was written and I did listen to it in that context, but I simply didn't enjoy it as much as many of the classics I've been catching up on recently. It lacks the humour of Dickens and the depth of Trollope, for example. I wasn't fully engaged by any of the characters and the plot is weak - even halting.

There is too much moody striding about on the moors for my taste, but without the compensating Wuthering passion - the drama fizzles out. The end is trite and far from feminist even by the contemporary standards of the day.

The narration by Alex Jennings is faultless and lifts those parts of the recording. That by Jenny Agutta is perhaps not as good but her reading did somehow suit the subdued - borderline boring - persona of her character. So I think they both made the most of what they had to work with. This narration saves the book from being too dull to go on with.

I am quite glad I listened to it, though once or twice I considered just starting something new. It has filled that 'gap' in my reading history. My mind tended to wander off here and there but it didn't matter - I didn't miss any crucial action.

I would not really recommend this listen - but it's not terrible.

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15 people found this helpful

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

Best of all the Brontes? A gem.

I've read the better known Bronte novels by each sister, but I was utterly bowled over by this. It is storytelling at its best, and Alex Jennings has the perfect voice and tone for it. Jenny Agutter does her part well too but Jennings is faultless. This should be on any creative writing curriculum as an exemplar of pace, plot, characterisation, local colour, context, brewing romance, suspense, twists and turns, and the masterful and vivid use of the English Language. It's an absolute gem.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Plenty of drama!

An old favourite, beautifully rendered. Thank you so much, I really enjoyed listening. I am sure you will too.

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9 people found this helpful

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

thank you Alex Jennings and Jenny Agutter

It goes without saying that this is an extraordinarily enthralling story. So it needs a performance to match, delivered here by the wonderful Jenny Agutter, and the always excellent Alex Jennings. Hours and hours and listening bliss.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

About a marriage

Very well written and relevant. Shows what a marriage should be about as an unselfish approach to a whole life

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4 people found this helpful

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

A brilliant novel and great narration

A brilliant novel! So modern in thought, Anne Bronte really know how to write fantastic female characters.
The narration is very well done and is very nice to have 2 actors speak the text as it would feel misplaced if only Alex Jennings had read the whole thing (though he does narrate it very well), Jenny Agutter brings out Helens character but maybe not quite as powerful a performance, but don't let that put you off in any way. This book is one that should be read/listen to and this has kept me very well entertained and enthralled over the last few weeks 👍

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4 people found this helpful

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

Enjoyable classic

Well read by both narrators. They brought the book to life and transporter you there.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Not every actor is good at audiobooks!

Was going along trippingly with this until I hit Jenny Agutter’s first bit. Dear God but it’s flat. What’s the point of giving characters individual voices yet putting do little light and shade in the telling. Indeed it isn’t a telling, it’s a reading, and one that sounds very unprepared. Such stresses as there are in the reading are randomly sprinkled and give away a lack of familiarity with the text.
Words are beautifully enunciated, and I’m sure she looked wonderfully poised as she read, but it’s a desperately superficial effort.
Maybe she’ll improve as it goes on.

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2 people found this helpful