Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Betrayal

  • By: Helen Dunmore
  • Narrated by: Jilly Bond
  • Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (98 ratings)
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.
The Betrayal cover art

The Betrayal

By: Helen Dunmore
Narrated by: Jilly Bond
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. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

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...

Exposure cover art
Birdcage Walk cover art
Bel Canto cover art
The One I Was cover art
The Echo Chamber cover art
We Shall Remember cover art
The Poisonwood Bible cover art
The Lines We Leave Behind cover art
The Things We Never Said cover art

Summary

Leningrad in 1952: a city recovering from war, where Andrei, a young doctor and Anna, a school teacher, are forging a life together. Summers at the dacha, preparations for the hospital ball, work and the care of 16-year-old Kolya fill their minds. They try hard to avoid coming to the attention of the authorities, but even so their happiness is precarious. Stalin is still in power, and the Ministry for State Security has new targets in its sights. When Andrei has to treat the seriously ill child of a senior secret police officer he finds himself and his family caught in an impossible game - for in a land ruled by whispers and watchfulness, betrayal can come from those closest to you.

©2010 Helen Dunmore (P)2010 Isis Publishing Ltd

Critic reviews

"An absorbing and thoughtful tale." ( Guardian)
"Superbly well paced." ( Telegraph)
"Dunmore's writing... is sensuous, physical and almost synaesthetic." ( Independent)

What listeners say about The Betrayal

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    58
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    41
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    43
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

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

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

miserable reminder of Stalin's Russia

well written but terrible. A much loved and respected paediatrician is tricked into taking on the care of a fatally sick son of a top KGB official. The consequences, despite excellent medical care and totally beyond the control of the doctor, have profound implications for the patient and doctor and his family.I had to skip the years of misery, read the end and then go back and try to endure them. awful and probably very representative of what went on under Stalin.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Moving and insightful

I enjoyed this story; there was enough human interest as well as historical content to keep the reader wondering what the end was going to be like.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Betrayal

I never thought a sequel would be as good as the original but Betrayal is equally as good as The Siege

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Brutal but compelling!

Helen Dunmore does it again! I'd already read The Siege', so I opted for 'The Betrayal', I'm so glad I did, it was brought to life by a great narrator. We in the west always had an inkling of how brutal Russian history under Stalin was (a guide mentioned it to us on a tour we were on in St. Petersburg or Leningrad in the story). But how lucky are we to enjoy freedom & liberty to say what we like & have our own opinion. A great story in a harrowing time.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Historic Fiction at its best

Superb follow up to The Siege and a gripping story, beautifully written and narrated.
This story shows the impact on everyday people, of the dark period of fear and denouncements under Stalin.
Superb!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

wonderful

Excellent sequel to The Seige. Brilliantly researched. powerful storytelling. v gripping indeed. Thoroughly good read.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

not dunmore's best but worth a read

this was a slow burn. it recycled and repeated from The Siege which is a much better novel. The fear and paranoia of Stalinist Russia was however suberbly done as was the Lubiyanka section.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Excellent

beautifully written and important to listen to. loved it. the reader was brilliant and brought appropriate passion to the story.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Excellent

This is the third Helen Dunmore book I have read in as many weeks. I find her books totally unpretentious, but beautifully written. This is the second book involving the same characters. It does not have a very complicated plot and the subject matter is very stark but I become totally absorbed by the characters. I can't wait to read her other books.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!