Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Ring of Bright Water

  • By: Gavin Maxwell
  • Narrated by: David Rintoul
  • Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (114 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.
Ring of Bright Water cover art

Ring of Bright Water

By: Gavin Maxwell
Narrated by: David Rintoul
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 £13.00

Buy Now for £13.00

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...

Tarka the Otter cover art
Duncton Wood cover art
The Wild Places cover art
A Town Like Alice cover art
Wild Fell cover art
The Peregrine cover art
A Complete Guide to British Birds cover art
My Family and Other Animals cover art
The Magic Mountain cover art
The Lost Rainforests of Britain cover art
Rooted cover art
The Book of Wilding cover art
Brother Cadfael cover art
Watership Down cover art
The Bookseller of Inverness cover art
Finding Hildasay cover art

Summary

'Ring of Bright Water' represents Gavin Maxwell's account of his life at Camusfearna, a remote cottage in the western Highlands, and in particular the two otters, Mijbil and Edal, who became his constant and much-loved companions.
©1960 Gavin Maxwell (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Ring of Bright Water

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    87
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    81
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    72
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0

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

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

Not for those sensitive to animal death

I’m sure this is a wonderful and well written book, however I could not enjoy it or finish it. I am very sensitive when it comes to accounts of animal suffering and death and found this book upsetting. I was advised there was more and worse to come so gave up the story during the first chapter.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

magical

This is my favourite Audible download so far. Gavin Maxwell's wonderful prose had me completely enthralled, his story is beautifully and evocatively descriptive without being sentimental, and the narration is faultless. It ended too soon and I'm only sorry that the further two parts of the trilogy do not seem to be available in audio format, but I have bought the book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

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

So wanted more

I so wanted more....I wanted to know how this new Ottar continued to live & thrive with him there.
Great notator lovely voice. So worth a listen
Thank you

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

WARNING! to all who love animals

Overall a mediocre story with animal cruelty and unnecessary killing of wildlife.

The only redeeming feature is the Otters themselves. But even they are badly treated.

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
    4 out of 5 stars

Ring of Bright Water - Very bright

I really enjoyed this, mainly because the quality of the narration and the story of a life so isolated and remote it almost took you to the cottage and the countryside...you could smell it!

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

Loved it!

I have seen the film several times and has had a mark on my life. However I’d never read the book itself. So glad I’ve got round to it now.

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

Rural Scotland At Its Best

It is tough, it is worth it, it is Scotland. To bond so well with nature and community in a time when rural life was much harder than today is inspiring.

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

Beautifully evocative story of a genuine connection with the wilds

Moving. Authentic and completely unselfconscious.

An absolute tonic.

Makes me yearn to return to the northbof Scotland with all its raw majesty.

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

Some Like it Otter

Although I have misgivings about keeping wild animals in a Chelsea flat ( not least because of the noise inflicted on the neighbours) and although I resent toffs able to indulge their eccentricities, I absolutely loved this memoir and the gentle spirit of the author. I recently saw the film - a very different narrative but equally as enjoyable - and so immediately downloaded the book. Maxwell's descriptions of landscape and life in a remote part of Scotland are so evocative and heartfelt as is his love for otters. I can't stop thinking about the woman who passed away in debt and whose creditor leant her stuff on tick knowing he would never be paid back or the naive geese that follow Maxwell on a hunting trip!

Special praise should be credited to the narrator David Rintoul who is not only the perfect casting for Maxwell but who has a calm, polite and nuanced voice that I could listen to forever.

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

Otterly charming

A primary school teacher read this to me as child It's stayed with me since.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!