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  • The Siege

  • By: Helen Dunmore
  • Narrated by: Jilly Bond
  • Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (176 ratings)
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The Siege cover art

The Siege

By: Helen Dunmore
Narrated by: Jilly Bond
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Summary

Leningrad, September 1941. German tanks surround the city, imprisoning those who live there. The besieged people of Leningrad face shells, starvation, and the Russian winter....

Interweaving two love affairs in two generations, The Siege draws us deep into the Levin's family struggle to stay alive during this terrible winter. It is a story about war and the wounds it inflicts on people's lives. It is also a lyrical and deeply moving celebration of love, life, and survival.

©2002 Helen Dunmore (P)2010 Isis Publishing Ltd

What listeners say about The Siege

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Harrowing and deeply moving

Many years ago I visited the memorial cemetery for the victims of the September 1941 to January 1944 siege of Leningrad and was deeply moved by the immense numbers who died, but this book shows what it must have been like for individuals.

The narrative starts slowly as we get to know the main characters and care about what happens to them. A picture is painted of their normal life, which makes their subsequent suffering and courage all the more poignant as they struggle day-by-day during the siege to keep alive. It's a vivid portrayal of the horrors of war for civilians

It may sound like a dismal listen but it is also uplifting for, although this is fiction, there must be thousands of untold stories from that time of the heroic efforts and bravery of ordinary people.

The narrator is excellent.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Intimate and moving

This novel takes you into the heart of the Leningrad siege, seen through the eyes of Anna, a resourceful young woman. It is beautifully written and two love affairs - the father's and Anna's - tie together all the research which clearly went into the book and make it live. The cold of the winter is so chilling I shivered listening to it and the business of simply surviving is very gripping. While I sometimes find Jilly Bond's voice a bit too light she does this novel full justice.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Existential heroics from civilians.

This is a civilian's view of war, and makes a great change of pace from the combatants' story. The sacrifices and privations of young and old as they stretch every last calorie to make it last. Helen Dunmore shows how the Russian people coped under siege, the lengths to which they had to go to stay alive, particularly the children. The freezing winters that made life for the attackers difficult also made it as difficult for those defending. Just to stay alive was heroic.
Jilly Bond does a good job narrating, sharing the voices of men, women and children under duress.
This isn't a happy story, but a heroic one. No-one faces gunfire or is even in uniform, but the struggle is no less severe for that. Well worth a listen. I recommend this book, all the more as it's not written by a Russian or a survivor of the siege themselves.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The Siege

Brilliant book - I read it before when it first came out but it was very special hearing the audio version - so WELL read

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Totally absorbing!

Loved this book & didn't want it to end even though the subject was so harrowing, Leningrad stripped of its veneer & laid bare, the human spirit mustn't be underestimated. Jilly Bond the narrator brings much to the story, I'm not sure you'd get the same pathos from reading the book yourself.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not my cup of tea

Is there anything you would change about this book?

One of the few audiobooks I didn't listen through to the end. Despite being set at a harrowing time in history, the story was too slow moving and the only character I found really interesting was a secondary character whose name I can't recall (and it was not the selfish father or the tedious Marina). But whoever she was, she had a bit of spark. However, I don't like giving wholly negative reviews and would like to balance this by saying that other members of my book club found it fascinating.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully written and well narrated

What does Jilly Bond bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

A narrator has the power to make or break a story, Jilly Bond is one of the best narrators I have come across

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A must listen

Helen Dunmore was a master writer. this novel made me cry and made me think as well as held me in the grip of its story. As with The Betrayal which follows this (although I listened to that first) this novel tells a story that is important people know and do not forget.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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excellent

Beautiful narration. i looked for others read by Jilly Bond but didn't fancy them but she was very good.
Wonderfully written- detailed and rich

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

harrowing tale of survival against the odds

This is a very well written story about the siege of Leningrad. It is about normal people, just like you and me, who find themselves in the most adverse circumstances, having to endure a blockade with the resulting lack of food. It is a truly harrowing tale of survival against the odds, of love amidst the misery, of beauty among the ugliness. Dunmore is a genius of creating a feeling of authenticity, you feel as if these people are real, and indeed the blockade really happened and more than a million people died of starvation.

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2 people found this helpful