The Tale of Genji cover art

The Tale of Genji

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
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.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Tale of Genji

By: Murasaki Shikibu, Suematsu Kencho - translator
Narrated by: Elaine J. Sepani
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji in the 11th century to entertain the other women in the court. It follows the romantic exploits of the title character, an emperor’s son, as he navigates life within aristocratic society and eventually outside of it. Praised for its psychological insight into the characters’ motivations, the book greatly influenced Japanese culture and is widely considered the world’s first novel. In 1882, Suematsu Kencho translated a condensed version of the text into English, allowing this classic tale to reach a wider audience.

Public Domain (P)2018 Woodkeep Audio Action & Adventure Asian Classics Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction War & Military World Literature Military Imperial Japan

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Poor People cover art
The Tale of Genji, Volume 1 cover art
Classic Romance cover art
Persuasion (Seasons Edition -- Summer) cover art
The Idiot (AmazonClassics Edition) cover art
The Lady of the Camellias cover art
Love and Friendship (aka 'Love and Freindship') cover art
The Tragic Muse cover art
The Spoils of Poynton cover art
Persuasion and Poems by Jane Austen cover art
New Grub St cover art
Washington Square (Blackstone Audio Edition) cover art
The Bostonians cover art
Wives and Daughters cover art
Agnes Grey cover art
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship cover art
All stars
Most relevant
would likely have been an interesting story if not for the incredibly dull monotone delivery of the voice actress

Tale of Genji

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The Tale of Genji is a masterpiece of world literature, this audio version doesn’t do it justice. The readers voice is totally flat, there’s no modulation or expressiveness in the voice. Read the actual book or find a different version.

Disappointing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved the tale of Genji a lot for the language that it used was exquisite. But the voice I felt did not portray the writings as well as I would wish. The voice was a bit robotics and didn’t portray how poetic the words were. Still I think it was great for the story was interesting and fun to listen too.

Great story but less great voice

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story was spoiled by the very disappointing narration. It was a struggle to finish this audiobook.

Monotone delivery

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