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  • The Mayor of Casterbridge

  • By: Thomas Hardy
  • Narrated by: Tony Britton
  • Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (40 ratings)

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The Mayor of Casterbridge

By: Thomas Hardy
Narrated by: Tony Britton
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Publisher's Summary

Exclusively from Audible

This audiobook is about the rise and fall of Michael Henchard. While out-of-work he gets drunk at a fair and impulsively sells his wife and baby for five guineas to a sailor. Eighteen years later he is reunited with his wife and daughter, who discover that he has gained wealth and respect and is now the most prominent man in Casterbridge. Though he attempts to make amends he is no less impulsive and once again loses everything due to bad luck and his violent, selfish and vengeful nature.

In this dramatic audiobook, Hardy sympathetically portrays a deeply flawed tragic hero, searching for love and acceptance from his community. It poses the question: do we shape our own fate or is the outcome inevitable? This tragic tale is played out against the vivid backdrop of a close-knit Dorsetshire town.

Thomas Hardy was an English writer and one of the most significant novelists and poets of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was greatly influenced by Charles Dickens and William Wordsworth.

Narrator Biography

In 1952, Tony Britton came to major attention after his role as Rameses in The Firstborn at London's Winter Garden Theatre. A renowned classical stage star, he has also appeared in numerous British films since the 1950s; most notably Operation Amsterdam (1959), Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) and The Day of the Jackal (1973). In 1975, he won the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Nearly Man. From 1983-1990, he starred in the long running BBC sitcom Don't Wait Up alongside Nigel Havers and Dinah Sheridan. In 2013 he performed in a Gala Performance of King Lear at the Old Vic, London. Over the years Tony has lent his soothing voice to a huge collection of audio productions including Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn and Anthony Trollope's An Old Man's Love.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Mayor of Casterbridge

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Tony Briton is brilliant.

What a great listen. Not my first time reading or listening to this Hardy novel. But the Mayor of Casterbridge is one of my favourites, and brought alive brilliantly by Mr Britton.
Thank you.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Classic entertainment!

What a book! Perfect in every way, a great classic novel and brilliant, considered narration by the wonderful Tony Britten, what more could be desired to while away many hours. Wonderful!

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Twists and turns

Such amazing insights of human nature. Great character development. Plot twists. So well read. Listened with my husband and now off to listen to Tess of the D’Urbevilles by same author.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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excellent literature, beautifully read

This was quite an eventful storyline by standards of Hardy and most classic literature. Enjoyed it.

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