A Place of Greater Safety

By: Hilary Mantel

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

It is 1789, and three young provincials have come to Paris to make their way. Georges-Jacques Danton, an ambitious young lawyer, is energetic, pragmatic, debt-ridden - and hugely but erotically ugly. Maximilien Robespierre, also a lawyer, is slight, diligent, and terrified of violence. His dearest friend, Camille Desmoulins, is a conspirator and pamphleteer of genius. A charming gadfly, erratic and untrustworthy, bisexual and beautiful, Camille is obsessed by one woman and engaged to marry another, her daughter. In the swells of revolution, they each taste the addictive delights of power, and the price that must be paid for it.

©1992 Hilary Mantel (P)2013 W.F. Howes

French Revolution

What a fantastic job Hilary Mantel did on this book and the readers were great,

Less a novel

than an attempt to encompass the whole history of the Revolution in the love triangle of three men. It’s wonderful, and never boring, but is a bit exhausting.

The narrator goes in for voices. Working class characters have cockney accents, which is a bit odd but gets the point across. He gives some of the women shrill and unpleasant accents which is too bad and ruins some passages. His voice for Camille has the stutter which Mantel refers to but does not indicate directly in his speech. At first, I found that hard to listen to, but over time it became my favorite part of the performance.

Ignores basics of audiobook production

This recording ignores the basic principle that the narration should all be within a constrained dynamic range. this is not a stage production. at times it seems that some sections of the story have been recorded at different times and studios than others with very different volume levels. and it is not clear why it was decided that some of the content required or would be served best by the more histrionic high volume delivery. very disappointing.

Niche, but excellent

If you like the French Revolution you may really enjoy this book. I found it brought some of the major characters of the French Revolution and the terror to life and brought significant humanity and depth of understanding to a complicated series of events. I think it might be a challenge for readers/listeners not familiar with the French Revolution.

Phenomenal

In-depth and riveting, this novel provides a glimpse into the French Revolution from the perspective of the revolutionaries themselves. The performance is superb and leaves nothing to be desired.