The Mayor of Casterbridge

By: Thomas Hardy

Narrated by: Tony Britton

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.

great story and narration

an engrossing novel with beautiful prose in the hands of a great narrator enjoyed every minute

Excellent narration of a beautiful novel

Although not my favourite Hardy novel, I was still as entranced as always by his prose and plot line. This particular narration is fantastic, dramatic and very well executed, as Tony Britton brought considerable life and liveliness to all the characters. I highly recommend this audiobook!

Beautifully written and brilliantly read.

Wish it had a happier ending but characters were well developed and had an interesting plot.

Brilliant rendering of a masterpiece

I have listened to scores of audiobooks
and have established a list of favorite readers. Tony Britton goes straight to the top three or so. His vocal dexterity brings to life the large cast of characters, each with their own unique voices, and his narration is measured and musical without aiming for unnecessary effects. The whole book was wondrously enjoyable, and Hardy’s genius shone out throughout with an impact I was unable to appreciate fully when I read the book many years ago. This is the audiobook experience at its best.

Terrific though plodding after the halfway point

If you love a good Thomas Hardy story, this won’t disappoint. Masterfully read, it unfolds with one Hardy-esque twist after another that has you silently shouting, “Don’t do it!” while eagerly listening to hear what with unfold as the result. Only criticism is that it lags and seems to go on a bit too long, but that is doubtless a modern reader’s impatience. Overall, it is definitely worth the listen.