• The End of the Affair

  • By: Graham Greene
  • Narrated by: Colin Firth
  • Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (11,394 ratings)

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The End of the Affair  By  cover art

The End of the Affair

By: Graham Greene
Narrated by: Colin Firth
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Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Audie Award Winner, Audiobook of the Year, 2013

Audie Award Nominee, Best Solo Narration, 2013

Academy Award-winning actor Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) won the Audie for Audiobook of the Year in 2013—for his first audio performance, The End of the Affair. The love affair at the center of this 1951 classic novel takes place in the bomb-strewn last days of World War II, and just after. Bendrix, a writer in war-torn London, has fallen in love with Sarah, the wife of an acquaintance. Though unhappily married, Sarah won’t leave her husband; she ends their affair and abruptly vanishes, reducing Bendrix's inner life to rubble. His investigation of Sarah’s disappearance reveals the role her newly-awakened Catholic faith played in her decision to leave, and other startling truths.

The End of the Affair mirrors Greene’s own relationship with a married woman, and positions religion as a pivotal element in both the inner turmoil and outer destruction occurring in his life at the time. Firth brilliantly conveys Greene’s characteristically bleak emotional terrain in an intimate, nuanced, and unhurried performance.

Explore more titles performed by some of the most celebrated actors in the business in Audible’s Star-Powered Listens collection.
©1951 Graham Greene (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Go Behind the Scenes with Colin Firth

An accomplished stage and screen actor embraces a new medium: audio performance.
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Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Audie Award Winner, Audiobook of the Year, 2013

Audie Award Nominee, Best Solo Narration, 2013

Academy Award-winning actor Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) won the Audie for Audiobook of the Year in 2013—for his first audio performance, The End of the Affair. The love affair at the center of this 1951 classic novel takes place in the bomb-strewn last days of World War II, and just after. Bendrix, a writer in war-torn London, has fallen in love with Sarah, the wife of an acquaintance. Though unhappily married, Sarah won’t leave her husband; she ends their affair and abruptly vanishes, reducing Bendrix's inner life to rubble. His investigation of Sarah’s disappearance reveals the role her newly-awakened Catholic faith played in her decision to leave, and other startling truths.

The End of the Affair mirrors Greene’s own relationship with a married woman, and positions religion as a pivotal element in both the inner turmoil and outer destruction occurring in his life at the time. Firth brilliantly conveys Greene’s characteristically bleak emotional terrain in an intimate, nuanced, and unhurried performance.

Explore more titles performed by some of the most celebrated actors in the business in Audible’s Star-Powered Listens collection.
©1951 Graham Greene (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
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Our favorite moments from The End of the Affair

Jilted lover and oblivious husband at the pub.
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The first glimpse of Sarah.
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Is he loved? The dour Bendrix has doubts.
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The thrill is gone, or so Bendrix jealously fears.
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  • The End of the Affair
  • Jilted lover and oblivious husband at the pub.
  • The End of the Affair
  • The first glimpse of Sarah.
  • The End of the Affair
  • Is he loved? The dour Bendrix has doubts.
  • The End of the Affair
  • The thrill is gone, or so Bendrix jealously fears.

About the Performer

Colin Firth was heart-stoppingly perfect as Darcy in BBC’s Pride and Prejudice, won an Oscar for playing the tongue-tied king in The King’s Speech, and continued to gain fans with his roles in Bridget Jones’s Diary, A Single Man, Love Actually, and many more films. In addition to having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Firth won Audiobook of the Year in 2013 for his narration of The End of the Affair.

About the Author

Graham Greene, widely recognized as one of the most important writers of the 20th century, was born in Hertfordshire, England, and studied history at Oxford. A restless spirit, he traveled the world before settling in London and starting to write novels, including The Heart of the Matter, The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, and many more. Later recruited as a spy for his government, he based several of his novels in the shadowy world of double agents. But love and passion also caught his imagination, and he explored them from the perspective of an "agnostic Catholic" whose interest in Catholicism also played a big role in his work.

What listeners say about The End of the Affair

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    5,473
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  • 3 Stars
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Performance
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Story
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Terribly beautiful

Graham Greene writes about love, faith and dishonesty in such an beautiful way yet, does he avoid confronting the dishonesty?

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Colin Firth is amazing, but...

The book itself was extremely boring. I’m sure some people loved it and listened over and over. I will not be listening to it again (although I love the sound of Mr. Firth’s voice). It was just a really slow book, even when I listened to it multiplied by 1.5 speed.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Unique book superbly written intelligently subtle

unique treatment of faith, love, lust and friendship. Very contemporary, like a New Yorker short story,. but more literary merit than those.

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cc

great story and literary excellence. too have Collin Firth read it added even a greater dimension to the characters! brought the book alive beyond expectation! awesome!

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

struggled to finish, but colin firth is lovely

I didn't get much out of the story. its likely I missed the point and that could easily be blamed on covid distractions, but narrator is great.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully Done

Loved everything about this book. The narrator was superb. Colin Firth always the professional!
Thank you

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

The reading, performance of this novel is incredible. I read this work by Greene years ago. Hearing it read this way brought it to life. Extremely well done, thought provoking and memorable. Bravo!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I guess I’m just not into love stories

I found listening to this book tedious. I found the moments that where supposed to be captivating, dry and dull. Romantic interactions about as stimulating as a cough in the library. It got my attention but was ultimately just a cough.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

colin firth provides author's reality to the book

forget "the king's speech" - colin firth 's reading brings the listener right in to the author's world of fear, love, hate and God. Firth has British down to perfection. watching for him narrating other books.

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    5 out of 5 stars

A masterful novel; not a sentence is wasted

Greene is a masterful storyteller. Using a novelist as narrator, he tells the story clearly with precise prose, simple action and a direct storyline. I was impressed with how well Greene was able to convey feeling and internal conflicts in the characters using action and dialog, without having to rely on descriptions of a character's vague mental state. The characters are three-dimensional, with both likeable and disagreeable qualities. The conflicts seem current, even though it takes place in post WWII London, and is 70 years old. The role of religion seems modern and fresh, and comes to play an interesting role in the internal and external conflicts of the characters. It's easy to see why it's been adapted for the screen twice.
Colin Firth's performance is companionable and easy to follow -- a style that works well with the Greene's spare stylistic structure, and consistent tempo. It never drags. It's never rushed.

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