• The End of the Affair

  • By: Graham Greene
  • Narrated by: Colin Firth
  • Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (11,395 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
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,473
  • 4 Stars
    3,223
  • 3 Stars
    1,741
  • 2 Stars
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Performance
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  • 2 Stars
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    4,304
  • 4 Stars
    2,969
  • 3 Stars
    1,874
  • 2 Stars
    691
  • 1 Stars
    473

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

Narration is incredible!

Wow! The story is so moving and beautifully written, and the narration was perfect! I'll be listening to this one again soon!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent production

A well-constructed book and an original story that went in a direction Iwasn'texpecting, though not for someone who needs likeable characters to enjoy a book. Colin Firth's narration really brought it to life.

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

Sublime performance and moving story

I first loved this book for its description of how a jilted lover feels and ruminates. Slowly it becomes something more. And I wish Colin Firth would narrate many more titles. Even if you find the story sentimental, his performance is enough to make this worth the listen.

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

Very sad story

There were many ideas to ponder, but the short review is.....this is really sad. I would not recommend for someone looking uplifting and fun.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Worthy read

Colin Firth is exceptional. The overall story is a bit depressing but I enjoyed this.

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

Amazing performance of a powerful book

A Love Affair. Such a simple thing, even if complicated by adultery, can contain so many emotions: affection, love, longing, loneliness, fear, anger, pain. All these are traced in Greene’s obviously personal tale of Bendrix and Sarah Miles. Greene’s words, Firth’s voice and rainy London under the Blitz combine to give this telling of a tragically doomed affair taking place under the eyes of Sarah’s sad, repressed and impotent husband Henry.

Told by first person narration and diary entries, the story unfolds in a series of twists and turns that keep the reader constantly engaged. As usual the writing is beautiful, detailing the thoughts and feelings of the characters as they engage in the most mundane daily activities in the melancholy atmosphere of Wartime London.

Only the interjection of Greene’s religious obsession, while necessary for one of his “Catholic”novels, seems out of place. This was a powerful story without a theological discussion rearing it’s ugly head. I’m sure Greene thought it critical but I felt it detracted from the powerful love/hate story.

I join the other reviewers in their reverence for Colin Firth’s performance. It probably even outshone the prose, but, in any case, definitely enhanced the experience. Whether you’re a fan of Graham Greene or not, The End of the Affair, is a great read.

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

Dissppointing.

Struggled to finish. Kept dragging on to yet another anticlimax. Hoped it would get better but was dissapointed.

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

Stick with it!

Almost stopped listening to this story because I couldn't get into the plot. Stayed with it and am glad I did!

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

Quite sad

It’s not the kind of books I would generally enjoy; it’s too sad and morbid for my taste.
Colin Firth did a great job as expected but in terms of story I wasn’t impressed and at some points things got really slow and very descriptive.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A classic beautifully written and performed

May be too slow for some of today’s listeners or readers but a masterpiece in prose and Colin Firth is so talented! Beautiful and tragic.

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