The Raven in the Foregate

The Twelfth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael

By: Ellis Peters

Narrated by: Vanessa Benjamin

Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Christmas, 1141 A.D. Abbot Radulfus returns from London, bringing with him a priest for the vacant living of Holy Cross (known as the Foregate), a man of presence, scholarship and discipline, but neither humility nor the common touch. When he is found drowned in the mill-pond, suspicion is cast in many directions, not least toward a young man who came in the priest's train, sent to work in Brother Cadfael's garden. For he has little obvious priestly calling. Indeed, he soon attracts the friendship of a girl both beautiful and formidable.
To Brother Cadfael, once wordly, now dedicated, if gently cynical, is left the familiar task of sorting the complicated strands which define guilt and innocence.

©1986 by Ellis Peters (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Terrible sound quality

Reader was great but this audiobook was marred by tinny sound along with the constant murmur of voices in the background. Very distracting.

another greT from ellis peters

I can almost see life in 12th century England through the eyes of Brother Cadfael. very well researched

Great stuff

I love these books. Good stories. But also so interesting. I liked it on tv as well.

Good but where's the Welsh?

Vanessa Benjamin does not give Cadfael a Welsh inflection, as do Stephen Thorne and Roe Kendall.

Reader and sound quality not up to par

the reader was not very good at voice characterization. sound was often muffled and difficult to understand, compared to other Audible titles.

Brother Cadfael saves again...

Ellis Peters(she, by the way) puts us square into the 11th century with Brother Cadfael in his Shrewsbury Monastery. Good plot, but I find Vanessa a little hard to understand at times. Fair paced reading, though.

Ellis Peters keeps you guessing until the end.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Raven in the Foregate to be better than the print version?

Not better but I enjoy having them both

Who was your favorite character and why?

Brother Cadfael is right up there with all the great literary detectives. The books give you a feel for life in medieval times but makes human nature seem truly timeless

What about Vanessa Benjamin’s performance did you like?

A very nice performance I don't think any of the other books were performed by a women actor but she was able to believable perform all of the parts well both male and female. Characters were given distinctive voices.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

It is in it's way a Christmas story so the parts that take place on Christmas Eve were among my favorites.

Great book, awful tinny sound!

I love Ellis Peters books, they are simple and soothing and not to harshly romantic (not a romance fan!) but this book had horrible sound. The narration was great but the sound quality was quite poor. Audible needs to fix it!

Is this for young adultdY?

Simplistic story, provided no feeling or atmosphere of the Middle Ages. Narrator totally unconvincing in speaking male quotations.

A bit of a disappointment

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Derek Jacobi would have lifted this to the top for me.

What was most disappointing about Ellis Peters’s story?

The Narrater did not do this story justice for me unfortunately.

Would you be willing to try another one of Vanessa Benjamin’s performances?

Yes, but it would have to be a different genre to historical mysterys.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment