-
The Mystery of Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Simon Callow
- Length: 1 hr and 46 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $7.26
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
In this BBC Radio adaptation of Peter Ackroyd's spectacular one-man show, Simon Callow portrays both Charles Dickens and many of his best-loved characters, from Mr. Micawber and Bill Sikes to Oliver Twist and Nancy. Readings from his novels interweave with the author's own words and an incisive, compassionate narrative. Dickens' idyllic childhood in Chatham was swapped for his family's penurious existence in London. With his father imprisoned for debt, young Charles was deprived of an education and forced to work in a blacking factory. Such experiences molded him into the fiercely industrious, ambitious writer who would later claim that his characters talked to and touched him. Full of fascinating insight, the play illustrates how Dickens never quite managed to escape the dark shadows cast by his earlier life. Featuring material not included in the radio broadcast, this production is prefaced with an introduction by Callow himself.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Mr. K and the Flowers
- By: Nassim Soleimanpour
- Narrated by: Maz Jobrani, Simon McBurney, Urs Jucker, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s the middle of the night in Tehran when Michael arrives at the apartment of his ex-girlfriend, Shima. He finds her anxiously awaiting a mysterious visitor and fears he’s interrupted a tryst, only to gradually learn that the truth is much stranger and more sinister. What follows is a series of cunning detours in this atmospheric and elusive odyssey that challenges expectations and assumptions at every turn.
-
-
A curious twist on the evil in this world.
- By Anonymous User on 03-25-24
-
Swing State
- By: Rebecca Gilman
- Narrated by: Anne E. Thompson, Bubba Weiler, Kirsten Fitzgerald, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 25 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a recently widowed woman in rural Wisconsin notices her husband’s toolbox is missing, she calls the authorities—and unwittingly starts a chain of events that will forever change her community. What begins as a disarmingly simple mystery blooms into an exploration of loss, the fragility of the environment, and what it means to connect and heal.
-
-
We can all relate
- By Wdj on 03-21-24
By: Rebecca Gilman
-
Sorry for Your Loss
- By: Michael Cruz Kayne
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sidesplitting, heartrending look at life—and death. This powerfully personal production, recorded live from the Minetta Lane Theatre, cuts through the platitudes, directly reaching out to anyone who has ever experienced loss—or will. So...everyone.
-
-
A Must Listen for the Grieving
- By Chris on 09-25-23
-
Song of the Northwoods
- By: Jessica Huang
- Narrated by: Michele Selene Ang, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Emma Kikue, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a betrayal at work costs Song Kuan her job, she retreats to her friend Lucy’s idyllic family cabin on a lake in Minnesota to lick her wounds. She devotes herself to recording Ice Cold Cases, a true-crime podcast that she and Lucy cohost with the gleeful energy of obsessed fans—until an anonymous tip about a missing-person case disrupts their equilibrium. Then Lucy disappears, leaving Song alone in an unfriendly and unfamiliar town where locals don’t take kindly to strangers asking questions.
-
-
Asians in MN! I loved it. The vivid sounds of Northern Minnesota totally took me there, and I was hooked into the mystery.
- By Sheila Morris on 04-26-22
By: Jessica Huang
-
In Love & Struggle, Vol. 3: The Future Is Around Us
- By: The Meteor
- Narrated by: Cree Summer, Zainab Johnson, Amanda Seales, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Created by The Meteor, In Love and Struggle, Vol. 3 brings together a group of visionary Black women and nonbinary people for a series of unforgettable evenings filled with storytelling, music, comedy, and monologues. This year’s theme is inspired by science-fiction writer Octavia Butler and other futurists, featuring an outstanding, eclectic, wildly creative cast.
By: The Meteor
-
A Streetcar Named Desire
- By: Tennessee Williams
- Narrated by: Carla Gugino, Audra McDonald
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With Emmy, Grammy, and six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald as Blanche DuBois alongside Carla Gugino as Stella, O’Hara takes a fresh and visceral look at the emotionally charged relationship between these two iconic sisters. Haunted by her past, Blanche seeks refuge with Stella and Stanley (Ariel Shafir) in New Orleans, where she wrestles with the nature of her sister’s husband, her sister’s denial, and her own unraveling mind.
-
-
Classic With Fresh Insight
- By T. B. Shafir on 12-04-20
-
Mr. K and the Flowers
- By: Nassim Soleimanpour
- Narrated by: Maz Jobrani, Simon McBurney, Urs Jucker, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s the middle of the night in Tehran when Michael arrives at the apartment of his ex-girlfriend, Shima. He finds her anxiously awaiting a mysterious visitor and fears he’s interrupted a tryst, only to gradually learn that the truth is much stranger and more sinister. What follows is a series of cunning detours in this atmospheric and elusive odyssey that challenges expectations and assumptions at every turn.
-
-
A curious twist on the evil in this world.
- By Anonymous User on 03-25-24
-
Swing State
- By: Rebecca Gilman
- Narrated by: Anne E. Thompson, Bubba Weiler, Kirsten Fitzgerald, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 25 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a recently widowed woman in rural Wisconsin notices her husband’s toolbox is missing, she calls the authorities—and unwittingly starts a chain of events that will forever change her community. What begins as a disarmingly simple mystery blooms into an exploration of loss, the fragility of the environment, and what it means to connect and heal.
-
-
We can all relate
- By Wdj on 03-21-24
By: Rebecca Gilman
-
Sorry for Your Loss
- By: Michael Cruz Kayne
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sidesplitting, heartrending look at life—and death. This powerfully personal production, recorded live from the Minetta Lane Theatre, cuts through the platitudes, directly reaching out to anyone who has ever experienced loss—or will. So...everyone.
-
-
A Must Listen for the Grieving
- By Chris on 09-25-23
-
Song of the Northwoods
- By: Jessica Huang
- Narrated by: Michele Selene Ang, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Emma Kikue, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a betrayal at work costs Song Kuan her job, she retreats to her friend Lucy’s idyllic family cabin on a lake in Minnesota to lick her wounds. She devotes herself to recording Ice Cold Cases, a true-crime podcast that she and Lucy cohost with the gleeful energy of obsessed fans—until an anonymous tip about a missing-person case disrupts their equilibrium. Then Lucy disappears, leaving Song alone in an unfriendly and unfamiliar town where locals don’t take kindly to strangers asking questions.
-
-
Asians in MN! I loved it. The vivid sounds of Northern Minnesota totally took me there, and I was hooked into the mystery.
- By Sheila Morris on 04-26-22
By: Jessica Huang
-
In Love & Struggle, Vol. 3: The Future Is Around Us
- By: The Meteor
- Narrated by: Cree Summer, Zainab Johnson, Amanda Seales, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 15 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Created by The Meteor, In Love and Struggle, Vol. 3 brings together a group of visionary Black women and nonbinary people for a series of unforgettable evenings filled with storytelling, music, comedy, and monologues. This year’s theme is inspired by science-fiction writer Octavia Butler and other futurists, featuring an outstanding, eclectic, wildly creative cast.
By: The Meteor
-
A Streetcar Named Desire
- By: Tennessee Williams
- Narrated by: Carla Gugino, Audra McDonald
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With Emmy, Grammy, and six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald as Blanche DuBois alongside Carla Gugino as Stella, O’Hara takes a fresh and visceral look at the emotionally charged relationship between these two iconic sisters. Haunted by her past, Blanche seeks refuge with Stella and Stanley (Ariel Shafir) in New Orleans, where she wrestles with the nature of her sister’s husband, her sister’s denial, and her own unraveling mind.
-
-
Classic With Fresh Insight
- By T. B. Shafir on 12-04-20
-
Coreyography
- By: Corey Feldman
- Narrated by: Corey Feldman
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this brave and moving memoir, Corey Feldman is revealing the truth about what his life was like behind the scenes: His is a past that included physical, drug, and sexual abuse, a dysfunctional family from which he was emancipated at age fifteen, three high-profile arrests for drug possession, a nine-month stint in rehab, and a long, slow crawl back to the top of the box office.
-
-
Didn't like the Two Coreys, but liked this.
- By ricketsj on 04-29-14
By: Corey Feldman
-
Center of the YOUniverse
- By: Tituss Burgess, Jane Krakowski
- Narrated by: Tituss Burgess, Jane Krakowski
- Length: 1 hr and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Center of the YOUniverse is an out-of-this-world spectacle starring Tituss Burgess and Jane Krakowski with music, laughter, and (probably) the salvation of humanity from its self-inflicted doom. Unaware of just how brightly the other one shines, Tituss and Jane will attempt the impossible: a double-booking. In a unique blend of song and storytelling, they’ll stop at nothing to upstage each other and steal the spotlight…until they realize the true purpose of being ridiculously attractive and having immeasureble talent: to unite and heal the world.
-
-
Yikes, it had potential but…
- By Chantal Noordeloos on 12-27-23
By: Tituss Burgess, and others
-
Lucy
- By: Erica Schmidt
- Narrated by: Brooke Bloom, Lynn Collins, Charlotte Surak
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ashling is every busy parent’s dream: a professional nanny with experience and a warm, sunny attitude. But from the moment Mary hires her to look after her young children, things start to feel just a little...off. Are Mary’s stressful work schedule and lack of sleep playing games with her own sanity, or has she welcomed an unstable troublemaker into her home?
-
-
Not sure what the point was
- By Kari on 09-21-23
By: Erica Schmidt
-
The Way I See It
- A Look Back at My Life on Little House
- By: Melissa Anderson
- Narrated by: Jane Pfitsch
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From age 11, in 1974, until she left the show, in 1981, Melissa Anderson literally grew up before the viewers of Little House on the Prairie. Melissa, as Mary, is remembered by many as the blind sister - and she was the only actor in the series to be nominated for an Emmy. In The Way I See It, she takes listeners onto the set and inside the world of the iconic series created by Michael Landon, who, Melissa discovered, was not perfect, as much as he tried to be. In this memoir she also shares her memories of working with guest stars like Todd Bridges, Mariette Hartley, Sean Penn, Patricia Neal, and Johnny Cash.
-
-
self serving
- By Tina L. on 02-24-20
By: Melissa Anderson
-
Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon
- Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops, and the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream
- By: David McGowan
- Narrated by: Bill Fike
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The very strange but nevertheless true story of the dark underbelly of a 1960s hippie utopia. Laurel Canyon in the 1960s and early 1970s was a magical place where a dizzying array of musical artists congregated to create much of the music that provided the soundtrack to those turbulent times. But there was a dark side to that scene as well. Many didn't make it out alive, and many of those deaths remain shrouded in mystery to this day.
-
-
My first review. This book changed me.
- By Robert on 06-30-19
By: David McGowan
-
Ayoade on Top
- By: Richard Ayoade
- Narrated by: Richard Ayoade
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At last, the definitive audiobook about perhaps the best cabin crew dramedy ever filmed: View from the Top starring Gwyneth Paltrow. In Ayoade on Top, Richard Ayoade, perhaps one of the most 'insubstantial' people of our age, takes us on a journey from Peckham to Paris by way of Nevada and other places we don't care about. It's a journey deep within, in a way that's respectful and non-invasive; a journey for which we will all pay a heavy price, even if you've waited for the smaller paperback edition. Ayoade argues for the canonisation of this brutal masterpiece.
-
-
Listened for an hour and a half, didn't laugh once
- By Wesley on 12-13-19
By: Richard Ayoade
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Mystery of Charles Dickens
- By: A. N. Wilson
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Filled with the twists, pathos, and unusual characters that sprang from this novelist’s extraordinary imagination, The Mystery of Charles Dickens looks back from the legendary writer’s death to recall the key events in his life. In doing so, he seeks to understand Dickens’ creative genius and enduring popularity. Following his life from cradle to grave, it becomes clear that Dickens’ fiction drew from his life - a fact he acknowledged.
-
-
One thesis, repeated
- By Marina on 01-31-21
By: A. N. Wilson
-
Foundation
- The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors: The History of England, Book 1
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Foundation the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past - a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house.
-
-
The Most Annoying Narrator EVER
- By JudieBee on 12-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Shakespeare
- The Biography
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only Peter Ackroyd can combine narrative and unique observation with a sharp eye for the fascinating fact. His method is to position Shakespeare in the close context of his world. In this way, he not only richly conjures up the texture of Shakespeare’s life, but also imparts an amazing amount of vivid, interesting material about place, period and background.
-
-
Shakespeare by Peter Ackroyd
- By Four Bears on 10-16-06
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Hawksmoor
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Sir Derek Jacobi
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor was first published in 1985. Alternating between the eighteenth century, when Nicholas Dyer, assistant to Christopher Wren, builds seven London churches that house a terrible secret, and the 1980s, when London detective Nicholas Hawksmoor is investigating a series of gruesome murders on the sight of certain old churches, Hawksmoor is a brilliant tale of darkness and shadow.
-
-
unusual structure and style
- By Russ on 08-17-17
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
London
- The Biography
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 32 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London: The Biography is the pinnacle of Peter Ackroyd's brilliant obsession with the eponymous city. In this unusual and engaging work, Ackroyd brings the listener through time into the city whose institutions and idiosyncrasies have permeated much of his works of fiction and nonfiction. Peter Ackroyd sees London as a living, breathing organism, with its own laws of growth and change.
-
-
Great Book
- By Joann on 01-04-21
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Chatterton
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: James Wilby
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poet, forger, and genius, Thomas Chatterton died in 1770, aged 18. His death was thought to be suicide: But what really happened? Two hundred years later, Charles Wychwood and Harriet Scrope become obsessed with decoding the clues in an 18th-century manuscript. Their investigation raises some intriguing questions....
A century before, as 19th-century artist Henry Wallis paints his celebrated portrait of Chatterton lying dead in an attic room, he, too, becomes fascinated by the mystery. Then Chatterton himself steps forward, with his own story....
-
-
Beautifully read, funny characters, profound themes
- By Wes Freeman on 11-11-23
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
The Mystery of Charles Dickens
- By: A. N. Wilson
- Narrated by: Mark Meadows
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Filled with the twists, pathos, and unusual characters that sprang from this novelist’s extraordinary imagination, The Mystery of Charles Dickens looks back from the legendary writer’s death to recall the key events in his life. In doing so, he seeks to understand Dickens’ creative genius and enduring popularity. Following his life from cradle to grave, it becomes clear that Dickens’ fiction drew from his life - a fact he acknowledged.
-
-
One thesis, repeated
- By Marina on 01-31-21
By: A. N. Wilson
-
Foundation
- The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors: The History of England, Book 1
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Foundation the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past - a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house.
-
-
The Most Annoying Narrator EVER
- By JudieBee on 12-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Shakespeare
- The Biography
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only Peter Ackroyd can combine narrative and unique observation with a sharp eye for the fascinating fact. His method is to position Shakespeare in the close context of his world. In this way, he not only richly conjures up the texture of Shakespeare’s life, but also imparts an amazing amount of vivid, interesting material about place, period and background.
-
-
Shakespeare by Peter Ackroyd
- By Four Bears on 10-16-06
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Hawksmoor
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Sir Derek Jacobi
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Peter Ackroyd's Hawksmoor was first published in 1985. Alternating between the eighteenth century, when Nicholas Dyer, assistant to Christopher Wren, builds seven London churches that house a terrible secret, and the 1980s, when London detective Nicholas Hawksmoor is investigating a series of gruesome murders on the sight of certain old churches, Hawksmoor is a brilliant tale of darkness and shadow.
-
-
unusual structure and style
- By Russ on 08-17-17
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
London
- The Biography
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 32 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London: The Biography is the pinnacle of Peter Ackroyd's brilliant obsession with the eponymous city. In this unusual and engaging work, Ackroyd brings the listener through time into the city whose institutions and idiosyncrasies have permeated much of his works of fiction and nonfiction. Peter Ackroyd sees London as a living, breathing organism, with its own laws of growth and change.
-
-
Great Book
- By Joann on 01-04-21
By: Peter Ackroyd
-
Chatterton
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: James Wilby
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poet, forger, and genius, Thomas Chatterton died in 1770, aged 18. His death was thought to be suicide: But what really happened? Two hundred years later, Charles Wychwood and Harriet Scrope become obsessed with decoding the clues in an 18th-century manuscript. Their investigation raises some intriguing questions....
A century before, as 19th-century artist Henry Wallis paints his celebrated portrait of Chatterton lying dead in an attic room, he, too, becomes fascinated by the mystery. Then Chatterton himself steps forward, with his own story....
-
-
Beautifully read, funny characters, profound themes
- By Wes Freeman on 11-11-23
By: Peter Ackroyd
What listeners say about The Mystery of Charles Dickens
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Puppy
- 07-08-17
Another "WOW!" book!
Another very interesting and informative book about one of the most famous writers of all time! Loved it. AND, of course, I love to listen Simon Callow. He is Dickens personified!
Highly recommend!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Deborah Lynch
- 01-01-24
Astounding performance
Callow is Dickens. If you love the works of Dickens or only have a passing acquaintance with his key characters, this is an amazing work. I have read the full Dickens biography by Peter Ackroyd and that is also wonderful but this work brings Dickens and his characters to life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robert Reitter
- 01-24-21
Avoid this one
An over-acted, self-indulgent production. Worst audio program I’ve ever listened to. I don’t recommend it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!