Black Beauty  By  cover art

Black Beauty

By: Anna Sewell,R. D. Carstairs - adaptation
Narrated by: Samuel West,Samantha Bond,Tamzin Outhwaite,Paul Thornley,Matt Stokoe

Publisher's summary

Framed as a first-person narrative from the eponymous horse, this much-loved family classic follows Black Beauty's journey from a well-born colt to a painfully overworked cab horse. Brimming with vivid detail and relatable characters, each chapter of Black Beauty's long and varied life communicates an important message about kindness, sympathy and understanding.

Following the success of the double Audie award-winning Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book: The Mowgli Stories, Audible Originals UK are excited to announce this reimagination of Sewell's unique concept as an animal-based audio drama for all the family.

Black Beauty features lead performances from Samuel West (BAFTA nominated; Mr Selfridge, Howards End), Samantha Bond (SAG nominated; Downton Abbey, James Bond), Paul Thornley (Harry Potter & the Cursed Child, Les Misérables) and Tamzin Outhwaite (EastEnders, Great Expectations, Foyle's War) as well as the original theme music 'Galloping Home' by Denis King.

Public Domain (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"Get ready to laugh, cry and sigh with nostalgia as everyone's favourite fictional horse makes a comeback." (Horse & Countryside)
"Perfect for the whole family to listen to together." (The Week)

Featured Article: 25+ Quotes About the Power of Kindness


Kindness is the quality of being considerate, compassionate, generous, gentle, and caring towards others without expecting anything in return. Often described as a virtue, kindness is also a strength—in fact, it may be one of humanity's greatest superpowers. Whenever you need a little encouragement or gentle reminder, turn to these quotes from authors who understand the power of kindness and express it quite remarkably.

What listeners say about Black Beauty

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Wonderful!

I watched the reruns of the Black Beauty television show as a kid in the 80’s and loved it, but I had never read the original book. This was an amazing story adaptation that was extremely well done! I now have a favorite book!!!

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4 people found this helpful

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Loved the various voices

Would you consider the audio edition of Black Beauty to be better than the print version?

Yes, because of the voices.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Black Beauty because I could hear the emotions in his voice of kindness, exhaustion, happiness and sometimes disgust at the ignorance of people and lack of thought for an animal. I also loved Ginger. Her voice showed so much emotion too.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to any of the narrator's prior performances. I am new to Audible.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It brought me to tears several times when life became hard for the horses. I love horses and own one. I hate when they are mistreated.

Any additional comments?

I read Black Beauty as a child, but would recommend this audio book to anyone. It also teaches a lot.

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4 people found this helpful

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A classic all should read

This is a wonderful book that should be required reading for all. The performance was spectacular and paced well. I really enjoyed this audio book.

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3 people found this helpful

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Loved it

Made me cry i love how it felt like i was watching a movie !! Both in my head, and in audio form :)

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3 people found this helpful

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Oscar ‘Best’ quality, without visuals!

This is one of the best Audible productions I’ve experienced - and from the horses’ point of view! Great story, great cast, great audio background sounds and a top-movie-worthy music production! I will be sharing this and hope to recruit more Audible patrons. I can only hope this is just the start of a whole new audio product line....engrossing and wonderful.

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Excellent.

Really ally loved this radio drama... The book is really brought to life in thia stunning pw performance.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Better than I Expected

Going into reading this, I wasn’t quite sure that I would like it because many people consider a classic and I try to avoid those at all costs. I actually didn’t mind the audiobook and was able to decently pay attention and follow the story.

The Writing:

I appreciated the writing as it was easy to follow and wasn’t too flowery. Personally I like being able to understand everything that is going on without having to do too much guesswork based on the writing. Overall, the writing was decent.

The Story:

This is a character driven story. It is told from the perspective of the horse, Black Beauty. Black Beauty ends up having several homes and several masters, but overall he gets treated pretty well. He goes through the story seeing a lot of mistreatment of other horses but isn’t able to do anything about it. The book is about the horse’s life from beginning to end.

I think the story does a good job of highlighting how wonderful a horse’s life can be if it’s treated properly by a kind and compassionate soul vs. how bad it can be if all the owner wants is to work the horse to death. We see both sides.

While I don’t believe this is a very compelling story, it’s not awful and should make readers think twice about how they treat animals.

Characters:

None of the characters are developed to a point where I felt like I was in love with them or where I wanted to know more about them. I understood them, and there were times where I sympathized with them, but I wasn’t captured by them. If I felt anything for any of the characters, it would be Ginger. She had a rough life and that is the reason for her poor outlook on the world. Otherwise, the characters were pretty bland.

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1 person found this helpful

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Greatest book and performance

Loved everything about it and the sound effects, the ending was perfect, but poor Ginger.

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Beautiful

I never read the book Black Beauty as a child and probably wouldn’t have listened to the audiobook had it not been free BUT I’m so glad I listened to it. I have an hour drive to work each direction so audiobooks have become my comfort before and after each shift and Black Beauty was by far the very best Audible Original that I’ve listened to. The book is a timeless classic that I didn’t know that I would fall in love with. I experienced so many emotions listening to it... happiness, sadness, anger, and happiness again. The story, the presentation, the narrators were all superb. I will listen to is over again and will definitely recommend to my sons to listen to it. Beautiful story all the way around with wonderful life lessons.

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A Childhood Favorite

Black Beauty was a favorite read as a kid. I picked it up in Audible and was not disappointed. The characters were fresh, and the dramatization was enjoyable.

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