Thérèse Raquin

By: Emile Zola

Narrated by: Kate Winslet

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Once upon a time, a teenaged Kate Winslet (The Reader, Titanic, Revolutionary Road) received a gift that would leave a lasting impression: a copy of Emile Zola’s classic Thérèse Raquin. Six Academy Award nominations and one Best Actress award later, she steps behind the microphone to perform this haunting classic of passion and disaster.

Thérèse Raquin is the story of a young woman forced into an unhappy marriage to her dull, sickly cousin and smothered by her overbearing aunt. When her husband’s childhood friend enters her life, it leads to a torrid affair that sets her spirit free for the first time, but with shattering consequences. Steeped in the atmosphere of 19th-century France and with a darkly rich foreboding, it is a story that brings out the best of its narrator’s incomparable talents.

“It is challenging, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun as well”, said Ms. Winslet of the recording experience. "As a listener, being able to tune out and be taken into another world, an atmosphere, an environment that is being created entirely for you by somebody else’s voice is really a wonderful, magical thing.”

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Public Domain (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Kate Winslet reads as though she is relishing every morsel of the drama…She clearly loves the book, and her pleasure in the text is infectious…she grabs listeners and doesn’t let go.” (AudioFile)

Kate Winslet is outstanding as a narrator!

Any additional comments?

I listened to this book on audible. Kate Winslet is such a gifted actress and she delivers an outstanding performance reading this book.

The heavy theme of the psychological effects of overwhelming guilt and paranoia in the aftermath of a murder as well as references to ghosts (real or imagined?), tombs and death all reminded me a lot of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart".

This story is dark and repetitive. I did enjoy it but if it had been edited down I think I would have enjoyed it even more. It seems to drag on longer than it needed to.

Zola and Winslet are a winning combo

Where does Thérèse Raquin rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best audiobooks I've listened to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Thérèse Raquin?

I think the murder scene was the most memorable. You wanted good things to happen for Therese because you really felt for her and the miserable life she lead, but then her attempt to escape spiraled into a gruesomeness that Emile Zola evoked perfectly.

What about Kate Winslet’s performance did you like?

Kate Winslet captured the emotion and tone of this book perfectly. I think I want her to narrate everything I listen to from now on.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to it in spurts, usually on my commute to work.

Kate Winslet has a smooth storytelling voice

Would you consider the audio edition of Thérèse Raquin to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version

Who was your favorite character and why?

I don't think I have one

What about Kate Winslet’s performance did you like?

I found her storytelling voice to be calm, smooth, soothing, and relaxing.

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

When Therese Raquin came to life when she first met and got involved with her lover

Any additional comments?

You have Kate Winslet's wonderful storytelling voice to thank for me sighning up for audible.com :)

Wonderful Kate Winslet

What did you love best about Th??r??se Raquin?

I love Kate Winslet's interpretation, the passionate way she tells the story, the atmosphere she creates, that makes you experience the feelings of the characters, understand their frailties, the reasons why they do what they do, see their lives so miserable through her golden and powerful voice. It's a very sad story, but Kate makes it sound precious, wonderful, suasive...

What was one of the most memorable moments of Th??r??se Raquin?

One of the most memorable moments is when Th??r??se can experience a feeling of joy and freedom at the seaside in the first part of the story, when she is still very young and lives surrounded with nature.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favourite scene is when Madame Raquin describes as beautiful the place she has chosen for the family to live in Paris, and is very funny, I could see her face while she talks about the wonderful nook she had discovered, that gloomy and unhealthy prison...

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

It's a very sad story, I felt an unbearable sense of the damnation to which the characters were destined and couldn't help themselves.

Very very dark. And very very good.

Dark. Very very dark. And very very good. This was my first Zola, and it will not be my last. It will be interesting to see how the reading experience compares to the listening one - there were times during the listening where I was kind of bored with the endless repetition of how much these people were evil and how much they sucked; but it was effective in creating that claustrophobic, dark, trapped atmosphere which is really the essential character of this book.

Kate Winslet did a superb reading. Just wonderful, on all fronts.

Great Book

Oh, what a field day for psycho analysis of the darker side of the mind. I very much enjoyed the book as well as kate winslet reading it . Beautifully done. There are few that keep you in a grip than Emile Zola.

You can kill a husband but his mother never dies.

What did you love best about Thérèse Raquin?

Knowing this was not going to end well did not stop me from listening to this anymore than any pair in adulterous love affair was ever stoped. This is an old story, twisted and dramatically emotional. All the spousal killers amoung us should take heed. Karma at it's best.

Would you recommend Thérèse Raquin to your friends? Why or why not?

I have stayed away from Zola for years despite many fitfull starts, because the "slow build up" kills a slow reader like myself. I never got to the good stuff. This ebbed and flowed and built like a tide in which the characters slowly rose to my neck. If you want Zola I highly recommend this as the was to go....However, tortured love is still like watching his characters bleed to death in a hot tub after slashing their wrists.

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

Hands down the best performance I have heard. Voice changes so effectively convey mood, change of character,s and atmosphere that I was entralled.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

Please use narrator again!

Kate Winslet captured me at the first sentence.

What made the experience of listening to Th??r??se Raquin the most enjoyable?

I picked the book because of Kate Winslet but was also interested in Zola. An oddly contemporary feel because of the isolation of the characters. Kate rocked it.

Better than “Crime and Punishment”

With searing and unremitting intensity, Zola explores the after effects suffered by a pair of lovers who kill the woman’s husband. From the first minute following the murder, both the man and woman undergo an emotional, psychological, and physical transformation that is actually painful for the reader to ‘witness’. What Zola makes most obvious about the guilt following murder is that it is impossible to escape from it.
Kate Winslet’s reading cannot be over praised. Every moment of her narration is in perfect key with what she is reading. How it came to be that she is the narrator of this hidden treasure it would be interesting to know, but the versatility of her voice could never be be fully appreciated by merely seeing her in films.

Great Narration, Poor Story

As another reviewer said, the narration of Kate Winslet was wonderful and I enjoyed listening to her, I just wish I had enjoyed the story more. I understand it is a study in jealousy and in how people handle guilt and remorse, but the writing style just failed to keep me interested. The idea behind this reminded me very much of Poe's Tell-Tale Heart.

Of course it is a matter of personal preference, but for me I found the story extremely boring and the characters so flawed that I didn't care what happened to any of them. In fact, most every character is so flawed that they become cookie cutter "bad," like the proverbial villian in the black clothing of old movies.

As much as I love listeining to Kate Winslet, the story just didn't catch my interest.