Henrik Ibsen's Classic: A Doll's House (Annotated) with a Historical Introduction

By: Henrik Ibsen

Narrated by: Brianna Fernandez

Length: 3 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Unique to this title is:

• A historical introduction
• An overview of A Doll’s House
• A study of the themes present in A Doll’s House
• A list of the best famous quotes from A Doll’s House

You may of course skip all of it and go straight to the main title if you do not want any spoilers and come back later to the beginning.

Henrik Ibsen was a Norwegian playwright and theater director. He is often called “the father of realism” and one of the most influential playwrights of his time.

Ibsen was born in 1828 into a well-to-do merchant family in the small port town of Skien. He was of Danish, German, Norweigan, and Scottish ancestry. Most of his ancestors were merchants or ship captains. When he was seven, his father went out of business and the family had to sell the big house and move to their small summer cottage outside the city.

After some time, they managed to move back to the city and lived in a house owned by Ibsen's father half-brother. However, even at a time when they struggled financially, the Ibsens kept servants and maintained a certain level of affluence.

In A Doll's House, a happily married Nora decides to borrow money to finance a trip to Italy, where her husband needs to go for treatment. At the time, a woman couldn't do anything, let alone borrow money, without her husband's consent. So, Nora forged her father's signature.

A junior bank clerk who works with her husband finds out what she's done. For years, Nora's been trying to repay the loan, but her husband eventually finds out what she had done and is furious.

Enjoy this timeless classic!

Public Domain (P)2019 Chronos Publishing

also a male narrator. rating based on Brianna

This is the first book I’ve read/listened to by this author. I’ve never seen the play. In fact, I’d never heard of it until I was thankfully offered to review this book. It’s sad the reality of the treatment of the woman in this book. Unfortunately, it could be a modern event too.
I like the added information at the beginning. We are given a look into the life of the author as well as context of the play.

This is the third book I’ve listened to by this narrator ( Brianna Fernandez ). She does quite well reading this play. Her character voices are not overly distinct (she does all the female voices), but it did not create an issue. She narrates like the words are hers, not just a play she’s reading. There is a man that narrates portions. His part is not done well. It’s like listening to a beginning high school theatre performer. He often stumbles on his words. Unfortunately, he detracted from the audiobook.

There are no explicit sex scenes, excessive violence or swearing.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

Story 5/5
Narration female narrator-4/5 male narrator- 2/5

Great extras

The book and performance were everything that I expected. They were terrific. I really appreciated the extra value of historical context and memorable quotes. I thought that those were particularly good additions. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A dramatic escape

I’ve been having a difficult time concentrating while reading lately (2020 has been a stressful year). All my energy goes to my job, and by the time I pick up a book, I fall asleep. I received a free audio recording of this play, and I’ve always wanted to read it. It was very sad, and the characters were all quite complex. My favorite part was Ibsen’s very feminist ending. Many women still struggle with same issues, but It’s good to be reminded of how far we’ve come.

Insightful book well performed

I very much enjoyed listening to this book and its commentary on women in society. Some may think it outdated, but I found it to still be pertinent as women are still treated as inferior in some areas of society. Ms. Fernandez did an awesome job narrating the book and I recommend this version. I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.