In a Dark Wood Wandering

By: Hella S. Haasse

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 26 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

In this novel, set in the 15th century during the Hundred Years' War between France and England, Hella Haasse brilliantly captures all the drama of one of the great ages of history.

©1949 Em. Querido's Uitgeverij B.V., Amsterdam English translation: Copyright by Edith Kaplan, Kalman Kaplan, and Anita Miller (P)2017 Audible, Inc.

Good story. Horrific narration

The story is a well written tale about the life of Charles d'Orleans. Lengthy, but interesting. The narration is terribly over the top. Sometimes I can understand the screaming, for example when two of the characters have a heated discussion, but more often the story can do without all that pathos. Shame. I read the book long ago, in the original Dutch edition, and I remember it as a mostly calm rendition of the life of a man who had to take responsibilities that would be unbearable for anyone. Not this rollercoaster.

Good History Lesson

The protagonist in this story is a bit dull and nearly everything about his life seems painful and disappointing but the novel is rich in historical detail and ancillary characters.

Although the narrator had a pleasant voice, for the most part, her renditions of loud male voices were shrill and strained and caused me to fast forward over quite a few of them - they were that annoying.

narrator fabulous

love love love this narrator!!!! she brings you totally in the moment!!! listening to whatever she has worked on to ooen new genres for myself

story so strong it survives the terrible reading

its good historical fiction. Its mostly politics and social history, but told in a totally human way so that you can be transported to the space and imagine the real lives of actual people. I dont know how accurate it is - I come to this with no knowledge of this period in france.

The story is engaging and well written .. its not a romance novel. The reading however is one of the worst I have even been able to endure. Any scene that involves any action or emotion is delivered in a shrill and shreaking tone that is very off-putting. Its completely over -acted as though the reader thinks words do not carry meaning all on their own and must be punched out all dripping with inflection or that no one ever expressed anger without becoming completely unhinged.

Its a shame. A skillful performance with a penny's worth of subtlety would have made this one of the best stories I have ever heard.

Challenging, but worth it!

I love Philippa Gregory's books, the Outlander series and all things historical. As I was searching for something new on this front, I stumbled across this gem.

The beginning seemed daunting to someone not too informed on this era of history, with all the names and places I thought I'd loose the plot. But it wasn't too long until I got the hang of it and started to enjoy the story. For me it had two parts. The first was a detailed sort of background showcase and the second was told from the perspective of the poet Charles of Orleans. It was very intriguing and informative.

The narrator, Katherine Kellgren, is spectacular as she always is. She has a way of bringing the characters alive without overdoing it.

Would recommend this book to anyone interested in history or historical drama.