The Black Moth

By: Georgette Heyer

Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

The debut novel from the creator of the Regency genre of romance fiction

Based on a story she had written for her brother and published when she was 19 years old, The Black Moth is set during the Georgian era in the 1750s and follows Lord Jack Carstares, the eldest son of the Earl of Wyncham. Six years ago, Jack took the blame when his younger brother Richard cheated at cards. Jack consequently faced social exile and fled England for the European continent. He has now secretly returned, robbing carriages as a highwayman.

One day, he rescues Miss Diana Beauleigh when she is almost abducted by the Duke of Andover. Jack and Diana fall in love, but his troubled past and current profession threaten their happiness.

In a contemporary review published in 1921, the Times Literary Supplement deemed the protagonist Jack a “fascinating hero of romance” and added that the novel was “a well-filled story which keeps the reader pleased”.

©2009 Georgette Heyer (P)2020 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

This is how a Heyer book ought to be read

I will be looking for more books read by this person. She was quite talented. And I think we know that Heyer gives people a challenge with voices!

As for the book itself, this is probably my 4th time going through the book, but my first listen. The mix of humor, historical accuracy, and interesting characters keeps me coming back for more Georgette Heyer. Couldn't recommend this book (her first published) higher.

loved it

love this author so much!! the reader did a very creditable job with tone and emphasis.

Disappointing

The narrator is dreadful. If I could give a negative star I would. Terrible accents, awful drawl making a great story very boring.

Delicious!

Heyer's writing and characters are absolutely delightful. I love period pieces (historical romances) and thanks to the author's witty style, I felt as though I were right there! It's a great historical novel. Especially as I now see it was written when she was a teenager!?!?! The narrator nailed the tone and the characters. Accents, men, women, action scenes ... it's all there. I hope this narrator does more Heyer; I'd certainly listen. Such fun!

An Early and Immature Georgette Heyer Story

GH's writing seems stronger in her later works. I also didn't take to be this reader; sped up the audio to > 1.5 times the original rate.

A poor choice of narrator

Poor pronunciation ruined this story. The narrator didn't even take the trouble to say the author's name correctly. The rest of the narration was equally annoying.

eh

The story itself is one of Heyer's older novels - and whilst I remember enjoying reading it, it is a little slower and less engaging than some of her others and some of the characters are a bit wet, which many of her other novels manage to avoid.

That being said, this narrator is perfect for dramatic wetness if you can overlook her terrible Irish and Scottish accents. I'm not sure I can, and there is a lilt to her voice which makes it sound like she is always putting on her reading accent rather than reading naturally. I accordingly found this dull and frustrating.

Spoiled by the narrator

I enjoyed the story, not the narration. Poor attempt at dialects and accents, pronunciation hit and miss.

A good story

Sadly, the reading left much to be desired. Sentences full of unnecessary pauses which, breaking the natural rhythm of speech were an annoying distraction. Occasional wrong pronunciation of words (foreign, names and unusual ones) was not easily pardonable. The Irish brogue and, at one point, Scottish accent, were a parody. But the story is fun.

dreadful stage irish accents,

not sure why the narrator thought their "oirish" accent was anything other than dreadful. pronunciation of some (quite a few) words defied belief. the story is fabulous though - classic georgette heyer , but please find a better narrator.

Why an American narrator...

... the mispronunciations of English words, placenames etc were grating, as were the attempts at Irish and Scottish accents. (Loos for Lewes, Cholmondeley for Chumley - a little research could have avoided these and others.)
The story was classic Heyer, although not one of her best in my opinion. It was a long time since I had read the book, and I was engrossed despite myself.