Listen free for 30 days
-
Ariadne
- The gripping tale of a mythic heroine seen through modern eyes
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £21.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Elektra
- By: Jennifer Saint
- Narrated by: Beth Eyre, Jane Collingwood, Julie Teal
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The House of Atreus is cursed. A bloodline tainted by a generational cycle of violence and vengeance. This is the story of three women, their fates inextricably tied to this curse, and the fickle nature of men and gods.
-
The City We Became
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every city has a soul. Some are as ancient as myths and others are as new and destructive as children. New York City? She's got five. But every city also has a dark side. A roiling, ancient evil stirs beneath the earth, threatening to destroy the city and her five protectors unless they can come together and stop it once and for all.
-
-
Terrible accents
- By aidan on 12-05-20
-
The Silence of the Girls
- By: Pat Barker
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton, Michael Fox
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The great city of Troy is under siege as Greek heroes Achilles and Agamemnon wage bloody war over a stolen woman. In the Greek camp, another woman is watching and waiting: Briseis. She was a queen of this land until Achilles sacked her city and murdered her husband and sons. Now she is Achilles' concubine: a prize of battle. Briseis is just one among thousands of women backstage in this war - the slaves and prostitutes, the nurses, the women who lay out the dead - all of them voiceless in history.
-
-
Audible Please replace the male narrator 😐
- By Anne Brierley on 24-02-20
-
The Golem and the Djinni
- By: Helene Wecker
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master, the husband who commissioned her, dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York in 1899. Ahmad is a djinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Though he is no longer imprisoned, Ahmad is not entirely free - an unbreakable band of iron binds him to the physical world.
-
-
Extraordinary
- By AnneDriscoll on 29-01-15
-
Daughters of Sparta
- A Tale of Secrets, Betrayal and Revenge from Mythology's Most Vilified Women
- By: Claire Heywood
- Narrated by: Mira Dovreni
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For millennia, two women have been blamed for the fall of a mighty civilisation - but now it's time to hear their side of the story.... As princesses of Sparta, Helen and Klytemnestra have known nothing but luxury and plenty. With their high birth and unrivalled beauty, they are the envy of all of Greece. Such privilege comes at a high price, though, and their destinies are not theirs to command. While still only girls they are separated and married off to legendary foreign kings Agamemnon and Menelaus, never to meet again.
-
-
heartbreaking but beautiful.
- By Rebecca Armstrong on 09-03-22
-
Magic Lessons
- A Prequel to Practical Magic
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Sutton Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We first met the Owens in the glorious novel Practical Magic. We discovered the tragedy of the Owens siblings in Rules of Magic. Now we learn how it all began...with a baby abandoned in a snowy English field in the 1600s. Under the care of gentle Hannah Owens, little Maria learns about the 'Unnamed Arts'. Maria has a gift for them - a gift that may well prove her undoing. When Maria is abandoned by the man she loves, she invokes the curse that will haunt her family for centuries. Because magic has rules, and they must be followed.
-
-
A real lesson in magic.
- By Mrs E. on 06-04-21
-
Elektra
- By: Jennifer Saint
- Narrated by: Beth Eyre, Jane Collingwood, Julie Teal
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The House of Atreus is cursed. A bloodline tainted by a generational cycle of violence and vengeance. This is the story of three women, their fates inextricably tied to this curse, and the fickle nature of men and gods.
-
The City We Became
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every city has a soul. Some are as ancient as myths and others are as new and destructive as children. New York City? She's got five. But every city also has a dark side. A roiling, ancient evil stirs beneath the earth, threatening to destroy the city and her five protectors unless they can come together and stop it once and for all.
-
-
Terrible accents
- By aidan on 12-05-20
-
The Silence of the Girls
- By: Pat Barker
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton, Michael Fox
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The great city of Troy is under siege as Greek heroes Achilles and Agamemnon wage bloody war over a stolen woman. In the Greek camp, another woman is watching and waiting: Briseis. She was a queen of this land until Achilles sacked her city and murdered her husband and sons. Now she is Achilles' concubine: a prize of battle. Briseis is just one among thousands of women backstage in this war - the slaves and prostitutes, the nurses, the women who lay out the dead - all of them voiceless in history.
-
-
Audible Please replace the male narrator 😐
- By Anne Brierley on 24-02-20
-
The Golem and the Djinni
- By: Helene Wecker
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master, the husband who commissioned her, dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York in 1899. Ahmad is a djinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Though he is no longer imprisoned, Ahmad is not entirely free - an unbreakable band of iron binds him to the physical world.
-
-
Extraordinary
- By AnneDriscoll on 29-01-15
-
Daughters of Sparta
- A Tale of Secrets, Betrayal and Revenge from Mythology's Most Vilified Women
- By: Claire Heywood
- Narrated by: Mira Dovreni
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For millennia, two women have been blamed for the fall of a mighty civilisation - but now it's time to hear their side of the story.... As princesses of Sparta, Helen and Klytemnestra have known nothing but luxury and plenty. With their high birth and unrivalled beauty, they are the envy of all of Greece. Such privilege comes at a high price, though, and their destinies are not theirs to command. While still only girls they are separated and married off to legendary foreign kings Agamemnon and Menelaus, never to meet again.
-
-
heartbreaking but beautiful.
- By Rebecca Armstrong on 09-03-22
-
Magic Lessons
- A Prequel to Practical Magic
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Sutton Foster
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We first met the Owens in the glorious novel Practical Magic. We discovered the tragedy of the Owens siblings in Rules of Magic. Now we learn how it all began...with a baby abandoned in a snowy English field in the 1600s. Under the care of gentle Hannah Owens, little Maria learns about the 'Unnamed Arts'. Maria has a gift for them - a gift that may well prove her undoing. When Maria is abandoned by the man she loves, she invokes the curse that will haunt her family for centuries. Because magic has rules, and they must be followed.
-
-
A real lesson in magic.
- By Mrs E. on 06-04-21
-
Circe
- By: Madeline Miller
- Narrated by: Perdita Weeks
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the Orange Prize-winning, internationally best-selling author of The Song of Achilles comes the powerful story of the mythological witch Circe, inspired by Homer's Odyssey. In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft.
-
-
Brilliant
- By madeleine davitt on 06-05-18
-
The Song of Achilles
- By: Madeline Miller
- Narrated by: Frazer Douglas
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son, Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother, Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfil his destiny.
-
-
Stunning, beautifully written epic
- By Amy Rice on 04-08-21
-
Pandora's Jar
- Women in the Greek Myths
- By: Natalie Haynes
- Narrated by: Natalie Haynes
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Greek myths are among the world's most important cultural building blocks, and they have been retold many times, but rarely do they focus on the remarkable women at the heart of these ancient stories. Stories of gods and monsters are the mainstay of epic poetry and Greek tragedy, from Homer to Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, from the Trojan War to Jason and the Argonauts. And still, today, a wealth of novels, plays and films draw their inspiration from stories first told almost 3,000 years ago.
-
-
Story superb, author reading superb.
- By Anonymous User on 19-07-21
-
A Thousand Ships
- By: Natalie Haynes
- Narrated by: Natalie Haynes
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Thousand Ships, broadcaster and classicist Natalie Haynes retells the story of the Trojan War from an all-female perspective, for fans of Madeline Miller and Pat Barker. This was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of them all.... In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans are over. Troy has fallen.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Dr Ann-Maree Nobelius on 25-06-19
-
The Children of Jocasta
- By: Natalie Haynes
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Children of Jocasta, Natalie Haynes retells the Oedipus and Antigone myths to reveal a new side of an ancient story.... My siblings and I have grown up in a cursed house, children of cursed parents.... Jocasta is just 15 when she is told that she must marry the King of Thebes, an old man she has never met. Her life has never been her own, and nor will it be unless she outlives her strange, absent husband.
-
-
So many twists and turns!
- By Amazon Customer on 09-10-18
-
Pandora
- By: Susan Stokes-Chapman
- Narrated by: Olivia Vinall
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In London 1799, Dora Blake is an aspiring jewellery artist who lives with her uncle in what used to be her parents' famed shop of antiquities. When a mysterious Greek vase is delivered, Dora is intrigued by her uncle's suspicious behaviour and enlists the help of Edward Lawrence, a young man seeking acceptance into the Society of Antiquaries. Edward sees the ancient vase as key to unlocking his academic future. Dora sees it as her chance to restore her parents' shop to its former glory and to escape her uncle.
-
-
Mythology set in Georgian London.
- By Corinne on 05-02-22
-
Sistersong
- By: Lucy Holland
- Narrated by: Robyn Holdaway
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
King Cador’s children inherit a land abandoned by the Romans, torn by warring tribes. Riva can cure others, but can’t heal her own scars. Keyne battles to be seen as the king’s son, although born a daughter. And Sinne dreams of love, longing for adventure. All three fear a life of confinement within the walls of the hold, their people’s last bastion of strength against the invading Saxons. However, change comes on the day ash falls from the sky – bringing Myrdhin, meddler and magician.
-
-
Problem With Recording Disturbs Enjoyment
- By Suzanne on 31-12-21
-
Medusa
- By: Jessie Burton
- Narrated by: Alisha Bailey
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Exiled to a far-flung island by the whims of the gods, Medusa has little company except the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. But when a charmed, beautiful boy called Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is disrupted with the force of a supernova, unleashing desire, love and betrayal....
-
-
I wish I’d read this as a teen!
- By Venetia H-P on 07-03-22
-
A Prince of Troy
- The Troy Quartet, Book 1
- By: Lindsay Clarke
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bringing ancient myth to life with passion, humour and humanity, Lindsay Clarke vividly retells the story of Troy and of the heroes who fought there. When the mortal Paris settles a contest between the gods, he is promised the love of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. But Helen is already married, to the powerful Menelaus of Sparta, and the kings of many cities have sworn to defend their union. Paris’ divine gift threatens to set his world aflame.
-
-
Jonathan did well but.....
- By edward sidsaph on 22-11-20
-
The Lion and the Cross
- A Novel of Saint Patrick and Ancient Ireland
- By: Joan Lesley Hamilton
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 410 CE, arrogant 16-year-old Magonus Sucatus Patricius denounces Christianity as a religion for cowards when the Roman legions withdraw, leaving Britain vulnerable to raiders from the west. Determined to wield a sword despite being the grandson of a priest, the affluent young man is taken captive by barbarians and sold into slavery to a cruel Irish king. On a mountaintop in Eire, a shepherd strips him of his grand Roman name and calls him Padraic, marking him a man of no consequence.
-
-
I couldn't put it down.
- By Liam on 15-01-20
-
Augury
- By: S.E. Lister
- Narrated by: Julie Teal
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The people of an ancient city awaken one night to find the earth beneath them trembling. But only the Augur, a fearless prophetess who was once the power behind the throne, sees the fate that awaits them. As the skies darken and portents threaten, a handful of people are drawn to do the Augur’s bidding. Fierce Saba and pale-haired Aemilia, her young acolytes, stolen from their homes long ago.
-
-
Augury
- By Faith L. on 07-07-20
-
Felix Ever After
- By: Kacen Callender
- Narrated by: Logan Rozos
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Felix Love has never been in love - and, yes, he's painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it's like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What's worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he's one marginalisation too many - Black, queer and transgender - to ever get his own happily-ever-after. When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages, Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn't count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi-love triangle.
-
-
helpful representation
- By Anonymous User on 01-07-21
Summary
A mesmerising retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Perfect for fans of Circe, The Song of Achilles and The Silence of the Girls.
As princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister, Phaedra, grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur—Minos' greatest shame and Ariadne's brother—demands blood every year.
When Theseus, prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods—drawing their attention can cost you everything.
In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne's decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover's ambition?
Ariadne gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant gods. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this is an exceptional debut novel.
Critic reviews
"Exquisitely written and exceptionally moving, this is a mythical retelling to savour." (Elodie Harper, author of The Wolf Den)
More from the same
Author
What listeners say about Ariadne
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Chris
- 15-05-21
not very good.
if being a book written by a woman about a woman makes something feminist. then this is a feminist book. however in my opinion it is simply a Mills and boon style rewriting of the myth of Ariadne. beautiful told by the narrator however it is as if somebody had copied Madeline Millers homework. if you enjoyed the nuance and beauty of Madeline Miller circe then this book will likely irritate you.
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bijoux
- 14-09-21
Ancient Greek Chiton Ripper
Where to start? Whilst the reader did her level best with the material this absolute mess of a book is basically a bizarre Mills & Boon set in mythological Greece. Saying that, the author plays fast and loose with the actual myths in order to present a devilishly caddish Theseus, all rippling muscles and ‘icy green eyes’, and our eponymous heroine, the fragrant and patently English middle class Ariadne who in modern life would drive a Chelsea Tractor and wear Hunters with her print frock. Her later romance with the god Dionysus - yes - descends into inadvertently hilarious domestic farce quite quickly and like so many contemporary writers ‘doing’ Ancient Greek Myths she has no concept of symbolism, religious faith or indeed, mythology. If you want the genuine article, listen to Mary Renault’s The Mask Of Apollo. If you want bulging thews and fluttering hearts give this a go and the best of luck.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CV
- 26-06-21
A wonderful listen!
God, Theseus is such a coward isn’t he? Also, Phaedra was as annoying as I thought she was from the very start. Was a pity though.. because she was a smart girl. I really enjoyed this listen and thought that it was narrated very well.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 27-02-22
Heartbreaking - in every way brilliant
Such a gut wrenchingly sad story. Written and performed with such beauty and tenderness. Outstanding
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hannah
- 23-07-21
Beautiful story
I couldn't put this book down, or more accurately stop listening to it. The narrator is fantastic, she even carries off male voices with no problem and had me crying in certain parts, the emotions felt so raw.
The mythology behind this is sound and it's absolutely fantastic that a previously generally ignored figure from the time of gods and monsters has been given her place in fictional history.
Honestly, if you want to lose yourself to a beautifully crafted story, this is for you.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- queenselphie
- 01-02-22
amazing narrator, fantastic story
oh my gosh the narrator is SO GOOD. I cried at the end and I'm sure it was because she was so amazing as well as the story.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Goldshadow
- 02-09-21
Eh
(Spoilers ahead)
This ending is unforgivable, mostly because it doesn't make any goddamn sense.
The book was pretty "meh" in the beginning, then turned relatively good around 40% of it (when Dionysos steps in), but then, oh boy, did the text fell into a dark pit of mess again. Jennifer Saint, attempting to truly write a feminist retelling, tries to antagonise every male character in this story (except, mabye, Hyppolitus). Dunno if she knows, and there are ofc many variants of the story, but Dionysos has no "secret dark side" concealed from his wife. Ariadne participated in the dionysias, countless classical murials will show you so. So she shrinking away from her husband, finding the rites revolting, doesn't make much sense to me...
Not to mention, in the myths Dionysos immortalises Ariadne just like he did his mother. Ariadne, frantically running up to Perseus (who should be long dead by the time Thesus' and Ariadne's even born, since Heracles is his offspring) just to look into Medusa's eyes... Come on.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 15-07-21
Wonderful dramatic narration
I haven’t been able to get the book yet but hope to read it soon. This is a good dramatic audible for long distance runners and car journeys. The plot is women centred and the dual narration works well. It’s not scholarly like Natalie Haynes but very accessible to a modern audience.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Emily Butlin
- 25-04-22
LOVED this novel and an impeccable performance
I recently listened to another book with one narrater voicing two characters (the children of jocasta) and the two characters were so hard to decipher.
This was in no way the case with this novel. I actually had to check there weren't two narrators.
The story develops and changes over and over. By the end I'd forgotten the Minotaur and Labrynth even existed! Thoroughly entertaining listen which truly takes you on a journey with the characters. Both clever story telling and wonderful narration bring this story to life.
Will definitely listen to this book again.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 21-04-22
Weird. Great at places, bizzare end
I am a fan of Greek mythology and seeing a book about often overlooked Ariadne sparked my interest. It has a lulling rhythm, interesting visual painting at times. But the end... well it made no sense. much as the half of the book was keeping a loose but enjoyable grip on the myths, part four and the end strive as far as possible in the opposite direction to drive a very weird point. As much as it had the opportunity to play into Greek tragedy or give a happy ending, it opted for angst that contradicts everything set up before. To Kristin Atherton's credit, she delivered a mostly compelling performance that made the whole experience enjoyable, even if the choices at the end tore at my heart and knowledge of the myth the book is derived from.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 20-03-22
Boooooring
There is absolutely no reason why it would be better to read this version than the original Greek myth. There is a lot of internal monologue, but the story of what has happened could be told on no more than 20 pages.
Until now I thought Ariadne to be cool, but in this version she is pretty much whining all the time. She contemplates and contemplates what she should do, and this is more or less followed by her inaction, at least untill the very end.
Also, way too much of misandry in this book for my taste - and I consider myself to be a feminist!
I also disliked the narrator. Her voice is as bland as the story.