Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • The Aspern Papers

  • By: Henry James
  • Narrated by: David Thorn
  • Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
  • 2.5 out of 5 stars (2 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Aspern Papers

By: Henry James
Narrated by: David Thorn
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £5.99

Buy Now for £5.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Henry James' short but much acclaimed suspense novel. Set in Venice, it's the story of an American editor's determination to acquire a collection of unpublished letters at any cost.

The letters are to the former mistress of a famous, deceased poet, Jeffrey Aspern. The mistress, Miss Bordereau is now very elderly, living modestly in a dilapidated old palazzo with her shy, awkward and uncomely niece Tita, an unwitting 'pawn' in the plot.

The strong characterizations of the three main players in the story make for a compelling story of lies, betrayal and psychological warfare. James' gift for building suspense is evident, the tension builds until the very last moment.

Henry James (1843–1916) was an American novelist, a 19th century master of literary realism, a movement to portray ordinary lives and situations devoid of romanticism or stylization.

Born in Manhattan to a prominent family, Henry James traveled extensively, and eventually settled in England. The cultural differences between Americans and Europeans were a favorite subject of his.

Public Domain (P)2009 Alcazar Audioworks
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Roderick Hudson cover art
The Siege of London cover art
The Real Thing and Other Stories cover art
The Sea Lady cover art
Two on a Tower cover art
Daisy Miller cover art
The Ambassadors cover art
The Bostonians cover art
The Portrait of a Lady cover art
The Gambler cover art
Swann in Love cover art
Sodom and Gomorrah (Cities of the Plain), Part I cover art
The Glimpses of the Moon cover art
Jane Eyre cover art
Middlemarch cover art
North and South cover art

What listeners say about The Aspern Papers

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 2.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 1 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Ham and more ham

Occasionally one wonders whether there has been any editorial input applied in the choice of some voices for audiobooks. David Thorn - no doubt convincing in Hammer Horror or perhaps on a bar stool in the Rue de Rivoli is almost unbearable in this reading. The irritating, hammy, sing song tone, almost unintelligible, and used without any regard to sense or tone, meant I had to abandon the Aspern Papers within the first few chapters. Though in his impersonation of the 'ladies" in the novel gave some light relief, he is almost impossible to listen to such that I had to abandon the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful