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Beastings

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Beastings

By: Benjamin Myers
Narrated by: Ralph Ineson
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About this listen

 Bloomsbury presents Beastings by Benjamin Myers, read by Ralph Ineson.

Winner of the Portico Prize for Literature and the Northern Writers’ Award

‘A brilliant, brutal novel’ ROBERT MACFARLANE

A girl and a baby. A priest and a poacher. A savage pursuit through the landscape of a changing rural England.

When a teenage girl leaves the workhouse and abducts a child placed in her care, the local priest is called upon to retrieve them. Chased through the Cumbrian mountains of a distant past, the girl fights starvation and the elements, encountering the hermits, farmers and hunters who occupy the remote hillside communities. An American Southern Gothic tale set against the violent beauty of Northern England, Beastings is a sparse and poetic novel about morality, motherhood and corruption.©2014 Benjamin Myers (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction Fiction

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Critic reviews

"A brilliant, brutal novel." (Robert Macfarlane)
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An elemental tale narrated brilliantly by Ralph Ineson. A narrator can make or break an audiobook, this was exemplary.
Great writing of both character and landscape description. Faultless but not for the faint hearted.

Brutal, savage and earthy.

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Second Benjamin Myers book I have read. The story is hard to read the subject matter tough. A sad tragic tale but having said that I'm glad I read it. Benjamin Myers tale pulls you along the characters vivid and strong. would highly recommend. The narrator is top drawer.

Beautiful yet difficult storyline

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A tale of human determination, for good and evil, where two strong willed forces confront each other and find a resolution whose morality challenges all our beliefs. Lyrically written, beautifully told.

Beautifully written, wonderfully spoken

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Incredible story read incredibly well! The world was created so beautifully by Ben and then the reading by Ralph truly bought the story to life.

Incredible story read incredibly well!!

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Another unbeatable combination of Myers and Ineson, both deliver impeccably. How such vivid landscapes and people are painted in words, I do not know

gripping excellence as always

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Can’t believe this author has passed me by. Great book. I listened to it over 2 days and it kept me wanting to listen more. Onto the next one. I’m hooked.

Great Listen

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A comment on the hypocrisy of religion and the desperate aftermath of repeated trauma, this is a painful and difficult story. It’s gripping throughout and the characters are brilliantly drawn but avoid if you are looking for something uplifting.

A harrowing but excellent read

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This narration was an absolute assault on my ears. Was actually so upsetting to my ears to listen to this for more than ten minutes at a time. Don’t give up the day job Ralph because audiobooks are clearly not your thing.

Terrible narration - OK story

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