Nights at the Circus
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Nights at the Circus
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Narrated by:
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Adjoa Andoh
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By:
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Angela Carter
About this listen
This Audible Exclusive recording of Angela Carter's iconic novel, Nights at the Circus, is brought to you by celebrated actress and voice artist, Adjoa Andoh. It is described by Carter herself as a 'psychedelic Dickens.'
A compelling and thought provoking novel which heralds a new age, we're introduced to the unique and mesmerizing character of Sophi Fevvers and her illustrious wings....
About the book
Said to be part woman, part swan, Sophi Fevvers stars in Colonel Kearney's Circus, beloved and admired by audiences all around Europe.
Courted by the Prince of Wales himself and fawned on by American journalist, Jack Walser, Sophi defies expectation by embarking on a journey of self-discovery, and taking the listener on an intoxicating trip around London, St Petersburg and Siberia.
One of Carter's most empowered female protagonists, Fevvers heralds a 'new Age in which no women will be bound down to the ground,' making this a timeless and wholly inspiring literary masterpiece.
About the author
Angela Carter was born in 1940, in Sussex. She grew up in the shabbily respectable south London district of Balham, the second child of an eccentric journalist father and a neurotic housewife mother.
She studied English at Bristol University before travelling extensively, teaching and writing numerous best-selling novels. They have all received considerable critical acclaim and remain firm favourites of modern English literature.
Angela was a devout feminist throughout her life, wrote for Spare Rib magazine and voted Labour. Her novels are wholly reflective of her world views and continue to inspire new generations of men and women worldwide.
About the narrator
Adjoa Andoh is a British film, television, stage and radio actress, best-known for her roles in Invictus, Doctor Who, Liar and National Theatre Live: Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
She is well versed in the art of narration and has voiced over 100 audiobooks, including Naomi Alderman's The Power, Marcus Chown's The Ascent of Gravity, Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and Fiona Barton's The Child.
Adjoa has had many leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, The National Theatre, The Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre, and she's acted in a production of Nights at the Circus.
©1984 Angela Carter (P)2018 Audible, LtdListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Nights at the Circus
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- jade corr
- 23-03-22
postmodern and very detailed
Great If you like postmodern stories. it was too much for me to keep enthused. but alot going on and entertaining.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Red Shoes
- 10-08-18
wondrrful
Adjoa Andoh perfectly captures Angela Carter's characters & imaginative narrative. A favourite novel beautifully read.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MRS SUZANNAH JONES
- 21-03-22
A modern Midsummer's Night Dream
Sit back and let Adjoa Andoh's voices take you on a journey down a rabbit hole and into the surreal world of Morpheus. Unpick the meaning of it all once you awaken at the end ... for just like a dream, you will FEEL its meaning rather than grasp it.
Angela Carter has managed to weave feminist messages into the reader's subconscious through trickery and subterfuge...or was it the other way around?
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Miss Tulip
- 05-11-21
Very enjoyable and clever
Great listen. Thoroughly enjoyed the book even more so with superb narration! Adjoa Andoh is by far my favourite now.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 17-01-24
Evocative writing & performance!
Captivating & charming story. Quirky with beautiful almost lyrical writing. But the performance by Adjoa - wow, wow, wow. Each character was unique and recognisable and so many accents to perfect. Brilliantly read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- E
- 26-10-22
Brilliant
Brilliant book brilliantly read. I recommend this totally. It is funny, sweet, strange and exciting.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- JF
- 20-01-21
A brilliant performance
I had never heard of Adjoa Andoh before I listened to this novel but it turns out she is quite a star. She made this listen a thoroughly pleasurable experience for me. Her American accents were a bit dodgy but her Cockney accent was spot on and her Russian accents a treat. I have no idea if she rendered the accents of proto-Finno-Ugric authentically but it was good enough for entertainment. I have already downloaded more books read by her. As for the novel, this has been in my to-be-read pile since 1984, so I was glad to have finally crossed it off my list. I think listening to Adjoa read it made it worth the wait. I admired the exotic vocabulary. I learned a new word every 5 pages, on average. The descriptions are highly visual and I had the sense of reading an ambitious graphic novel. Some of the metaphors and similes are lovely. There is a cornucopia of ideas. But I missed the authentic human interaction that is for me the centre of interest in any novel. Towards the climax of the novel, as she melts under her lover’s vatic gaze, the female protagonist feels herself turning from a woman into an idea. I felt that all the characters had already done so. Men get short shrift in this novel. The lover in question is only useful as a phallus and an amanuensis. This is explicitly stated but is also expressed symbolically in the heroine’s triumphant, climactic exhortation, ‘Get out your pencil and we’ll begin!’
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stuart Turner
- 06-04-21
Madly brilliant
The strot sweeps you along. It’s funny and sad and exciting, taking crazy left turns occasionally. Loved it. The narration is superb.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Angela
- 20-08-20
Strong, sometimes wandering accents
Think the Italian london character changes to straight up cockney mid way. Really harsh accents all round plus mostly monologue makes it quite hard to listen to.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Heather Trow
- 16-04-21
A real Cockney fairytale
You would think a story about a woman with wings who signs up to work at circus roaming through Europe would be whimsical and enchanting, and it did have its moments, but it was mostly gritty and <i>disenchanting</i>. The main character is so colourful! Pure entertainment. I really don't know what else to add. Would have given it five stars, but I wasn't as enamoured with the last third of the book.
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