The Glass Pearls
Faber Editions
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The Glass Pearls
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Narrated by:
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Mark Gatiss
About this listen
For fans of The Passenger, this thrilling tale of an ex-Nazi surgeon hiding in plain sight in 1960s London by the celebrated filmmaker is a lost noir gem, introduced by Anthony Quinn and narrated on audio by Mark Gatiss, as chosen by Ian Rankin on BBC Radio 4's A Good Read.
'Stunning: incredibly good, thought-provoking and tense.' Ian Rankin
'This extraordinary novel had me hooked from start to finish.' Sarah Waters
'An outstanding novel: gripping, tense and darkly unsettling. ' Jonathan Freedland
'A wonderfully compelling noir thriller and audacious and challenging act of imagination.' William Boyd
Nothing is more inviting to disclose your secrets than to be told by others of their own ...
London, June 1965. Karl Braun arrives as a lodger in Pimlico: hatless, with a bow-tie, greying hair, slight in build. His new neighbours are intrigued by this cultured German gentleman who works as a piano tuner; many are fellow émigrés, who assume that he, like them, came to England to flee Hitler. That summer, Braun courts a woman, attends classical concerts, dances the twist. But as the newspapers fill with reports of the hunt for Nazi war criminals, his nightmares become increasingly worse .
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Critic reviews
"A wonderfully compelling noir thriller and audacious and challenging act of imagination." (William Boyd)
"This extraordinary novel had me hooked from start to finish." (Sarah Waters)
"Incredibly good, thought-provoking and tense." (Ian Rankin)
What listeners say about The Glass Pearls
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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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
- Antje Freudenberg
- 21-08-22
A must listen
Once again, Mark Gatiss at his best, reading this
captivating story.
I'm at awe how Mark Gatiss managed both the German accent as well as the French names.
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2 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
- Jane Renton
- 26-11-24
A tautological feast.
The narration was compelling and very well-pitched and the story arc surprising and chilling - like the subject itself.
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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 Curzon Tussaud
- 12-10-22
An Audible triumph.
One of the best narrators I’ve yet listened to on Audible; great characterisations and more than competent with accents.
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2 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
- imusthaveanickname
- 04-05-23
Good all round.
Great narration as expected. I didn't expect such a challenging story, which didn't explicitly judge the main character for much of the book. I loved it.
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2 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 E M Gorrie
- 11-02-24
Interesting sympathies
The manipulation of emotions about the main character-Karl - was fascinating. Also the enigmatic woman of his lonely desire is beautifully drawn.
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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
- Amazon Customer
- 04-02-24
Simply tragic
The split between rooting for the underdog that you know did terrible things because of his history and humanity, and the final chapters which bear listening to twice. An excellent reading of an excellent book
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- ARUTHER LOWRY
- 23-03-24
Great story and characters
An important book about the holocaust and its perpetrators disguised as a thriller a wonderful book.
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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 Nicola C Corcoran
- 18-03-23
First time reviewer
What a beautifully crafted story, so clever, drawing me into the seemingly gentle, courteous and humble Carl Braun even though I knew of his hideous past. The denouement was utterly stunning.
Mark Gatiss was just as magnificent.
Never reviewed before, too lazy, but couldn’t miss this opportunity to recommend this book!
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3 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
- Liz
- 10-01-23
I haven't stopped raving about this book
It's so stunningly good. Particularly when you consider Pressburger lost family in the camps, for him to have worked his way so deeply into a nazi's mind - and to do so sympathetically.
That alone would make it worth reading. But the way he allows flashes of how hateful and vile the man can be between his gentler moments is masterful. You can see the master scriptwriter at work.
Excellent, read it at once!
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2 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 White
- 03-02-24
The complex moral voice.
I found it striking that as a Jewish refugee Pressburger should write such a complex and compelling novel. For much of the story one finds oneself rooting for the main protagonist in spite of our knowledge of his history. Beautiful writing and precise character portrayal. No surprise that Pressburger was such a consummate screenwriter. If only he had written more novels. Graeme Greene-esque levels of subtlety.
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1 person found this helpful