- Title:
- Henrietta & Eleanor: A Retelling of Jekyll and Hyde
- Author:
- Robert Louis Stevenson
- Libby Spurrier – dramatist
- Release:
- November 20, 2018
- Format:
- Audiobook
- Narrator:
- Holliday Grainger
- Clive Mantle
- Carla Mendonça
- Miranda Raison
Recently, I spotted somebody talking about writing a female version of Jekyll and Hyde on Twitter. As I was scrolling through my Audible library and discovered this, I just had to give it a listen. I have the original, as part of a collection and it’s been living rent-free in the back of my brain since January 2021. Unfortunately, I have yet to read the original, so I can’t comment on the faithfulness of this retelling. However, I’ll likely revisit this story sometime and update this post when I do.
The audio production is absolutely fantastic. The narrators (as well as the additional background effects) truly brought this book to life and captivated my interest. While I’ve dipped out of a story in the past because I found the background effects excessive, they only contributed positively to this retelling.
This cast, I just can’t say enough good things about them. So often, audio narrators are truly awful, or just alright at best. Not this cast, I recognized Miranda Raison from Dragon Age: 2 and Inquisition, which was mildly distracting. But that’s not a mark against this story by any means. To me, it told me this was likely a professional cast who took their work seriously, and based on the production I just listened to, I’d say my inference was accurate.
For those of you who don’t usually listen to audiobooks, listen to me now. A full cast is rare. Good narrators are rare. This story? You just don’t know how rare of a treat this audiobook is. This is one of those rare stories I’m going to promote long after this review because it’s worth your munny.