The Betrothed

De: Alessandro Manzoni

Narrado por: Nicholas Boulton

After the jealous tyrant Don Rodrigo foils their wedding, young Lombardian peasants Lucia and Lorenzo must separate and flee for their safety. Their difficult path to matrimony takes place against the turbulent backdrop of the Thirty Years War, where lawlessness and exploitation are at their height. Lucia takes refuge in a convent, where she is later abducted and taken on a nightmarish journey to a sinister castle, while Lorenzo goes to Milan, where he witnesses famine, riots, and plague - all evoked through meticulous description and with stunning immediacy. The Betrothed is a masterful example of historical fiction and remains one of the most famous novels in Italian literature.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2019 Naxos Audiobooks

Masterpiece

I am grateful to have discovered this excellent narration of this outstanding classic. I hope to revisit this in the future.

Rare Christian outlook

I’ve never encountered characters in classic literature that have so much Christian outlook and supernatural sense. It has been a great pleasure listening to this audiobook in my long drives to the city.

Fantastic reading of a great work of literature

This was not my first reading of this great work of world literature, but in the present rendition it comes alive in a completely new way. The moving and exciting plot as lived out in the wonderful variety of characters of this story becomes almost like a play, as the Nicholas Boulton is able to enter into them, and adapt his tone and even dialect to the person speaking. I find him one of the best performers on Audible yet, and that is after many years of being a member.
I had hoped for a long time that Audible would make this book available, and with this recent publication my hopes were fulfilled, and my expectations greatly exceeded.

Best 19th C. novel? Incredibly timely in 2022

First, the plot is wonderful, moving us along through the trials of the two young people. But what makes the novel so memorable are these elements: great characters (including a saintly Capuchin friar), historical passages that are well wrought, and a lively satire that keeps things from becoming sentimental. (The author has a great understanding of human nature and the foibles of a society that seems so 21st c.!) The description of the plague in Milan is moving.

wonderful!

I really loved this book. I had never heard of it before Anothony Esolen mentioned it in a lecture. It was highly recommended by him and I'm so glad he did! A beautiful story. The writing is wonderful and the reader is brilliant. get it!

Wonderful!

Listen to this whole thing. It’s as good as they say it is. Loved it.

Long, lovely, but not lean

This is a long, lovely story, but requires a lot of patience from the modern reader. It is written very much in the style of the 19th century, proceeding with many meanderings and digressions. In this way, the story goes on, and on, and on before it arrives anywhere. I am glad it’s finally over, as my patience was much tested, but on balance, I must allow that it was worth the persistence it demanded.

Fascinating

Loved the history and vivid description from of life during the 17 century from the poorest to the richest. Fascinating description of the impact of the plague

Excellent book

What an engaging, dramatic read! The narrator is excellent, even if the book had been boring he is a delight to listen to.

Ben fatto!

The reader did a great job. The story was amazing. I read this book for school (Ambleside Online) and really enjoyed it. It reminds me a lot of The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas. Listening to this book was even better than reading it because of the illustrious magnitude of the weekly allotment of reading in my curriculum. C’était un de Les meilleurs livres que j’ai lu cette année.