Audiobook Review: 'Timeless Love: Poems, Stories, and Letters' by William Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barret Browning, John Keats, Edith Wharton, and more

I'm not a majorly romantic person, but I can be quite the fool for literary romance. Show me a good love poem and I might just believe it's all real. As such, I couldn't pass up the chance to indulge in some of the best love poems, stories and letters narrated beautifully. Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 29/12/2020
Publisher: Thomas Nelson

This beautiful collection celebrates the beauty and the agony of love through classic poems, stories, and letters from beloved writers.

Because it defines human existence, love is one of art's favorite subjects. Timeless Love: Poems, Stories, and Letters celebrates the mysterious nature of love and passion by bringing together classic works by beloved writers through the ages.

Including stories, poems, and letters from Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barret Browning, John Keats, Edith Wharton, and more, this collection explores how each love is singular - yet love itself is universal. 

In Timeless Love we are gifted with various poems, stories and letters, excellently narrated, from some of our most well-known authors. From Shakespeare's sonnets to Alexander Hamilton's letters, there is a variety of things to listen to and there will be something for everyone to enjoy.

There were a few favourites for me. 'The Fullness of Life' by Edith Wharton is a joy that plays with what love and happiness truly is. 'Mr. and Mrs. Dove' by Katherine Mansfield is adorable and was new to me. The real standout, however, were the three stories by Lucy Maud Montgomery, namely 'The Tryst of the White Lady', 'The Girl and the Photograph' and 'The Gossip of Valley View'. The first is a Gothic tale of love and haunting with an oddly touching ending. The second is a story of confusion and destiny, love found, lost and regained at last. The third was perhaps my favourite of the three, in which town gossip for once brings about happiness. I hadn't read any L.M. Montgomery before although I was aware of her, so this was a nice introduction. The poems I was mostly familiar with, but since I'm not a major poetry fiend they didn't affect me as much as the stories. The same was true for the letters, although every since Hamilton I've had a soft spot for Alexander and Eliza.

My only gripe with Timeless Love would be that these texts were taken mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries and solely from the UK and the USA, with an exception for the Brothers Grimm from Germany. I would have loved to see a wider branching out, to see texts that we're not as familiar with from voices we haven't heard quite as often. Many of the texts in this collection will be familiar to the listener and reader, so the occasional surprise would have been fun. Since all these texts are classics, it is hard to really say much about them. Each is well-written and has its own charm. The beauty of Timeless Love, for me, therefore lies in the narration. Each narrator does an excellent job to bring emotion and pathos to the texts, may they be poems, stories or letters. This audio production is narrated by a full cast and sadly I found it difficult to find a full list of the narrators. As such, I have done my best to produce a full list of narrators (underlined) below since they deserve a lot of credit for making it all a pleasure to listen to. If you notice a mistake, please do let me know!

Poems:

Shakespeare and Wordsworth by Mike Reid; John Keats and Paul Laurence Dunbar by Sule Rimi; Elizabeth Barret Browning and Christina Rosetti by Natalie Pownall; Robert Burns by Angus King; Mary Weston Fordham and Alice Dunbar Nelson by  Penelope Rawlins.

Stories:

Oscar Wilde by Mike Reid; Edith Wharton and Katherine Mansfield by Penelope Rawlins;  L.M. Montgomery by Natalie Pownall; the Brothers Grimm by Mike Reid, Sule Rimi, and Angus King.

Letters: 

Alexander Hamilton and Robert Browning by Sule Rimi; John Keats by Mike Reid; Elizabeth Barret Browning by Natalie Pownall.

I give this collection...

4 Universes!

For those with a love for, wel..., love, Timeless Love will be a delightful listen or read. The collection is excellently narrated and although very traditional, it is a nice selection of texts.