Henrietta & Eleanor: A Retelling of Jekyll and Hyde

Dr Jekyll, a charming doctor, explores the possibility of dividing the dark and light side of her personality, but in doing this she creates a monster, Eleanor Hyde. For many years she manages to live under the radar, keeping her dark secret unknown to those around her. However, gradually her evil side gains strength until Dr Jekyll is overwhelmed by Eleanor Hyde, to disastrous consequences. An exploration of human duality and forces of good and evil, this modern retelling is compelling and eerie and retains the disturbing nature of the original text.

Publisher: Audible  | Narrator: Tim Bentinck, Bill Fellows, Hugh Fraser, Holliday Grainger, Clive Mantle, Carla Mendonca, Katarina Olsson, Miranda Raison and Hugh Ross.  | Length: 2 hours 50 minutes | Genre: Classic Retelling | Source: Audible Freebie | Rating: 2 Cups

Challenges Read For:  - Audiobook Challenge -

 

Once again, I decided to give one of Audible’s freebies a go and I wasn’t too impressed.

 

This was marked as a ‘modern re-telling’ of the classic, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde but rather than a re-telling, I feel like this was basically the same book (complete with the Victorian dialogue) transported into the modern world. I was looking forward to a modern variation.

 

While I was disappointed in the way this was handled, I liked the narration in this one. It was more of a dramatization (think old-fashioned radio shows complete with sound effects and a cast) than an audiobook and it worked.

 

Overall, this was just a strange way to handle a ‘re-telling’. While I liked the original, I was expecting a fresher approach. If I ignore the modern bits thrown in, it’s okay for a gender-swap but still not enough to impress.