This is an absolute treat to listen to, superbly interpreted, and with each of the many characters having its own unique voice, this classic comes alive in the hands of a truly gifted narrator. Neville Jason trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he was awarded the diction prize by Sir John Gielgud. He has been a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company, and may be heard in radio plays, documentaries and arts programs. Hardy’s rather prescient novel puts issues of class, marriage, sexuality and gender in the 19th century under a microscope. Not surprising that it caused a furore when it was published. For those who have read the book this is a ‘must listen’; for those new to the novel, it is a compelling performance and shouldn’t be missed.

After disastrous first marriages, Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead find love – which Sue is reluctant to tarnish by marriage, a decision for which society cruelly marginalises them. Through the doomed trajectory of their lives, Hardy sympathetically explores the fault lines in Victorian attitudes to marriage and in the couple’s vain attempts to sustain their ‘highest and purest love’.

Hardy’s most haunting novel follows Jude’s piteous loyalty to his enigmatic muse, Sue Bridehead. Narrator Neville Jason evokes Hardy’s sombre tone through his resonant voice and measured pace, eloquently moving the listener through the novel’s descriptive prose. The story takes place in Hardy’s Wessex country, among artisans and teachers. Jason captures the dialects of the region in his vocal characterisations. He is particularly effective in his emphatic performance of the continual bickering between Jude and his first wife, Arabella. Jason’s attention to the intonation of Hardy’s style compels the listener through this unsettling love story.