The Canterbury Tales
by Peter Ackroyd, Geoffrey Chaucer, Nick Bantock
Narrated by Keith Moore, Toby Leonard Moore, Colin McPhillamy, John Curless, John Keating, Graeme Malcolm, Davina Porter, Steven Crossley
Why Listen?
Multiple narrators bring Ackroyd's modernized Canterbury Tales to vivid life, each voice perfectly matched to their pilgrim, making this sprawling medieval classic feel urgent and intimate.
About This Audiobook
A diverse band of medieval pilgrims embarks on the ancient road from London to Canterbury Cathedral, each carrying their own secrets, desires, and stories. When their jovial host suggests a storytelling contest to pass the hours, twenty-nine travelers from all walks of life—knights and merchants, nuns and wives, scholars and rogues—begin weaving tales that reveal the full spectrum of human nature. Peter Ackroyd breathes fresh life into Chaucer's timeless masterpiece, transforming the Middle English verses into vivid contemporary prose while preserving the ribald humor, moral complexity, and sharp social commentary that made the original revolutionary.
The ensemble cast of eight skilled narrators transforms this literary journey into a theatrical experience, with each performer embodying distinct characters and bringing authentic personality to every pilgrim's voice. Davina Porter's nuanced delivery captures the cunning Wife of Bath, while Graeme Malcolm's authoritative tone suits the learned tales perfectly. The varied narrative styles—from courtly romance to bawdy comedy—benefit enormously from the audio format, allowing listeners to fully appreciate Ackroyd's masterful prose rhythms and the natural storytelling tradition that inspired Chaucer's original work centuries ago.