Requiem for a Wren (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A Haunting Postwar Mystery of Love, Duty, Survivor Guilt, and Wartime Trauma from Normandy to AustraliaBy Nevil Shute
Length11h 33m
About this audiobook
Requiem for a Wren, also published as The Breaking Wave, is one of Nevil Shute's most haunting postwar novels: part mystery, part elegy, and part moral reckoning. Set between an Australian sheep station and the wartime theaters of Britain and Normandy, it traces Alan Duncan's attempt to understand the suicide of Jessie Proctor, a former Wren whose life has been marked by love, duty, and traumatic loss. Shute's prose is characteristically lucid, restrained, and humane, placing private grief within the wider dislocations of the Second World War. Nevil Shute Norway was an aeronautical engineer before he became a full-time novelist, and his fiction often reflects a professional man's respect for competence, endurance, and practical courage. His wartime service and later emigration to Australia deeply shaped his imaginative world, giving him an unusual authority in depicting both military experience and the emotional aftermath of global conflict. In Jessie, Shute creates one of his most quietly devastating portraits of ordinary heroism. This novel is recommended to readers who value morally serious fiction rendered without sentimentality. It will especially appeal to those interested in war literature, Australian settings, and narratives that reveal tragedy through careful reconstruction rather than melodrama.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenreAction and Adventure, Mystery and Thriller
Length11 hrs 33 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 10, 2023
LanguageEnglish
More from Nevil Shute
A Town Like Alice (Annotated)Nevil Shute14h 29m$2 · $0.00
Pied Piper (Annotated)Nevil Shute11h 9m$2 · $0.00
Lonely RoadNevil Shute10h 35m3.9 (704)$1 · $0.00
Landfall. A Channel StoryNevil Shute8h 21m4.0 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Requiem for a WrenNevil Shute11h 14m4.1 (2.7K)$1 · $0.00
Most SecretNevil Shute12h 52m4.1 (2.2K)$1 · $0.00
Pied PiperNevil Shute10h 54m4.3 (14.4K)$2 · $0.00
An Old CaptivityNevil Shute10h 42m4.0 (1.9K)$2 · $0.00
Round the BendNevil Shute14h 19m4.3 (4K)$2 · $0.00
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m4.7 (670)$28 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m4.6 (33.1K)$33 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Scaramouche (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini15h 24m4.6 (1.8K)$2 · $0.00
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure NovelCasey Nash3h 42m4.6 (3.2K)$18 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m4.5 (77.2K)$53 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
ShivajiRanjit Desai25h 13m4.6 (3.1K)$24 · $0.00
The Road to Gundagai (The Matilda Saga, #3)Jackie French12h 31m4.6 (1.2K)$33 · $0.00
TimelessR. A. Salvatore12h 30m4.5 (8K)$33 · $0.00
An Inside JobDaniel Silva9h 28m4.4 (26.3K)$29 · $0.00
The CommodoreP. T. Deutermann11h 53m4.5 (2.4K)$20 · $0.00
A Closed and Common OrbitBecky Chambers11h 30m4.4 (140.7K)$29 · $0.00
Thud!Terry Pratchett10h 31m4.4 (112.6K)$8 · $0.00
All Quiet on the Western Front (Annotated)Erich Maria Remarque8h 34m4.4 (12.9K)$1.99 · $0.00
Crime and punishmentFyodor Dostoevsky22h 34m4.4 (1.3M)$3 · $0.00
Exit FeeBrad Taylor3h 16m4.5 (1.9K)$18 · $0.00
The Alice NetworkKate Quinn15h 7m4.4 (887.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Ohio River Trilogy: Betty Zane, The Spirit of the Border & The Last TrailZane Grey29h 8m4.4 (1.8K)$1 · $0.00
A Darkness ReturnsRaymond E. Feist19h 29m4.4 (1.9K)$40 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
The New Human Revolution, vol. 1Daisaku Ikeda7h 46m4.7 (669)$12 · $0.00
The ReunionJana Deleon6h 31m4.6 (1.6K)$26 · $0.00
To Hold and ProtectSandra Owens7h 59m4.6 (1.1K)$8 · $0.00
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Complete Edition)Arthur Conan Doyle12h 41m4.6 (286.7K)$1.99 · $0.00
Farewell My Lovely (Annotated)Raymond Chandler10h 37m4.6 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m4.5 (77.2K)$53 · $0.00
Olympic Mountain PursuitJodie Bailey5h 55m4.6 (638)$12 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
Deadly Badlands PursuitSharee Stover5h 53m4.6 (361)$12 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
AngelAnita Waller10h 30m4.6 (672)$30 · $0.00
The BorderDon Winslow29h 8m4.5 (35.7K)$53 · $0.00
FlashpointCatherine Coulter11h 38m4.5 (11.6K)$29 · $0.00
Tracking Stolen SecretsLaura Scott5h 37m4.5 (2.2K)$12 · $0.00
The Gothic Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Illustrated Edition)Edgar Allan Poe21h 5m4.5 (2.9K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m4.6 (495)$33 · $0.00
Fang Si-Chi's First Love ParadiseYi-Han Lin8h 25m4.5 (4K)$26 · $0.00
The Rose CodeKate Quinn16h 2m4.4 (493.7K)$33 · $0.00
No Woman Left BehindJulie Moffett8h 49m4.5 (3K)$25 · $0.00
You may also like
Requiem for a WrenNevil Shute11h 14m4.1 (2.7K)$1 · $0.00
The Breaking Wave (Annotated)Nevil Shute Norway10h 40m4.3 (3.5K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Return of the SoldierRebecca West2h 46m3.8 (14.3K)$16 · $0.00
NoondayPat Barker9h 47m3.9 (3.6K)$20
The Poppy WifeCaroline Scott11h 53m3.9 (13.6K)$29 · $0.00
Random HarvestJames Hilton9h 55m4.3 (5.8K)$25
The American FianceeEric Dupont26h 2m4.0 (2.3K)$53 · $0.00
A Dictionary of Mutual UnderstandingJackie Copleton11h 9m4.0 (15.1K)$20 · $0.00
How We DisappearedJing-Jing Lee11h 48m4.2 (17.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Breaking WaveNevil Shute Norway10h 44m4.1 (3.9K)$2 · $0.00
The Ghetto WithinSantiago H. Amigorena4h 33m3.9 (1.8K)$20 · $0.00
FireballRobert Matzen12h 4m4.3 (2.2K)$25
MoonglowMichael Chabon14h 42m4.0 (43K)$33 · $0.00
Coco ChanelJustine Picardie11h4.0 (6.2K)$29 · $0.00
Double VisionPat Barker7h 39m3.7 (1.3K)$17 · $0.00
On Canaan’s SideSebastian Barry7h 20m3.9 (7.7K)$17
A Cruel DeceptionCharles Todd10h4.0 (6.4K)$29 · $0.00
Parade's End: The Complete Tetralogy (Annotated)Madox Ford39h 27m4.0 (12.6K)$2 · $0.00
Some Kind of Fairy TaleGraham Joyce9h 57m3.8 (11.4K)$25
Dear Little CorpsesNicola Upson10h 3m4.1 (1.6K)$20