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
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
THE VALLEY OF SILENT MEN (Annotated)James Oliver Curwood8h 25m4.5 (420)$2 · $0.00
West of the TularosaLouis L’Amour5h 53m4.4 (3.6K)$20 · $0.00
The Emperor's FistJay Allan8h 37m4.5 (272)$26 · $0.00
The Amazing Interlude (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart8h 42m4.5 (365)$1.99 · $0.00
Hornblower and the Hotspur (Annotated)C. S. Forester14h 7m4.4 (17.3K)$2 · $0.00
Shades of WickedJeaniene Frost8h 51m4.4 (19.5K)$29 · $0.00
The Log of a Cowboy (Annotated)Andy Adams9h 47m4.4 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
Everything She WantedJennifer Ryan9h 9m4.4 (1.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Ballad of the White HorseG. K. Chesterton2h 43m4.4 (3.8K)$1.20 · $0.00
The Complete Huckleberry Finn & Tom Sawyer Adventures (Unabridged) (Annotated)Mark Twain26h 21m4.3 (16.7K)$2 · $0.00
Countdown to MidnightDale Brown13h 6m4.3 (4.1K)$33 · $0.00
Three ComradesErich Maria Remarque15h 50m4.5 (47.3K)$2 · $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
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
CovertJanie Crouch6h 15m4.5 (2K)$12 · $0.00
Cold Case InvestigationNicole Helm5h 30m4.6 (321)$5 · $0.00
The ReunionJana DeLeon6h 31m4.5 (1.6K)$12 · $0.00
Courage Under FireSharon Dunn5h 50m4.5 (730)$24 · $0.00
Decoding the TruthJulie Miller7h 31m4.6 (350)$12 · $0.00
Murder Gone ColdB.J. Daniels5h 50m4.5 (562)$12 · $0.00
Crime and PunishmentFyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky22h 22m4.4 (1.3M)$0.60 · $0.00
Crime and PunishmentFyodor Dostoyevsky23h 14m4.4 (1.3M)$1 · $0.00
Exit FeeBrad Taylor3h 16m4.5 (1.9K)$18 · $0.00
Sworn to ProtectShirlee McCoy5h 7m4.5 (1K)$12 · $0.00
The Last RemainsElly Griffiths9h 41m4.4 (37.3K)$29 · $0.00
The Goddess of WarsawLisa Barr13h 4m4.4 (36.4K)$33 · $0.00
You may also like
The Breaking Wave (Annotated)Nevil Shute Norway10h 55m4.3 (3.5K)$2 · $0.00
Requiem for a WrenNevil Shute11h 14m4.1 (2.7K)$1 · $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 Ghetto WithinSantiago H. Amigorena4h 33m3.9 (1.8K)$20 · $0.00
The Breaking WaveNevil Shute Norway10h 44m4.1 (3.9K)$2 · $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
Parade's End: The Complete Tetralogy (Annotated)Madox Ford39h 27m4.0 (12.6K)$2 · $0.00
A Cruel DeceptionCharles Todd10h4.0 (6.4K)$29 · $0.00
Some Kind of Fairy TaleGraham Joyce9h 57m3.8 (11.4K)$25
Dear Little CorpsesNicola Upson10h 3m4.1 (1.6K)$20