The House of Baltazar
William John Locke
Read by Simon Evers
Twenty years ago, John Balthazar, a notable and brilliant Cambridge mathematician, left England abruptly as he found himself falling in love with a woman who was not his wife. No one hears from him for 20 years and it's assumed he's dead. He travels to China where he steeps himself in the culture and returns incognito 20 years later with his Chinese pupil, Quong Ho. They live in a remote farmhouse where he stays in blissful ignorance of the events of the First World War until a German zeppelin crashes nearby and blows up his house. Abruptly brought back to the reality of life in 1916, Baltazar finds that his wife has long since died but has left a son (a soldier) he did not know existed, who has coincidentally met his former love in a nursing home. The second half of the book picks up the story from there. (Summary by Simon Evers) (10 hr 40 min)
Chapters
Chapter 1 | 31:59 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 2 | 22:38 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 3 | 24:59 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 4 | 26:17 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 5 | 22:01 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 6 | 28:09 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 7 | 25:19 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 8 | 30:18 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 9 | 23:51 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 10 | 28:50 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 11 | 24:23 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 12 | 23:36 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 13 | 17:31 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chaprer 14 | 28:17 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 15 | 28:37 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 16 | 19:09 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 17 | 32:55 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 18 | 36:08 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 19 | 21:20 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 20 | 23:15 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 21 | 27:43 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 22 | 23:43 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 23 | 31:35 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 24 | 16:47 | Read by Simon Evers |
Chapter 25 | 20:52 | Read by Simon Evers |
Reviews
Excellent Reading
Scott in Sandy Eggo
Simon Evers rescues what is perhaps not the best WJL novel, but still captivating. Perhaps it’s the chauvinism of the times when this was written that made this story feel more like a period piece than the intellectual adventure that it wants to be. Nonetheless, thanks and gratitude for Mr. Evers and his exceptional artistic talent with the spoken word.
The House of Baltazar
AVID READER
Locke'd best so far.