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    The Tiger In the Well
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    The Tiger In the Well
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    The Tiger In the Well
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Tiger In the Well

    Written by Philip Pullman

    Narrated by Anton Lesser

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Sally Lockhart, trying to put her troubled past behind her after her fiancé's death, has settled into a comfortable life with her daughter, Harriet, her career, and her London friends. But her world comes crashing down around her when a complete stranger claims to be both her husband and Harriet's father, casting doubt on her spotless reputation. Seeking the answers to this terrible dilemma, Sally realizes with growing horror that there is a guiding hand behind all this deceit; someone who hates her so passionately that he has devoted years to bringing about her ruin. She has no choice but to escape with her child into the crime-ridden slums of London's East End. Suddenly it isn't only Sally's reputation that is in danger.


    From the Cassette edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 22, 2005
    ISBN9781400089758
    Unavailable
    The Tiger In the Well
    Author

    Philip Pullman

    Philip Pullman (b. 1946) is one of the world’s most acclaimed children’s authors, his bold, brilliant books having set new parameters for what children’s writing can say and do. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy, installments of which have won the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Book of the Year Award. In 2003, the trilogy came third in the BBC’s Big Read competition to find the nation’s favorite book, and in 2005 he was awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an international prize for children’s literature. In 2007, Northern Lights became a major Hollywood film, The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Pullman has published nearly twenty books, and when he’s not writing he likes to play the piano (badly), draw, and make things out of wood.

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    Reviews for The Tiger In the Well

    4/5

    525 ratings26 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I didn't like this book as much as the others. It had its moments -- the "kissing like they just invented it" line, for example, sticks in my head years later. And yet.
    • 2/5
      I read it hoping for some redemption after the debacle which was Book the Second. I think I felt so betrayed by Pullman that I couldn't fairly assess this book on its own merits. I'm still mad at him.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed this series very much the first time I read it, still enjoying it a whole lot on re read. I like Sally, and I also really like the way this series tips its hat to its Victorian antecedents in interesting sorts of ways.
    • 4/5
      I started reading this thinking 'oh, _more_ Sally Lockheart, and such a fat one too, how dull! But I really want to finish the series'. I ended thinking 'wow, the series has really found its stride finally'. Sally is much less of a Mary Sue, and is forced to confront the consequences of her actions - of having a daughter mostly raised by her nurse, of speculating on the stock exchange while workers live in squalour, of her attack on Ah Ling many years before. There are interesting foreshadowings of Northern Lights in the evil Monkey.I don't think, however, that Sally's impassioned speach about 'evil doesn't look like a big fat disabled man' makes up for the book's amazing ability to make disabilities repulsive and petrifying.It's nice to get a strong social red message in a book for young adults though. The plot is really dark and evil. The way the trap has been spun around Sally for years, and all Lee has planned for Harriet is deeply nasty.The ending is too deus ex machina for my liking, although it has a lot of style.
    • 5/5
      This is the Last book of the Sally Lockhart Tales, which most curiously, I started FIRST. This may make little sense, but I started this book having no idea (at first) that this was the very last one. I quickly ordered in the others, feeling rather foolish at my mistake. However, I found my fingers fumbling through the pages of 'Tiger' at alarming speed. This was indeed an adventure of heart-thumping suspense,that HAD to be read despite fears of strong spoilers.Sally is a strong female, successful, sassy, with financial independence, friends and family (oh, pardon me, this story takes place in 19th century England) whose luck in life takes a sudden horrible plunge when a stranger makes painfully elaborate plans to steal Sally Lockhart's daughter away from her. I would dub this as a 'modern day Dickens' novel, if the term didn't sound so hammy. But this best describes the writing style of the book. The characters are seeping with social conscience, heart and emotions that tumble out effortlessly. Pullman provides excellent descriptions of life in Victorian England, making the world the characters inhabit fresh and real.Sally's struggle is heartbreaking and we, as readers, can recognise her fears all too well. I imagine the weight of Sally's loss (of her money, life, friends, family) would be more strongly felt if I had read her previous adventures--however, the narrative does a good job at not making the reader feel isolated. This can be pretty much a standalone tale. It is aimed at a mature audience, and while it tears horribly at the heartstrings and shows a darker side of 19th century London--the writing is never distasteful or shocking. Lesser known than 'His Dark Materials' but just as blindingly brilliant.
    • 2/5
      Well, this wrapped up the Sally Lockhart trilogy nicely. Sally was consistently strong-willed throughout all three. I really liked that Pullman finally showed her more vulnerable and emotional than ever before. I missed Jim throughout most of the book just as Sally missed him.I was also glad to learn a bit about the pogroms in Russia. I didn't know about this part of Jewish/Russian history. After reading this book, and Spook Country not too long ago, I'm thinking maybe I should read a book on Russian history.
    • 4/5
      Engaging mystery involving Sally Lockhart who finds herself threatened with divorce proceedings to a man she never married and the abduction of her daughter. She finds allies in a Hungarian Jewish reporter who is investigating the same man. Sally goes undercover to find the person behind all this is an old enemy.
    • 5/5
      I may be an adult but at times reading this I was scared as to the possible outcome for Sally and Harriet, which makes this an amazing read. This is a very dark tale, with lots of social commentary, which works within the plot and adds lots of historical colour. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Good finish to the series. Could have used a bit of editing though.
    • 3/5
      (spoilers)OK, after Pullman's previous volumes, I spent most of this novel hardening my heart against Harriet. Twice her favourite person has been killed, so I was sure her daughter was going to get it this time. And it wasn't that hard to dislike her, this is the first time I felt Anton failed me - his baby talk sounded like a robot.Sally's long time lawyer and friend has conveniently died, and her house mates are uncontactable in South America, so no one can vouch for her when a mysterious enemy comes and usurps her life. Of course, Jim arrives back in the nick of time to be a bit of a hero.I guessed the identify of the new villain in the first chapter, and I found it frustrating what Sally never seemed t consider the possibility until the end.I did like Sally's social conscience, she's all grown up and wants to make the world a better place. Sometimes the social lessons overwhelmed the story, but if I can put up with it in Wilkie Collins, I can put up with it here.And her fears about being a bad mother were nicely done, the scene where she played with the little beaten boy was tear-jerking.So - this mystery was darker, a bit message-y, and very predictable, but still entertaining, and I'll be back for the fourth.
    • 4/5
      first line: "One sunny morning in the autumn of 1881, Sally Lockhart stood in the garden and watched her little daughter play, and thought that things were good."Third in the Sally Lockhart series, The Tiger in the Well has stronger socio-political themes than its predecessors. There are issues of discrimination (anti-Semitism) and social reform. Also, Sally herself suffers backlash from the Victorian society whose constraints and mores she has consistently flouted.This is a powerful conclusion to the story of Sally Lockhart.Note: there is a fourth book, The Tin Princess, which deals with other characters from the series.
    • 2/5
      Sorry, but I really found the basic plot hard to swallow.There are some excellent moments of story telling - and the end is quite gripping (if a little curtailed), but the basic idea of someone being manipulated in such a way is just too beyond belief to stand up in what is essentially a realistic tale. This problem of belief is compounded by the almost 'deus ex machina' arrival of a hero in the final chapters and the fainting away female).Victorian London could have been made a lot more sinister - and the work of Dickens shows you just what can be done with the idea of bad laws.The worthy topics touched on (pogroms, socialism, women's rights) seemed too contrived for an adult reader and almost an insult to teenage understanding.I really do think the Northern Lights series to be an excellent set of books - but there the author is in a world of fantasy.
    • 3/5
      It was a very good description of what it was like to live in London in 1880. It would have many uses by high school teachers. It would have been improved by some editing; too wordy.
    • 2/5
      After reading His Dark Materials, I found this a bit disappointing. However, Philip Pullman is still one of the best storytellers ever, so it is worth reading.
    • 5/5
      This is the longest and most intricate of the books. There are several things going on: Sally's persecution by a mysterious man, persecution of Jews emigrating from Russia and other eastern European countries into England, and the struggle of Socialists in Victorian England. These three books create a path of knowledge for Sally Lockhart. In the first, she is forced to fight for herself. In the second, she learns independence (both economic and personal.) She also becomes aware that evil is not just violence, but the greed and power that is behind it. This third book defines that evil. It is given a face through the words of the Socialist hero who helps Sally. She finally becomes aware of her own part in this evil. By understanding this, she can make the changes in her own life and the life of her friends and clients to fight it.There is plenty of adventure, as well as politics, to keep the reader engaged. The mystery is easily solved by anyone who has read the first two books long before Sally figures it out. That was the only disappointment to me. Otherwise I think it's a great book. I highly recommend reading these.
    • 1/5
      Meh. A really pushy lecture on the history of socialism (and why capitalism is evil) wrapped in a sort of steampunk Nancy Drew story. I loved the Dark Materials series but this series is terrible, patronizing to adults and teens alike. And this review is from fairly socialist/left of center person, so if you're not one of those it's probably even more annoying.
    • 2/5
      Not so impressed. I really liked the first two in this series featuring Sally Lockhart and I still love her character, but comparisons to Dickens aside, a fair amount (or too many for me) of pages were screeds about poverty and equality. Show it. Don’t just tell it. And putting long speeches into the mouths of otherwise less speechifying characters doesn’t do it for me. Not to mention the villain was so evil, as were many of the other “bad guys,” that I just got frustrated.
    • 3/5
      Another good mystery. I do like these characters.
    • 4/5
      As "The Tiger in the Well" begins, we find Sally Lockhart a single mother in Victorian England, her lover having died before they could be married. This is a hard enough situation, in those times, but soon Sally finds herself as the victim of a mysterious and elaborate scheme designed to ruin her reputation and have her daughter taken from her. Who could hate her this much, and why? Exciting, entertaining (and feminist) adventure.
    • 4/5
      I thought I might have to abandon this book early because the crime against the protagonist is so exasperating! Sally Lockhart, a single mother, is charged with a list of crimes starting with abandonment of her husband. If she is found guilty, her daughter will be taken from her. The truth is, she's never been married. Not that that makes for a good defence for a single mother in Victorian days. The man claiming to be her husband is a complete stranger. Her solicitor and lawyer were equally exasperating in advising her to show remorse. But I kept reading because the story is gripping, there is lots of action, and the details of Victorian life were so interesting. An excellent book intended for young adults. This is a dark story, describing the treatment and persecution of Jewish immigrants and political groups.
    • 4/5
      Slowgoing at first, a bit darker than my usual tastes and somewhat preachy at times. But the atmosphere is evoked quite well as usual, and the good characters are generally sympathetic. I'm glad that this seems to be the last of the Sally Lockhart series, as by the end she seems on her way to becoming involved in various social causes and as much as I sympathize with the arguments (having married a descendant of Eastern European Jews), that's when the book gets its most didactic.
    • 5/5
      Sally Lockhart is a rare woman in Victorian England. She’s a single mother, competent, independent, and a successful and prosperous business owner. She has never been married, so when she is served with divorce papers, she cannot understand how such a mistake could be made. It soon becomes clear it is not a mistake. The details about her in the document are correct -- all except one. She has never met the man claiming to be her husband, the man who wants to take custody of her daughter.
      I would not have labeled this a YA book. There is nothing juvenile about it. It is a suspenseful Dickensian story of vengeance, greed, cruelty, and corruption, which vividly captures the social conflicts of the time. The images of Victorian London are detailed and clear. The contrasts between rich and poor, worker and owner are sharp. The only YA aspect may be a carryover from the first book in the series, The Ruby in the Smoke, in which Sally is first introduced as a 16-year-old orphan. I didn’t see that book as specifically YA either, though.
      My only criticism, and it’s not a strong one, is that I thought Sally should have been a bit quicker on the uptake in identifying the real force behind her troubles. I figured it out long before she did, but then I, as a reader, understand this is a novel and therefore must make sense. Real life, of course, is not like that.
      I highly recommend this book to all readers, especially those fond of Victorian mysteries. It’s a great story.
    • 4/5
      The longest book in the series. Some parts of it are very good, for example the parts where Sally is rendered so immensely vulnerable by the fact that as a woman she has so few rights. I got really steamed at the ineffective condescension of her lawyer and the small-minded bullying of so many others she encountered in her difficulties. As with other books by Philip Pullman the protagonist must do something that seems uncharacteristically stupid in order to make her circumstances novelistically difficult; I was annoyed by her financial obtuseness. Her conversion to socialism while fighting for her life in the sewers is unintentionally funny and a bit of the adventure involving the ethnic gangs veers weirdly into Terry Pratchet territory.I intend to read the Tin Princess; Philip Pullman is, and was when he wrote these books, a very talented writer.
    • 5/5
      The third in the Sally Lockhart quartet, longer than its predecessors, but another good adventure where Sally has to battle against forces trying to rewrite her past history for their own ends. In the process she becomes familiar with poverty, exploitation and indifference in the East End and becomes determined to make a difference fighting against them, another string to her bow. The central villain and some of his associates are chillingly well realised. I like Sally and her friends and will probably feel sorry when I read the final novel in the series.
    • 4/5
      In the vein of a pure ‘penny-dreadful’ itself, The Tiger in the Well is a grand mystery that entertained me from the very first page to the last – with one of the best end-lines ever uttered. As with the previous story, this one follows on after a lapse of a few years; but Sally Lockhart’s now prosperous and comfortable life is upended within the first pages, and continues so, at break-neck speed. With perfect timing, when Jim Taylor and Webster Garland are away photographing in South America, leaving Sally at home with only her daughter, Harriet, and their loyal staff, a court summons is served, endangering everything Sally holds dear in her life. A Mr Parrish, claiming to be both Sally’s husband and Harriet’s father, with indisputable written evidence of both, and with the law strongly behind him, threatens Sally’s independence, wealth and, more importantly, custody of her child. And, as with the previous stories, Sally does the unexpected; despite her sense of complete bewilderment and moments of mental fragility, she fights back. Philip Pullman’s social commentary of Victorian England becomes even more Dickensian in this third novel. Against a backdrop of inflamed emotions, between the working poor of London and the influx of desperate refugees from Europe, Pullman creates another dark and disturbing tale, in particular, around the difficulties a single, independent, unmarried mother would encounter. And, as always, the book is filled with rich and compelling characters that charm, and menace, and succeed against all odds. This is, indeed, an indictment of the history of this period – an interpretation of the mores of the time, which allowed the exploitation of the weak by the greedy and the brutal, due to the indifference, and blinding disinterest, of the rest of the populace. It is also a fast-paced, engrossing, captivating, and interesting read - and notwithstanding my absolute belief in our heroine to triumph from the very beginning, I happily followed along, engaged to the very end.
    • 3/5
      Ripping yarn by the author of the incomparable trilogy, His Dark Materials. TTITW is less ambitious, less fantastic. Set in the foggy, gaslit late Victorian London familiar from tales of Sherlock H. and Jack T.R., it is well crafted tale, full of thrills, suspense and surprising twists. No revelation to the adult reader, but certainly the kind of book to instil a love of reading in a child. Can’t fault that.