Beth Brower and Echo Point Books & Media Present...

...the narrator and director of the Emma M. Lion audiobooks!

DEAR READERS,

There were months of listening to auditions. Of requesting second samples. Of spreading the net farther, wider. It took time. Thankfully, Echo Point was also committed to finding the narrator who could represent Emma in this massive endeavor. And we did.

In the coming weeks, I am going to tell you more about the process and preparation of creating the audiobooks, but today it is my absolute pleasure to introduce both the narrator and the director for the audiobooks of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion.

I present GENEVIEVE GAUNT and TAMSIN COLLISON!

GENEVIEVE GAUNT - Narrator

Genevieve Gaunt is an actor and interviewer. A Londoner born and bred, she started her career as Pansy Parkinson in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and went on to read English at Cambridge where she graduated with a Double First. She works as an actor across television, film and stage; most recently playing Marilyn Monroe in The Marilyn Conspiracy (Park Theatre). Genevieve is an award-winning voice actor (video games, audiobooks, radio) including narrating the James Bond novel The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming.

Alongside acting, Genevieve reviews books for The Spectator magazine, writes for audiodrama and interviews authors and creatives for live events and in print for A Rabbit’s Foot. Guests include Alice Loxton, Patrick Radden Keefe, Dr Frank Tallis, Santa Montefiore and Amor Towles. Her podcast The Cupid Couch made The Radio Times’ ‘34 Best Podcasts of 2021’. In 2022 she co-curated The Braemar Literary Festival with Hauser & Wirth and the Queen’s ‘Reading Room’.

Genevieve is very excited about narrating the rich and glorious world of Emma M. Lion and inhabiting St. Crispian’s. Her ragdoll, Bluebell is curious about two things; a feline gentleman by the name of Tybalt and the fact that her mistress shares a birthday with Emma: January 13th. Fata viam invenient?

You can find Genevieve:

on Instagram: @genevieve_gaunt
on X: @GenevieveWGaunt
and on her website: www.genevievegaunt.com

A NOTE FROM BETH: I can assure you that Tybalt is very interested in Bluebell, the aforementioned ragdoll cat. Being creatures of the feline persuasion, I would not be surprised if they were to find one another in London—as time, fact, and fiction move differently for cats and always have done.

TAMSIN COLLISON - Director

Tamsin Collison is the award-winning director of over 500 audio books and dramas, from ‘Quidditch Through the Ages’ to ‘Beowulf’ in Anglo Saxon - working with artists ranging from David Tennant to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Recent highlights include a dramatisation of Jane Austen’s ‘Mansfield Park’, Thandiwe Newton's solo recording of Tolstoy’s ‘War & Peace’, ‘All The Sonnets of Shakespeare’ with Sir Kenneth Branagh and Lolita Chakrabarti, a dramatisation of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, and an all-star edition of Ian Fleming’s original James Bond novels (Genevieve Gaunt performing The Spy Who Loved Me).

Tamsin lectures and directs at RADA and LAMDA. She is also a lyricist/librettist, commissioned by English National Opera, the Royal Opera House, Tête à Tête Opera, Highbury Opera Theatre and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Recent works include ‘Last Man Standing’, written with composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad for the BBC’s Armistice Centenary concert season, and a new opera based on Michael Palin’s play ‘The Weekend’, written with jazz maestro Scott Stroman. She has also written a mini-opera, CatAstrophe, about a man tripping over a cat. She suspects Cousin Archibald would not approve.

Like Emma, she has part-share in a Company Cat - a stray black tomcat named Buster. He is the Niall Pierce of her locality - a handsome, enigmatic wanderer with A Past and a fondness for cake.

Tamsin is delighted to be exploring Beth's enchanting St. Crispian’s in company with Genevieve. Very much looking forward to introducing this cast of charming, intriguing and eccentric Denizens. Over 80 voices so far, and counting...

You can find Tamsin:

on her website: tamsincollison.co.uk
on Instagram: @topcatsnaps
and on: LinkedIn

A NOTE FROM BETH: I have not bothered Tamsin with questions about David Tennant or Sir Kenneth Branagh because I am a professional because I try to not be annoying.

I am excited to tell you more about finding and working with Genevieve and Tamsin, and the process of preparing the manuscripts for audio. But today let me simply say that working with Genevieve and Tamsin has held a real measure of joy for me. I’m not saying this to be agreeable or kind or flattering. These two talented and intelligent women have given my books every attention. They understand the text, the subtext, the flickers and the shadows. They are also rather luminous, and I love to collaborate with beautiful souls. Such work carries the feeling of clear water, or that of a door opening out into the garden.

I am also looking forward to introducing Genevieve and Tamsin to the joy, kindness, and generosity of the Emma M. Lion readership. Let us make them feel welcome in St. Crispian’s.

The audiobook preorders are just about ready! I’ll send a volley of links tomorrow and let you know about the raffle Rhysdon Press is preparing for those who preorder the audiobooks!

Until soon,

x Beth

Buster, in all his wandering glory.