Best Simon Callow Audiobooks
Simon Callow lends his commanding, richly theatrical voice to the Letters of Note series by Shaun Usher, and the results are captivating. His readings of Letters of Note: Love, Letters of Note: Art, and Letters of Note: Fathers bring a Shakespearean gravitas to historical correspondence that lesser narrators might flatten. Callow's deep, resonant baritone carries an emotional weight that makes each letter feel like a dramatic monologue — intimate yet powerful. As a celebrated stage and screen actor, he brings decades of performance craft to every pause and inflection, shifting tone masterfully between humor, tenderness, and solemnity. Listeners who appreciate the art of oration and want their nonfiction delivered with genuine theatrical presence will find Callow's narrations deeply satisfying. He transforms letters into living, breathing performances.
Where to Start with Simon Callow
- New to Simon Callow? Start here → Letters of Note: Fathers
- What fans keep coming back to → Letters of Note: Art
- Short listen, big payoff → Letters of Note: Love
- Highest rated by listeners → Letters of Note: Outer Space
- Best narrator–author pairing → Letters of Note: Sex
Best Simon Callow Audiobooks
- 1
Letters of Note: Fathers
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Adrian Edmondson, Stephen Fry, Ferdinand Kingsley, Toby Jones, Greg Lockett, Natascha McElhone, Chris Nayak, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Strong, Shaun Usher
★ 4.26 ABR Score (6.2K ratings)★ 4.31 Goodreads (6.2K)3h 26m listening time • Released 2021A stellar ensemble cast transforms intimate father-child letters into a masterclass in emotional delivery. Each narrator's voice becomes the letter itself, making you feel the tenderness, humor, and weight of these private moments.
- 2
Letters of Note: Art
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Crystal Clarke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jude Law, Helen McCrory, Stephen Mangan, Clarke Peters, Various
★ 3.93 ABR Score (6.3K ratings)★ 4.31 Goodreads (6.2K) ★ 4.4 Audible (5)2h 43m listening time • Released 2021A star-studded ensemble cast brings intimacy to letters from history's greatest artists—each narrator perfectly matched to their subject's voice, making this feel less like a collection and more like eavesdropping on genius.
- 3
Letters of Note: Love
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Crystal Clarke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adrian Edmondson, Danny Huston, Toby Jones, Jude Law, Natascha McElhone, Stephen Mangan, Miriam Margolyes, Clarke Peters, Various
★ 3.91 ABR Score (6.2K ratings)★ 4.31 Goodreads (6.2K) ★ 5 Audible (2)2h 56m listening time • Released 2020A all-star cast of actors—Cumberbatch, Jude Law, Miriam Margolyes, and more—each voicing a different love letter transforms these 30 intimate missives into something closer to theater than audiobook. The performances elevate already-moving words into genuinely affecting moments.
- 4
Letters of Note: Outer Space
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Crystal Clarke, Stephen Fry, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Greg Lockett, Chris Nayak, Shazia Nicholls, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Strong, Shaun Usher
★ 3.91 ABR Score (6.2K ratings)★ 4.31 Goodreads (6.2K) ★ 5 Audible (2)2h 45m listening time • Released 2021A stellar ensemble cast transforms real letters about space exploration into an intimate audiobook experience, with Stephen Fry, Mark Strong, and Juliet Stevenson bringing reverence to humanity's cosmic curiosity.
- 5
Letters of Note: Sex
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Crystal Clarke, Stephen Fry, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Shazia Nicholls, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Strong, Shaun Usher
★ 3.91 ABR Score (6.2K ratings)★ 4.31 Goodreads (6.2K) ★ 5 Audible (2)3h 31m listening time • Released 2021A stellar ensemble cast transforms intimate historical letters into vivid performances that make you feel like you're eavesdropping on some of history's most brilliant minds at their most vulnerable.
- 6
Letters of Note: Music
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Nick Cave, Crystal Clarke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adrian Edmondson, Stephen Fry, Danny Huston, Toby Jones, Jude Law, Stephen Mangan, Miriam Margolyes, Various
★ 3.69 ABR Score (234 ratings)★ 3.9 Goodreads (230) ★ 5 Audible (4)2h 29m listening time • Released 2020A stellar ensemble cast reads intimate letters from music's greatest minds, turning private confessions into something almost like eavesdropping on genius at their most candid and human.
- 7
Letters of Note: Mothers
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adrian Edmondson, Neil Gaiman, Danny Huston, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jude Law, Helen McCrory, Natascha McElhone, Miriam Margolyes, Various
★ 3.64 ABR Score (279 ratings)★ 3.87 Goodreads (278) ★ 5 Audible (1)3h 41m listening time • Released 2021A stellar ensemble cast—Cumberbatch, Gaiman, Jude Law, Miriam Margolyes—transforms intimate letters about motherhood into a moving audiobook that feels like overhearing conversations you needed to hear.
- 8
Letters of Note: War
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adrian Edmondson, Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Danny Huston, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jude Law, Natascha McElhone, Miriam Margolyes, Various
★ 3.63 ABR Score (178 ratings)★ 4.01 Goodreads (175) ★ 5 Audible (3)2h 49m listening time • Released 2020An all-star cast of British actors breathing life into thirty devastating wartime letters, each one a raw firsthand account that hits harder read aloud than on the page.
- 9
Letters of Note: Grief
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Crystal Clarke, Stephen Fry, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Chris Nayak, Shazia Nicholls, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Strong, Shaun Usher
★ 3.60 ABR Score (173 ratings)★ 3.79 Goodreads (173)2h 47m listening time • Released 2022A stellar ensemble cast including Stephen Fry and Mark Strong transforms raw grief into something almost sacred, each narrator lending their voice to letters that cut straight to the bone.
- 10
Letters of Note: Dogs
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Crystal Clarke, Stephen Fry, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Greg Lockett, Chris Nayak, Shazia Nicholls, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Strong, Shaun Usher
★ 3.57 ABR Score (188 ratings)★ 3.65 Goodreads (185) ★ 4 Audible (3)2h 47m listening time • Released 2021A stellar ensemble cast (Stephen Fry, Mark Strong, Juliet Stevenson) transforms intimate dog letters into a genuinely moving listening experience that feels less like a collection and more like eavesdropping on something sacred.
- 11
Letters of Note: Cats
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Benedict Cumberbatch, Adrian Edmondson, Stephen Fry, Neil Gaiman, Danny Huston, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Helen McCrory, Natascha McElhone, Stephen Mangan, Various
★ 3.56 ABR Score (397 ratings)★ 3.55 Goodreads (392) ★ 3.6 Audible (5)2h 56m listening time • Released 2020A stellar ensemble cast—Cumberbatch, Fry, Gaiman, and more—elevates these delightful letters about cats into pure theatrical joy. Each narrator brings their own wit to correspondence from Dickens, Eliot, and Kerouac's mother.
- 12
Letters of Note: New York City
by Shaun Usher
Narrated by Louise Brealey, Simon Callow, Crystal Clarke, Stephen Fry, Toby Jones, Ferdinand Kingsley, Greg Lockett, Chris Nayak, Shazia Nicholls, Juliet Stevenson, Mark Strong, Shaun Usher
★ 3.55 ABR Score (115 ratings)★ 3.75 Goodreads (114) ★ 5 Audible (1)2h 38m listening time • Released 2021A love letter to NYC told through voices like Stephen Fry and Mark Strong reading real correspondence that spans centuries—intimate, funny, and unexpectedly moving in just under three hours.
- 13
The Alexander Pushkin BBC Radio Collection
by Alexander Pushkin, Alex Jennings
Narrated by Alex Jennings, Geoffrey Streatfeild, Ralph Fiennes, Bill Nighy, Paul Scofield, Simon Callow, Hattie Morahan, Alison Pettitt, Greg Wise, full cast, Alan Howard, Moira Lister, Max Irons, Linus Roache
★ 3.42 ABR Score (4 ratings)★ 4.5 Goodreads (2) ★ 4.5 Audible (2)11h 49m listening time • Released 2023