Richmal Crompton Audiobooks

Just William lives on in William Again, comic mischief that outlasted its own century

1 audiobook reviewed

★ 4.6/5 average

304 listener ratings

Who is Richmal Crompton?

Richmal Crompton (1890-1969) was one of the most popular English writers of her century, and her name is inseparable from a single glorious creation: the Just William books. Those humorous stories made her a fixture of British childhood across generations, and they remain, quite rightly, the work for which she is remembered.

There was more to her than William – humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent fiction for adults – but it is the William series that secured her place. Comic children’s writing that survives its own era is far rarer than it looks, and Crompton’s has never really fallen out of the nation’s affections.

Richmal Crompton in audiobooks

William Again brings Crompton’s most famous creation to our catalogue, and comic stories of this vintage turn out to be quietly ideal audiobook material: episodic, self-contained and built on set-pieces, they can be dipped into like a sweet tin rather than swallowed whole. The humour is period English to its bones, which for many UK listeners is exactly the appeal – the comedy of a vanished Britain that has somehow never stopped being funny. A generous choice for family listening, and for adults who first met William decades ago and are overdue a reunion.