Shale to voice Ozeki audiobook

Actor Kerry Shale is to read the audiobook of The Book of Form and Emptiness (Canongate), the new novel from Man Booker-shortlisted novelist Ruth Ozeki. 

He will read the book alongside Ozeki, will also narrate a small number of sections.

Shale has won Sony Radio Awards, the APA Award for Best Male Audiobook Reader (UK) and the Audie Award for Best Male Audiobook Reader (USA). His audiobooks include two Man Booker Prize-winners, Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Canongate) and The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Atlantic), as well as Lee Child’s The Affair (Bantam), which won the Audible Sounds of Crime Award. 

The audiobook will publish on 23rd September, alongside the hardback and e-book editions. It will also by released simultaneously by Penguin Audio in the US and Canada and by Bolinda in Australia.

Ozeki's book A Tale for the Time Being was shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize, nominated for the National Book Award and translated into 28 languages. She will visit the UK from 3rd October to promote her new title, including a major launch at the Southbank Centre.

She said: "The Book of Form and Emptiness is a novel about voices, about a boy who hears voices, and it's told as a conversation between the boy and the book, itself. With voices playing such a central role in the story, finding the right voice actor was crucial, and I was overjoyed when Kerry Shale agreed to read. Kerry is such a versatile and sensitive actor, and it's exciting to discuss the nuances of character and performance with him and to work out how to bring this novel to life.

Shale added: "When I provide voices for a novel’s characters, I do my best to get inside their heads. However, in too many books, characters say and do things that are simply unbelievable. Dishonest writing bores the pants off me. In The Book of Form and Emptiness, there are no false characters. I believe every word they say and everything they do. I look forward to sharing the truth of Ruth’s characters with audiobook listeners. And am thrilled to be joined by their creator!"