Homeschool Review Crew - Heirloom Audio St. Bartholomew's Eve

I was thrilled to get a chance to review their newest production, St. Bartholomew's Eve, from Heirloom Audio.

What is the Heirloom Audio Productions' St. Bartholomew's Eve?

If you are not familiar with the excellent work of Heirloom Audio Productions, you are in for a treat. Though this audio drama is based on the works of G. A. Henty, this is far more than someone sitting down and reading a book, recording it and calling it a drama. I received an audio drama 2-disc set that plays for a little more than 2 hours. When they call it a drama, they are not kidding in that they secured some of the most talented voices:

Brian Blessed - Star Wars, Tarzan, King Lear
Elizabeth Counsell - The Chronicles of Narnia
David Shaw-Parker - The Muppet Christmas Carol
Brian Deacon - Bonhoeffer, The Jesus Film
Andy Harrison - The Secret Garden
Hugo Docking - Oliver Twist

St. Bartholomew's Eve is the story of one of the deadliest assaults on Christians in France and follows the history of the Huguenots.

Before receiving this 2-CD set, I had never heard of St. Bartholomew, and had no idea whether the Huguenots were the good guys or the bad guys. The only thing I knew about the Huguenots was from my own personal ancestry where the story is told of one of my relatives from that time who managed to escape as a child when his parents hid him in a sack filled with grain. The way my personal account was told that I remember is that this little boy's parents put him into the sack, and when they went to leave, a soldier stuck a sword through the bag to see if they were smuggling anything out. I just can't imagine how that must've felt for a parent to watch a sword go through the bag where their son was hiding. Good news! The boy survived, didn't make a sound, and became an ancestor of my family on my mother's side. My grandfather was 100% French and Protestant, Methodist I believe.

So, with my own personal backstory of family drama, the story suddenly became of interest to me even though I still had no idea who St. Bartholomew was, other than an apostle of Christ.

The story is set during the Eve before the 1572 St. Bartholomew Day massacre - A true-to-life historic occurrence.

The audio drama is set in the days of the French wars of religion and is the account of the Huguenot's desperate fight to attempt to gain freedom of worship in France. It is based on G. A. Henty's book which uses fictitious characters to express a real historic event. As the struggle intensifies, it culminates in the dreadful Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve, this is the part of the story that stems from a real histoic occurrence. G. A. Henty weaves the life and adventures of characters Philip Fletcher and his cousin, throughout this history complete with on-the-edge-of-your-seat battles, sieges, a fairytale-like damsel in distress, and ultimately, escapes and a reunion.

One of the outstanding themes throughout the story is about fighting for the freedom to worship and about loyalty and to whom you will pledge your allegiance. Of course, the inclusion of a love story is also an integral part of the entire story.

How Did We Use It?

I know some homeschoolers use audio dramas as the central focus of a specific lesson or to use while driving in long car trips. I have found with my audio-resistant crew (husband excluded on this one) that it works best for us to just put the disc in and allow it to play in the background as my children go about their day. It may be more of a subtle approach, but it is amazing how much truly sinks in when they are allowed to listen in this casual sense.

What Did We Think?

Of course, as always, this audio drama is done with the utmost in excellence in production and quality. It's not simply a book read aloud but it really is a complete drama with sounds and voice actors that will make you forget you are only listening, as it conjures up the scenes in your head to make it feel as though you have traveled back in time and are right there on the scene in a historic moment.

FIND HEIRLOOM AUDIO ON SOCIAL MEDIA @:

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeirloomStories 
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Instagram: @HeirloomAudioOfficial

Read what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below: