Letters to Our Sons audiobook vs book: which should you choose?
This is a book of letters from fathers to their sons, and in the UK recording many of the fathers read their own letters.
Short answer: for the Letters to Our Sons audiobook vs book choice, we say listen on Audible (100% confidence, clear cut). The UK audiobook runs 9 hrs 17 mins, with the letter writers and a cast of actors reading. Print keeps the name, age bracket and job printed at the foot of each letter. The US audiobook is a separate recording, credited to actors.
Listen on Audible
A full cast of actors reads the book, the letter writers read their own letters, and nothing confirmed points to print.
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Confidence 100%, which puts it in the clear cut band. Bands run from close call at 50 to 64, through leaning at 65 to 79 and clear at 80 to 94, up to clear cut at 95 and above.
Letters to Our Sons
Compiled by Stephen Graham and Orly Klein
- Genre
- Non-fiction anthology
- Published
- 2026
- Length
- 368 pages in the UK hardback
- On audio
- 9 hrs 17 mins
- Narrated by
- UK edition: the letter writers and a cast of actors, with Graham and Klein. The US edition is a different recording
On this page
Why we reached this verdict
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions. They are based on research into what most people find easier to follow in each format, not on whether the book is any good.
Listening: full cast or produced audio (10), read by the author (8), 18 points. Reading: nothing confirmed, 0 points. 100% of the confirmed points favour listening, so the verdict is listen on Audible at 100% confidence (clear cut).
The recording at a glance
- Narrated by
- UK edition: the authors of the letters, among them Louis Theroux, Tom Daley and Romesh Ranganathan, with a cast of actors and Stephen Graham and Orly Klein. Which parts Graham and Klein read is not stated
- Length
- 9 hrs 17 mins, or about 6 hours 11 minutes at one and a half times speed. The US edition is the same length
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury in the UK from 24 September 2026. Hachette Audio in the US from 20 October 2026, a separate recording credited to Graham, Klein and eight actors
- What audio adds
- In the UK edition, the men who wrote the letters read them
- What you miss
- The name, age bracket and occupation printed at the foot of each letter, if the recording does not read them, and the freedom to open the book at any letter
What this book actually is
An anthology of letters from fathers to their sons, compiled by Stephen Graham, co-creator and star of Netflix's Adolescence, and Orly Klein, a psychology lecturer. It began as an open call to fathers in October 2025, with anonymous submissions allowed and no contributor paid, and drew about 1,600 letters. The published selection mixes well-known names, Tom Daley, Javier Bardem, Riz Ahmed, Louis Theroux, Chris Kamara and Romesh Ranganathan among them, with fathers nobody has heard of. Graham and Klein donate for each published letter to the charities MANUP? and Dad La Soul.
Bloomsbury published it in the UK on 24 September 2026 as a 368-page hardback. It is out in the US on 20 October from Union Square and Co. The letters are grouped into three sections by the son's age, Early Years, Adolescence and Adulthood, and Graham writes a foreword on how the book came about.
The case for reading it
This is a book you can open anywhere. Each letter stands alone, so print lets you find one, go back to one, or read three and stop, without scrubbing through a nine-hour file. If you are giving it as a present, or buying it to keep and return to, print has an obvious advantage.
In print, the layout also decides when you learn who wrote each letter. The Irish Times notes that the writer's name, age bracket and occupation sit at the foot of each letter rather than the top, so you read the letter before you know whose it is. In the audiobook, you may recognise a famous voice in the first sentence. Whether the recording reads the attribution at all has not been documented.
The case for listening to it
Bloomsbury's UK audiobook is read by the authors of the letters, Louis Theroux, Tom Daley and Romesh Ranganathan named among them, with a cast of actors for the rest. A letter from a father to his son is about as personal as writing gets, and hearing it in the voice of the man who wrote it is something print cannot offer.
It also avoids a common problem with audiobooks of books by many writers. Instead of one narrator voicing dozens of different men, each letter is read by a different person. At 9 hours 17 minutes, or a little over six hours at one and a half times speed, and with nothing in print a listener misses beyond the attribution lines, it suits being heard a few letters at a time.
The audiobook in detail
There are two English-language audiobooks, and they are not the same recording. Bloomsbury's UK edition came out on 24 September 2026 alongside the hardback, read by the letter writers and a cast of actors, with Graham and Klein also credited. Hachette Audio's US edition follows on 20 October 2026, unabridged, credited to Stephen Graham, Orly Klein, Sachin K Sharma, Jude Owusu, Ian Dunnett Jr, Conor Dunne, Justin Avoth, Adam Stevens, Greg Lockett and Emil Marwa, with no famous contributor named as a reader.
Both run 9 hours 17 minutes. Neither says which letters or sections Graham and Klein read. The Audible UK listing we checked was a pre-order page that did not show its narrators, so check the credit names the letter writers before you buy.
Who should ignore this verdict
Anyone buying from a US listing: the edition you get is read by actors, and the strongest reason for this verdict does not apply. Anyone who wants to read letters out of order, go back to one in particular, or give the book as a gift, where print is simply more practical. And anyone who would rather read each letter without knowing who wrote it, which the print layout allows.
Audiobook
- Read by UK edition: the letter writers and a cast of actors, with Graham and Klein. The US edition is a different recording
- 9h 17m, or 6h 11m at 1.5x
Read differently from most people? The app, coming soon, will let you switch off any of the thirteen checks. Get notified →
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Start hereHow we decide
The thirteen questions behind every verdict on this site.
Questions people ask
Do the famous dads read their own letters in the Letters to Our Sons audiobook?
In the UK edition from Bloomsbury, yes: it is read by the authors of the letters, including Louis Theroux, Tom Daley and Romesh Ranganathan, alongside a cast of actors. The US edition from Hachette Audio is a different recording credited to Stephen Graham, Orly Klein and eight actors.
How long is the Letters to Our Sons audiobook?
9 hours 17 minutes in both the UK and US editions, which is about 6 hours 11 minutes at one and a half times speed.
Who wrote letters in Letters to Our Sons?
Contributors include Tom Daley, Javier Bardem, Riz Ahmed, Louis Theroux, Chris Kamara, Jamie Redknapp, Goldie, Danny Dyer, John Bishop, Romesh Ranganathan and Ashley Walters, alongside fathers who are not well known. A few letters are anonymous. About 1,600 letters were submitted.
Should I read or listen to Letters to Our Sons?
Listen on our checks (100% confidence, clear cut). The UK recording is a full cast in which the letter writers read their own letters, and nothing confirmed points to print.
When is Letters to Our Sons out in the US?
20 October 2026, from Union Square and Co. in hardcover and Hachette Audio on audio. It was published in the UK by Bloomsbury on 24 September 2026.
Do you agree with this verdict?
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How this verdict was reached
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions, set in advance and applied identically to every title. They are based on research into what readers and listeners generally find easier to follow in each format, not on personal preference, and they are published in full so you can check the reasoning yourself. Verdicts are never paid for, sponsored or influenced by affiliate partners.
- The criteria: read the thirteen questions in full.
- What we checked for this book: both English-language audio editions and their narrator credits, the shared run time, the UK and US publication dates, how the print edition attributes each letter and divides the book, and every listing for photographs, notes or an index.
- Verdict last reviewed: 23 October 2026. Editions and narrators change, so verdicts are rechecked annually.
- Prefer different criteria? The app, coming soon, will let you change which of the thirteen questions matter to you.
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