Five minutes with voiceover artist Rebecca Norfolk

Rebecca is the narrator of my book A Little Treat on Honey Street produced by Audible Studios which is available to pre-order on Audible now!

1.      How did you get into doing audio book narration?

I knew I really wanted to get into voice work as an actor, and since I studied English Literature at Uni, I thought audiobooks would be the perfect fit for me! I got my first few jobs with the RNIB, a charity that produces loads of audiobooks and lots more for the blind and visually impaired. They have really high standards, so was a perfect way for me to get to grips with the skill of narrating books. Then I happily got signed by my voice agent, which meant I started to get a lot more for different publications and studios. 

2.      What’s your favourite thing about recording audiobooks?

When I sit back and realize that I'm literally getting paid to read! What a cool job! I also love the variety of characters I get to play, and that I'm not always cast according to my age. I like that a lot of the books I've narrated happen to be with a narrative voice from the perspective of women older and wiser than me, as well as from totally different cultures and backgrounds. Stepping into their heads and being their voice for a few days is a joy as an actor.

3.      What are the Audible studios like?

They’re lovely! This was my first time at Audible, and I was delighted by how cozy and luxurious the booth was. But most importantly, the people I worked with, the engineer and director most closely, but everyone at the studio I met were so lovely and welcoming.

4.      What did you like about A Little Treat?

There was such a wide array of characters that come into it from previous books, so it really fleshed out the world. Each character felt like they could be the main character of their own book, rather than just characters invented to serve this particular story. 

5.      Who was your favourite character in A Little Treat?

How could it not be the lovely Matthew? I pictured him very clearly in my mind as Josh O'Connor!

6.      There will be more books in the series. Whose story would you like to hear next?

I'd like to know what madness Nadia gets up to!

7.      What’s next for you?

Next up for me annoyingly are all things I'm not allowed to talk about! But I'm very excited about them. 

8.      If you could record any book in the world, which one would it be? 

Gosh, what a hard one! It would have to be either Jane Eyre, or East of Eden. Very different books, but both full of epic, complex characters and incredible narrative voices.