Wives and Daughters

by Elizabeth Gaskell Narrated by Patience Tomlinson

Overview

When her father remarries, the honest, innocent Molly Gibson suddenly finds herself with a new stepsister, Cynthia, who is beautiful, worldly and impetuous. This would be more than enough to deal with, but the new wife is the deeply snobbish (and darkly secretive) Hyacinth. Thwarted love, scheming ambition and small-town gossip underlie the warmth, irony and brilliant social observation which link the relationships and the inevitable conflicts as profound change comes to rural England. The most mature and rewarding of her novels, Wives and Daughters places Elizabeth Gaskell in the first rank of English authors.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"No nineteenth-century novel contains a more devastating rejection than this of the Victorian male assumption of moral authority."
—Pam Morris

SEPTEMBER 2010 - AudioFile

The eternal theme of thwarted love and scheming ambition is set in the microcosm of a provincial British village. Replete with nineteenth-century social values and hierarchies, Gaskell's important work follows the life of Molly Gibson. When her father remarries, Molly's life becomes complicated by a worldly and impetuous stepsister and a snobbish stepmother. Gaskell's vivid prose captures the period's formality and evokes images of bygone lifestyles and environs. Narrator Patience Tomlinson possesses an astonishing vocal range—from the high pitches of youth to the gruff basses of elderly gentlemen. Her portrayals of the novel's many characters and dialects are distinctive, making all the characters identifiable in terms of their age, gender, and station. Tomlinson's expressiveness keeps the listener spellbound. A.W. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169171082
Publisher:	Naxos Audiobooks
Publication date:	09/29/2010
Edition description:	Unabridged

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