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Middlemarch

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Middlemarch

By: George Eliot
Narrated by: Maureen O'Brien
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About this listen

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George Eliot's most ambitious novel is a masterly evocation of diverse lives and changing fortunes in a provincial community.

Peopling its landscape are Dorothea Brooke, a young idealist whose search for intellectual fulfillment leads her into a disastrous marriage to the pedantic scholar Casaubon; the charming but tactless Dr Lydgate, whose marriage to the spendthrift beauty Rosamund and pioneering medical methods threaten to undermine his career; and the religious hypocrite Bulstrode, hiding scandalous crimes from his past.

As their stories interweave, George Eliot creates a richly nuanced and moving drama, hailed by Virginia Woolf as 'one of the few English novels written for adult people'. Middlemarch explores nearly all matters of concern to modern life, portraying an entire community and every class within it. Full of irony and suspense and even richer in character it shows how individual lives are shaped by and shape the community. Within Middlemarch, we find Eliot's ability to expand the audience's compassion and imagination.

George Eliot was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. Her novels, largely set in provincial England, are well known for their realism and psychological insight. When Middlemarch was released Eliot was considered England's finest living novelist with many critics still regarding this novel as the finest in English.

A BAFTA winning adaptation of Middlemarch aired as a television series in 1994.

Narrator Biography

Maureen is an English actress and author best known for playing the role of Vicki in Doctor Who where she starred alongside the original Doctor, William Hartnell. She then went on to appear in The Legend of King Arthur, Casualty, The Duchess of Duke Street, Taggart, Cracker, A Touch of Frost, Heartbeat and Jonathan Creek. In 1985 she made a rare film appearance in the comedy She'll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas opposite Julie Walters.

Maureen has also appeared in a number of stage productions, for example, The Relapse (Old Vic), The Merchant of Venice (Old Vic), The Archbishop's Ceiling (Bristol Old Vic) and Othello (Bristol Old Vic).

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Classics Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Feel-Good England Arthurian
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What listeners say about Middlemarch

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Marvellous

Beautiful performance of a timeless classic! May seem long but every chapter advances the plot to form an amazingly well rounded story.

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3 people found this helpful

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Loved it

I absolutely loved this novel. I devoured it in just a few days...what a masterpiece!

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1 person found this helpful

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Superb

Why haven't I read this book before? It is as relevant today as it was when it was written. I defy anyone to read this and not draw parallels with people in their lives. very well read and just a delight. I can't wait to read it again, perhaps as a physical book.

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Such a wonderful book

Loved it, loved it, loved it. Couldn’t put it down and didn’t want it to end.

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A really captivating classic

I'm not a native English speaker, so getting into the historical language took a while even if I also have listened to Jane Austen on Audible.

After I got the hang of it I was really gripped by the stories (and then remembered that I have seen the TV adaptation) and the long listen didn't feel long at all. I think it's a classic for a good reason and I totally recommend. I really liked the performance, too.

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Epic classic

I didn’t enjoy reading this at school, but now in my 50’s I can appreciate why it is such an admired classic

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loved it - social history

George Elliott paints an historic picture of the intricacies of social duty and conscience and you realise that for all our modern advances we haven't come that far socially.

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16 people found this helpful

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An Exquisite Novel Beautifully Read

Intricate, funny, passionate multi-layered narrative that illuminates human hypocrisy, frailty but also potential for goodness.

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14 people found this helpful

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Characterised reading of a wonderful story

This is the first George Eliot I've heard and I'll be getting more, a sharp observer of human character and excellent writer of prose. This is a long reading but there is hardly anything I would cut.
The actor's delivery is excellent too, this is not just a reading, the characters are all distinguishable by the inflections and actions she gives them.

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Delightful read

Maureen O’Brien really brought the characters to life. I loved her narrative, the voices, the pace, that she really does justice to the book and the author.

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