Mrs Craddock
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Mrs Craddock
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Narrated by:
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Beth Chalmers
About this listen
Bertha Ley comes of age, inherits her father's money, and promptly marries a handsome, calm, and unimaginative man. Bertha is wildly in love with Edward and believes she can be happy playing the role of a dutiful wife in their country home. But, intelligent and sensual, she quickly becomes bored by her oppressively conventional life, and finds her love for her husband slipping away.
Originally rejected by publishers, Mrs. Craddock was first published only on condition that certain "shocking" passages were removed. It was 30 years before the full text could be published.
William Somerset Maugham (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest paid author of the 1930s. Maugham was orphaned by the age of ten, but after an unhappy childhood, he flourished when he moved to London to study medicine as a young man, giving him plenty of inspiration for his literary ambitions. His first novel, Liza of Lambeth, sold out in a matter of weeks, prompting Maugham to leave medicine and embark on a 65-year career as a man of letters. By 1914 he was famous, with ten successful plays produced and ten novels published. In 1917, he was asked by the British Secret Intelligence Service (now MI6) to undertake a special mission in Russia; an experience which would go on to inspire Ashenden, a collection of short stories about a gentlemanly spy that influenced Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Maugham’s most famous works include Of Human Bondage, a semiautobiographical novel, The Moon and Sixpence, Cakes and Ale and The Razor’s Edge. His writing has inspired a string of over 35 film adaptations and has influenced many notable authors, including Anthony Burgess, George Orwell and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Public Domain (P)2012 Audible LtdListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Mrs Craddock
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Youngenough
- 13-12-13
An absorbing picture of a marriage
What made the experience of listening to Mrs Craddock the most enjoyable?
What made this book enjoyable was the strong identification I felt with the main character, sharing in particular her claustrophobia and frustration in her marriage with her dreadful husband and his obdurate ignorance. It does of course reflect the mores of the time in terms of the power relationships between husbands and wives, but has a modern sensibility in relation to a woman's physical passions. In fact it is interesting to note that it some passages were censored for nearly 30 years.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Aunt Polly was in some ways my favourite character because of her acerbic wit, and perceptive insights into the actions and characters of others
Have you listened to any of Beth Chalmers’s other performances? How does this one compare?
This is the only one I listened to
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It made me quite angry at times, sharing in Bertha's frustration, but this helped engagement in the book.
Any additional comments?
The book is not unflawed. I would have liked a little more insight into the husband's motivations, and the character of Aunt Polly could have been developed further, but overall and enjoyable read.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Alison
- 04-09-19
Not As Good As I Remembered
I read all WSM's books and short stories in my teens and early 20s and now I am gradually re-visiting those that are available here. I remembered Mrs C as one of my favourites - and it's still got its charms, but probably the passage of (quite a lot of!) time, has dulled it for me. But still I liked the old-fashioned story, and I still liked the ending a lot.
There are no characters to really warm to. Just as you think Mrs C is going to do something resolute or make a reasonable decision, she flunks it, and that does make you sort of not care much. And I absolutely detested Mr C by the 3rd hour - just as I did when I was 18. Nevertheless, it has a plot and an ending, and a lot of contemporary 'atmosphere' so it's a fairly pleasant 10 hours. .
Well read by a narrator I did not know before but who I think gets the characters right.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Jane Showering
- 21-03-18
Not one of his better ones
Shallow storyline, not great narration, just not a great book
Tho am a huge fan of Somerset Maugham
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
- MJ
- 10-04-13
Hard going!
Maugham is writing here tediously long and repetitive passages of his version of the over-emotional and trite sentimentality of 'woman'. Completely without any depth, it has little or no story, poor character development, no humour and no justification except to illustrate that this author had a long way to go in his perception of character to achieve his later greatness.
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2 people found this helpful