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The Old Maid
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Publisher's summary
The story follows the life of Tina, a young woman caught between the mother who adopted her - the beautiful, upstanding Delia - and her true mother, her plain, unmarried ‘aunt’ Charlotte, who gave Tina up to provide her with a socially acceptable life.
The three women live quietly together until Tina’s wedding day, when Delia’s and Charlotte’s hidden jealousies rush to the surface. Originally serialized in The Red Book magazine in 1922, The Old Maid is an examination of class and society as only Edith Wharton could undertake.
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Vladimir Nabokov called Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina "one of the greatest love stories in world literature." Set in imperial Russia, Anna Karenina is a rich and complex meditation on passionate love and disastrous infidelity. Married to a powerful government minister, Anna Karenina is a beautiful woman who falls deeply in love with a wealthy army officer, the elegant Count Vronsky.
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Not good dramatization but an ok reading
- By Bookoholics Anon on 05-07-11
By: Leo Tolstoy
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Anna Karenina
- By: Leo Tolstoy
- Narrated by: Nikolay Trifilov
- Length: 43 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Znamenityj roman vvodit nas v bogatyj, raznoobraznyj, udivitel'no uyutnyj i privlekatel'nyj mir russkoj dvoryanskoj zhizni Moskvy i Peterburga. Tolstoj vystupaet zdes' pevcom povsednevnoj zhizni, kotoruyu on poehtiziruet i v kotoroj vidit filosofskuyu glubinu, primiryayushchuyu stol' razitel'nye protivopolozhnosti, kak tragicheskaya nezakonnaya svyaz' Anny Kareninoj s Vronskim i schastlivaya semejnaya zhizn' Kiti s Cherbackoj i Levina.
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Fantastic narration!
- By Anastasia Lattanand on 03-10-16
By: Leo Tolstoy
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Florence Grace
- By: Tracy Rees
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Florrie Buckley is an orphan living on the wind-blasted moors of Cornwall. It's a hard existence, but Florrie is content; she runs wild in the mysterious landscape. She thinks her destiny is set in stone. But when Florrie is 14, she inherits a never-imagined secret. She is related to a wealthy and notorious London family: the Graces.
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Utterly brilliant!!!
- By Maria on 07-04-16
By: Tracy Rees
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Le Pere Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Honoré de Balzac uses his classic style of detail to describe a most controversial setting in his novel Le Pere Goriot. The story takes place in Paris just after the fall of Napoleon in 1819. The story focuses on three characters, Rastignac, a student who wants to try and make it big in the capital, Vautrin, an interesting and funny character who is also quite mysterious, and the main character, Goriot, that carries a heavy burden that only a loving parent would endure.
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A minor masterpiece
- By Indi Rock on 03-04-18
By: Honoré de Balzac
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Christmas Stories
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Charles Dickens was a major contributor to the romantic revival of Christmas traditions that occurred in the Victorian era. With their heart, humor and good morals, Dickens' Christmas stories have made the author's name synonymous with the season. Here we present four charming novellas to complete his series that began with "A Christmas Carol", with echoes of sleigh bells throughout. The stories include "The Chimes", "The Cricket on the Hearth", "The Battle of Life", and "The Haunted Man" - the perfect companion for the yearly celebrations.
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Delightful
- By Tad Davis on 08-22-16
By: Charles Dickens
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What listeners say about The Old Maid
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bekka
- 03-27-15
Nicely done
Perfect reader for this story. Reminds me of the Betty Davis movie. Highly recommend. Edith Wharton is a great favorite.
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- Queenmum
- 03-28-15
A beautiful story by an under appreciated writer
The society of the late 19th century is as alien to young people of today as the craters of the moon. This lovely and penetrating story pulls back the curtain for a moment. I hope young listeners will have the patience for a writing style that is no longer practiced but is masterly. The narrator could not have been better.
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3 people found this helpful
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- L.W.
- 03-27-15
Wharton wrote it....
What made the experience of listening to The Old Maid the most enjoyable?
If the author is Wharton it is a classic. This story has been told before and since but each author shares their particular flavor of writing.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Old Maid?
For me it is the question of why the girl cannot be beloved by both. For she was beloved by both. Why does there always have to be a bad guy. I understood the emotional struggle but just once can we not write a story in which all are magnamous.
*The moment Adeline makes the decision Charlotte cannot marry. And follows thru on that decision by changing the rest of her life. I had to wonder about the emotions leading to that. That could have been the wall remaining a lifetime. Maybe Charlotte regretted sharing her secret with her most trusted relative. Or maybe she savored telling her. This book could be discussed a lot.
Have you listened to any of Eleanor Bron’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
This was my first with this narrator. I had some problems separating the characters by sound.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes I did.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Mimi Routh
- 05-04-15
Rustling Petticoats and Heart-Wrenching Decisions!
I may have found Wharton boring in the past. In a way she's like watching paint dry. This is more about the listener's energy than maturity or sophistication. It's not a judgment. Someone caring for little kids or doing customer service or crazy-busy restaurant work probably could not settle to this. The way Wharton can deal with thoughts and actions from minute to minute is quite wonderful. And analysis of the psychology, wow!
We are told about their trendy décor and their beautiful clothes or "turned" dresses which have been taken apart, cleaned, steamed and brushed, and remade with new trim so as to be presentable in society. We hear about cheeks so naturally bright that one might think she painted, i.e., used makeup like a trashy woman! We hear about their meals and visits and shopping, the servants. And the terrible pressure to do the right thing, carry on family tradition, meet all the social pressures. The decisions they must make are as demanding as any that face us.
I loved the description of the square in the snow late at night and both women watching for the girl to come home from the ball. It is almost a "cut the baby in half" situation as in the Bible. The aunt is upstairs. The real mom is waiting by the door, knowing how very easy it is for a girl to bring her sweetheart into one of those great houses when everyone is asleep . . . because the real mom has been there done that. The aunt upstairs is chilly in her beautiful shawl. She hears the door. Time passes. Then the young man stands down in the square looking up at the house, then walks away. And the girl comes upstairs in her finery, still intact. . . .
This narrator has a pleasant voice and reads very well. Some mispronunciations caught my attention. On a second listen, I heard more. Indigent. Grimace. A couple more. And as another reviewer said, the voices are not perfectly differentiated. I noticed one of the women talking like a man at one point. Faintly bothersome. Still a wonderful listen. I can hardly wait to hear more Wharton.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Katie
- 08-06-15
Incisive Storytelling and Wit
What made the experience of listening to The Old Maid the most enjoyable?
The elegance of Edith Wharton's writing style, which flowed naturally when heard aloud.
What other book might you compare The Old Maid to and why?
The Age of Innocence, also by Edith Wharton, has much of the same cutting insight into social and psychological aspects of human life, in the context of upper class New York and female scandal. I was also reminded of To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf, due to the excellent insight superficial and oppressive standards and women living under them.
Which scene was your favorite?
(Spoilers ahead) Either when Delia visited the child Tina while she was with the other pauper children and her tenderness and love flowed out, or when Delia and Charlotte flared up in open emotions for the first time in ages the night before Tina's wedding.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
I don't know, probably something about the secrets a woman's heart holds.
Any additional comments?
If you like Edith Wharton, or literature from the turn of the century, or literature about society and pretenses, or psychological and social insight, then I would highly recommend The Old Maid!
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- Lana T
- 04-05-22
Eleanor Bron is the best narrator!
What a combination: Edith Wharton read by Eleanor Bron. I wish she would narrate more literature.
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- Ilana
- 12-10-13
The More I Read Edith Wharton...
As I mentioned recently somewhere, the more I read Edith Wharton the more I love her, which is saying a lot since I was instantly smitten when I started reading my first book by her, The House of Mirth. I’ve read a couple of her novels and some of her shorter works since, but this is the first short story I've read of hers so far, and I can see why she was considered a master of the form. This story is included in the Old New York collection and I'm counting is as an individual work since I got it as an audiobook and am shamelessly making up the numbers to reach 150 books this year. Set in the 1850s, and I should specify in Edith Wharton's 50s, that is to say, the Old New York of the top of the upper crust of distinguished family names, splendour, old money and stifling social conventions, it tells the story of two cousins, one pretty and married, the other rather plain and unwed and mother to an illegitimate little girl. Charlotte, who is about to be married into the same respectable family as her cousin Mrs. Deliah Ralston, confides to her cousin and begs for her help, as she fears that her marriage will separate her from her secret love child Tina forever. Deliah, whose first loyalty goes to her family by marriage, ensures that the wedding plans are cancelled to prevent the scandal from attaching itself to the too respectable Ralstons, though she promises to take care of Tina herself. Years go by, Deliah is widowed, the cousins live together, and Tina is now a very attractive girl of marriageable age. Charlotte is known to the girl as 'Aunt Charlotte the old maid', and she affectionately considers Deliah to be her mother, and of course the secret of her real origins are unknown to her. The two older women have found this to be the best compromise, but there are unexpressed jealousies and resentments seething under the surface, which suddenly erupt when a young man starts making too frequent visits to the house. When Wharton wrote this story, it was already relegated to historical fiction, describing mores that had been long out of fashion, but the core of the tale is timeless, telling of love and passion and the mysteries of motherly love and the bonds that unify women. I couldn't help but shed a sentimental tear or two at the end, and perhaps it is a sentimental story, but they should all be so well told.
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36 people found this helpful
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- Daphne
- 03-28-15
The story shouldn't end
This story was sad. It was also too short. I wish it had been longer. I enjoyed the suspense. I would tell others
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- Kathleen
- 08-30-15
Timeless
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I love Edith Wharton. She makes reading effortless. This book is a beautiful tribute to what it means to love deeply.
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- McFitz
- 05-16-15
Excellent story of sacrifice and love
The story concerns old society families in 19th-century New York City. Two cousins put aside their differences to raise a child in the strict environment of manners and morals.
I hesitate to say that it is a "women's story" because the plotting, pace, and usage are so well done that anyone should appreciate it. But I know that any mother would especially understand the dilemmas involved.
The narrator does very well, although a few pronunciations were questionable. Her tone and speed were exactly correct for this story.
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