Adam Bede

By: George Eliot

Narrated by: Jill Tanner

Length: 23 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

With an introduction and notes by Doreen Roberts, University of Kent at Canterbury

"Examine your words well, and you will find that even when you have no motive to be false, it is a very hard thing to say the exact truth, even about your immediate feelings...."

Adam Bede (1859), George Eliot's first full-length novel, marked the emergence of an artist to rank with Scott and Dickens. Set in the English Midlands of farmers and village craftsmen at the turn of the 18th century, the book relates a story of seduction issuing in "the inward suffering which is the worst form of Nemesis". But it is also a rich and pioneering record - drawing on intimate knowledge and affectionate memory - of a rural world that we have lost. The movement of the narration between social realism and reflection on its own processes, the exploration of motives, and the constant authorial presence all bespeak an art that strives to connect the fictional with the actual.

Public Domain (P)2016 Recorded Books

Very good book

Great story although some passages were quite long (love the fast forward feature). The narration however was incredible! Every character was perfect!

A fantastic book not quite so with the narrator

Unfortunately I think although Jill tanner speaks very clearly and is generally good. She pronounces so many words incorrectly its painfully obvious that she doesn't understand what she's reading. She also talks much louder than the audio equipment requires and forgets that she's not on a stage and has no need to project her voice so. There were a few times as I listened that I almost turned it off as her voice was so grating. She also gives most of the characters a west country style accent although she's given the main character a vaguely Yorkshire accent which is more in keeping with the fictional setting mixed with real cities.