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!

Long - but very listenable!

I would occasionally have liked less lengthy description, but the language and turns of phrase are beautiful - and easily understood due to the excellence of the reader.

George Eliot’s brilliance

I found this novel even more engaging than her masterpiece Middlemarch although both shine with Eliots sharp perception of the human psyche and her brilliant and subtle sense of humor. Apart from its timeless value in drawing portraits of the characters, it also richly examines the mores and political thoughts of the day, all set within the farming community rather than high class society which ultimately can be a tedious read ( apologies to the Jane Austen afficionados)!