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Ruth
- Narrated by: Eve Matheson
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
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The Elizabeth Gaskell Collection
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Elizabeth Gaskell was one of Victorian England's pre-eminent female novelists. Admired by Charles Dickens, who described her as his 'dear Scheherazade', she mingled storytelling and social realism to superb effect in her highly acclaimed fiction. This comprehensive collection comprises dramas and readings of her finest works and some lesser-known pieces.
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Perfect!!
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Francine Rivers is one of America's favorite romance writers and a bestselling inspirational author. Her many heartfelt novels have won awards and the adoration of fans accross the country. In Redeeming Love, she retells the Biblical story of Hosea, setting it in the 1850s, amidst California's gold country.
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POSITIVELY LIFE CHANGING
- By Nelishia on 01-04-10
By: Francine Rivers
Publisher's summary
Exclusively from Audible
The orphaned heroine Ruth, apprenticed to a dressmaker, is seduced by wealthy Henry Bellingham who is captivated by her simplicity and beauty. Their affair causes her to lose her home and job to which he offers her shelter, only to cruelly abandon her soon after. She is offered a chance of a new life though shamed in the eyes of society by her illegitimate son. When Henry reappears offering marriage she must choose between social acceptance and her own pride. Ruth ultimately finds a path that affirms we are not bound to repeat our mistakes.
A social audiobook of love, family and hypocrisy, it examines the Victorian views about sin and the social stigma of illegitimacy. Gaskell is compassionate in her portrayal of Ruth who would normally be outcast from respectable society.
Ruth was the first mainstream novel to cast a 'fallen woman' in the role of heroine and inevitably caused controversy when published. It predates Hardy's own such heroine in Tess of the d'Urbervilles by nearly 40 years.
Gaskell was an accomplished writer and had much of her work published in Charles Dickens' magazine Household Words. She was also friends with Charlotte Brontë and after her death, her father, Patrick Brontë, chose Gaskell to write The Life of Charlotte Brontë.
Narrator Biography
As well as a substantial portfolio of voiceover work, Eve Matheson's career spans audiobooks, theatre, television, film and radio. She has narrated several audiobooks, including Tracy Chevalier's Falling Angels and Erica James' Act of Faith, and documentaries including Fermat's Last Theorem (1996) which won several awards including a BAFTA. On screen, she is best known for her roles as Becky Sharp in the 1987 BBC adaptation of the novel Vanity Fair and as Zoe Angell in May to December (1989-1990). She has frequently appeared at the Royal National Theatre and in the West End, playing roles such as Cordelia in King Lear, Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream and as Lady Anne in Richard III. From 2005-2006, she appeared as Mrs. Milcote in the original Royal National Theatre production of Helen Edmundson's Coram Boy. Her recent television appearances have included roles in Silent Witness (2015) and Call the Midwife (2014).
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Fleeing a disastrous marriage, Helen Huntingdon retreats to the desolate mansion, Wildfell Hall, with her son, Arthur. There, she makes her living as a painter. Finding it difficult to avoid her neighbors, she is soon an object of speculation and gossip. Brontë portrays Helen's eloquent struggle for independence at a time when society defined a married woman as her husband's property.
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Excellent performances of an abridged version
- By LSK on 04-21-19
By: Anne Brontë
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The Jewel of Seven Stars
- By: Bram Stoker
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The warning was inscribed on the entrance of the hidden tomb, forgotten for millennia in the sands of mystic Egypt. Then the archaeologists and grave robbers came in search of the fabled Jewel of Seven Stars, which they found clutched in the hand of the mummy. Few heeded the ancient warning, until all who came in contact with the Jewel began to die in a mysterious and violent way, with the marks of a strangler around their neck.
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Mother of all Mummy-Stories
- By Dorothea on 03-15-08
By: Bram Stoker
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A Room with a View
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Rebecca Hall
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In this rich new audio production, acclaimed British American actress Rebecca Hall brings one of E. M. Forster's most admired works to life in this classic tale of human struggle. A charming young Englishwoman, Lucy Honeychurch, is wooed by both free-spirited George Emerson and wealthy Cecil Vyse while vacationing in Italy. Though attracted to George, Lucy becomes engaged to Cecil despite twice turning down his proposals. On hearing of the news, George confesses his love, leaving Lucy torn between marrying the more socially acceptable Cecil or George, the man she knows would bring her true happiness. Should Lucy choose social acceptance or true love?
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A lovely performance, and a wonderful story
- By Robert on 01-19-19
By: E. M. Forster
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Shirley
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in the industrialising England of the Napoleonic wars, a period of bad harvests, Luddite riots, and economic unrest, Shirley is the story of two contrasting heroines and the men they love. One is the shy Caroline Helstone, trapped in the oppressive atmosphere of a Yorkshire rectory, whose life represents the plight of single women in the 19th century. The other is the vivacious Shirley Keeldar, who inherits a local estate and whose wealth liberates her from convention.
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"As Romantic As Monday Morning"
- By Joseph R on 09-15-09
By: Charlotte Brontë
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The Woman in White
- By: Wilkie Collins
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey, Simon Prebble
- Length: 25 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the greatest mystery thrillers ever written, Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White was a phenomenal best seller in the 1860s, achieving even greater success than works by Charles Dickens. Full of surprise, intrigue, and suspense, this vastly entertaining novel continues to enthrall audiences today.
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Gripping novel, excellent production
- By David on 01-18-11
By: Wilkie Collins
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The Warden - Chronicles of Barsetshire, Book 1
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: David Shaw-Parker
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Loved and appreciated by all with whom he works, Harding lives an ordered, regular life in his protected religious environment. Then one day, a young reformer feels he has uncovered a mismanagement of funds and Harding is held to blame. The accusation comes as a shock not only to Harding himself but also to the cathedral community. It then comes to wider notice when the cause is taken up by a national newspaper.
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Slow start, longer than needful, but enjoyable
- By Tally D Lykins on 06-16-16
By: Anthony Trollope
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Howards End
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Howards End is a beautifully subtle tale of two very different families brought together by an unusual event. The Schlegels are intellectuals, devotees of art and literature. The Wilcoxes are practical and materialistic, leading lives of "telegrams and anger". When the elder Mrs. Wilcox dies and her family discovers she has left their country home - Howards End - to one of the Schlegel sisters, a crisis between the two families is precipitated that takes years to resolve.
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Fantastic Narration in Delightful Story
- By Wren on 05-05-18
By: E. M. Forster
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Loved it
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What listeners say about Ruth
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Susan
- 12-06-12
Fallen Woman Finds Redemption
Ruth, orphaned and alone at the age of 12, is lead astray at 16 by an affluent, self centered young man in his early 20's and then abandoned after she becomes pregnant. She is taken in by a kindly, sympathetic clergyman and his sister who share their home. Assuming the identity of a young widow, Ruth raises her child and is grateful for her good fortune and the generosity of those around her. After a dozen years, her secret of being an unwed mother is, through unexpected connections, revealed. She is then rejected and shunned by members of the community who had previously welcomed her into their homes. The rest of the story concerns Ruth's redemption; she is finally recognized and elevated for always putting the welfare of others ahead of her own. The novel is beautifully executed with a bittersweet ending. I have read and listed to a number of Elizabeth Gaskell's novels and have found each to be unique and memorable. The author balances sorrow and joy in equal parts.
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19 people found this helpful
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Overall
- akacz
- 11-25-08
Sublime reading by Eve Matheson
The jewel of this audio recording is the voice of Eve Matheson. Her sensitive reading brings Ruth to life.
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13 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Alicia Czechowski
- 03-03-09
too sweet a christian
If the elderly servant, Sally, had been the rule for Elizabeth Gaskell in forming her characters in this book, it would have been another great like "North and South". Sally's wit and comic urbanity, contrasts sharply with the nauseatingly sweet goodness of Ruth, the innocent led into predictable sin by a wealthy young rake. The result is a preachy fairy tale of Christian redemption through sacrifice. Elizabeth Gaskell is a clever observer of people and their foibles, but in Ruth she missteps in giving her heroine unearthly beauty and divine purity, thus, taking her out of the realm of common mortals. Nevertheless, Gaskell writes an entertaining story which only requires a suspension of disbelief in human nature. The reader is excellent.
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12 people found this helpful
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Overall
- connie
- 06-08-08
interesting for Ruth's social predicament
This is a great companion to Eliot's Adam Bede and Hardy's Tess for its pregnant-outside-of- wedlock protagonist (although Gaskill's sentimentality leads to a different treatment).
I found this to be the best structured of Gaskill's novels, and I think Mr Benson one of the more interesting characters she created. I've heard that Ruth was based on a real character known to Gaskill's family. Hooray for Gaskill for taking up the topic as early as she did (though overall she still placated Victorian sensibilities and made Ruth a "too good to be true" character to try to garner contemporary readers sympathies)
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Dana
- 10-22-08
LOVED it!
I loved this story. Loved the characters. Bravo!
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Cariola
- 06-11-08
A Novel of Respectability
As in North and South, Gaskell explores the values and inequities of Victorian society here. The main character, a desperate young woman who has lost her job and has no family to assist her, falls prey to a handsome gent--it's the old "seduced and abandoned" theme. But Ruth gets a chance to redeem her life and to provide a happier future for her son--temporarily, of course. Although there are no surprises here (the story is quite predictable), Gaskell makes it interesting with her fine characterizations and understanding of the human heart.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Joseph R
- 01-09-10
The Burden, The Shame, The Glory
Eve Matheson has a fine expressive musical voice which brings out the subtle details and exquisite character sketches Gaskell wove into this story including as an aside, the splendid example of parents' counterproductive interference with the romance of a daughter. Rich, handsome Henry Bellingham calls to mind John Willoughby, "Sense and Sensibility" who, I am sure you recall, seduced Eliza Brandon then abandoned her unmarried, pregnant and penniless, a circumstance which often reduced a woman to prostitution and a short, brutish life; i.e. a death sentence. His public humiliation of Marianne Dashwood was her social death sentence. His behavior revealed a true character totally different from the noble and amiable person which we thought we knew. I go on and on about Willoughby because Bellingham is a Willoughby. As you remember, after her illness, Marianne became a stronger, better woman. Myself, I didn't like her until then. Ruth became a stronger better person after she was abandoned by Bellingham. She took charge of her life and that of her son. While she was certainly the weaker of the two in the beginning of her relationship with Bellingham, as time went on, she grew strong while he remained the same. So much stronger she became, that she sent him packing when he offers belated marriage, i.e. salvation, wealth, ease for herself and her child.
I often read of women similarly situated being put to death so let us not congratulate ourselves that the attitudes expressed in this story are dated and we live in a time superior to Ruth's world of the 1800's. Indeed, one often sees stories where the woman is killed for much smaller offenses or is guilty of being a rape victim. Ruth is here among us, today, in the Twenty-First Century. Our women's groups are notable by their silence as they mostly are on issues of real consequence. Let us be humble before our Ruths. Listen, hear the silence.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Deborah A. Windom
- 07-26-09
Is this narrator depressed?
The narrator of this story sounds so glum that it makes the listener dread the next sentence. It's almost as though she's apologizing for telling you a sad story. I recommend choosing the version narrated by Nadia May.
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7 people found this helpful
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- M
- 07-10-12
Excellent story. Perfectly narrated.
What did you love best about Ruth?
The narrator does a great job of subtly changing between the many characters' voices.
Which character – as performed by Eve Matheson – was your favorite?
Mr. Benson.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I cried. (But I cry at Hallmark ads...) I was most struck by how well the story illustrates the redemptive power of true selflessness...without expectation of any reward.
Any additional comments?
I love Gaskell's ability to develop characters. She takes what would be background characters in, say, a Jane Austen novel...the destitute widow, the spinster sisters, the crippled neighbor...and gives them the lead roles. Their seemingly everyday struggles and triumphs built up to heroic proportions. Very satisfying.
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6 people found this helpful
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- CKCurry
- 10-06-22
I wanted a happy ending
Loved the narration. The story was well written and held my interest, and I would have given five stars, but I felt cheated that the heroine died. I wasn't expecting it. I love happy endings.
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1 person found this helpful