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Cousin Bette
- Narrated by: Johanna Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Balzac described Cousin Bette as one of his "scenes of Parisian life", and it is certainly that. It offers us a hypnotic vision of that infinitely varied city during the bright, vital, scandalous, and sexually untrammeled era of King Louis-Philippe. The courtesans, swindlers, bankers, artists, murderers, detectives, and saints populating this world pass before us invested with a verve and vividness unsurpassed in the history of the novel.
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What listeners say about Cousin Bette
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Murasaki
- 12-03-06
Narrator!
This is a delightful, witty, scathingly ironic novel of 18th century Paris. Joanna Ward raises it to even greater heights -- she is simply a wonderful narrator.
28 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Adrienne
- 03-18-07
Mesmerizing
This book falls into the category of "can't put it down." I found it to be fascinating and captivating, all of the characters are rich. I found that I had to really listen and pay attention, especially in the beginning, but once I was hooked it was most rewarding. The narrator does an exceptional job. You will think about this story even when you are not listening to it.
17 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Gare
- 04-13-08
Pre-code scandlous fun
A fine example of inspired professional writing. I read this book after it was mentioned in Prose's reading like a writer...and I was not disappointed. The style of writing is while florid, still engaging and accessible. The number of French clich?s is a delight to the student of language, but having a basic command of French and Paris will make the book all the more enjoying. I recommend this book as the audio backdrop for a 2 week vacation in Paris.
But, I warn the naive or moralistic that this book can be quite shocking...although never pornographic. Rich complex, although often cartoonish character studies.
Good emotional insights, and many tragic insights on the struggles of the un-attractive vs the favored and the transitory nature of both.
14 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 06-25-10
Great reader
Johanna Ward is a suberb reader.
10 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Angie
- 04-25-08
Excellent
I loved this book. it was very modern despite being an old book. It actually reminded me alot of Anna Karinena I would recommend his book to any one. The narrator was excellent too.
7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Moe
- 01-07-10
A morale tale of greed, envy, and vice.
I don't know. Though it seems like a good topic roster to listen to, I had trouble staying interested at times. Maybe it was the reading.
4 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 01-11-15
Thoroughly enjoyable
Great story that feels immediate, even though the world has changed. People always want more sex, security and power. Universal.
3 people found this helpful
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Performance
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- Alla
- 09-10-12
Doing justice to Balzac
Johanna Ward reads this book beautifully! She clearly has excellent control of both French and English and it shows! Thanks!
3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Elizabeth
- 11-09-09
Save your money/credits
In the hundreds of books I have listened to, this is the second one that I could not finish. Poor narration and story combine to make it a waste of credits.
3 people found this helpful
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- Janey
- 12-19-11
Great story!
Would you listen to Cousin Bette again? Why?
I did listen twice because I could not keep the characters apart and the reader didn't change her voice enough to help me remember individual characters. After I got past that it was easier to listen to.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Actually, none of them since none were able to see their own problems let alone do anything about them.
Did the narration match the pace of the story?
In the beginning it was difficult to keep the characters apart.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, not possible.
Any additional comments?
I was a lot like a modern day soap opera.
2 people found this helpful
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- Richard H
- 06-12-20
Slightly underwhelming!
It feels almost sacrilegious to be giving this book just 3 stars when for nigh on two centuries the great and the good of the literary world have been showering praise on it and its author! It’s about resentment and revenge, profligacy, grandiosity, shameful behaviour, avariciousness, vanity, male foolishness and libido. With all these sins on parade you’d expect the story to fairly bounce along, but for me it just dragged - rather a lot. How many times do we need a scene where a pretty woman entertains three men simultaneously, each one thinking he’s her only lover and unsuspecting of the others, to get the point that she’s an amoral scheming hussy and they’re conceited gullible fools? Yet permutations of this scene are played over and over again, and you long for some variation.
Balzac shines a light on the corruption, greed, idleness and lack of morality of certain members of the haute bourgeoisie and its imitators of mid 19th century Paris which is quite entertaining but, again, rather repetitive. The cast of characters is quite limited - we don’t get to see a whole panoply of people weaving their way in and out of the story - so misdeed after dastardly misdeed committed by just a few lose their impact. The social commentary (if that’s what it is) wears a bit thin when heaped on so few protagonists. The author shows very little in terms of landscape (except for interior furnishings) or context, so overall I found this novel to lack depth and breadth. The Catholic message which is ramped up towards the book’s end comes across as extremely contrived, especially as personified by the Baroness whose goodness and forgiveness are mindless, masochistic and bovine.
At times I found the slight ‘foreignness’ lingering in the translation to be a bit jarring. This is exacerbated by the narrator turning up the dial on a French accent with some of her characterisations. Johanna Ward has a very attractive voice with perfect diction but doesn’t add much variation between characters and does some rather odd things with rural or ‘working class’ ones! But she pronounces all French names and places beautifully and was a joy to listen to even if you had to replay from time to time to determine who was talking!
6 people found this helpful
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Overall

- mikki100
- 05-07-20
Interesting characters and great plot, however had to push through the middle but is a 19th century French soap opera!
Bette (also known as Lisbeth) is a spinster who dislikes her extended affluent family in Paris the Hulots. Bette is 42yr old and only receives interest from suitors due to her family connection with the successful Hulots. Bette resents this and harbours jealousy for the Hulot's daughter who is also seeking a husband and 'steals' Bette's love interest causing Bette to hate them all the more. Bette seeks vengeance via Baron Hector Hulot who is womaniser living beyond his means to lavish gifts on mistresses. Baron Hulot meets Bette's young pretty married friend Valerie and ends up having an affair. This works in Bette's favour to ruin the Hulots whilst Valerie simply enjoys the gifts and trinkets. I have probably said too much so will just say most meet their demise except one.. read the book to find out who has the HEA.
As the story unravels there is deceit, jealousy, rage and sexual passion. The book gives great insight into the bourgeois Paris society in the 1840s. I gave 3 stars because at some point in the book it felt like wading through treacle, rather than fluid free flowing, however it was worth persevering through. It is the first Balzac book i have read and with great plots and interesting characters i will probably read more in future.
1 person found this helpful
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- Donizettisto
- 12-24-22
Balzac: distilled French prejudice & avarice
Dumas is good.
Balzac was rubbish.
I have a degree in this. so believe me.
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- Cliff Moyce
- 10-02-22
The best narration
The best narration I have ever heard in an audiobook. Reflecting and maintaining the nuances as well as the stark differences between all characters such that they are recognised ‘on sight’ (and without becoming parodies) is a rare skill. The fact that it is married to the best work ever produced by Balzac (IMHO) made it a great experience for me.
As for the story…. If you thought Austen’s characters put money before love then the French beat them hands down. In conversations between characters, every new name is followed by “They have two / ten / twenty thousand a year”. It makes you wonder what (if any) benefit the country got from ridding itself of monarchy fifty years earlier, when the aristocracy and bourgeoisie remained so odious (and in control). Which I guess was Balzac’s point…
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- ms suky s c best
- 06-23-22
mysoginistic and awful.
written by a man who loathes and has utter contempt for women. bette is a caricature of a woman with all the characteristics that men fear, none of them at all believable. dont read this book.
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- C. F. Hankinson
- 04-24-22
Stunning
Beautifully narrated. 👏👏👏👏. Am an old fan of this work and very impressed with this translation and narration.
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- Anonymous User
- 03-20-22
Great story but poor narration
The narrator emphasised the wrong parts of sentences and paused in odd places, almost running out of breath at times. Shame as it’s a wonderful story.
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- K J Borley
- 01-30-22
Great story telling
I really enjoyed listening. Great characters, though it did take a little while to sort them all
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- Jamie Barron
- 01-29-22
Vivid and enjoyable
I enjoyed this a great deal. A wonderfully interesting story about sexuality, morality and family in mid-19th C Paris. The characters were satisfyingly complex and were brought vividly to life by Balzac’s precise and perceptive prose, and by Johanna Ward’s pleasingly crisp narration.
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Story
Lisbeth Fischer has lived in the shadow of her beautiful cousin Adeline for much of her life. Pampered while Lisbeth works in the fields, Adeline makes an enviable leap in status when Baron Hulot offers her his hand in marriage. Out of kindness, they bring Lisbeth to Paris, where she falls in love with the artist Wenceslas, her protege. However, when she is jilted for Adeline's daughter Hortense, her jealousy and rage exponentially intensify, and she resolves to bring the Hulot family to ruin, employing the cold seductress Valerie Marneffe as her vehicle for revenge.
By: Honoré de Balzac
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Father Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Impoverished young aristocrat Eugene de Rastignac is determined to climb the social ladder and impress himself on Parisian high society. While staying at the Maison Vauquer, a boarding house in Paris's rue Neuve-Sainte-Genevieve, he encounters Jean-Joachim Goriot, a retired vermicelli maker who has spent his entire fortune supporting his two daughters. The boarders strike up a friendship and Goriot learns of Rastignac's feelings for his daughter Delphine. He begins to see Rastignac as the ideal son-in-law, and the perfect substitute for Delphine's domineering husband. But Rastignac has other opportunities too....
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Astounding performance
- By Laurence Grey on 04-05-21
By: Honoré de Balzac
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The Years
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Finty Williams
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The principal theme of this ambitious book is time, threading together three generations of the Pargiter family. The story begins on a day in 1880 in the household of Colonel Abel Pargiter, his dying wife, and their seven children, and it ends in the 1930s with a brilliantly depicted party at which the Pargiters, young and old, pass in review. Important events - births, deaths, marriages, wars - occur in the wings; it is the commonplace moments that are captured here in a sequence of perfectly drawn scenes.
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Just Beautiful
- By Kdmd on 06-07-18
By: Virginia Woolf
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Old New York
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Spanning four decades in the mid-19th century, the interconnected novellas of Old New York lay out in vivid detail the complex and inscrutable codes, customs, and taboos of New York society in classic Wharton style.
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Sublime
- By Martina L. Brockway on 07-10-22
By: Edith Wharton
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A Laodicean
- A Story of Today
- By: Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Paula Power, the daughter of a wealthy railway magnate, inherits De Stancy Castle, an ancient castle in need of modernization. She commissions a young architect from London, George Somerset, to undertake the work. Somerset falls in love with Paula. But Paula, the Laodicean of the title, meaning a person who is lukewarm or halfhearted, is torn between George's admiration and that of Captain De Stancy, whose old-world romanticism contrasts with Somerset's forward-looking outlook.
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Not the Most Famous Hardy Work
- By Doreen Frasca on 09-17-20
By: Thomas Hardy
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Washington Square (Blackstone Audio Edition)
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
On New York City's Washington Square lives Catherine Sloper, a shy and plain-looking young woman who is tyrannized by her wealthy, overbearing father. When young Morris Townsend begins to court her, Dr. Sloper, distrusting his motives, threatens to disinherit Catherine. In accordance with her father's suspicions, young Townsend disappears, leaving Catherine to humiliation, heartache, and lonely spinsterhood.
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Fabulous
- By Celia on 04-14-08
By: Henry James
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Cousin Bette
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Lisbeth Fischer has lived in the shadow of her beautiful cousin Adeline for much of her life. Pampered while Lisbeth works in the fields, Adeline makes an enviable leap in status when Baron Hulot offers her his hand in marriage. Out of kindness, they bring Lisbeth to Paris, where she falls in love with the artist Wenceslas, her protege. However, when she is jilted for Adeline's daughter Hortense, her jealousy and rage exponentially intensify, and she resolves to bring the Hulot family to ruin, employing the cold seductress Valerie Marneffe as her vehicle for revenge.
By: Honoré de Balzac
-
Father Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Impoverished young aristocrat Eugene de Rastignac is determined to climb the social ladder and impress himself on Parisian high society. While staying at the Maison Vauquer, a boarding house in Paris's rue Neuve-Sainte-Genevieve, he encounters Jean-Joachim Goriot, a retired vermicelli maker who has spent his entire fortune supporting his two daughters. The boarders strike up a friendship and Goriot learns of Rastignac's feelings for his daughter Delphine. He begins to see Rastignac as the ideal son-in-law, and the perfect substitute for Delphine's domineering husband. But Rastignac has other opportunities too....
-
-
Astounding performance
- By Laurence Grey on 04-05-21
By: Honoré de Balzac
-
The Years
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Finty Williams
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The principal theme of this ambitious book is time, threading together three generations of the Pargiter family. The story begins on a day in 1880 in the household of Colonel Abel Pargiter, his dying wife, and their seven children, and it ends in the 1930s with a brilliantly depicted party at which the Pargiters, young and old, pass in review. Important events - births, deaths, marriages, wars - occur in the wings; it is the commonplace moments that are captured here in a sequence of perfectly drawn scenes.
-
-
Just Beautiful
- By Kdmd on 06-07-18
By: Virginia Woolf
-
Old New York
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning four decades in the mid-19th century, the interconnected novellas of Old New York lay out in vivid detail the complex and inscrutable codes, customs, and taboos of New York society in classic Wharton style.
-
-
Sublime
- By Martina L. Brockway on 07-10-22
By: Edith Wharton
-
A Laodicean
- A Story of Today
- By: Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paula Power, the daughter of a wealthy railway magnate, inherits De Stancy Castle, an ancient castle in need of modernization. She commissions a young architect from London, George Somerset, to undertake the work. Somerset falls in love with Paula. But Paula, the Laodicean of the title, meaning a person who is lukewarm or halfhearted, is torn between George's admiration and that of Captain De Stancy, whose old-world romanticism contrasts with Somerset's forward-looking outlook.
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Not the Most Famous Hardy Work
- By Doreen Frasca on 09-17-20
By: Thomas Hardy
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Summer
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Wharton's most erotic and lyrical novel, Summer explores a daring theme for 1917, a woman's awakening to her sexuality. Eighteen-year-old Charity Royall lives in the small town of North Dormer, ignorant of desire until the arrival of architect Lucius Harney. Like the succulent summer landscape in the Berkshires around them, Charity's romance is lush and picturesque, but its consequences are harsh and real.
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Excellent first audible purchase!
- By lilyglint on 08-23-04
By: Edith Wharton
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A Rogue's Life
- By: Wilkie Collins
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Propelled into society by his ever-hopeful father, Frank is introduced to a variety of professions in order to make his fortune. Not industrious by nature, however, Frank finds working life a challenge, and by his 25th birthday, he has failed medicine, portrait-painting, caricaturing, and even forgery. Disenchanted with life, he despairs of ever finding something to commit to — until he meets Alicia Dulcifer and her inexplicably wealthy father.
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One Twisting, Turning, Fun Book!
- By Joseph R on 06-15-09
By: Wilkie Collins
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The Moon and Sixpence
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This is the story of an artist who was willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of art. In much of its general outline, this famous novel follows the life of Paul Gauguin, famous French post-impressionist painter, but it is not a novelized biography of Gauguin. Rather it is a sharply-delineated, carefully wrought "private life", written by one of the most vivid and penetrating contemporary literary masters.
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great, simply great
- By reggie p on 10-10-05
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Adam Bede
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 19 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
George Eliot's first full-length novel is the moving, realistic portrait of three people troubled by unwise love. Adam Bede is a hardy young carpenter who cares for his aging mother. His one weakness is the woman he loves blindly: the trifling town beauty, Hetty Sorrel, who delights only in her baubles - and the delusion that the careless Captain Donnithorne may ask for her hand.
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Country tragedy and country humor
- By Tad Davis on 03-08-15
By: George Eliot