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Contending Forces
- Narrated by: Margaret Espaillat
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
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Contending Forces
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Publisher's summary
In 1900, a mere 35 years after the Civil War had ended the practice of one human being owning another, Pauline Hopkins, black and female, published Contending Forces, whose rediscovery here shocks us into recognition that our national literature does indeed contain examples of black awareness and pride. Like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Pauline Hopkins writes of the injustices suffered by blacks at the hands of whites. But her novel penetrates deeper than Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Nor is the white man the sole devil in Hopkins’s fiction; there are the contending forces: "Conservatism, lack of brotherly affiliation, lack of energy for the right and the power of the almighty dollar which deadens men’s hearts to the sufferings of their brothers, and makes them feel that if only they can rise to the top of the ladder may God help the hindermost man, are . . . the contending forces that are dooming this race to despair.”
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-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 182
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
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Story4 out of 5 stars 133
At the shabby boarding house in the rue Neuve-Sainte-Geneviève, petty Madame Vauquer and her tenants wonder at the plight of the aging resident Goriot. Once a well-heeled merchant, Goriot was, at first, afforded special treatment from the Madame. But now something is clearly amiss in his financial affairs, and his increasingly tawdry appearance makes him a subject of ridicule in the household.
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5 out of 5 stars
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balzac rocks
- By beatrice on 03-12-10
By: Honoré de Balzac
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Shirley
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 432
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 362
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 360
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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5 out of 5 stars
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"As Romantic As Monday Morning"
- By Joseph R on 09-15-09
By: Charlotte Brontë
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The Gilded Age
- By: Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 88
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 77
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Story4 out of 5 stars 77
The Gilded Age is the collaborative work of Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that satirized the era that followed the Civil War. This period is often referred to as the “Gilded Age” because of this book. The corruption and greed that was typical of the time is exemplified through two fictional narratives: one, of the Hawkins, a poor family from Tennessee that tries to persuade the government to purchase their seventy-five thousand acres of unimproved land.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An American classic, beautifully narrated
- By TX lilbit on 03-31-12
By: Mark Twain, and others
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Miranda Trilogy
- By: Grace Livingston Hill
- Narrated by: Anne Hancock
- Length: 29 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 1
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1
Grace Livingston Hill’s three novels about nineteenth-century small-town America remain relevant a century after they were first published. The timeless themes include the powerful influence of gossip, the importance of faith, and the precious gift of true friendship.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Sweet series of romances of NY 1800s.
- By L. Locker on 05-28-24
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Dombey and Son
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 39 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 604
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 558
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 554
Dombey and Son is vintage Dickens and explores the classic themes of betrayal, cruelty and deceit. Dombey's dysfunctional relationships are painted against a backdrop of social unrest in industrialized London, which is populated by a host of fascinating and memorable secondary characters. The complete and unabridged novel is brought spectacularly to life by veteran reader David Timson.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Utterly incredible!
- By Amazon Customer on 03-12-12
By: Charles Dickens
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An Old-Fashioned Girl
- By: Louisa May Alcott
- Narrated by: Anne Hancock
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 115
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 99
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 99
Immediately following the success of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott sat down to write An-Old Fashioned Girl, expanding on the subject of rich versus poor that she explored in her first novel. It’s a story of a country mouse and a city mouse: 14-year-old Polly Milton travels to Boston for a stay with her friend Fanny Shaw. The wealthy Shaws’ way of life is foreign to Polly who tries to adapt but is quickly labeled “old-fashioned”. Fanny and her friends dress and behave as their elders do, flirting with boys and gossiping.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Okay
- By selene on 07-15-18
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Where Angels Fear to Tread
- Penguin English Library
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 2 hrs and 51 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
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Story4 out of 5 stars 56
E. M. Forster's first novel is a witty comedy of manners that is tinged with tragedy. It tells the story of Lilia Herriton, who proves to be an embarrassment to her late husband's family as, in the small Tuscan town of Monteriano, she begins a relationship with a much younger Italian man - classless, uncouth, and highly unsuitable. A subtle attack on Edwardian values and a humanely sympathetic portrayal of the clash of two cultures, Where Angels Fear to Tread is also a profound exploration of character and virtue.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Stephen Fry + E.M. Forster = Audio Kismet
- By Megasaurus on 08-20-12
By: E. M. Forster
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The Yellow Wallpaper
- By: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Narrated by: Jo Myddleton
- Length: 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,073
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 918
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 912
Instructed to abandon her intellectual life and avoid stimulating company, she sinks into a still-deeper depression invisible to her husband, who believes he knows what is best for her. Alone in the yellow-wallpapered nursery of a rented house, she descends into madness.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Visceral Reaction
- By Em on 05-02-12
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The Mill on the Floss
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Laura Paton
- Length: 20 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 346
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 316
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 316
Maggie Tulliver has two lovers: Philip Wakem, son of her father’s enemy, and Stephen Guest, already promised to her cousin. But the love she wants most in the world is that of her brother Tom. Maggie’s struggle against her passionate and sensual nature leads her to a deeper understanding and to eventual tragedy
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great compassion
- By nina lalumia on 12-26-16
By: George Eliot
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Dombey and Son
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 36 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
In this carefully crafted novel, Dickens reveals the complexity of London society in the enterprising 1840s as he takes the listener into the business firm and home of one of its most representative patriarchs, Paul Dombey.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Perfect pair
- By Philip on 03-25-08
By: Charles Dickens
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The Age of Innocence
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: David Horovitch
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,225
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,968
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,962
Countess Ellen Olenska, separated from her European husband, returns to old New York society. She bears with her an independence and an awareness of life which stirs the educated sensitivity of the charming Newland Archer, engaged to be married to her cousin, May Welland. Though he accepts the society's standards and rules he is acutely aware of their limitations. He knows May will assure him a conventional future but Ellen, scandalously separated from her husband, forces Archer to question his values and beliefs.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Narrated to Perfection
- By Ilana on 09-18-12
By: Edith Wharton
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Aunt Crete's Emancipation
- By: Grace Livingston Hill
- Narrated by: Anne Hancock
- Length: 2 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 115
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 95
Aunt Crete has spent a lifetime of toil catering to the needs of her family, especially her waspish sister, Carrie, and social-climbing niece, Louella. When a telegram from a nephew from out west announces his imminent arrival, mother and daughter hasten a trip to the shore to escape the "country cousin" who they are sure will shame them.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Cute Story with a Great Moral
- By Stephanie Aguilar on 08-03-16
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Cousin Bette
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Johanna Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 423
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 315
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 317
The Bette referred to in this magnificent novel's title is Lisbeth Fischer, an excruciatingly cunning poor relation who both depends upon and nurses a terrible grudge against the family of her beautiful cousin, Adeline. That family is slowly being ruined by the uncontrollable sexual appetites of Adeline's husband, Baron Hulot - appetites that will, in time, give Cousin Bette opportunity to exact her vengeance.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Narrator!
- By Murasaki on 12-03-06
By: Honoré de Balzac
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The Narrative of Sojourner Truth
- By: Olive Gilbert
- Narrated by: Bobbie Frohman
- Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 91
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 82
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Story4 out of 5 stars 81
A poignant biography as told to Olive Gilbert by Isabella Bomefree - a slave who later took the name of Sojourner Truth. She recounts the harshness of life under slavery, and after winner her freedom, became a vociferous abolitionist for which she has been long remembered and revered.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Requirement for seminary
- By Steven Small on 12-14-18
By: Olive Gilbert
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