Scenes of Clerical Life

by George Eliot

Overview

These stories, first published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1857, constitute George Eliot's fictional debut. They contain her earliest studies of what became enduring themes in her great novels: the impact of religious controversy and social i change on provincial life and the power of love to transform the lives of individual men and women. Although Eliot would have to wait until the publication of her next work, Adam Bede, for fame and fortune, Scenes of Clerical Life won acclaim from a discerning readership, including Charles Dickens, who wrote: "I hope you will excuse my writing to you to express my admiration.... The exquisite truth and delicacy, both of the humour and the pathos of those stories, I have never seen the like of." This Penguin Classics edition also features "How I Came to Write Fiction, " Eliot's own recollection of her novelistic abilities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781605018492
Publisher:	MobileReference
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Series:	Mobi Classics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	433 KB

About the Author

Edited by Thomas A. Noble and Josie Billington. Josie Billington is Deputy Director, Centre for Research into Reading, Literature, and Society at the University of Liverpool.

Editorial Reviews

May leads the pack…bringing subtleties and shadings to her interpretations that few can equal.”

Whitney Scott

The exquisite truth and delicacy, both of the humour and the pathos of those stories, I have never seen the like of.”

Charles Dickens

It is a first-rate novel, and its author takes rank at once among the masters of the art.”

Times (London)

As one comes back to [Eliot’s] books after years of absence, they pour out, even against our expectations, the same store of energy and heat, so that we want more than anything to idle in the warmth.”

Virginia Woolf

Many varied characters inhabit this trio of stories, and Clare Wille creates a distinctive voice for each one. Set in and around a fictional English town during the years bridging the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, each story unfolds as its own little drama, and Wille masterfully delivers each one appropriately. Not only can Wille develop each character's personality with her attention to dialogue, she also captures the tone of the narrative, adding to the effect of the work as a whole. Even with complex sentence structure and plentiful description, Wille sets a pace that is accessible and is so meticulous about phrasing that listeners can easily follow along. This audiobook is an excellent introduction to the work of George Eliot, making the old new again. L.B.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

JULY 2024 - AudioFile