George Eliot Audiobook By Kathryn Hughes cover art

George Eliot

The Last Victorian

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George Eliot

By: Kathryn Hughes
Narrated by: Nadia May
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The daughter of a respectable self-made businessman, the middle-aged Eliot was cast into social exile when she began a scandalous liaison with married writer and scientist George Henry Lewes. Only her burgeoning literary success allowed her to overcome society's disapproval and eventually take her proper place at the heart of London's literary elite. The territory of her novels encompassed the entire span of Victorian society.

Kathryn Hughes has wrought a balanced, sympathetic, and intensely engaging biography, the first to grapple equally with the personal dramas that shaped Eliot's psyche and with her broader social and intellectual milieu. A lively portrait emerges of a woman and writer by turns ambitious and insecure, cerebral and earthy, provocative and conservative - contradictions which not only express the spirit of Eliot's time, but speak eloquently to our own.

©1998 Kathryn Hughes (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Art & Literature Authors Historical Women Inspiring

Critic reviews

"[May's] flawless reading is perfectly timed and modulated, and flows easily. Well researched, well read and very easy to listen to." ( Kliatt)
"[Hughes] brings a sense of close familiarity with this private, inward woman....a refreshingly intimate portrait."( Kirkus Reviews)
"This work is intelligent, adept, and full of insight. Nadia May's narration is clear and precise; a welcome addition to public libraries." ( Library Journal)
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Whatever sardonic, ironic, metaphoric intent by the author was expertly expressed and executed by the reader. As fine as Julia Stephenson’s rendering of ‘Middlemarch’, et al. Giving the right voice to one still living, may be at least as difficult, and certainly more dangerous, than to one long departed.

Quality of the reading and the writing is a fitting tribute to the great lady of letters.

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in her determination not to canonize George Eliot as a Saint, Hughes swings a bit too far the other way. still, well-written and well-performed.

Rather rough on her subject.

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Although good emough to stand on it own, im glad I read this biography after reading most of Eliots novels. The analysis in this book really added depth of my understanding of the novels.

insightful and fascinating

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Beautifully written & read w/ grace, penetration, & balance. If Eliot's work has touched & instructed you, so will this telling of the life which created it.

A Life Worthy of its Subject

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I was attracted by "The Last Victorian" in the title, and the narrator, Nadia May, who is matchless; I love anything she narrates as a rule. However, this is the first book I ever purchased from Audible that I couldn't finish. Maybe the fact that I am not a fan of George Eliot is a factor, but honestly, this is one of the most boring books ever. Ms. May narrates with her usual skill, but this is like making bricks without straw. It goes on far too long & I think I gave up just b/4 the midway point. Ms. Eliot did have some love affairs but even then, this is dull in the retelling. If you can't sleep, put this one on and I would almost bet it will send you off to dreamland in a trice.

Wonderful narrator but that's all...

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depressing that this is the only Eliot biography on audible. This writer isn't fleshing out Eliot's human side; she's imputing motives at every turn without giving references, and giving every act and word the last charitable imaginable interpretation. This is scarcely more nuanced than calling her a saint and leaving it there.

petty.

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The negativity and fearfulness of the author reminded me of an opposing attorney in a protracted custody case. It’s important to show the worst side of the other party, using whatever means necessary.

That’s sad, too, because the book is so well researched.

I take pride in my ability to process the abstruse and tolerate the literarily unconscionable, but after 25% of this…I could not stomach anymore.

Read Eliot’s 7 novels and first collection of short stories. That would be more healthful…

Don’t pass this way…

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