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    Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Original 1848 Edition)
    Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Original 1848 Edition)
    Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Original 1848 Edition)
    Audiobook17 hours

    Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Original 1848 Edition)

    Written by Anne Brontë

    Narrated by Multiple - LibriVox Community

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook


    When Helen Graham moves into old Wildfell Hall with her little son Arthur, the rustic neighborhood comes alive with gossip and speculation, particularly when saturnine Mr. Lawrence (who bears an uncanny resemblance to the child) begins to visit her clandestinely. Local gentleman farmer Gilbert Markham falls in love with her almost against his will, despite rumors that she supports herself by the work of her hands and can give no account of her origins. Only when her diary comes into Markham’s hands do we find out why she has so exiled herself. As the chapters of the diary unfold, explicit scenes of adultery, seduction, and debauchery show why the novel was so shocking when it was first published, easily outselling the more famous debut novels of the three Brontë sisters. Often called the first “feminist” novel, “Wildfell Hall” may have been most shocking for its depiction of a strong-willed, independent single mother, for its criticism of the marriage institution, and for its many passages crying out against the unfair advantages accorded to men over women.

    Importantly, this recording is based on the original 1848 Newby edition, not on the later, badly-mutilated version that mystifyingly continues to be the basis for modern editions advertised as “unabridged.” The novel had already been suppressed after Anne’s death by her sister Charlotte but received an even more serious injustice in 1854 when publisher Thomas Hodgson excised over sixteen thousand words, dozens of “unladylike” profanities, and numerous descriptions of dissolute male behavior, turning the Hodgson edition into a pale shadow of Anne Brontë’s original, visceral work as here presented. - Summary by Expatriate

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLibriVox
    Release dateAug 25, 2014
    Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Original 1848 Edition)
    Author

    Anne Brontë

    Anne Brontë (1820-1849) was an English novelist and poet and the youngest of a trio of legendary writers who became known as "the Brontë sisters." Each of the three siblings managed to create novels that would become classics of English literature: Charlotte's "Jane Eyre," Emily's "Wuthering Heights" and Anne's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall." The youngest of six children born to clergyman Patrick Brontë and his wife Maria, Anne was home-schooled after two of her older sisters died of tuberculosis which they were believed to have acquired while attending the Clergy Daughter's School. The four surviving siblings, Branwell, Emily, Anne and Charlotte, created an imaginary world called "Glass Town," and would each contribute poems, stories and geographical details of this mythical place to help them escape the difficulties and isolation of their childhood and this early, escapist writing would plant the seeds for their later literary success. At the time, the idea of publishing a female author was frowned upon, thus the sisters created a pseudonymous trio of brothers - Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily) and Acton (Anne) Bell - in order to get their books into print. Anne actually completed two full novels during her brief career: "Agnes Grey" and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," but the enjoyment of their literary success was short-lived. The family suffered the deaths of Branwell, Emily and Anne in just a few short months in late 1848/early 1949 (the latter two of tuberculosis) and Charlotte herself, while struggling through her first, difficult pregnancy, died in 1854 at the age of thirty-eight. Few families in history have produced as many literary powerhouses as the Brontë sisters and their works have been adapted numerous times for the stage and screen.

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