Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady, Volume 1 cover art

Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady, Volume 1

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady, Volume 1

By: Samuel Richardson
Narrated by: Samuel West, Lucy Scott, Roger May, Katie Scarfe, Nigel Pilkington, Hayward B. Morse, full cast
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £21.79

Buy Now for £21.79

About this listen

A milestone in the history of the novel, Samuel Richardson’s epistolary and elaborate Clarissa follows the life of a chaste young woman desperate to protect her virtue. When beautiful Clarissa Harlowe is forced to marry the rich but repulsive Mr. Solmes, she refuses, much to her family’s chagrin. She escapes their persecution with the help of Mr. Lovelace, a dashing and seductive rake, but soon finds herself in a far worse dilemma. Terrifying and enlightening, Clarissa weaves a tapestry of narrative experimentation into a gripping morality tale of good versus evil. The recording is divided into three volumes.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2018 Naxos AudioBooks Classics Scary
All stars
Most relevant
Quite entertaining if you have time on your hands as the story proceeds at a glacial pace. Only 60 hours to go to find out if Clarissa gets married to Soames, Lovelace or decides to live the single life. I can’t help but think that 100 hours to tell such a slight story is excessive.

Glacial Pace

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not an easy listen, requires a lot of concentration, but well worth persevering with. A very high-quality, well- acted production.

Clarissa Volume 1

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It's odd really as the first few chapters are quite repetitive, how gripping this is....very clever. Beautifully read. I'm looking forward to next credit day to download bk 2.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Yes, I knew it was the longest novel in the English canon: even so, I never realized it could be this long! Even this installment needs to be taken in installments. Wonderful writing, and a real joy to have it so well read in so many different voices. Listening to the performance is not only entertaining, it is also a gentle way of sharing in one of the key moments in English literature.

Demanding, but a classic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great except for the totally unsuitable casting of Lovelace ... nasal whining seriously detracts from the generally excellent novel and cast.

Lovelace Miscast

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.