Wives and Daughters cover art

Wives and Daughters

 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.

Wives and Daughters

By: Elizabeth Gaskell
Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson
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

When her father remarries, the honest, innocent Molly Gibson suddenly finds herself with a new stepsister, Cynthia, who is beautiful, worldly and impetuous. This would be more than enough to deal with, but the new wife is the deeply snobbish (and darkly secretive) Hyacinth. Thwarted love, scheming ambition and small-town gossip underlie the warmth, irony and brilliant social observation which link the relationships and the inevitable conflicts as profound change comes to rural England.

The most mature and rewarding of her novels, Wives and Daughters places Elizabeth Gaskell in the first rank of English authors.

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

©2003 Elizabeth Gaskell (P)2010 Naxos Audiobooks Classics European World Literature Marriage

Editor reviews

The eternal theme of thwarted love and scheming ambition is set in the microcosm of a provincial British village. Narrator Patience Tomlinson possesses an astonishing vocal range - from the high pitches of youth to the gruff basses of elderly gentlemen. Her portrayals of the novel's many characters and dialects are distinctive, making all the characters identifiable in terms of their age, gender, and station. Replete with nineteenth-century social values and hierarchies, Gaskell's important work follows the life of Molly Gibson. Tomlinson's expressiveness keeps the listener spellbound.
All stars
Most relevant
I enjoyed this audiobook despite the narration which irritated me from time to time; I prefer narrators that read the book with subtle interpretation and this one, unfortunately, tried way too much (in my opinion) to 'act' the book, going as far as to add sobbing and whistling, which I found grating. I got through it however so it could've been worse.

I was a little startled to find the final chapter was actually written as a summary on the notes left by Ms Gaskell as she passed away just before the book's completion. It was all nearly wrapped up though so I didn't feel cheated as much as surprised. Thought I ought to mention it here to hopefully save others from this feeling, but as I say, I wouldn't let this deter you from reading the book.

Good story, less than great narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love this book and return to it in all its forms often and always will

comfort for the soul

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