Elster's Folly
A Victorian Domestic Saga of Inheritance, Secrecy, Social Reputation, and Moral ConsequenceBy Henry Mrs. Wood
Length15h 58m
About this audiobook
In *Elster's Folly*, Mrs. Henry Wood combines the mechanisms of the sensation novel with the moral and social inquiries of domestic fiction. The narrative turns upon secrecy, error, social reputation, and the destructive consequences of misguided judgment, using suspense not merely for entertainment but to test the obligations binding individuals to family and community. Wood's lucid, carefully paced prose, vivid characterization, and interest in legal and inheritance questions place the novel within the mid-Victorian tradition of popular fiction, where melodramatic incident coexists with a serious examination of gender, class, respectability, and moral responsibility. Its title signals the central tension: a seemingly private act of folly radiates outward, unsettling an entire social order. The author, Ellen Wood (1814–1887), published under the name Mrs. Henry Wood and became one of the most widely read British novelists of her generation. Her experience of domestic life, her acute observation of provincial society, and her editorial work on *The Argosy* informed fiction attentive to both household relationships and public judgment. Like her better-known works, *East Lynne* and *The Channings*, this novel reflects her ability to unite popular narrative appeal with ethical and social critique. *Elster's Folly* will reward readers interested in Victorian sensation fiction, women's writing, and the cultural history of respectability. It is especially suitable for those who value novels in which suspense illuminates the pressures of family, reputation, and conscience rather than merely supplying plot.
Audiobook details
GenreLiterary Classics, General Fiction
Length15 hrs 58 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateNov 24, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Falkner (Annotated)
21THE STRANGER AGAIN.
2CHAPTER I.
22SECRET CARE.
3WILLY GUM.
23ASKING THE RECTOR.
4ANNE ASHTON.
24MR. CARR AT WORK.
5THE COUNTESS-DOWAGER.
25SOMEBODY ELSE AT WORK.
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6JEALOUSY.
26AT HARTLEDON.
7AT THE BRIDGE.
27UNDER THE TREES.
8LISTENERS.
28A TÊTE-À-TÊTE BREAKFAST.
9THE WAGER BOATS.
29ONCE MORE.
10WAITING FOR DINNER.
30CROSS-QUESTIONING MR. CARR.
11MR. PIKE'S VISIT.
31MAUDE'S DISOBEDIENCE.
12THE INQUEST.
32THE SWORD SLIPPED.
13LATER IN THE DAY.
33IN THE PARK.
14FEVER.
34COMING HOME.
15ANOTHER PATIENT.
35MR. PIKE ON THE WING.
16VAL'S DILEMMA.
36THE SHED RAZED.
17BETWEEN THE TWO.
37THE DOWAGER'S ALARM.
18AN AGREEABLE WEDDING.
38A PAINFUL SCENE.
19THE STRANGER.
39EXPLANATIONS.
20A CHANCE MEETING.
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