Hard Cash (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Historical ThrillerBy Charles Reade
Length29h 51m
About this audiobook
Charles Reade's Hard Cash is a vigorous Victorian sensation novel that fuses romance, financial intrigue, maritime adventure, and legal exposé. Centered on the Dodd and Hardie families, the novel traces the moral consequences of stolen money and the terrifying ease with which inconvenient persons could be declared insane. Reade's prose is energetic, theatrical, and insistently evidentiary, combining melodrama with documentary realism. Published in the 1860s, it belongs to the age of reform fiction, standing beside works that used popular narrative to attack institutional abuses. Reade was a novelist and dramatist trained in law and shaped by the reformist temper of mid-nineteenth-century Britain. Educated at Oxford and called to the bar, he brought to fiction a lawyerly appetite for cases, documents, and public controversy. His known habit of compiling notebooks of facts is evident here: Hard Cash grew from contemporary debates about wrongful confinement and private madhouses, reflecting his conviction that fiction could expose injustice more forcefully than pamphleteering alone. This book is highly recommended to readers interested in Victorian social criticism, sensation fiction, and the history of mental health law. Its plot is gripping, but its deeper value lies in its moral urgency: Reade compels readers to ask how respectability, money, and medical authority can conspire against truth.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenreLiterary Classics, Mystery and Thriller
Length29 hrs 51 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 11, 2021
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
33CHAPTER XXVII
2Introduction
34CHAPTER XXVIII
3Synopsis
35CHAPTER XXIX
4Historical Context
36CHAPTER XXX
5PREFACE
37CHAPTER XXXI
Show all chaptersShow less
6PROLOGUE
38CHAPTER XXXII
7CHAPTER I
39CHAPTER XXXIII
8CHAPTER II
40CHAPTER XXXIV
9CHAPTER III
41CHAPTER XXXV
10CHAPTER IV
42CHAPTER XXXVI
11CHAPTER V
43CHAPTER XXXVII
12CHAPTER VI
44CHAPTER XXXVIII
13CHAPTER VII
45CHAPTER XXXIX
14CHAPTER VIII
46CHAPTER XL
15CHAPTER IX
47CHAPTER XLI
16CHAPTER X
48CHAPTER XLI
17CHAPTER XI
49CHAPTER XLII
18CHAPTER XII
50CHAPTER XLIII
19CHAPTER XIII
51CHAPTER XLIV
20CHAPTER XIV
52CHAPTER XLV
21CHAPTER XV
53CHAPTER XLVI
22CHAPTER XVI
54CHAPTER XLVII
23CHAPTER XVII
55CHAPTER XLVIII.
24CHAPTER XVIII
56CHAPTER XLIX.
25CHAPTER XIX
57CHAPTER L
26CHAPTER XX
58CHAPTER LI
27CHAPTER XXI
59CHAPTER LII
28CHAPTER XXII
60CHAPTER LIII
29CHAPTER XXIII
61CHAPTER LIV
30CHAPTER XXIV
62Analysis
31CHAPTER XXV
63Reflection
32CHAPTER XXVI
64Memorable Quotes
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