Joseph and His Friend (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. America's First Gay NovelBy Bayard Taylor
Length12h 22m
About this audiobook
Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania is a subtle, pioneering novel of feeling, social constraint, and moral self-discovery. Set amid the Quaker-inflected rural world of southeastern Pennsylvania, it follows Joseph Asten's unhappy marriage and his profound attachment to Philip Held, rendering emotional intimacy between men with unusual seriousness for American fiction of 1870. Taylor blends domestic realism, sentimental plot, and pastoral description, placing the book between antebellum romance and the later psychological novel. Its importance lies not merely in its plot, but in its careful exploration of affection, convention, and the costs of misread desire. Bayard Taylor, born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, was a cosmopolitan man of letters: poet, travel writer, journalist, lecturer, diplomat, and celebrated translator of Goethe's Faust. His familiarity with Pennsylvania rural society gave the novel its local authority, while his wide travels and literary ambitions encouraged a broader inquiry into personal freedom and emotional truth. Taylor's own position between provincial origins and international culture helps explain the book's tension between social duty and inward life. Readers interested in nineteenth-century American literature, queer literary history, or the evolution of the psychological novel will find Joseph and His Friend both historically significant and quietly moving. It rewards patient reading as an early, courageous meditation on love's forms and society's limits.
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
GenreGeneral Fiction, Literary Classics
Length12 hrs 22 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJun 14, 2021
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Introduction
3Synopsis
4Historical Context
5Joseph and His Friend
Show all chaptersShow less
6Chapter I. Joseph.
7Chapter II. Miss Blessing.
8Chapter III. The Place and People.
9Chapter IV. Miss Blessing Calls on Rachel Miller.
10Chapter V. Elwood's Evening, and Joseph's.
11Chapter VI. In the Garden.
12Chapter VII. The Blessing Family.
13Chapter VIII. A Consultation.
14Chapter IX. Joseph and His Friend.
15Chapter X. Approaching Fate.
16Chapter XI. A City Wedding.
17Chapter XII. Clouds.
18Chapter XIII. Presentiments.
19Chapter XIV. The Amaranth.
20Chapter XV. A Dinner Party.
21Chapter XVI. Joseph's Trouble, and Philip's.
22Chapter XVII. A Storm.
23Chapter XVIII. On the Railroad Track.
24Chapter XIX. The "Wharf-rat."
25Chapter XX. A Crisis.
26Chapter XXI. Under the Water.
27Chapter XXII. Kanuck.
28Chapter XXIII. Julia's Experiment.
29Chapter XXIV. Fate.
30Chapter XXV. The Mourners.
31Chapter XXVI. The Accusation.
32Chapter XXVII. The Labels.
33Chapter XXVIII. The Trial.
34Chapter XXIX. New Evidence.
35Chapter XXX. Mr. Blessing's Testimony.
36Chapter XXXI. Beginning Another Life.
37Chapter XXXII. Letters.
38Chapter XXXIII. All are Happy.
39Analysis
40Reflection
41Memorable Quotes
More from Bayard Taylor
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
Anne Shirley (Complete 14 Book Collection)Lucy Maud Montgomery125h 28m$2 · $0.00
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m$20
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
Dark RisingJeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews13h 47m$27
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.5 (22)$29 · $0.00
Grand Opening 2Carl Weber9h 16m$20
Sons of Valor II: Violence of ActionBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson12h 34m$23
Malevolent MagicMildred Abbott7h 13m$17
Bikes, Toys, and Hot BoyzGenesis Woods, Shantaé13h 9m$23
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m$2 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m$33 · $0.00
Ghetto BastardK’wan7h 37m$20
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
The Vineyard BrideKatie Winters5h 5m$15
The Fyodor Dostoyevsky Complete CollectionFyodor Dostoyevsky266h 5m5.0 (1)$200 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m5.0 (1)$29 · $0.00
Anne Of Green Gables: Complete 8-Book Box SetL.M Montgomery74h 55m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen & Brontë Sisters (Annotated)Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë203h 52m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works: Charlotte, Emily, Anne, Patrick & Branwell BrontëCharlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë138h 12m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (Annotated)Oscar Wilde126h 19m$2 · $0.00
L. M. Montgomery – Premium Collection: Novels, Short Stories, Poetry & MemoirsLucy Maud Montgomery155h 1m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of the Brontë Family Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë140h 13m$2 · $0.00
MARK TWAIN: 12 Novels, 195 Short Stories, Autobiography, 10 Travel Books, 160+ Essays & Speeches (Illustrated)Mark Twain415h 9m5.0 (2)$2 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m$2 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
Ivanhoe (Annotated)Walter Scott22h 52m$2 · $0.00
All NovelsGeorge Orwell53h 48m$10 · $0.00
The Complete Works of TolstoyLeo Tolstoy412h 44m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Louisa May Alcott (Annotated)Louisa May Alcott226h 24m$2 · $0.00
Sherlock Holmes series - completeArthur Conan54h 8m$3.50 · $0.00
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m$15
The Count of Monte Cristo (With Original Illustrations)Alexandre Dumas54h$1 · $0.00
H. P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft50h 45m$2 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m$29 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Charlotte Brontë (Annotated)Charlotte Brontë80h 42m$2 · $0.00
Richard Wagamese SelectedRichard Wagamese3h 14m$15
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m$2 · $0.00
You may also like
SummerEdith Wharton7h 31m$1 · $0.00
SummerEdith Wharton5h 33m$14
A Country Gentleman and His FamilyMrs. Oliphant16h 5m$1 · $0.00
Miss BatesCatherine Cliff11h 18m$25
Jude the ObscureThomas Hardy16h 5m$3.50 · $0.00
The Love of Romance - 50 Books in One Collection (Annotated)Stendhal, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Burton Egbert Stevenson, Charlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë, Henry James, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, George Eliot, Walter Scott, Thomas Hardy, O. Douglas, Edith Wharton, Alexandre Dumas, Meredith Nicholson, Virginia Woolf, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Gaston Leroux, Grace Livingston Hill, Theodore Dreiser, Kate Chopin, Earl Derr Biggers, Fanny Burney, Georgette Heyer, H. G. Wells, E. M. Forster, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Leo Tolstoy, Elizabeth Gaskell, P.G. Wodehouse, R.D. Blackmore, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, Madeleine L'Engle763h 21m$2 · $0.00
Good For Evil, or Rose CottageMadeline Leslie11h 2m$2.40
Salted with FireGeorge MacDonald7h 16m$1 · $0.00
"C" (Annotated)Maurice Baring20h 33m$2 · $0.00
CelibatesGeorge Moore10h 11m$2 · $0.00
CaritàMrs. Oliphant18h 19m$2.30 · $0.00
JUDE THE OBSCURE (World's Classics Series)Thomas Hardy17h 59m$2 · $0.00
Years of GraceMargaret Ayer Barnes21h 23m$35
Anthony JohnJerome K. Jerome4h 59m$2 · $0.00
Anna of the Five Towns (Annotated)Arnold Bennett9h 24m$2 · $0.00
Isabel Clarendon (Vol. 1&2) (Annotated)George Gissing14h 57m$2 · $0.00
Rodin’s LoverHeather Webb12h 27m$23
Washington SquareHenry James7h 16m$17
Jude the ObscureThomas Hardy16h 5m$2.30
Austen and Brontës: Complete Novels of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë & Anne Brontë (Annotated)Charlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë, Jane Austen203h 11m$2 · $0.00