The Story of a Simple SoulBy H. G. WellsNarrated by Chris MacDonnell
Length12h 41m
About this audiobook
First published in 1905, H. G. Wells’s Kipps is an appraisal of society and class framed in a “rags to riches” style plot. The protagonist, Arthur Kipps, is an orphan who, from an early age, is entrusted to his Aunt and Uncle who own a shop in New Romney on the Kent coast in Southern England. Educated poorly at a cheap, middle-class seminary boarding school, he is later apprenticed for seven years to a draper in Folkstone. Before he leaves home, however, Arthur becomes enamored by Ann (his best friend’s sister). As a token of their love, they cut a sixpence in half and keep one half each. After a difficult apprenticeship and a drunken night out, he’s dismissed from his job. But his friend Chitterlow (an actor and playwright) points out an article in a newspaper whereby Kipps is shocked to learn that he is, in fact, the grandson of a wealthy gentleman and is heir to a fortune. His life is totally changed as he is thrown into British upper-class society. He struggles to master the manners and rules that accompany his change of social status. But as he soon discovers, becoming a ‘true gentleman’ is not necessarily a good thing and certainly not easily achieved. In Kipps, H. G. Wells achieves a work on a par with Dickens for observation of place, class, and society. It has been adapted often for stage, (the Musical Half a Sixpence is loosely based on it) film, and television.
Herbert George Wells (1866–1946) was born in Bromley, England, to a working class family. His first novel, The Time Machine, was an instant success and Wells produced a series of science fiction novels which pioneered ideas about the future. His later work focused on satire and social criticism. Wells forecasted the rise of major cities and suburbs, economic globalization, and aspects of future military conflicts.View all by H. G. Wells
