The Cathedral (Summarized Edition)
Enriched edition. A gothic suspense of supernatural mystery and psychological peril in a mysterious cathedral, told in dark, intricate early 20th-century prose.By Hugh Walpole
Length3h 43m
About this audiobook
Set in the imagined cathedral city of Polchester, The Cathedral anatomizes the moral and political tensions within the Close, where ritual authority meets restless modernity. Walpole orchestrates councils, festivals, and intimate households into a social fresco, his supple omniscience and motifs of stone, music, and light shaping keen psychological study. Between late-Victorian realism and early modernist inwardness, the novel probes pride, conscience, and belonging in the unsettled postwar Church of England. Hugh Walpole—cosmopolitan man of letters and son of an Anglican clergyman—brought lifelong familiarity with church life and a postwar sensibility sharpened by wartime relief work. His admiration for Dickens and Trollope informs the novel's breadth, while Jamesian attention to motive lends ethical ambiguity to its conflicts. The Cathedral will reward readers intrigued by institutional drama and provincial nuance. Recommended for admirers of Trollope's Barchester, Forster's social comedies, and thoughtful realist fiction, it offers narrative sweep with probing character work and a memorable sense of place—proof that the life of a cathedral is, in truth, the drama of a society.
Quickie Classics summarizes timeless works with precision, preserving the author's voice and keeping the prose clear, fast, and readable—distilled, never diluted. Enriched Edition extras: Introduction · Synopsis · Historical Context · Brief Analysis · 4 Reflection Q&As · Editorial Footnotes.
Audiobook details
GenreGeneral Fiction, Horror
Length3 hrs 43 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJan 10, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
5The Cathedral (pt. 1)
2Introduction
6The Cathedral (pt. 2)
3Synopsis
7Analysis
4Historical Context
8Reflection
More from Hugh Walpole
The Dark ForestHugh Walpole7h 42m$2 · $0.00
The Gods and Mr. PerrinHugh Walpole7h 29m$2 · $0.00
Wintersmoon: Passages in the Lives of Two Sisters, Janet and Rosalind GrandisonHugh Walpole16h 55m$1 · $0.00
The Prelude to AdventureHugh Walpole6h 24m$2 · $0.00
Katherine ChristianHugh Walpole13h 52m$2 · $0.00
Captain NicholasHugh Walpole13h 55m$2 · $0.00
The Gods and Mr. PerrinHugh Walpole7h 29m$2 · $0.00
The Dark ForestHugh Walpole10h 51m$1 · $0.00
Head in Green BronzeHugh Walpole11h 43m$2 · $0.00
The Sea TowerHugh Walpole9h 3m$2 · $0.00
The CaptivesHugh Walpole14h 57m$2 · $0.00
The Silver Thorn: A Book of StoriesHugh Walpole9h 57m$2 · $0.00
The Blind Man's House--a Quiet StoryHugh Walpole12h 33m$1 · $0.00
Beyond Temptation & Risky PleasuresBrenda Jackson10h 53m$24 · $0.00
Shōgun, Part TwoJames Clavell29h 16m$40
Showdown in the Big EasyCharles Tillman, Michael Anderle, Martha Carr7h 37m$23
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m$20
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
My Favorite Husband, Vol. 1Hollywood 360, CBS Radio5h 40m$14
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m5 (1)$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
Look TwiceEva Hudson9h 48m$20
The Complete Novels of Lucy Maud MontgomeryLucy Maud Montgomery203h 59m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Books of F. Scott Fitzgerald (all his 5 novels + all 4 short story collections published during his lifetime)F. Scott Fitzgerald87h 53m$2 · $0.00
Bikes, Toys, and Hot BoyzGenesis Woods, Shantaé13h 9m$23
The Natchez Burning TrilogyGreg Iles96h 18m$53 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m$33 · $0.00
Ghetto BastardK’wan7h 37m$20
Glacier's EdgeR. A. Salvatore13h 44m$33 · $0.00
Haint BlueStephanie Alexander11h 55m$23
Master UnchainedTina Folsom8h 16m$12 · $0.00
Good OmensNeil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett12h 33m$33 · $0.00
Dark of NightJonathan Maberry, Rachael Lavin4h 59m$20 · $0.00
The Renegade HunterLynsay Sands10h 7m$29 · $0.00
The Fall of the House of CabalJonathan L. Howard14h 54m$23
BRAM STOKER: 12 Novels in One Volume (Horror Classics Series)Bram Stoker108h 52m$2 · $0.00
Under Western Eyes (Unabridged Deluxe Edition)Joseph Conrad35h 39m$2 · $0.00
All I Want for Christmas Is a VampireKerrelyn Sparks10h 27m$29 · $0.00
LambChristopher Moore15h 22m$33 · $0.00
Jane EyreCharlotte Brontë21h 2m$2 · $0.00
The ExorcistWilliam Peter Blatty12h 52m5 (2)$8 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Mary ShelleyMary Shelley128h 25m$2 · $0.00
Twice TemptedJeaniene Frost8h 17m$26 · $0.00
Between Two FiresChristopher Buehlman14h 25m$23
1984George Orwell12h 18m$25 · $0.00
Anna Karenina (Louise Maude's Translation)Leo Tolstoy41h 8m$2 · $0.00
The Collected WorksJosephine Tey66h 11m$2 · $0.00
Godzilla x Kong: The New EmpireGreg Keyes8h 31m$23
You may also like
The Mettle of the PastureJames Lane Allen7h 49m$2 · $0.00
The Conquest of Plassans (La Conquête de Plassans)Émile Zola16h 37m$2 · $0.00
The Hidden ForceLouis Couperus9h 33m$2 · $0.00
His Bloody ProjectBurnet, Graeme M10h 18mFree
Orley FarmAnthony Trollope32h 53m$2 · $0.00
Studies in WivesMarie Belloc Lowndes6h 50m$2.30
The Tenants of Malory, Volume 3Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu6h 12m$2.30
Seth's Brother's Wife: A Study of Life in the Greater New YorkHarold Frederic10h 43m$2 · $0.00
For Aulus Caecina — 69 BCMarcus Tullius Cicero3h 6m$1 · $0.00
The Best ManEdith Wharton2h 14m$1 · $0.00
First in LineKate Andersen Brower10h 58m$29 · $0.00
EdinaHenry Mrs. Wood14h 1m$1 · $0.00
Police at the FuneralMargery Allingham10h 40m$2 · $0.00
The Silver SpoonJohn Galsworthy9h 41m$20
Mourn Not Your DeadDeborah Crombie9h 4m$26
The Root of All EvilJ. S. Fletcher9h 11m$1 · $0.00
The UndefeatedJ. C. Snaith8h 26m$2.30
The Gods and Mr. PerrinHugh Walpole7h 29m$2 · $0.00
Othello (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography: The Life of William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare16h 39m$2 · $0.00
Elizabeth Gaskell Premium Collection: 10 Novels & 40+ Short StoriesElizabeth Gaskell211h 55m$2 · $0.00