The Fortress (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A Cumbrian Family Saga of Ancestral Conflict, Passion, and Fate in the Lake DistrictBy Hugh Walpole
Length23h 3m
About this audiobook
The Fortress, a central volume in Hugh Walpole's Herries Chronicle, continues the turbulent history of the Herries family amid the stark grandeur of Cumberland. Combining historical romance, family saga, and psychological melodrama, Walpole presents inheritance as both material possession and emotional burden. His prose is richly pictorial, shaped by the landscapes of the Lake District and by a literary lineage that includes Scott, the Brontës, and the Victorian chronicle novel, yet it also reflects the interwar appetite for expansive, fate-haunted narratives. Hugh Walpole (1884–1941), born in New Zealand and educated in England, became one of the most widely read British novelists of his generation. His deep attachment to Cumberland, where he lived for many years, directly nourished the Herries books. A writer influenced by Henry James but drawn to broader popular storytelling, Walpole brought to The Fortress his fascination with place, ancestry, social ambition, and the unstable passions beneath respectable life. This novel is recommended to readers who value atmospheric historical fiction, dynastic conflict, and morally complex characters. It rewards those who enjoy a capacious narrative in which landscape, memory, and family destiny are inseparably entwined.
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, Historical Fiction
Length23 hrs 3 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 4, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
25PART III
2Introduction
26UHLAND’S JOURNAL
3Synopsis
27WAX FLOWERS AND THE REVOLUTION
4Historical Context
28CHILDE ROLAND TO THE DARK. TOWER
5PART I
29EXHIBITION
Show all chaptersShow less
6MADAME
30THE FUNERAL
7THE SHADOW AGAINST THE SKY
31CLIMAX TO A LONG SEQUENCE
8AT WESTAWAYS
32CLIMAX TO A LONG SEQUENCE
9ADAM’S WORLD
33CLIMAX TO A LONG SEQUENCE
10THE SUMMER FAIR
34PART IV
11THE BEGINNING OF THE FORTRESS
35BIRTH OF VANESSA
12JUDITH AND ADAM IN LONDON
36SAYERS VERSUS HEENAN
13WESTAWAYS: FATHER AND SON
37SHE VISITS THE FORTRESS FOR. THE LAST TIME
14ENTRY OF THE FORTRESS
38ON CAT BELLS: ESCAPE FROM ECSTASY
15END OF PART I
39A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A VERY OLD. LADY
16PART II
40AT VICTORINE’S
17ADAM AND MARGARET
41BATTLE WITH PANGLOSS
18THE BATTLE
42THE HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY
19THE CHARTISTS
43THE END
20HISTORY OF ELIZABETH
44Footnote
21THE GOVERNESS
45Footnote
22FAMILY LETTERS
46Analysis
23HOMECOMING IN WINTER
47Reflection
24THE WILD GOOSE
48Memorable Quotes
Halloween Horrorfest – 100 Meisterwerke des GrauensHugh Walpole, H. P. Lovecraft, Mary Shelley, Henry James, Edgar Allan Poe, Jeremias Gotthelf, Washington Irving, Nikolai Gogol, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Bram Stoker, Algernon Blackwood, Fjodor M. Dostojewski, Prosper Mérimée, Honoré de Balzac, Robert W. Chambers, Gaston Leroux, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, H. G. Wells, Franz Kafka, Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Emily Brontë, Octave Mirbeau, Carolyn Wells, Edith Wharton, H. Rider Haggard549h 57m4.3 (26)$1 · $0.00
All Souls' Night (Annotated)Hugh Walpole10h 11m3.7 (112)$2 · $0.00
Portrait of a Man with Red Hair (Annotated)Hugh Walpole8h 36m4.1 (12)$2 · $0.00
The Secret CityHugh Walpole12h 40m3.6 (42)$2 · $0.00
The Green MirrorHugh Walpole12h 33m3.8 (15)$1 · $0.00
FortitudeHugh Walpole17h 27m3.9 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Above the Dark Tumult: An AdventureHugh Walpole8h3.0 (102)$1 · $0.00
The Dark ForestHugh Walpole7h 42m3.6 (44)$2 · $0.00
The Gods and Mr. PerrinHugh Walpole7h 29m3.6 (106)$2 · $0.00
Wintersmoon: Passages in the Lives of Two Sisters, Janet and Rosalind GrandisonHugh Walpole16h 55m4.0 (153)$2 · $0.00
The Prelude to AdventureHugh Walpole6h 24m3.8 (17)$2 · $0.00
Katherine ChristianHugh Walpole13h 52m3.5 (127)$2 · $0.00
Captain NicholasHugh Walpole13h 55m3.4 (42)$2 · $0.00
The Gods and Mr. PerrinHugh Walpole7h 29m$2 · $0.00
The Dark ForestHugh Walpole10h 51m3.6 (44)$1 · $0.00
Head in Green BronzeHugh Walpole11h 43m$2 · $0.00
The Cathedral (Summarized Edition)Hugh Walpole3h 43m$2
The Sea TowerHugh Walpole9h 3m3.7 (13)$2 · $0.00
The CaptivesHugh Walpole14h 57m4.0 (20)$2 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m4.7 (670)$28 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m4.6 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m4.6 (33.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Jubilee, 50th Anniversary EditionMargaret Walker15h 43m4.5 (9.5K)$25 · $0.00
Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen14h 44m4.4 (4.7M)$2 · $0.00
Flying Colours (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith9h 26m4.4 (10.1K)$2 · $0.00
With Love from HarlemReShonda Tate13h 48m4.5 (2K)$6 · $0.00
Sweet Home Highland ChristmasMay McGoldrick, Jan Coffey2h 54m4.5 (1.4K)$7 · $0.00
Rilla of InglesideL. M. Montgomery12h 25m4.4 (67.5K)$2 · $0.00
Death Comes for the Archbishop (Annotated)Willa Cather9h 13m4.4 (4.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Alice NetworkKate Quinn15h 7m4.4 (887.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Goddess of WarsawLisa Barr13h 4m4.4 (36.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Ohio River Trilogy: Betty Zane, The Spirit of the Border & The Last TrailZane Grey29h 8m4.4 (1.8K)$1 · $0.00
The Attic ChildLola Jaye14h 46m4.4 (21K)$33 · $0.00
Martyr of the CatacombsJames De Mille3h 41m4.5 (744)$1 · $0.00
Quo VadisHenryk Sienkiewicz22h 52m4.4 (62K)$21 · $0.00
Bring Up The BodiesHilary Mantel14h 35m4.4 (150K)$33 · $0.00
By the Shores of Silver LakeLaura Ingalls Wilder7h 38m4.4 (103.7K)$1 · $0.00
Sexy/DangerousBeverly Jenkins10h 19m4.4 (2.3K)$29 · $0.00
Trustee from the ToolroomNevil Shute Norway11h 42m4.4 (10.5K)$1 · $0.00
Chasing CassandraLisa Kleypas8h 59m4.3 (108.3K)$29 · $0.00
Deeper than the OceanMirta Ojito12h 29m4.4 (927)$29 · $0.00
North and SouthElizabeth Gaskell22h 1m4.3 (201K)$1.99 · $0.00
You may also like
Will and TestamentVigdis Hjorth8h 33m4.0 (25.6K)$20 · $0.00
Uncle Vanya: Scenes from Country Life in Four ActsAnton Pavlovich Chekhov1h 53m4.1 (37.2K)$2.30
The CounterlifePhilip Roth12h 14m3.9 (6.2K)$20
PierreHerman Melville17h 19m3.7 (3.4K)$4 · $0.00
HerzogSaul Bellow15h 36m3.8 (29.7K)$25 · $0.00
Dimanche and Other StoriesIrène Némirovsky8h 21m4.0 (1.3K)$17 · $0.00
The Bosnia ListKenan Trebinčević, Susan Shapiro10h 47m4.4 (2.3K)$20 · $0.00
Inventing the AbbottsSue Miller5h 48m3.7 (1.2K)$24 · $0.00
GhostsHenrik Ibsen2h 54m3.9 (21.9K)$3.50 · $0.00
One More RiverJohn Galsworthy8h 57m4.0 (644)$20
Anna KareninaLeo Tolstoy39h 12m4.2 (1.1M)$1.20 · $0.00
A Book of American MartyrsJoyce Carol Oates24h 44m3.9 (8.2K)$5 · $0.00
Plain Tales from the HillsRudyard Kipling7h 43m4.0 (2K)$2.30 · $0.00
MandingoKyle Onstott17h 50m3.9 (4.5K)$2 · $0.00
Anna KareninaLeo Tolstoy85h 24m4.3 (1M)$2 · $0.00
A Perfect ExplanationEleanor Anstruther8h 30m3.8 (879)$26 · $0.00
CapturesJohn Galsworthy7h 6m$2.30 · $0.00
Salvation of a Forsyte (Annotated)John Galsworthy3h 9m$2 · $0.00
MunchPatrick Bade1h 20m3.9 (40)$8 · $0.00
Open HouseJane Christmas9h 28m3.8 (313)$29 · $0.00