The Greatest Novels of Charles Reade (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Historical Novels & Victorian Romances: The Cloister and the Hearth, Griffith Gaunt, Hard Cash…By Charles Reade
Length151h 18m
About this audiobook
The Greatest Novels of Charles Reade gathers the most representative achievements of a Victorian writer who combined melodramatic force with documentary realism. Reade's fiction moves between historical romance, social-problem narrative, and theatrical sensation, exposing abuses in prisons, asylums, marriage law, and the literary marketplace while sustaining vigorous plots and vividly staged scenes. His prose is energetic, argumentative, and intensely visual, reflecting both the moral urgency and popular tastes of mid-nineteenth-century England. Charles Reade (1814–1884), educated at Oxford and trained in law, brought to fiction the habits of the advocate and the researcher. He amassed notes from newspapers, legal cases, and official reports, transforming public controversies into compelling narrative art. His experience as a dramatist also shaped his novels: dialogue is brisk, scenes are sharply blocked, and conflicts often unfold with the immediacy of the stage. Reade wrote in an age when fiction was increasingly expected to entertain and reform. This collection is recommended to readers interested in Victorian literature beyond its most familiar names. It offers powerful storytelling, historical insight, and a revealing portrait of a novelist who believed that fiction could expose injustice without surrendering narrative pleasure.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenreLiterary Classics, Historical Fiction
Length151 hrs 18 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 10, 2021
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
26CHAPTER XXI
2Introduction
27CHAPTER XXII
3Historical Context
28CHAPTER XXIII
4Synopsis (Selection)
29CHAPTER XXIV
5The Cloister and the Hearth
30CHAPTER XXV
Show all chaptersShow less
6CHAPTER I
31CHAPTER XXVI
7CHAPTER II
32CHAPTER XXVII
8CHAPTER III
33CHAPTER XXVIII
9CHAPTER IV
34CHAPTER XXIX
10CHAPTER V
35CHAPTER XXX
11CHAPTER VI
36CHAPTER XXXI
12CHAPTER VII
37CHAPTER XXXII
13CHAPTER VIII
38CHAPTER XXXIII
14CHAPTER IX
39CHAPTER XXXIV
15CHAPTER X
40CHAPTER XXXV
16CHAPTER XI
41CHAPTER XXXVI
17CHAPTER XII
42CHAPTER XXXVII
18CHAPTER XIII
43CHAPTER XXXVIII
19CHAPTER XIV
44CHAPTER XXXIX
20CHAPTER XV
45CHAPTER XL
21CHAPTER XVI
46CHAPTER XLI
22CHAPTER XVII
47CHAPTER XLII
23CHAPTER XVIII
48CHAPTER XLIII
24CHAPTER XIX
49CHAPTER XLIV
25CHAPTER XX
50CHAPTER XLV
More from Charles Reade
It is Never Too Late to Mend (Annotated)Charles Reade29h 33m3.6 (37)$2 · $0.00
Hard Cash (Annotated)Charles Reade29h 51m3.6 (55)$2 · $0.00
It Is Never Too Late to MendCharles Reade26h 25m3.6 (37)$1 · $0.00
White LiesCharles Reade12h 42m$2 · $0.00
A SimpletonCharles Reade13h 33m$2 · $0.00
Peg WoffingtonCharles Reade4h 42m3.6 (419)$2 · $0.00
A Terrible TemptationCharles Reade14h 48m3.7 (11)$2 · $0.00
Griffith GauntCharles Reade16h 34m3.9 (45)$1 · $0.00
Peg WoffingtonCharles Reade4h 42m3.3 (15)$2 · $0.00
The Greatest Novels of Charles ReadeCharles Reade150h 52m4.3 (12)$2 · $0.00
The Greatest Historical Novels - Charles Reade EditionCharles Reade151h 42m$1 · $0.00
The Scientific Detectives – 3 Classic Mystery NovelsCharles Reade, Fred M. White, Arthur B. Reeve24h 32m$2
The Scientific Detectives – 3 Classic Mystery NovelsCharles Reade, Fred M. White, Arthur B. Reeve24h 36m$2
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
The Complete Histories / History Plays of William Shakespeare (Annotated)William Shakespeare29h 42m4.6 (2.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Twelfth Night (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography (Annotated)William Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 40m4.6 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 54m4.5 (10.6K)$2 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Grimoire Of The Everyday WitchIsadora Lys / Virginia Santos5h 35m4.5 (3.9K)$9 · $0.00
Winnie-the-PoohAlan Alexander Milne2h 52m4.5 (401.1K)$3 · $0.00
Sitting PrettyRebekah Taussig7h 33m4.5 (18.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Poetic Edda & The Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson, Saemund Sigfusson9h 34m4.5 (4K)$1 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00
Rilla of InglesideLucy Maud Montgomery11h 44m4.5 (48.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Viennese DressmakerKathryn Gauci11h 46m4.5 (2.1K)$23 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m4.6 (495)$33 · $0.00
Under the Light of the Italian MoonJennifer Anton12h 28m4.5 (5.3K)$23 · $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
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
You may also like
The Whisky WidowKaren Brooks18h 27m4.1 (798)$28 · $0.00
The Highlander Takes a BrideLynsay Sands9h 40m4.1 (10.9K)$29 · $0.00
Beautiful RuinsJess Walter12h 53m3.8 (528.8K)$33 · $0.00
The Hidden Life of Cecily LarsonEllen Baker13h 55m4.0 (21.3K)$33 · $0.00
The Greatest Novels of Charles ReadeCharles Reade150h 52m4.3 (12)$2 · $0.00
A First Fleet FamilyLouis Becke, Walter Jeffery6h 50m$1 · $0.00
Lewis Arundel; Or, The Railroad Of LifeFrank E. Smedley29h 8m$2 · $0.00
The Island of the StairsCyrus Townsend Brady7h 26m$2.30
Margery (Gred) A Tale Of Old Nuremberg CompleteGeorg Ebers16h 7m3.8 (31)$2.30
The Cloister and the HearthCharles Reade30h 59m3.9 (995)$30
There Is Sorrow on the SeaGilbert Parker38m$2 · $0.00
When Shadows DieE. D. E. N. Southworth9h 35m4.3 (22)$1.20 · $0.00
The Sweet and Touching Tale of Fleur & BlanchefleurMrs. Leighton54m$2 · $0.00
The Crater; Or, Vulcan's Peak: A Tale of the PacificJames Fenimore Cooper19h 7m3.6 (88)$2 · $0.00
The RefugeesArthur Conan Doyle13h 19m3.8 (446)$7 · $0.00
The RivermanStewart Edward White12h 47m4.0 (20)$1 · $0.00
Penshurst Castle in the Time of Sir Philip SidneyEmma Marshall8h 39m4.3 (11)$2.30 · $0.00
NevermoreRolf Boldrewood13h 11m$2.30
For a Scot's Heart OnlyGina Conkle9h 58m3.1 (81)$29 · $0.00
Santa Fe PassageClay Fisher8h 5m3.4 (28)$20 · $0.00