Hester (Summarized Edition)
Enriched edition. Victorian realism of credit, rumor, and gendered power in a provincial bank: loyalty, work, and women's authorityBy Mrs. Oliphant
Length5h 7m
About this audiobook
Hester is a novel of Victorian life, set in a provincial banking town where character is measured, like credit, by bonds of trust. At its center stands Catherine Vernon, the formidable matriarch who once saved the family bank, and her brilliant young kinswoman, Hester, whose intelligence and moral ardor chafe at the limits of gratitude and dependence. Oliphant's poised omniscience, edged with irony and ethical seriousness, anatomizes drawing rooms and countinghouses alike, mapping a web of rumor, reputation, and risk that culminates in a searching trial of loyalty, work, and women's authority. Mrs. Oliphant—Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant—was a prolific Scottish novelist and critic who supported an extended family by her pen and wrote for decades for Blackwood's Magazine. Her life of precarious professionalism, bereavement, and close observation of middle-class institutions informs Hester's preoccupations with responsibility, prudence, and the possibility of female stewardship outside marriage. Readers who prize the moral intelligence of George Eliot and the social-comic acuity of Trollope will find in Hester a bracing companion: a study of gendered power, finance, and feeling that still speaks to modern economies of care and credit. It is ideal for courses on Victorian realism and for any reader seeking unsentimental depth.
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
GenreLiterary Classics, General Fiction
Length5 hrs 7 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJan 10, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
5Hester (pt. 1)
2Introduction
6Hester (pt. 2)
3Synopsis
7Analysis
4Historical Context
8Reflection
The Story of a GovernessMrs. Oliphant15h 40m4.0 (11)$1.99 · $0.00
The Ladies Lindores (Annotated)Mrs. Oliphant23h 44m$2 · $0.00
The Cuckoo in the Nest (Annotated)Mrs. Oliphant16h 41m$2 · $0.00
Sons and DaughtersMrs. Oliphant3h 39m3.3 (12)$2 · $0.00
The Last of the MortimersMrs. Oliphant15h 25m3.4 (18)$1 · $0.00
The Laird of Norlaw; A Scottish StoryMrs. Oliphant17h 8m$1 · $0.00
Sir Robert's FortuneMrs. Oliphant17h 10m$1 · $0.00
Jeanne D'Arc: Her Life And DeathMrs. Oliphant11h 13m3.4 (73)$1 · $0.00
Who Was Lost and Is FoundMrs. Oliphant10h 45m$2 · $0.00
MadamMrs. Oliphant18h 14m$1 · $0.00
The Ladies LindoresMrs. Oliphant22h 55m3.9 (74)$2 · $0.00
The Curate in ChargeMrs. Oliphant7h 56m3.8 (33)$2 · $0.00
A Country Gentleman and His FamilyMrs. Oliphant16h 5m3.5 (46)$1 · $0.00
The Story of a GovernessMrs. Oliphant15h 29m4.0 (11)$1 · $0.00
The Heir Presumptive and the Heir ApparentMrs. Oliphant15h 48m$2 · $0.00
The Doctor's FamilyMrs. Oliphant6h 19m3.6 (184)$2 · $0.00
The Makers of Modern Rome, in Four BooksMrs. Oliphant18h 13m$1 · $0.00
A Son of the SoilMrs. Oliphant19h 59m$2 · $0.00
The RectorMrs. Oliphant0m3.5 (305)$2 · $0.00
The Cuckoo in the NestMrs. Oliphant16h 36m4.0 (13)$1 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
Pride & Prejudice (Annotated)Jane Austen15h 10m4.7 (13.3K)$2 · $0.00
The Jeeves and Wooster Stories: The Complete Collection (33 Books)P. G. Wodehouse21h 57m4.7 (2.8K)$15 · $0.00
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m4.7 (8.9K)$46 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m4.6 (1.6K)$2 · $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 50m4.6 (1.3K)$1.99 · $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 Proust16h 8m4.5 (10.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
Lessons in TruthH. Emilie3h 50m4.6 (1.4K)$4.70 · $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
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $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
You may also like
A Woman of CourageTania Blanchard13h 3m4.1 (870)$33 · $0.00
The Complete WorksJane Austen90h 18m4.6 (4.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Small House at Allington (Chronicles of Barsetshire) - Unabridged (Annotated)Anthony Trollope28h 47m4.1 (14.5K)$1.99 · $0.00
Felix Holt, the RadicalGeorge Eliot19h 42m3.7 (7.7K)$2.30
The Clayhanger Trilogy (Consisting of Clayhanger + Hilda Lessways + These Twain) (Annotated)Arnold Bennett51h 28m4.2 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
Middlemarch (Unabridged) (Annotated)George Eliot37h 3m4.2 (223.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
Felix Holt, the RadicalGeorge Eliot15h 38m3.7 (6.3K)$1 · $0.00
THE COMPLETE CLAYHANGER SERIES: Clayhanger, Hilda Lessways, These Twain & The Roll CallArnold Bennett64h 25m4.2 (1.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Henry James (Annotated)Henry James320h 25m4.5 (537)$2 · $0.00
A Nobleman's NestIvan Sergeevich Turgenev7h 7m4.0 (7K)$2 · $0.00
MiddlemarchGeorge Eliot34h 44m4.2 (231.8K)$4.60 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen & Brontë SistersCharlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë, Jane Austen203h 52m3.9 (232.8K)$1 · $0.00
A House of GentlefolkIvan Sergeevich Turgenev6h 52m4.0 (7K)$2 · $0.00
The Complete Novels CollectionJane Austen69h 25m4.6 (48.3K)$12 · $0.00
A House of GentlefolkIvan Sergeevich Turgenev6h 52m4.2 (6.1K)$2.30 · $0.00
WomenBooth Tarkington10h 18m4.0 (17)$2 · $0.00
By the Light of the SoulMary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman17h 24m$2 · $0.00
HESTER (Vol. 1-3) (Annotated)Mrs. Oliphant21h 58m4.0 (974)$1.99 · $0.00
Ida's New ShoesMadeline Leslie4h 40m$2.20
The FarringdonsEllen Thorneycroft Fowler9h 15m3.6 (25)$1 · $0.00