Middlemarch

By: George Eliot

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

Dorothea Brooke is an ardent idealist who represses her vivacity and intelligence for the cold, theological pedant Casaubon. One man understands her true nature: the artist Will Ladislaw. But how can love triumph against her sense of duty and Casaubon’s mean spirit? Meanwhile, in the little world of Middlemarch, the broader world is mirrored: the world of politics, social change, and reforms, as well as betrayal, greed, blackmail, ambition, and disappointment.

Dorothea Brooke is an outstanding heroine; Middlemarch is filled with characters that are vivid and true, comic and moving. It is one of the greatest novels in the English language.

Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2011 Naxos AudioBooks

George and Juliet - the magic of Middlemarch

My first exposure to Middlemarch was as a teenager when my older brother read it to me. He was studying it at University and I was still in school. I loved it and the book became one of my favourite books after Pride and Prejudice.

Then I watched the BBC serialisation of Middlemarch when I was a bit older and it meant more to me and I loved that too.

But the Juliet Stevenson version is quite simply the one that was meant by George Eliot. It is masterpiece. I will treasure it for ever. The fact that one single human being can interpret the nuances of tone and texture of so many personas is remarkable. I am not sure who is the more remarkable artist; George Eliot or Juliet Stevenson. I fell in love with Juliet Stevenson when I happened upon a small English movie called something like deeply madly and I knew she was a star.

Stevenson brings Middlemarch to life

I loved this novel and felt as though I knew every character from the nuanced reading of Juliet Stevenson. I would gladly listen to any book she reads and hope that "Daniel Deronda" will be among her next projects.

Still relevant in so many ways.

Sometimes a book can have a stronger impact on a reader because of where that reader happens to be in their life at the time that they read it. Had I read 'Middlemarch' when I was younger, I don't think I would have been as moved. I love a writer who creates complex characters who are forced to choose between following their own innate sense of right and wrong or live their lives bound by the demands of societal/religious dogma. The fact that Ms. Evans had to write under the pen name George Eliot because she was considered "too intellectual" speaks volumes.

One of the greatest novels performed impeccably

Outstanding on every front. The psychology of every character illuminated gradually by Eliot could be lifted and placed in the modern era and there might be just at home.

Beautifully read. Juliet Stevenson brings all of the characters to life.

Now that I’ve listened to this reading the whole way through a couple of times, it has become a habit to pick chapters and listen again. We just had a hurricane here and I escaped to Middlemarch. This is an unforgettable book read carefully and wonderfully. Don’t miss it!