Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady, Volume 1

By: Samuel Richardson

Narrated by: Samuel West, Lucy Scott, Roger May, Katie Scarfe, Nigel Pilkington, Hayward B. Morse, full cast

A milestone in the history of the novel, Samuel Richardson’s epistolary and elaborate Clarissa follows the life of a chaste young woman desperate to protect her virtue. When beautiful Clarissa Harlowe is forced to marry the rich but repulsive Mr. Solmes, she refuses, much to her family’s chagrin. She escapes their persecution with the help of Mr. Lovelace, a dashing and seductive rake, but soon finds herself in a far worse dilemma. Terrifying and enlightening, Clarissa weaves a tapestry of narrative experimentation into a gripping morality tale of good versus evil. The recording is divided into three volumes.

Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2018 Naxos AudioBooks

Couldn’t put it down

I’ve listened to Clarissa several times and find it mystifying gripping. Voices of characters are uniformly convincing.

This is Great…what a surprise!

If you can escape what a 21st century reader expects from a novel and sink comfortably back into 18th century British mores and modes and philosophical debate, you couldn’t ask for better entertainment.

What a Surprise!

Who knew that a 2,000 page long novel written 300 years ago could be so engrossing. Elegant prose, well-realized characters, and a riveting plot have made this book one of my most surprising literary discoveries of recent years. The audiobook is also one of the best that I have heard - the cast and performance are top-notch.

Excellent

Very well read but doesn’t match up with the penguin classics 1985 one book edition. Not quite sure which edition they are reading from. But still a very good listen.

Gripping Novel & Performance

Naxos AudioBooks, which gave us the first English performance of Remembrance of Things Past now takes on the longest novel in the English canon. Richardson’s masterpiece is a work of profound psychological penetration, and the Naxos performance is completely convincing and keeps one wanting to listen to just one more letter before pausing the recording. Highly recommended.