Middlemarch

George Eliot's novels often involve a kaleidoscope of characters, and MIDDLEMARCH is no exception. Dorothea and Rosamond are two young women whose marriages lead to inevitable conflict. The big themes involving social and personal responsibility, fate, and morality recur again and again as the listener meets the colorful residents whose lives are knit into those of Dorothea and Rosamond. Kate Reading handles the lively, often complex, prose with alacrity, dancing along Eliot's witty commentary with engaging skill. The novel is certainly long, but the diligent listener is rewarded with a story full of twists and turns. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

This rendition of MIDDLEMARCH has much the feeling of a "Masterpiece Theatre" production. Carole Boyd is a very professional narrator, who never falls into mere reading. She maintains a comfortable pace, and the tone she sets, along with the classical music that provides a bridge between tapes, creates a mood that is appropriate for the formality of the writing and the times. The abridgment is smooth and seamless. The music is nicely selected, but it would be helpful to also have notice that a side of a cassette is ending. While the music doesn't work well to cue cassette endings, it works successfully when used as a narrative segue. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

Dorothea Brooke, a young woman of impeccable character, marries the embittered Mr. Casaubon, who almost immediately dies. Eliot takes the reader through a labyrinth of nineteenth-century morals and conventions as Dorothea searches for fulfillment and happiness. Walter's delicious, upper-crust English accent and understated English inflections immerse the listener in a little-known world of hedgerows and manners. This reading would have been a complete success had the narrator only taken more care with the timing surrounding omitted sections of the abridged text. She races ahead without pause, often confounding the listener, who finds the action has suddenly moved to the next county--or country--without warning. A worthy, though flawed, presentation. R.B.F. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Known for her social commentary on women's roles and class strictures, Eliot delves into the romantic dilemmas of the Brooke sisters and others in a provincial Midlands town. Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans) surrounds the protagonists with a gallery of characters from many social classes--laborers, shopkeepers, clergy, landed gentry, and others. Kate Reading portrays Eliot's characters with a faultless British accent and lends the prose emphasis and expression. As the novel's several couples are trapped by societal judgments, irreversible mistakes, indecision, and restraint, their dilemmas, as well as Eliot's psychological insights and use of irony, make them sound like modern figures. Reading's well-paced, measured narration captures the novel's realism--with its fresh rendering of a complex and often harsh social world. A.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Juliet Stevenson is unmatched in her narration of George Eliot's sweeping novel, which puts a lens to the fictitious English town of Middlemarch. Eliot's complex plot takes the listener into various households and lives, revealing scandal, secret longings, and unexpected ties. Stevenson's pleasant, friendly voice makes this relatively lengthy audiobook a listening delight. She enhances the narrative passages through her consistent enthusiasm and ease of language. Capturing the voices of Eliot's characters adeptly, Stevenson shifts flawlessly from gruff elderly bachelors to flirtatious young women. She displays a keen ability for a range of British accents, perfectly sorting the servants from the aristocracy and everyone in between. Stevenson's execution heralds the triumph of female spirit that Eliot embodies within this literary classic. D.M.W. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine