Robert Elsmere


Read by Simon Evers

(4 stars; 9 reviews)

Essentially the book covers the life of Robert Elsmere, a boyishly intellectual clergyman. The first part covers his meeting with and eventual marriage to Catherine Leyburn. After a period as a country vicar, Robert’s meetings with the local squire, an intellectual atheist, lead to his having a crisis of faith. The pair move to London where Robert works with the poor and uneducated. The lives of the people closely associated with the pair are also covered.

The book is set against the late Victorian world and its reactions to Darwinism, Unitarianism and the rise of secularism and modernism. At the time, it was a runaway best seller and its attack on orthodox Christianity was fiercely debated by all, including Gladstone. - Summary by Simon Evers (28 hr 38 min)

Chapters

Book 1, Chapter 1 35:14 Read by Simon Evers
Book 1, Chapter 2 38:58 Read by Simon Evers
Book 1, Chapter 3 40:02 Read by Simon Evers
Book 1, Chapter 4 26:08 Read by Simon Evers
Book 1, Chapter 5 57:18 Read by Simon Evers
Book 1, Chapter 6 48:37 Read by Simon Evers
Book 1, Chapter 7 46:28 Read by Simon Evers
Book 1, Chapter 8 44:02 Read by Simon Evers
Book 1, Chapter 9 33:40 Read by Simon Evers
Book 1, Chapter 10 49:02 Read by Simon Evers
Book 2, Chapter 11 34:37 Read by Simon Evers
Book 2, Chapter 12 42:14 Read by Simon Evers
Book 2, Chapter 13 33:26 Read by Simon Evers
Book 2, Chapter 14 30:16 Read by Simon Evers
Book 2, Chapter 15 33:25 Read by Simon Evers
Book 2, Chapter 16 29:33 Read by Simon Evers
Book 2, Chapter 17 39:28 Read by Simon Evers
Book 2, Chapter 18 40:20 Read by Simon Evers
Book 3, Chapter 19 44:21 Read by Simon Evers
Book 3, Chapter 20 40:11 Read by Simon Evers
Book 3, Chapter 21 44:26 Read by Simon Evers
Book 3, Chapter 22 27:44 Read by Simon Evers
Book 3, Chapter 23 19:00 Read by Simon Evers
Book 3, Chapter 24 27:34 Read by Simon Evers
Book 3, Chapter 25 31:22 Read by Simon Evers
Book 4, Chapter 26 30:11 Read by Simon Evers
Book 4, Chapter 27 37:09 Read by Simon Evers
Book 4, Chapter 28 28:08 Read by Simon Evers
Book 4, Chapter 29 23:30 Read by Simon Evers
Book 4, Chapter 30 35:44 Read by Simon Evers
Book 5, Chapter 31 33:33 Read by Simon Evers
Book 5, Chapter 32 43:29 Read by Simon Evers
Book 5, Chapter 33 33:06 Read by Simon Evers
Book 5, Chapter 34 32:45 Read by Simon Evers
Book 5, Chapter 35 31:27 Read by Simon Evers
Book 5, Chapter 36 35:07 Read by Simon Evers
Book 6, Chapter 37 19:43 Read by Simon Evers
Book 6, Chapter 38 26:35 Read by Simon Evers
Book 6, Chapter 39 34:52 Read by Simon Evers
Book 6, Chapter 40 38:34 Read by Simon Evers
Book 6, Chapter 41 26:16 Read by Simon Evers
Book 6, Chapter 42 25:49 Read by Simon Evers
Book 6, Chapter 43 34:34 Read by Simon Evers
Book 6, Chapter 44 21:56 Read by Simon Evers
Book 6, Chapter 45 28:02 Read by Simon Evers
Book 7, Chapter 46 22:23 Read by Simon Evers
Book 7, Chapter 47 25:59 Read by Simon Evers
Book 7, Chapter 48 18:34 Read by Simon Evers
Book 7, Chapter 49 24:12 Read by Simon Evers
Book 7, Chapter 50 30:18 Read by Simon Evers
Book 7, Chapter 51 38:48 Read by Simon Evers

Reviews

Preachy, Tedious, and Shallow


(3 stars)

Mary Augusta Ward may have believed this novel to be an exploration of modernism, and it probably was for its day. However her continuing theme of dumb and temperamental women tangling up the lives of brilliant men is just too much to take in such heavy doses as in this epically slow story. As a dive into the science of the day that provoked the attentions that then led people of thought to question religion as a whole, there is relatively none of the even basic explanations (such as simple Evolution or Astronomy) that could have made this an interesting novel. However, this was just one painstaking reiteration of a simple upgrade to Jesus 2.0. Perhaps others will find merit in this over long, shallow drama, that eluded this reviewer. Simon Evers did a magnificent job with his reading, but just perhaps, maybe two or three better works could have been brought into the Librivox catalog with a similar effort instead. Nonetheless, sincere thanks Mr. Evers, your dedication to your art and craft are always greatly appreciated.

sorry


(3.5 stars)

I thought it was a good story on the whole, but very unbalanced. Ward took on an extremely contraversal subject but gave only one person's side of it. She cast Katherine as narrow-minded and wrong but didn't do her the justice of stating the solid reasons for her beliefs. Instead she describes them, through Robert, as mere traditions. Sure, Robert did a lot of good, but to Katherine, Doing wasn't the point: it's belief. Further, although true to the time, it was the man who knew and the woman who had to realize it. So typical. In all I found the story sad. I found that I couldn't separate my own beliefs from this fiction and just enjoy the plot. Maybe others can and will enjoy it better than me.