Benigna Machiavelli
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Read by Winnifred Assmann
In between "The Yellow Wallpaper" (1892) and Herland (1915), feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) wrote and published this delightful fictional autobiography, Benigna Machiavelli (1914), in her monthly magazine, The Forerunner.
The narrator, young Benigna MacAvelly, decides as a child that she intends to emulate her ancestor Niccolò Machiavelli but dedicate her machinations to doing good rather than evil. She starts her ingenious plotting very early in life (for example, as an 11-year-old, she enlists her classmates in an elaborate money-raising scheme to buy a new watch for an impoverished teacher), and moves on to larger goals as she gets older. Her most significant challenge is her domineering father. Determined to liberate her downtrodden mother from his verbal abuse, Benigna concocts an elaborate plan to deal with him and restore her mother's self-confidence. (Summary by Winnifred Assmann) (5 hr 48 min)
Chapters
Chapter I | 29:38 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Chapter II | 30:40 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Chapter III | 27:23 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Chapter IV | 31:08 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Chapter V | 27:42 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Chapter VI | 33:48 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Chapter VII | 29:31 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Chapter VIII | 28:33 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Chapter IX | 28:06 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Chapter X | 28:53 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Chapter XI | 29:06 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Chapter XII | 24:14 | Read by Winnifred Assmann |
Reviews
obx12
OBX12
A good listen. The book was totally different type of read for me. I enjoyed the style and penazze of the narrator. Thank you
cute story
Suzie
Great reader who did a good job with this story about a clever, take charge kind of girl.