East Lynne
Mrs. Henry Wood
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Ellen Wood (1814-1887) was an English novelist, better known as Mrs. Henry Wood. She wrote over 30 novels, many of which (especially East Lynne which was a Victorian best seller and is still sometimes performed as a drama) enjoyed remarkable popularity.
Lady Isabel Carlyle, a beautiful and refined young woman, leaves her hard-working but neglectful lawyer-husband and her infant children to elope with an aristocratic suitor. After he deserts her, and she bears their illegitimate child, Lady Isabel disguises herself and takes the position of governess in the household of her husband and his new wife".
Summary by Wikipedia (21 hr 48 min)
Chapters
Reviews
Pleasant but Longwinded Story; Reader from hell
ellene
Librivox has a defensive no-criticism policy which doesn’t make sense if it interferes with the telling of the story. Somebody needs to tap Mr Chris Caron on the shoulder and point out his vast number of pronunciation errors. I’m sure he is encouraged to take on assignments because he has a pleasant reading voice...but doesn’t he deserve to be told that his gross mispronunciations are turning (chasing) potential Librivox listeners away? Why does Librivox not have quality control? I would be glad to help in proofreading but they don’t want it.
Charles
The book itself is fun and interesting but the chapters read by Chris Caron ought to be recorded over. He mispronounces so many words that it diminishes the value of the recording. Librivox is right to welcome amateur readers, but this is going too far.
Elaine
I agree with some of the reviews about some of the readers being inconsistent but overall they are good. My first book by the writer and again we get a glimpse of life for the upper classes in the 19th century. A murder, jealousy, estates changing hands due to debts and the trials faced by women when their fathers die and money has been lost. Not as good as Mary Elizabeth Braddon but nevertheless a good listen. Nice easy listen and not too enthralling but I wanted to know what happened to Isabel at the end,The full movie is on YouTube with Martin Shaw so I’ll watch that now to see how true it is to the story
A LibriVox Listener
I really enjoyed the author and book. However there were several readers who really distorted the content. In chapters 19 the reader had a party in the background with loud rock music cutting in. In chapter 46 the reader (I believe the same as in chapter 19) yawned as he was reading at a very pivotal spot in the plot. I had problems with several older female readers who totally bored me to tears. With that said I really enjoyed some of the other readers. As I said the story itself was enjoyable and would get top billing if not for these other few readers
great book, could be read better
Katie
I really enjoyed this great example of the sensation novel. The story was interesting and absorbing. The reason I gave it 3 stars only was due to the poor quality of a couple of the readers. One or two of them mispronounced so many words, stumbled over words, read sentences incorrectly as regards punctuation, and there was even yawning and some background noise! It really took from my enjoyment of those chapters. There was an excellent female reader towards the end- it's a pity she didn't read all of it! I would recommend this book!
entertaining old book
Sara Perry
This book is one of my favorite old dramas. I always appreciate the time and efforts of the librivox volunteers, hiowever, there are times when a book is read by a variety of readers that the subject matter (a sad drama/romance) is not exactly matched with the voices. This book would perhaps benefit from a second version done by a single reader with an expressive voice and perhaps a British accent per the setting. I still enjoyed it and appreciate the volunteers involved!
Mars
Do you secretly wish that you could know what "Days of our Lives" would sound like if it had been written in the 1800s? Then this is the story for you! Readers are excellent, though for real, Mr. Cameron, you are from Ham Lake, that's not an accent that is causing you to mispronounce all those words. X-x
Crancher85
I really enjoyed the book itself, but some of the readers are quite difficult to follow. Many mispronounced words, halting in the middle of a sentence, and even yawning while reading. I give the book a 5, but about half of the reading a 3.