Audiobook · read by volunteers
Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Anne Brontë (1820–1849)
Read by Gesine, Ana Simão, Robin Cotter, Marie Manis, bccme, Maire Rhode, Deb Bacon-Ziegler, Michelle Crandall, Susie G., Alison Raouf · 54 chapters · 18 h 14
About the book
A mysterious young woman, thought to be a widow, takes up residence at the old and neglected Wildfell Hall, with her small son and very little company. The neighbourhood gossips, and a young farmer named Gilbert Markham finds himself fascinated by her. But the lady keeps her past to herself, and the rumours grow. When at last she allows him to read her private diary, he learns the reason for her secrecy and the price she paid for her marriage. Anne Brontë's second and last novel is an unflinching story of a woman who finds the courage to leave an abusive husband and make a life for her child. It was bold and controversial when it appeared, and it still has the power to surprise. Fifty-four chapters and over eighteen hours.
Introduction
Anne Brontë was born in 1820 and died in 1849. The youngest of the three Brontë sisters who became novelists, with Charlotte and Emily, she worked as a governess before turning to writing, and her two novels, Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, were published under the pseudonym Acton Bell.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë's second and last novel, tells of a woman who leaves her abusive, dissolute husband and must then support herself and her young son. It was first published in June 1848 and shocked the moral sense of the time: one critic went so far as to call it utterly unfit to be put into the hands of girls. It is considered by many to be one of the first feminist novels. Anne herself defended it, explaining that she had written it to tell the truth, however unwelcome.
The book has an unusual structure. It begins with letters from Gilbert and then moves to the heroine's diary, which tells her story in her own voice, before returning to the present. This gives the novel a double perspective.
The LibriVox recording is the work of volunteers, who share the reading across fifty-four chapters, beginning with the author's preface. It lasts more than eighteen hours. Why listen? Because the novel was ahead of its time, and its portrait of a woman who takes her life into her own hands remains striking. It is a rewarding companion to the better-known novels of her sisters.
Public domain
Anne Brontë died in 1849: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text