Romola


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.1 stars; 25 reviews)

George Eliot's own favorite among her novels, this novel tells the story of Romola, the intelligent daughter of a blind scholar, who is falling in love with a man who is going to change her life and the politics of Florence in a way she doesn't like. Set in 15th century Florence, it is "a deep study of life in the city of Florence from an intellectual, artistic, religious, and social point of view".
Summary by Stav Nisser and Wikipedia. (23 hr 11 min)

Chapters

00 - Introduction 20:34 Read by Sandra G
01 - The Shipwrecked Stranger 35:05 Read by Sandra G
02 - Breakfast for Love 10:39 Read by Sandra G
03 - The Barber's Shop 24:38 Read by David Goldfarb
04 - First Impressions 7:26 Read by David Goldfarb
05 - The Blind Scholar and his Daughter 39:36 Read by Martina Hutchins
06 - Dawning Hopes 33:29 Read by David Goldfarb
07 - A Learned Squabble 12:52 Read by David Goldfarb
08 - A Face in the Crowd 30:50 Read by Kalynda
09 - A Man's Ransom 17:44 Read by Kalynda
10 - Under the Plane-Tree 32:37 Read by musil
11 - Tito's Dilemma 10:50 Read by musil
12 - The Prize is nearly grasped 33:59 Read by Phil Chenevert
13 - The Shadow of Nemesis 16:48 Read by Vsilverlining
14 - The Peasants' Fair 42:12 Read by Sandra G
15 - The Dying Message 30:11 Read by Sandra G
16 - A Florentine Joke 32:38 Read by Lucinda Gainey
17 - Under the Loggia 13:30 Read by David Goldfarb
18 - The Portrait 13:12 Read by David Goldfarb
19 - The Old Man's Hope 9:05 Read by David Goldfarb
20 - The Day of the Betrothal 20:15 Read by Terry Goodyer
21 - Florence expects a Guest 21:42 Read by SallyMc
22 - The Prisoners 15:53 Read by Terry Goodyer
23 - After-Thoughts 6:58 Read by David Goldfarb
24 - Inside the Duomo 15:14 Read by David Goldfarb
25 - Outside the Duomo 10:04 Read by Terry Goodyer
26 - The Garment of Fear 10:44 Read by Terry Goodyer
27 - The Young Wife 21:07 Read by Terry Goodyer
28 - The Painted Record 10:22 Read by Amy Gramour
29 - A Moment of Triumph 15:34 Read by kittyandcheese
30 - The Avenger's Secret 22:08 Read by kittyandcheese
31 - Fruit is Seed 11:39 Read by kittyandcheese
32 - A Revelation 26:22 Read by Sandra G
33 - Baldassarre makes an Acquaintance 16:13 Read by Terry Goodyer
34 - No Place for Repentance 23:17 Read by Terry Goodyer
35 - What Florence was thinking of 9:08 Read by Vsilverlining
36 - Ariadne discrowns herself 27:42 Read by Phil Chenevert
37 - The Tabernacle Unlocked 13:42 Read by Sergio Baldelli
38 - The Black Marks become Magical 20:50 Read by Sergio Baldelli
39 - A Supper in the Rucellai Gardens 51:39 Read by Elaine Webb
40 - An Arresting Voice 24:02 Read by Sandra G
41 - Coming Back 8:56 Read by Sandra G
42 - Romola in her Place 20:25 Read by Felicity C
43 - The Unseen Madonna 18:01 Read by LizMourant
44 - The Visible Madonna 15:54 Read by LizMourant
45 - At the Barber's Shop 23:03 Read by LizMourant
46 - By a Street Lamp 22:13 Read by Sandra G
47 - Check 8:01 Read by Sandra G
48 - Counter-Check 15:38 Read by Sandra G
49 - The Pyramid of Vanities 16:51 Read by Felicity C
50 - Tessa Abroad and at Home 26:04 Read by Phil Chenevert
51 - Monna Brigida's Conversion 12:22 Read by Sandra G
52 - A Prophetess 15:28 Read by Amy Gramour
53 - On San Miniato 14:56 Read by Sandra G
54 - The Evening and the Morning 9:37 Read by Sandra G
55 - Waiting 9:30 Read by Vsilverlining
56 - The Other Wife 30:43 Read by Sandra G
57 - Why Tito was Safe 14:17 Read by kittyandcheese
58 - A Final Understanding 15:18 Read by Sandra G
59 - Pleading 21:35 Read by Sandra G
60 - The Scaffold 14:58 Read by kittyandcheese
61 - Drifting Away 12:35 Read by Phil Chenevert
62 - The Benediction 11:36 Read by kittyandcheese
63 - Ripening Schemes 30:47 Read by Felicity C
64 - The Prophet in his Cell 22:30 Read by Felicity C
65 - The Trial by Fire 18:16 Read by David Goldfarb
66 - A Masque of the Furies 10:09 Read by David Goldfarb
67 - Waiting by the River 15:45 Read by David Goldfarb
68 - Romola's waking 21:43 Read by David Goldfarb
69 - Homeward 7:29 Read by David Goldfarb
70 - Meeting Again 11:18 Read by David Goldfarb
71 - The Confession 15:40 Read by David Goldfarb
72 - The Last Silence 7:46 Read by David Goldfarb
73 - Epilogue 9:33 Read by David Goldfarb

Reviews

Not my favorite


(4 stars)

On a positive notice, the readers of Romula are all quite good with no difficult accents or distracting mispronounciations. The negative for me is that Romula deals much more with Florentino politics and infighting than I found interesting. This is just my personal preference so don't let it deter you for giving it a try As usual, Eliot's writing is very insightful.

Really quite interesting


(5 stars)

This does start slow if you're expecting action. but when you embrace the richness in exposition, it becomes not only quite interesting, but entertaining as well. The LibriVox readers did a fine job. I should have read this ages ago (have owned a copy, unread, for decades), but listening to it now while painting my houses trim has been very good.

Meh


(2.5 stars)

Other reviewers are right in saying it takes a while to get going. There isn't enough story for the length of time it took to tell it. I skipped almost-entire chapters for their rambling, & there is a lot of content that really doesn't bear on the story. Overall, I don't know why Eliot thought this book so great, although I think it could have been had it been more consise.