Robert Elsmere
Mary Augusta Ward
Read by Simon Evers
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
Scott in Sandy Eggo
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
Kim B
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.