A Life's Morning


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.4 stars; 14 reviews)

This is the story of a poor young lady Emily Hood who while working as a governess falls in love with Wilfrid Athel the son of her employer. They become engaged, however things do not run smoothly after a visit home to her parents and Emily has to make a heartbreaking choice. (Summary by Michele Eaton) (17 hr 20 min)

Chapters

Chapter 01 Part 01 An Undergraduate at Leisure 22:54 Read by shihping
Chapter 01 Part 02 30:12 Read by shihping
Chapter 02 Beatrice Redwing 43:06 Read by shihping
Chapter 03 Part 01 Lyrical 20:30 Read by Lynne T
Chapter 03 Part 02 25:04 Read by Lynne T
Chapter 04 A Conflict of Opinions 33:16 Read by shihping
Chapter 05 Part 01 The Shadow of Home 27:04 Read by Lynne T
Chapter 05 Part 02 28:14 Read by Lynne T
Chapter 06 A Visitor by Express 41:11 Read by shihping
Chapter 07 Part 01 On the Levels 24:22 Read by MariaS
Chapter 07 Part 02 21:01 Read by MariaS
Chapter 08 A Sterner Wooing 1:00:22 Read by beyondutopia
Chapter 09 Circumstance 53:22 Read by beyondutopia
Chapter 10 At the Sword's Point 35:24 Read by beyondutopia
Chapter 11 Part 01 Emily's Decision 22:26 Read by mlaura
Chapter 11 Part 02 31:55 Read by shihping
Chapter 12 The Final Interview 19:38 Read by Lynne T
Chapter 13 The Cutting of the Knot 46:12 Read by shihping
Chapter 14 Part 01 News and Comments 30:58 Read by shihping
Chapter 14 Part 02 24:17 Read by shihping
Chapter 15 Mrs Baxendale's Quests 29:11 Read by shihping
Chapter 16 Renunciation 43:19 Read by shihping
Chapter 17 Their Several Ways 40:32 Read by shihping
Chapter 18 A Compact 26:26 Read by beyondutopia
Chapter 19 The Completion of Mischance 33:06 Read by beyondutopia
Chapter 20 Part 01 Wilfrid The Legislator 32:39 Read by shihping
Chapter 20 Part 02 31:22 Read by shihping
Chapter 21 Dangerous Relics 27:40 Read by beyondutopia
Chapter 22 Her Path in the Shadow 34:19 Read by shihping
Chapter 23 Her Path in the Light 22:08 Read by shihping
Chapter 24 The Unexpected 34:55 Read by shihping
Chapter 25 A Family Conclave 27:41 Read by shihping
Chapter 26 Mid-Day 15:22 Read by rookieblue

Reviews

Tragedy & Love


(4 stars)

I enjoyed this story despite not truly understanding why Emily left. It just doesn't make sense to me. BeyondUtopia's reading was so painful to listen to. If I wasn't already invested in the story I'd have stopped listening (which usually only happens when a reader is quite hard to understand). It's like she doesn't understand what the words mean at times which makes her read slowly with awkward pausing. She also brings an odd tone & over the top dramatics to words spoken by the characters. I am usually very forgiving & don't want to be hurtful. However, she is just a truly poor reader despite English being her native language & having such a pretty voice. If only she'd read straight through in a normal speaking voice. Then I'd look for more of her readings instead of avoid them! I suggest listening to the 1st 10 minutes of chapter 10. If she doesn't bother you then listen to the entire book.


(2.5 stars)

I always enjoy Gissing, but one reader (Susan Smith Nash) almost ruined my pleasure listening to this book. Actually, she did ruin the pleasure, but I was invested in the plot so I stuck it out. I don’t understand why she reads so many books for Libravox, since she seems to have no understanding of phrasing and cadence. She also does an exceedingly poor job with different voices and accents, which often ruin the impression of a character for me.


(3 stars)

Oh dear! Yet another nice little love story ruined by the reading. I have the greatest admiration for these brave volunteers who churn valiantly on for hours in a language obviously not their own but it does make listening difficult.

George Gissing


(5 stars)

Not the most depressing of Gissing's works, but close. Nice readings. BeyondUtopia, well done.

buy an audiobook and quit stinking up LibriVOX, elly may


(5 stars)