Jude the Obscure cover art

Jude the Obscure

Penguin English Library

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Jude the Obscure

By: Thomas Hardy
Narrated by: Samuel West
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Penguin Classics presents Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, adapted for audio and available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by Samuel West.

As you got older...you were seized with a sort of shuddering, he perceived. All around you there seemed to be something glaring, garish, rattling, and the noises and glares hit upon the little cell called your life, and shook it, and scorched it. If he could only prevent himself growing up! He did not want to be a man.

Jude Fawley, the stonemason excluded not by his wits but by poverty from the world of Christminster privilege, finds fulfilment in his relationship with Sue Bridehead. Both have left earlier marriages. Ironically, when tragedy tests their union it is Sue, the modern emancipated woman, who proves unequal to the challenge. Hardy’s fearless exploration of sexual and social relationships and his prophetic critique of marriage scandalised the late Victorian establishment and marked the end of his career as a novelist.

Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening.

©2012 Thomas Hardy (P)2012 Penguin Audio Classics Linguistics Social Sciences Marriage

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Tess of the D'Urbervilles cover art
Far from the Madding Crowd cover art
Hardy: The Mayor of Casterbridge cover art
The Return of the Native cover art
The Thomas Hardy BBC Radio Drama Collection cover art
Under the Greenwood Tree cover art
Richard Burton Reads the Poetry of Thomas Hardy cover art
Sons and Lovers cover art
A Pair of Blue Eyes cover art
Wessex Tales cover art
David Copperfield cover art
Wuthering Heights cover art
The Woodlanders cover art
North and South cover art
An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club) cover art
My Brilliant Friend cover art
All stars
Most relevant
In Jude the Obscure , we realise how far things have come in terms of social mores , and how difficult life could be.

Thought provoking and a sad indictment of the times

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
There is no happiness in this tale, bleak with no hope. Love, betrayal, lies and stupidity.

Jude the Obscure

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Samuel West reads the tragedy with calm fluency. The novel itself is captivating as it captures the everyday living of Jude's tragic life.

A reading worthy of Hardy's gravitas

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This isn't my favourite Thomas Hardy story but Samuel West makes it come alive. this audio book is abridged but the heart of the book is intact.

Samuel West made for Hardy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Phenomenal story & narration! However, the Abridgement doesn’t do the book justice. Get the full audiobook instead. You’ll do yourself a favor.

One of my favorites

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews