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A Laodicean

A Story of Today

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A Laodicean

By: Thomas Hardy
Narrated by: Clive Chafer
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Paula Power, the daughter of a wealthy railway magnate, inherits De Stancy Castle, an ancient castle in need of modernization. She commissions a young architect from London, George Somerset, to undertake the work. Somerset falls in love with Paula. But Paula, the Laodicean of the title, meaning a person who is lukewarm or halfhearted, is torn between George’s admiration and that of Captain De Stancy, whose old-world romanticism contrasts with Somerset’s forward-looking outlook.

Paula’s vacillation in her romantic life is also reflected in her views about religion, politics, and social progress, a dilemma faced by people in the Victorian era as industrialization was beginning to greatly change their lives. Paula will have to decide between the two men, however, or risk losing them both.

(P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Classics Linguistics Social Sciences British Literature
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Critic reviews

“The changing of the old order in country manors and mansions may be slow or sudden, may have many issues romantic or otherwise.”

(Thomas Hardy, from the preface)

“As always, Hardy’s rich character study and stunning prose create a compelling atmosphere and a good read.”

(Deadtree Publishers)

“A Laodicean draws deeply on Hardy’s personal experience: his early life as an architect, his frustration in love, and his ambivalence about theology and the modern age.”

(John Schad, editor)

“Hardy’s life was not primarily one of action. He was by nature a scholar and a writer: it is what goes on in the mind that holds us, and Hardy’s was rich with stored impressions.”

(Evelyn Hardy, author and literary critic, praise for Thomas Hardy)
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Unusual story written midway in Hardy’s life. Great focus on his original profession of architecture. Less fond of performance as enunciation was somewhat poor.

Hardy on architecture

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Struggled with this book. Not sure whether it was the story but the narrator just didn't captivate me.

Narration left me unengaged

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I gave up on this half-way through. It didn't feel like a Hardy novel and the narrator's voice was quite robotic at times.

Hard-going Hardy tale

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I'm a big Hardy fan and I've read pretty much everything he has written. This story is a pleasing one and contradicts a lot of the pessimism attributed to Hardy. I do think however that it was too long and at least 1/3 of it could have been cut away,leaving a better read.

Very slow paced even for Hardy

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Loved the book. The narration was not the best and took some time to acclimatise to his reading. Some very annoying editing in the audio in that quite a few sentences were repeated particularly towards the end of the book. Despite the issues loved the storyline and couldn’t put it down willing the ending to be satisfying, which it was.

Great story

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