Listen free for 30 days
-
Felix Holt, The Radical
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £27.09
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Romola
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 22 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the turbulent years following the death of Lorenzo de' Medici, George Eliot's fourth novel, Romola, moves the stage from the English countryside of the 19th century to an Italy four centuries before her time. It tells the tale of a young Florentine woman, Romola de' Bardi, and her coming of age through her troubled marriage to the suave and self-absorbed Greek Tito. Slowly Tito's true character begins to unfurl, and his lies and treachery push Romola toward a more spiritual path, where she transcends into a majestic, Madonna-like role.
-
-
the performance is one the best I ever had
- By Kindle Customer on 20-07-21
-
Scenes of Clerical Life
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Sad Fortunes of the Rev. Amos Barton, through vignettes of his life, portrays a character who is hard to like and easy to ridicule. Many people do ridicule as well as slander and despise him, until his suffering shocks them into fellowship and sympathy.
-
-
Early Eliot worth investigating.
- By Francis on 04-05-07
-
Adam Bede
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
- Length: 20 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Eliot's first full-length novel Adam Bede is a profound rendering of 19th century English pastoral life. This timeless story of seduction and betrayal follows the virtuous carpenter Adam Bede, whose world is soon disrupted when the all-too-beautiful Hetty betrays him for another villager. Her actions precipitate a turmoil of tragic events that shake the very foundations of their serene rural community.
-
-
About This Book
- By Bill M on 07-04-17
-
Middlemarch
- A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Charles Edwards, Full Cast, John Heffernan, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the 1830s, this ‘study of provincial life’ introduces us to young, idealistic Dorothea Brooke, who accepts a proposal from scholarly Edward Casaubon, hoping to forge a loving partnership of intellectual equals. But on honeymoon in Rome, she swiftly becomes disillusioned. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, she finds solace in her friendship with Casaubon’s cousin, Will Ladislaw - only for her controlling husband to suspect her of betrayal and set out to test her loyalty.
-
Silas Marner
- Penguin Classics
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Jan Francis
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wrongly accused of theft and exiled from a religious community many years before, the embittered weaver Silas Marner lives alone in Raveloe, living only for work and his precious hoard of money. But when his money is stolen and an orphaned child finds her way into his house, Silas is given the chance to transform his life. His fate, and that of the little girl he adopts, is entwined with Godfrey Cass, son of the village Squire, who, like Silas, is trapped by his past.
-
Daniel Deronda
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 36 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meeting by chance at a gambling hall in Europe, the separate lives of Daniel Deronda and Gwendolen Harleth are immediately intertwined. Daniel, an Englishman of uncertain parentage, becomes Gwendolyn's redeemer as she finds herself drawn to his spiritual and altruistic nature after a loveless marriage. But Daniel's path was already set when he rescued a young Jewess from suicide.
-
-
The perfect long audiobook
- By D. Cottam on 21-10-15
-
Romola
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 22 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the turbulent years following the death of Lorenzo de' Medici, George Eliot's fourth novel, Romola, moves the stage from the English countryside of the 19th century to an Italy four centuries before her time. It tells the tale of a young Florentine woman, Romola de' Bardi, and her coming of age through her troubled marriage to the suave and self-absorbed Greek Tito. Slowly Tito's true character begins to unfurl, and his lies and treachery push Romola toward a more spiritual path, where she transcends into a majestic, Madonna-like role.
-
-
the performance is one the best I ever had
- By Kindle Customer on 20-07-21
-
Scenes of Clerical Life
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Sad Fortunes of the Rev. Amos Barton, through vignettes of his life, portrays a character who is hard to like and easy to ridicule. Many people do ridicule as well as slander and despise him, until his suffering shocks them into fellowship and sympathy.
-
-
Early Eliot worth investigating.
- By Francis on 04-05-07
-
Adam Bede
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
- Length: 20 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Eliot's first full-length novel Adam Bede is a profound rendering of 19th century English pastoral life. This timeless story of seduction and betrayal follows the virtuous carpenter Adam Bede, whose world is soon disrupted when the all-too-beautiful Hetty betrays him for another villager. Her actions precipitate a turmoil of tragic events that shake the very foundations of their serene rural community.
-
-
About This Book
- By Bill M on 07-04-17
-
Middlemarch
- A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Charles Edwards, Full Cast, John Heffernan, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the 1830s, this ‘study of provincial life’ introduces us to young, idealistic Dorothea Brooke, who accepts a proposal from scholarly Edward Casaubon, hoping to forge a loving partnership of intellectual equals. But on honeymoon in Rome, she swiftly becomes disillusioned. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, she finds solace in her friendship with Casaubon’s cousin, Will Ladislaw - only for her controlling husband to suspect her of betrayal and set out to test her loyalty.
-
Silas Marner
- Penguin Classics
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Jan Francis
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wrongly accused of theft and exiled from a religious community many years before, the embittered weaver Silas Marner lives alone in Raveloe, living only for work and his precious hoard of money. But when his money is stolen and an orphaned child finds her way into his house, Silas is given the chance to transform his life. His fate, and that of the little girl he adopts, is entwined with Godfrey Cass, son of the village Squire, who, like Silas, is trapped by his past.
-
Daniel Deronda
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 36 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meeting by chance at a gambling hall in Europe, the separate lives of Daniel Deronda and Gwendolen Harleth are immediately intertwined. Daniel, an Englishman of uncertain parentage, becomes Gwendolyn's redeemer as she finds herself drawn to his spiritual and altruistic nature after a loveless marriage. But Daniel's path was already set when he rescued a young Jewess from suicide.
-
-
The perfect long audiobook
- By D. Cottam on 21-10-15
-
The Mill on the Floss
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Mill on the Floss is one of the great works of English literature. It is perhaps the most autobiographical of all Eliot's novels. The relationship between its heroine, Maggie Tulliver, and her brother, Tom, closely resembles that of George Eliot and her own brother, Isaac. The subject of sibling affection was clearly a deeply poignant one for George Eliot - she also wrote a series of beautiful and evocative sonnets entitled 'Brother and Sister'.
-
-
Great Literature
- By Hugh M. Clarke on 14-10-18
-
Middlemarch
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 35 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dorothea Brooke is an ardent idealist who represses her vivacity and intelligence for the cold, theological pedant Casaubon. One man understands her true nature: the artist Will Ladislaw. But how can love triumph against her sense of duty and Casaubon’s mean spirit? Meanwhile, in the little world of Middlemarch, the broader world is mirrored: the world of politics, social change, and reforms, as well as betrayal, greed, blackmail, ambition, and disappointment.
-
-
All consuming
- By Caro on 27-04-11
-
Buddenbrooks
- The Decline of a Family
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 26 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.
-
-
Beautiful experience.
- By Birte on 14-09-20
-
Villette
- Penguin Classics
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Charlotte Ritchie
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With neither friends nor family, Lucy Snowe sets sail from England to find employment in a girls' boarding school in the small town of Villette. There she struggles to retain her self-possession in the face of unruly pupils, an initially suspicious headmaster and her own complex feelings, first for the school's English doctor and then for the dictatorial professor Paul Emmanuel. Drawing on her own deeply unhappy experiences as a governess in Brussels, Charlotte Brontë's last and most autobiographical novel is a powerfully moving study of isolation and the pain of unrequited love....
-
-
Simply beautiful
- By S McQuilliam on 14-05-20
-
Mrs. Dalloway
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is a June day in London in 1923, and the lovely Clarissa Dalloway is having a party. Whom will she see? Her friend Peter, back from India, who has never really stopped loving her? What about Sally, with whom Clarissa had her life’s happiest moment? Meanwhile, the shell-shocked Septimus Smith is struggling with his life on the same London day.
-
-
pure enchanting magic...
- By Amazon Customer on 01-09-11
-
Ruth
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Eve Matheson
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The orphaned heroine Ruth, apprenticed to a dressmaker, is seduced by wealthy Henry Bellingham who is captivated by her simplicity and beauty. Their affair causes her to lose her home and job to which he offers her shelter, only to cruelly abandon her soon after. She is offered a chance of a new life though shamed in the eyes of society by her illegitimate son. When Henry reappears offering marriage she must choose between social acceptance and her own pride.
-
-
A window into Victorian Britain
- By Nancy Bowring on 30-07-10
-
Phineas Redux
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Timothy West
- Length: 23 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the fourth of the ‘Palliser’ stories, Trollope follows Phineas Finn’s return to the dangerous world of Westminster politics. When his political rival is murdered, Phineas is thrown under suspicion and eventually finds himself standing trial at the Old Bailey. The situation is complicated by the presence of two women in his life: his old flame Lady Laura, whose estranged husband is determined to destroy Phineas’s reputation, and the wealthy and enigmatic widow, Madame Max.
-
-
superb
- By Philip on 25-07-12
-
The Claverings
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the opening of The Claverings (1866) the beautiful Julia Brabazon jilts her lover Harry Clavering in order to make a marriage of convenience with a wealthy but dissolute earl. Harry licks his wounds, leaves London to train as a civil engineer, and falls in love with his employer's daughter, to whom he soon becomes engaged. But when Julia returns unexpectedly as a wealthy widow, the flame of Harry's old love is rekindled.
-
-
Excellent reading, of a mediocre Trollope
- By Christopher Leach on 07-02-19
-
The Old Wives' Tale
- By: Arnold Bennett
- Narrated by: David Haig
- Length: 24 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Old Wives' Tale is broken up into four parts, and the lives of two sisters are laid bare: one timid and unassuming, the other romantic and adventurous. From working as children in their family's drapery shop to their later years, Constance and Sophia's journey through life could not be more different. While one travels the world and defies male expectations, the other becomes a dutiful wife and mother.
-
-
Slow down and let yourself go
- By Jane on 24-04-10
-
Women in Love
- By: D. H. Lawrence
- Narrated by: Maureen O’Brien
- Length: 18 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lawrence explores love, sex, passion, and marriage through the eyes of two sisters, Gudrun and Ursula Brangwen. Intelligent, incisive, and observant, the two very different sisters pursue thrilling, torrid affairs with their lovers, Rupert and Gerald, while searching for more mature emotional relationships. Against a haunting World War I backdrop of coal mines, factories, and a beleaguered working class, Gudrun and Ursula's temperamental differences spark an ongoing debate regarding their society and their inner lives.
-
He Knew He Was Right
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 30 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Louis Trevelyan's young wife meets an old family acquaintance, his unreasonable jealousy of their friendship sparks a quarrel that leads to a brutal and tragic estrangement.
-
-
A refreshingly up to date reading of a dark, psychological, Victorian tale of a marriage breakdown
- By Kindle Customer on 26-11-16
-
Armadale
- By: Wilkie Collins
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton, Rachel Atkins, David Rintoul, and others
- Length: 30 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wilkie Collins' follow-up to The Woman in White and No Name is an innovative take on mistaken identity, the nature of evil, and the dark underbelly of Victorian England. The story concerns two distant cousins, both named Allan Armadale, and the impact of a family tragedy, which makes one of them a target of the murderous Lydia Gwilt, a vicious and malevolent charmer determined to get her hands on the Armadale fortune. Will the real Allan Armadale be revealed, and will he survive the plot against his life?
-
-
30+ Hours Well Spent
- By Penelope Hughes-Jones on 16-05-20
Summary
Contrasted with Felix Holt is the intelligent, economically secure Harold Transome, just returned from the East to assume responsibility for Transome Court, his inherited manor home, and to take a seat in Parliament.
Both men vie for the hand of Esther, a young woman of charm and virtue, who must choose between a life of idealism and a life of refinement.
The narrative is enhanced by plot twists involving illegitimacy and lines of inheritances, as well as by Eliot's vivid character studies, including the corrupt political agent Johnson; Harold Transome's mother, with her fears of a secret being revealed; and the loyal servant Denner.
Critic reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about Felix Holt, The Radical
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ian
- 08-07-13
Mixed feelings
I listened to this book after thoroughly enjoying Middlemarch and I am not so enthusiastic about this. There is still Eliot's enjoyable humour and her fantastic descriptions of nineteenth century life.
However, my main problem was that I did not like Felix Holt or Harold Transome. Part of me is glad about this but at other times I found it hard to engage with these characters. We were promised so much mystery surrounding Harold that was never delivered upon.
The story is set around the Reform Act of 1832 and the book is a great way of looking at social tensions around at that time however, some, like me, may find that there is a little too much detail on this front.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shirley
- 08-02-22
Too difficult to understand
Please can I return this book.
I have tried hard to follow the story however, I have found it too difficult to comprehend
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tone
- 19-06-22
Difficult to follow. Narration didn't help
The beginning of this book is hard to follow because the author has not set the story up adequately.
Furthermore the early chapters are dreary.
Nadia May is off putting and adds to the confusion. She has a sharp whining tone which is irritating and distracting from the story.
I'm not sure I can stand it much longer.
usually there is an alternative narrative on Audible but unfortunately not for this.
I loved George Eliot but a suitable narration is essential to get into the story.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mel Graham
- 22-04-22
A captivating, story with historical interest
A thought provoking story with lots of philosophy and high ideals. Also a great snapshot of local life in England at the time.
I really enjoyed the pace with which the action and the mysteries in the novel unfolded. It kept me interested until the very end.
Although I found the voice of the narrator slightly dry, I cannot fault the style and the quality of the narration which was really exceptional for such a long book. She successfully brought all the characters to life.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Valerie Kennett
- 15-11-21
Limit your expectations.
Well I still enjoyed this book, because George Eliot is such a wonderfully informative writer.
But the political talk was a bit long winded, & so was Felix mother. And although the narrator was generally good, Mrs Holt wasn’t so easy on the ear.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lisa
- 28-09-21
to many characters
boring I gave up on it, no story to take hold of very disappointing
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 30-03-20
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel
Felix Holt is a very enjoyable novel, bringing insights into 19th century elections, the non-conformist versus established church and small town life. The latter two being very popular subjects with George Eliot. This is not her finest or most gripping novel, but she writes so well, that it's still a joy, especially to listen to. Nadia May's reading is excellent and I will look out for other books narrated by her.
-
Overall

- connie
- 02-01-08
four and a half stars
Felix is not a five, but better than a four. I found Eliot's Middlemarsh, Daniel Deronda, and Adam Bede to be more satisfying reads all round. Like Adam Bede, Felix Holt starts with a great deal of exposition that might put off some listeners --but If you like 19th century British lit and/or social history - or even engaging characters and action in "historical fiction" this (once you are past the opening exposition), is very satisfying. I think it much stronger as a novel and more engaging than Bronte's Shirley, for ex.
If you are new to Eliot, then think Austen meets all the Bronte sisters with a touch of Dickens, and a good bit more implicit feminism.
34 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Tad Davis
- 14-04-18
Rewarding
Although there’s an insanely complicated legal situation at the heart of this novel, I found it to be one of Eliot’s more agreeable and rewarding works. All characters (except the truly worst) are treated with a broad and humane sympathy, and there are touches of humor - something that her novels often lack. Despite the title, Felix Holt is not the most interesting character in the book. That would have to be Esther, daughter of the local curate, and someone who begins with a shallow love of appearances and ends with love and courage - and a delightful sense of flirtatiousness.
As always, Nadia May gives a sterling performance.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Claire
- 30-08-20
insight and depth; no gratuitous sex or violence
one of the most wonderful books I have ever read. I wish I had discovered this amazing author earlier. I actually read some of her books some years ago. only now do I really appreciate her.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Lil Y. M. Judd
- 16-11-21
I'm done with George Eliot :(
So I believe I've listened through all of George Eliot's books by now. I loved Middlemarch, but slowly and steadily I've gotten fed up as I've listened through the rest of them. I believe this one is the one I dislike the most. I disliked the character Felix Holt the minute we were introduced to him. Honestly, there's really not a single character in the book I'm fond of and truly care about. Who in this book is actually an interesting character which we want to care about. For me there's none. Yes, people are flawed and need improvement etc and yes it's a book written in 1866 and life was so different and women had such a different standing in the world. But really, by now I'm fed up with men deciding to tell women what failures they are and how they're to improve to be what is to, at the time, considered a good woman. But over and over again these female characters are doing everything to lower themselves to the male character's standard. I'm so done with it. I'm glad I've now heard them all and if there were any more I'd skip listening or reading them. Women being demeaned and belittled over and over again. Glad I'm done. Read or listen to Middlemarch and skip this one is my recommendation.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- DFK
- 06-01-21
It should have more of the political aspect
This is a political story with romance thrown in. The political ideas should be dealt with more in depth; the romance is less of value here. I’ve liked several books by George Eliot, but this one is just OK, and nothing brilliant. I would not suggest it as a book to introduce a listener (or reader) to the author. The narrator would have been great - good voices and accents, but she ruins it by stalling too much and too often between sentences. I wish there were a way for me to delete the “white space”. That certainly could be done by Blackstone, and would greatly improve the listening pleasure.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Ross D McCauley
- 31-12-19
Worst!
I have other George Eliot titles in my library. I have been an audiobook fan for decades. But this book is horrible 😝.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Shannon Adams
- 22-04-22
Not my favorite Eliot
This one is more dated than some others- and characters are less absorbing to me. Still, it’s Eliot and worth the listen but story is just not on par with Middlemarch or Silas Marner
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Rob McDaniel
- 20-03-22
The second half is worth the wait
This is a meandering story, that takes its time to come together and come to life.The subjects discussed with such deft introspection are as relatable to today’s world as at the time it was written so long ago. It’s a delightful story!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- carla k
- 10-10-21
A great, moral tale.
A wonderful story, made so much easier to appreciate by a remarkable performer. The soaring glory of the English language at its finest.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Christine C.
- 23-04-21
Excellent book
Very pleasant narrative. Brings us back to the early 19th century countryside in England. Great insight into the social structure and preoccupations of the people at that time. It is amusing to see that the heroine was motivated only by love and the highest moral principles. Very little frivolity and zero hormonal distractions kept her perfectly pure. Unfortunately I believe real life is pretty far removed from the authors skillfully crafted construction.