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Sylvia’s Lovers

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About this listen

Interconnecting the historical and the personal, the public and the private, this is a moving, absorbing story that probes the imbalance of human relationships, whether it be in the press gangs forcing young men to fight or the feelings of one individual for another. Life in an English seaside town in the 1790s is harsh, and ‘captious, capricious’ Sylvia has a dilemma when the dashing harpooner to whom she is secretly engaged disappears, and her dull cousin Philip (who has more information about his rival than he lets on) offers her love and security. Philip is not the only one afflicted with unrequited feelings, and as the ‘ceaseless waves’ lap against the shore we are drawn right into the heart of personal choices and their motivation. Alongside the accuracy of its historical backdrop, this is a character-driven novel, and Gaskell’s characters shine as brightly here as in North and South.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2025 Naxos AudioBooks UK Ltd. Classics
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The narrator did a phenomenal job reading this amazing, powerful classic. I listened to it while reading.

Wow!

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It's a complex, lesser known book by Elizabeth Gaskell that asks the question of what should win: forgiveness for the wrongs done to one (especially when one is pressured to forgive by the others), or one's self-determination on how to see one's life story and how one should have been treated.

At first I had little sympathy for Sylvia, a dumb uncomplicated girl, she often annoyed me, but one can see that she has a kind heart, as well as feisty character. So in the end I ended up cheering her, when she got her own view of events severely "edited" by rather pious, if not downright sanctimonious people, who were carping about the goodness of the husband who wronged her. I felt though that the man himself got too much, and unnecessarily, obliterated by the author - by Gaskell giving him one disaster and trauma after another. Seriously, did it have to be such a tear jerker? Classic novel about important and hefty matters as it is, it has some dated, sentimental tinge to it felt through its characters' reactions, thoughts and feelings.

The most annoying was the narration (and I am usually the kindest to the narrators, understanding that it is not an easy job to read well). Why oh why did she have to go into all full blown regional accent plus class accent mode?! There were chunks of book when I didn't understand a single word!! The Donkin drivel at the beginning of the book - describing how someone was shot and another killed - made me guess only vaguely what happened. Seriously, I wish the narrators of novels - given that classic 19th century novels are often written about ordinary people, who were often uneducated - didn't try to do the regional accents too much. It ruins the book, makes one misunderstand what happened and is completely unnecessary. It is often just mumbling and wailing.

too much of "amateur dramatics" in narration

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Sylvia's Lovers was Elizabeth Gaskell’s second-last published novel and is one of her least well known. The problem is that Sylvia’s story is not particularly engaging until we are near the end. However, the activities of the hated press gang play a key role in the novel, and those episodes are the most dramatic and thrilling. Without giving too much away, the quality of Mrs Gaskell’s writing of the aftermath of the riot is tragically beautiful, and the battle near the end is breathtaking.

That said, I found the first half of the book heavy going, but the tragic intensity of the novel builds in the second half in a way that rivals Thomas Hardy, and the drama of the ending easily matches that of Tess of the D’Urbervilles or Jude the Obscure.

This is not the first Elizabeth Gaskell you should pick up, but if her other work captures your interest then this is a must read. I also recommend it for fans of Thomas Hardy. Mrs Gaskell herself described Sylvia’s Lovers has her saddest story, and it certainly is that, but it is also may be her most dramatic.

Clare Wille's performance is excellent - full of passion - and helped intensify the tragic beauty of the novel, as well as bring the reader through the dull parts. As a side note her reading of "Scenes of Clerical Life" by George Eliot is also excellent and I will seek out her other classics.

Elizabeth Gaskell does Thomas Hardy

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