Ruth: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Ruth, credited to Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording Ruth, by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. Read by Cynthia Lyons. The book is a social novel, dealing with Victorian views about sin and illegitimacy. It is a surprisingly compassionate portrayal of a ‘fallen woman’, a type of person normally outcast from respectable society. The title of the novel refers to the main character Ruth Hilton, an orphaned young seamstress who is seduced and then abandoned by gentleman Henry Bellingham. Ruth, pregnant and alone, is taken in by a minister and his sister. They conceal her single status under the pretence of widowhood in order to protect her child from the social stigma of illegitimacy. Ruth goes on to gain a respectable position in society as a governess, which is threatened by the return of Bellingham and the revelation of her secret. (Wikipedia)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Ruth
• Author credits: Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 36
• Listed recording duration: 18:41:30

Catalogue topics

• ruth
• gaskell
• audio books
• fiction

Opening tracks: first 24 of 36

1. 01 - The Dressmaker's Apprentice at Work — 27:35
2. 02 - Ruth Goes to the Shire-Hall — 46:04
3. 03 - Sunday at Mrs. Mason's — 34:04
4. 04 - Treading in Perilous Places — 41:31
5. 05 - In North Wales — 20:30
6. 06 - Troubles Gather About Ruth — 21:04
7. 07 - The Crisis—Watching and Waiting — 20:09
8. 08 - Mrs Bellingham — 27:53
9. 09 - The Storm spirit Subdued — 9:25
10. 10 - A Note and the Answer — 13:28
11. 11 - Thurstan and Faith Benson — 34:07
12. 12 - Losing Sight of the Welsh Mountains — 26:36
13. 13 - The Dissenting Minister's household — 30:07
14. 14 - Ruth's First sunday at eccleston — 22:28
15. 15 - Mother and Child — 22:14
16. 16 - Sally Tells of her Sweehearts, and Discourses on the Duties of Life — 33:50
17. 17 - Leonard's Christening — 31:25
18. 18 - Ruth Becomes a Governess in Mr. Bradshaw's Family — 25:55
19. 19 - After Five Years — 34:49
20. 20 - Jemima Refuses to be Managed — 51:44
21. 21 - Mr Farquhar's Attentions Transferred — 36:19
22. 22 - The Liberal Candidate and his Precursor — 36:31
23. 23 - Recognition — 58:52
24. 24 - The Meeting on the Sands — 43:23

Listen to this recording

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.