The Secret Places of the Heart: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Secret Places of the Heart, credited to H. G. Wells, 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 of The Secret Places of the Heart by H. G. Wells. Richmond Hardy, a member of the British gentry, tries to resolve problems in his marriage as he travels with a psychiatrist. The book is to a great extent autobiographical. H. G. had read some brilliantly composed articles by a writer who wrote under the name Rebecca West. In one piece she called H. G. "pseudo-scientific." He contacted her and asked what she meant. When they met for lunch, it was the beginning of a very intense and volatile relationship. Soon she was pregnant, so he divided his time between her and his wife Jane with their two sons. After World War I, Rebecca became more demanding. She wanted him to divorce Jane. Finally, in 1923 Wells told Rebecca she should either get serious about her writing or break off their relationship. The criticism stung her. After a speaking tour in the U.S., she returned newly independent, and the two went their separate ways. In this novel H. G. based the character Martin on Rebecca, who both mesmerized and repelled him. (Summary by Bill Boerst)

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Secret Places of the Heart
• Author credits: H. G. Wells
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 22
• Listed recording duration: 7:24:07

Catalogue topics

• fiction

Track guide

1. 01 - Ch First Sec 1-2 — 13:18
2. 02 - Ch First Sec 3-4 — 15:25
3. 03 - Ch Second, Ch Third Sec 1 — 22:38
4. 04 - Ch Third Sec 2-3, Ch Fourth Sec 1 — 17:05
5. 05 - Ch Fourth Sec 2-3 — 21:40
6. 06 - Ch Fourth Sec 4-6 — 24:09
7. 07 - Ch Fourth Sec 7-8 — 33:55
8. 08 - Ch Fifth Sec 1-2 — 19:26
9. 09 - Ch Fifth Sec 3-4 — 12:30
10. 10 - Ch Fifth Sec 5, Ch Sixth Sec 1 — 14:37
11. 11 - Ch Sixth Sec 2-3 — 19:01
12. 12 - Ch Sixth Sec 4-5 — 17:13
13. 13 - Ch Sixth Sec 6 — 16:44
14. 14 - Ch Seventh Sec 1-3 — 19:42
15. 15 - Ch Seventh Sec 4-6 — 15:59
16. 16 - Ch Seventh Sec 7-8 — 27:17
17. 17 - Ch Seventh Sec 9-11, Ch Eighth Sec 1 — 24:35
18. 18 - Ch Eighth Sec 2-4 — 17:34
19. 19 - Ch Eighth Sec 5-6 — 28:45
20. 20 - Ch Eighth Sec 7-8, Ch Ninth Sec 1 — 20:12
21. 21 - Ch Ninth Sec 2-4 — 16:32
22. 22 - Ch Ninth Sec 5-8 — 25:56

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.