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Old Friends, Essays in Epistolary Parody

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Epistolary Fiction
Chapter: 24 | Listen:

“Every fancy which dwells much with the unborn and immortal characters of Fiction must ask itself, Did the persons in contemporary novels never meet? In so little a world their paths must often have crossed, their orbits must have intersected, though we hear nothing about the adventure from the accredited narrators. In historical fiction authors make their people meet real men and women of history—Louis XI., Lazarus, Mary Queen of Scots, General Webbe, Moses, the Man in the Iron Mask, Marie Antoinette; the list is endless. But novelists, in spite of Mr. Thackeray’s advice to Alexandre Dumas, and of his own example in “Rebecca and Rowena,” have not introduced each other’s characters” (from the Introduction). In this volume, Andrew Lang shows, what a letter from one fictional character to another might look like. [chương_files]

Goldsmith’s Friend Abroad Again

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Epistolary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Satire
Chapter: 4 | Listen:

This satire on the U.S.A.’s myth of being the “Home of the Oppressed, where all men are free and equal”, is unrelenting in its pursuit of justice through exposure. It draws a scathingly shameful portrait of how Chinese immigrants were treated in 19th century San Francisco. (Introduction by John Greenman) [chương_files]

Clarissa Harlowe, or the History of a Young Lady – Volume 3

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Epistolary Fiction, Romance
Chapter: 63 | Listen: 2

Clarissa Harlowe, is the tragic heroine of this story, she is a beautiful and virtuous young lady whose family has become wealthy only recently and now desires to become part of the aristocracy. Originally they planned to concentrate the wealth and lands of the Harlowe’s into the possession of James Harlowe, Clarissa’s brother whose wealth and political power will lead to his being given a title. Clarissa’s grandfather has left her a substantial piece of property upon his death, and a new route to the nobility opens through Clarissa marrying Robert Lovelace, heir to an earldom. James’s response is to provoke a duel with Lovelace, who is seen thereafter as the family’s enemy. James also proposes that Clarissa marry Roger Solmes, who is willing to trade properties with James to concentrate James’s holdings and speed his becoming Lord Harlowe. The family agrees and attempts to force Clarissa to marry Solmes, whom she finds physically disgusting as well as boorish. The story continues to twist and turn through a series of letters written between two women, two men and a variety of other characters which continues throughout the 9 volumes of the book. (Summary by Michele Eaton) [chương_files]

Coquette, Or The History of Eliza Wharton

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Epistolary Fiction, Published before 1800
Chapter: 14 | Listen: 1

The classic early American epistolary novel about the seduction and ruin of a passionate young woman. Based on the true story of Elizabeth Whitman, whose lonesome death in childbirth in a Connecticut inn sparked widespread discussion and outrage, the novel went through many editions and innumerable printings in the century after its initial publication in 1797. (Summary by Jon Miller) [chương_files]

Clarissa Harlowe, or the History of a Young Lady – Volume 6

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Epistolary Fiction, Literary Fiction
Chapter: 73 | Listen: 7

It tells the tragic story of a heroine whose quest for virtue is continually thwarted by her family, It is generally regarded as Richardson’s masterpiece. This is Volume six out of a series of nine Volumes. Letter 6 read by TriciaG, wib66, Timothy Ferguson and Adonis. ( Michele Eaton ) [chương_files]

Clarissa Harlowe, or the History of a Young Lady – Volume 4

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Epistolary Fiction
Chapter: 55 | Listen: 2

Volume 4 continues the story in epistolary form of the despoliation of Clarissa, as all the forces of society and the personal nefariousness of the devilish rake Lovelace conspire to overcome her virtue. One of the earliest and certainly the longest novel in the English language, with a wide-ranging influence not only on the English novel, but also on nineteenth century European literature at large, it is gripping, twisted and a magnificent dramatic soap opera. – Summary by Nicole Lee [chương_files]

Letters to Dead Authors

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Epistolary Fiction
Chapter: 22 | Listen: 2

With twenty two letters, addressed to various already deceased authors, Andrew Lang discusses literary subjects with his usual humour and acidity. The impulse for the writing of the letters came, almost as a joke, from the editor of the ‘St. James’s Gazette,’ and sixteen of the letters collected in the volume appeared first in that journal. According to the author, “some of the Letters are written rather to suit the Correspondent than to express the writer’s own taste or opinions”; in all of them, though, the reader will find the charming wit of their author. (Summary by Leni) [chương_files]

Stark Munro Letters

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Epistolary Fiction
Chapter: 16 | Listen: 2

“The letters of my friend Mr. Stark Munro appear to me to form so connected a whole, and to give so plain an account of some of the troubles which a young man may be called upon to face right away at the outset of his career, that I have handed them over to the gentleman who is about to edit them. There are two of them, the fifth and the ninth, from which some excisions are necessary; but in the main I hope that they may be reproduced as they stand. I am sure that there is no privilege which my friend would value more highly than the thought that some other young man, harassed by the needs of this world and doubts of the next, should have gotten strength by reading how a brother had passed down the valley of shadow before him.” HERBERT SWANBOROUGH. LOWELL, MASS. – Summary by Arthur Conan Doyle [chương_files]

Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded Volume 2

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Epistolary Fiction
Chapter: 114 | Listen: 4

Pamela, tells the story of a 15-year old maidservant named Pamela Andrews, whose country landowner master, Mr. B, makes unwanted advances towards her after the death of his mother. He abducts her, locks her up in one of his estates, and attempts to seduce and rape her. She rejects him but starts to realise that she is falling in love with him. She then attempts to build a relationship with him and to fit in with upper class society. This is a continuation of “Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded”. (Michele Eaton) [chương_files]

Love and Freindship, and Other Early Works

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Epistolary Fiction, General Fiction, Short Stories
Chapter: 11 | Listen: 2

This book draws together some of Jane Austen’s earliest literary efforts. It includes “Love & Freindship” and “Lesley Castle” both told through the medium of letters written by the characters. It also contains her wonderful “History of England” and a “Collection of Letters” and lastly a chapter containing “Scraps”. In these offerings, we may see the beginnings of Miss Austen’s literary style. We may also discern traces of characters that we encounter in her later works. G. K. Chesterton in his preface, for example, says of a passage in Love and Freindship; “… is there not the foreshadowing of another and more famous father; and do we not hear for a moment, in the rustic cottage by the Uske, the unmistakable voice of Mr. Bennet?” These works are certainly worth exploring for their own sakes and not simply as historical relics. – Summary by Noel Badrian [chương_files]