Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Silas Marner
    Silas Marner
    Silas Marner
    Audiobook2 hours

    Silas Marner

    Written by George Eliot and Clare West

    Narrated by Multiple Narrators

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    In a hole under the floorboards Silas Marner the linen-weaver keeps his gold. Every day he works hard at his weaving, and every night he takes the gold out and holds the bright coins lovingly, feeling them and counting them again and again. The villagers are afraid of him and he has no family, no friends. Only the gold is his friend, his delight, his reason for living. But what if a thief should come in the night and take his gold away? What will Silas do then? What could possibly comfort him for the loss of his only friend?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOxford University Press
    Release dateNov 29, 2007
    ISBN9780194210904
    Author

    George Eliot

    George Eliot was the pseudonym for Mary Anne Evans, one of the leading writers of the Victorian era, who published seven major novels and several translations during her career. She started her career as a sub-editor for the left-wing journal The Westminster Review, contributing politically charged essays and reviews before turning her attention to novels. Among Eliot’s best-known works are Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda, in which she explores aspects of human psychology, focusing on the rural outsider and the politics of small-town life. Eliot died in 1880.

    More audiobooks from George Eliot

    Related to Silas Marner

    Related audiobooks

    ESL For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Odd Squad

      Jun 16, 2021

      Odd Squad
      3 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Sedaris, Adelmann, Cross-Smith, and More

      May 31, 2022

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from David Sedaris, Maria Adelmann, Leesa Cross-Smith, and more—that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to help The

      5 min read

    • Article

      Story Time

      Jul 21, 2019

      Story Time
      1 min read

    • Article

      The PROMISE

      Aug 25, 2021

      The PROMISE
      9 min read

    • Article

      Leading A Peasant Revolt In Battle Brothers Part I

      Jan 7, 2021

      The Darklands. A war-scarred waste where everything preys upon the people: orcs, goblins, bandits, corpse-eaters, barbarians, giants, great beasts from direwolf to lindwurm, hell, even the dead come back for us. But the worst monster? The predator th

      7 min read

    • Article

      Elijah’s Last Hurrah

      Aug 17, 2022

      Elijah’s Last Hurrah
      4 min read

    • Article

      Leading A Peasant Revolt In Battle Brothers Part I

      Jan 26, 2021

      The Darklands. A war-scarred waste where everything preys upon the people: Orcs, goblins, bandits, corpse-eaters, barbarians, giants, great beasts from direwolf to lindwurm, hell, even the dead come back for us. But the worst monster? The predator th

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Marchioness of Salisbury

      Dec 30, 2021

      The Marchioness of Salisbury
      2 min read

    • Article

      Hot Right Now!

      Sep 8, 2022

      Hot Right Now!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Hot Right Now!

      Sep 8, 2022

      Hot Right Now!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Better Books

      Apr 12, 2023

      At the end of a scorching hot Christmas Eve in 1959, a local man makes a dreadful discovery on the grounds of a grand country home in the Adelaide Hills. Police are called in and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in a dreadful murder case.

      1 min read

    • Article

      Read ! Read!

      Aug 14, 2022

      A chicken called Clara has been telling lies about the ducks of Little Dismal, and the ducks are furious. After an embarrassing talent night, the poetic duck Rita sees a chance to restore her damaged reputation – revenge against Clara. Rita’s mission

      1 min read

    • Article

      4 Historical Fictions

      Sep 11, 2019

      King Charles II has brought his Portuguese wife, Queen Catherine, to England. New fashionable fancies include drinking chocolate. At the Maiden Voyage Tavern, unruly customers lust after the delicacy; step-daughter of the landlord, Rosamund, is a nat

      1 min read

    • Article

      4 Historical Novels

      Sep 11, 2019

      King Charles II has brought his Portuguese wife, Queen Catherine, to England. New fashionable fancies include drinking chocolate. At the Maiden Voyage Tavern, unruly customers lust after the delicacy and Rosamund, the stepdaughter of the landlord, is

      1 min read

    • Article

      The PROMISE

      Sep 8, 2021

      The PROMISE
      9 min read

    • Article

      Better Books

      Jan 9, 2020

      Erin Morgenstern, $24.99 When Zachary Rawlins stumbles across a strange book hidden in his university library, it leads him on a quest unlike any other. Determined to solve the puzzle of the book, Zachary follows the clues he finds on the cover – a b

      2 min read

    • Article

      Sign Of The Times

      Jul 2, 2021

      Sign Of The Times
      3 min read

    • Article

      Hearts AND HURTS

      Jun 3, 2020

      Hearts AND HURTS
      9 min read

    • Article

      Cuckoo In The Nest

      Sep 5, 2021

      Cuckoo In The Nest
      3 min read

    • Article

      Excerpt

      Feb 18, 2021

      In the wrong hands a secret is a weapon. Caroline Corsham was alive to the danger, to the vulnerability of her position – she had thought of little else since last night’s disaster. Yet now that the truth was known – her secret guessed, the blade hon

      1 min read

    • Article

      Alabama Club Issues Silver, Copper Medals

      Apr 5, 2024

      The Madison County Coin Club of Huntsville, Ala., announced that Daniel Carr, proprietor of the Moonlight Mint, has produced silver and copper medals for the club. The medals are based on the Saint-Gaudens $20 double eagle. The silver medal is 1 ounc

      1 min read

    • Article

      Losing Battle

      Oct 30, 2020

      Losing Battle
      5 min read

    • Article

      Long dark EVENINGS

      Nov 17, 2021

      Long dark EVENINGS
      3 min read

    • Article

      Story Time

      Sep 11, 2019

      Story Time
      1 min read

    • Article

      Lady with A LUTE

      Jul 27, 2022

      Lady with A LUTE
      9 min read

    • Article

      Decluttering

      Dec 9, 2020

      Decluttering
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Silas Marner

    4/5

    1,856 ratings64 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      A book you haven’t read since high school is on the list for the 2016 Reading Challenge.Synopsis: A young weaver, Silas Marner, is betrayed by his best friend and subsequently leaves his home to find a place to live near a small village. Although he is prosperous, he exists as a poverty stricken hermit with no real friends. One night he is robbed and although this puts him in a more sympathetic light with the townspeople, he goes into a deep depression. During one of catatonic episodes, a two year old girl toddles into his home and changes his life for the better. The mystery of her parentage and of the disappearance on Marner's money are eventually solved.Review: There are huge portions of this story that I'd forgotten since the days in Betty Swyers's classroom. Although the language of the 1800s tends toward verbosity, Silas Marner is much less dense that Middlemarch, one of Eliot's other books. The 'truth will out' and the relentless progression of time are two of the main themes of the story, although unlike many writers in this same time period, the happy ending adds a touch of pleasant finality to Eliot's tale.
    • 5/5
      Set in the early 19th century, Eliot's narrative accurately features the lifestyle, values and traditions of the period. Ethics, religion and the industrial revolution all play a part in this beautiful story. I realize it is not to everyone's taste but I find the old-fashioned language is a delight, describing the actions and feelings of the characters so beautifully.
    • 2/5
      Combines wordiness with sappiness.
    • 4/5
      One of the only books I read for school that I actually liked.
    • 3/5
      good story - a little slow and not as good as austen, but gives a good sense of the historical. story of a man who has his gold stolen and then finds a little girl and changes his life.
    • 5/5
      I love this book about a bitter man finding his happiness in a golden haired child rather than his gold.
    • 3/5
      A story of redemption. Eliot teaches a simple lesson: When we let go of the goods we get the gold. Simplistic but real. Love is the answer.
    • 5/5
      One of the best books I've ever read. Eliot has a great insight into the human mind. Very touching.
    • 5/5
      beautifully written
    • 3/5
      This was a required reading book for one of my High School English classes. I was just reminded of it by a friend who read it recently. Unfortunately, I struggle to remember much about it beyond remembering that we discussed that George Eliot was a pen name.
    • 5/5
      George Eliot does it again for me at least. Having read three of her novels now, I feel like she masters the art of a novel. I wouldn't say this was my favorite of hers, but I liked it a lot and Silas Marner was a great character. If you want to start reading Eliot I suggest you start with this book first (although I started with Middlemarch). This is her shortest novel just under 200 pages while her other novels run over 500 pages. I also like the fact this a story written by a woman about an older man when woman didn't write about male characters at her time. If you are looking for a well written heart warming story for a quick read I recommend this book (it does have it's depressing parts, but the ending makes up for that).
    • 4/5
      A nice little story with a simple plot and a sweet transformation. Paints the characters and the village beautifully.
    • 4/5
      Exiled from his hometown after being wrongfully accused of stealing, Silas Marner settles in a new community as a hermit-like weaver, a social outsider, who grows increasingly obsessed with his small and hard-earned stash of gold. When this treasure is stolen from him, Silas sinks into an utter despair, until one day, when the small child of an opium addict toddles into his life and transforms him with her love into a Real Boy, essentially, I suppose. Running parallel to Marner's tale is the story of the local squire, a wholly unlikeable rich kid type, whose own relationship to the child eventually threatens a third kind of ruin to Marner's life.While I am generally all for a nice Family Don't End with Blood, feel-good story, this one fell pretty flat for me. The characters weren't very fleshed out and the writing didn't wow me, either. *shrug*
    • 4/5
      At first, I thought this was slow and a bit boring but as I kept reading, I grew to like Silas more, loved Eppie, and by the end, I thought it was such a sweet story. I was reading 2 other classic books when I started reading this and after a while, this was the one I wanted to read last because I wanted to end with the best. While Silas was the main character, he shared space with many others and they were as interesting by the end as well. This was my first George Eliot book and it won't be my last.
    • 3/5
      So much of the middle is adjacent to the main character's story that I started to wonder why this was called "Silas Marner" and not "The Cass Family". And the latter's story was quite tedious. It doesn't help that the writing while well-done in one sense is way overwritten. I recall several pages where each was composed of an unbroken block of text. And, for a book almost as short as a novella, it felt at least three times its length. I liked Silas's arc, though, even if it was overshadowed.
    • 2/5
      A hundred years later, still an assigned reading in many high schools. This copy has the names of students of "M. H. S." in 1923 and 1925.: Mary Elizabeth Blew and Surer Colson, who were juniors in 1925 and 1923, respectively.
    • 4/5
      Silas Marner is a strong and lovely little tale, with a blessed departure from all the tedious and repetitive society conversationsand obsessions which overruled the intriguing characters and stories of both MIDDLEMARCH and The Mill on the Floss.A happy ending was totally unexpected and welcome.
    • 3/5
      Dickenesque plot, lots of sentiment and melodrama. It contained a lot of social commentary that made it preachy and outdated. More relevant as a historical document; though I would think that the author's class background would make her "insights" into working class values and mores less valid.
    • 3/5
      Re-read 9/20/17. Still meh. Reads more like a church parable than a story with interesting characters. Compelling to read but unsatisfying in the end. One too many bows put on the mysteries. Maybe I should give it two stars instead of three.
    • 4/5
      Classic 1861 novel about a socially outcast weaver who adopts a child, and the country squire's son who keeps her true parentage secret. Like many novels of this time period, it's pretty wordy for the amount of actual story, but it's a pleasant read, with a warm message about what really makes a family. And George Eliot's writing displays a very keen eye for the details of human nature.
    • 4/5
      It took me a little bit of time - and concentration - to settle into the story. I found Eliot's writing style to be a wordy and probably better suited for reading than listening to (especially if you are like me and tend to multi-task while listening to an audiobook!) Silas Marner is one of those classic tales that runs the gamit of tangible loss, disenfranchisement with society and seclusion of sorts until fate one day gently opens the door and presents a possible path towards a new beginning: A life of redemption and the re-discovery of what it means to love (and we don't mean a continuation of love of worldly possessions!) Eliot does a fantastic job playing sociologist, presenting 19th century England with its class structure (via the squire), rural/ small village life and the ever present role of religion and 'village values' in guiding the population through life. For me, the first 1/3 of the book was pretty much 'ho-hum'. The story started to make its mark on me during the Christmas festivities and that was when I settled in and really was able to enjoy this story for the tale it is.
    • 4/5
      required reading in middle school. Pretty sentimental tale of a miser and his redemptive love of a child.
    • 4/5
      Loved this story. Heartwarming. Examines the issues of parenting, real love, possessiveness and a good mystery to boot.
    • 3/5
      Read half. Just too laborious at the wrong time. Don't want to pick it back up now, nearly two years later.
    • 2/5
      Interesting writing, but extremely predictable story. The opening chapter or two were awful! It would have been so much entertaining (and would have given the reader a better sense of Marner's character) had Eliot fleshed out the exposition. It was so interminably dry that I dreaded reading the rest of the book. Fortunately, it picked up and there were some quite lovely passages to come (the water jug impressed me in particular). I couldn't help but think that had this been written by Dickens, it would have been much more enjoyable, but about 2-3 times longer.
    • 5/5
      This is a great story and a good introduction to George Eliot. She really captures the characters of the English countryside. She can capture their accent on the written page.
    • 5/5
      In Silas Marner, George Eliot has crafted a heartwarming fable woven with incisive commentary on religion, community and the true meaning of wealth. The title character starts out as a faithful member of a religious commune, poised to marry the love of his life. He soon finds himself framed for theft and is exiled from the community. Betrayed, disillusioned and heartbroken, Marner settles on the edge of a faraway village. He becomes a hermit, finding solace in counting his precious stash of gold coins each night. He interacts with the outside world only as required to sell the cloth he weaves and accumulate more gold. But fate intervenes in Marner's life once (well, twice) more. He is forced to engage with the village community, and the rest of the story follows his resulting growth and redemption.Though the material is more simple than that of her larger works, Silas Marner still showcases Eliot's masterful (but admittedly dense) literary style, signature social commentary and humanist beliefs. Her keen observation of human nature helps her writing speak to readers hundreds of years and thousands of miles distant. I heartily recommend Silas Marner to all lovers of literature. Due to the book's modest length, it is especially suited to someone looking for a taste of Eliot's work but who may not have the time or patience to take on Middlemarch. Or the world-weary intellectual looking for an uplifting, fairytale-like story to restore their faith in humanity.
    • 3/5
      This was quite a sad tale in the beginning, as Silas through no fault of his own ends up having to leave his home town & travel far away to Raveloe, where he takes up his weaving, & becomes wealthy in the bargain, until Dunstan, the ne'er do well second son of Squire Cass breaks in to his home, & steals the hoard of gold that Silas' hard work has built up. Later on, Silas finds Eppie, who is "sent to" him after she wanders in to his home through his open door deep one winter night when her opium addicted mother passes out under a bush & dies not far from Silas' home. How these events are tied to the Cass family is kind of convoluted, but it all turns out well in the end.Very sweet tale!
    • 2/5
      Simplistic.
    • 4/5
      I picked up Silas Marner as a spring board to George Eliot’s work, AKA Mary Anne Evans, before bigger commitments such as Middlemarch. Yikes – Silas did not turn out to be a walk in the park. Some misleading facts: A) The book is maybe 50% about Silas. Lots of other key (and non-key) characters occupy pages and pages of the book. B) The synopsis of the book suggests the book revolves around Silas and the child Eppie. Well, the child shows up at Chapter 12, page 108 out of 183 pages. C) I wonder if whoever did the illustration for the cover read the book. She was a 2 year old, in rags, and certainly was not holding a note!! :P Now, re-calibrate yourself to a slow Victorian start, with background stories galore and even some unrelated non-story thrown-in, and ta-da, you will enjoy Silas Marner.Seriously, reading it was a bit of dental work, lots of poke and prod, before the pretty polishing touches. A devoted and dedicated man, deceived and framed by a devious friend, Silas leaves Lantern Yard to Raveloe. Embittered and humiliated, he keeps to himself, working non-stop, living miserly, skipping church and friends, finding joy only in the gold he has painstakingly horded, and yet to have this gold stolen. Dum dum dum. That was page 37, end of Chapter 4. Now fill the pages between Ch 5 through 11 with character stories and backdrops before we arrive at who really matters – Eppie. The story lights up when she arrives. An entire Chapter 6 at the Rainbow (pub) was lost on me. As soon as town folks spoke in “village language”, I was stumped. It wasn’t until I arrived at this passage from the Miss Gunns sisters that I realized I wasn’t processing my reading correctly, “…what a pity it was that these rich country people, who could buy such good clothes should be brought up in utter ignorance and vulgarity. She actually said ‘mate’ for ‘meat’, ‘appen’ for ‘perhaps’, and ‘oss for horse’, which, to young ladies living in good Lytherly society, who habitually said ‘orse, even in domestic privacy, and only said ‘appen on the right occasions, was necessarily shocking.” Doh! Of course, I needed to put on the decoder ring and play guess that word. morrow for tomorrow. gell = girl. allays = always. Got it. Two other main characters occupy the core of this book. 1. Godfrey Cass, the selfish wimp, who pines for Nancy Lammeter, hides the fact that he is married and is the biological father of Eppie for 16 years. His ‘punishment’ – a childless marriage to Nancy. “Dissatisfaction, seated musingly on a childless hearth, thinks with envy of the father whose return is greeted by young voices…” 2. Nancy Lammeter contributed to his laments by denying his request to adopt Eppie (without being told he is her father). Nancy “…had her unalterable little code, and had formed everyone one of her habits in strict accordance with that code.” This code dictated leaving things be as god defined (no adoption) and yet Godfrey is the rightful father and they can provide more physical comfort to Eppie. I had a slight urge to slap her for standing by Godfrey in persuading Eppie to leave Silas and join them. The cream of the book is undoubtedly the love and bond between Silas and Eppie. He dotted on her as lovingly as any father possibly can, and she was the sunshine of his life, representing the gold he lost. I thoroughly enjoyed these pages and wish there were more. “…where Silas Marner sat lulling the child. She was perfectly quiet now, but not asleep - only soothed by sweet porridge and warmth into that wide-gazing calm which makes us older human beings, with our inward turmoil, feel a certain awe in the presence of a little child, such as we feel before some quiet majesty or beauty in the earth or sky - before a steady glowing planet, or a full-flowered eglantine, or the bending trees over a silent pathway.” In return, Eppie loved Silas for all he has given her, declining Godfrey and Nancy with “And he’s took care of me and loved me from the first, and I’ll cleave to him as long as he lives, and nobody shall ever come between him and me.”Reading fiction can be quite a stab to the heart, when your own parental love (or spousal love) do not measure up to the ideals of fiction. This book easily pressed such a button.A few more quotes:On the Rich vs. the Poor:“The rich ate and drank freely, and accepted gout and apoplexy as things that ran mysteriously in respectable families, and the poor thought that the rich were entirely in the right of it to lead a jolly life; besides, their feasting caused a multiplication of orts, which were the heirlooms of the poor.” On Men: :)“…viewing the stronger sex in the light of animals whom it had please Heaven to make naturally troublesome, like bulls and turkey-cocks.”On Women: :)Heroines are always somehow petite-ly dainty - “…while she was being lifted from the pillion by strong arms, which seemed to find her ridiculously small and light”Vs.“Mrs. Kimble was the Squire’s sister, as well as the doctor’s wife – a double dignity, with which her diameter was in direct proportion.” Lol.This book is themed much around karma. From Dolly, Eppie’s godmother:“Ah, it’s like the night and the morning, and the sleeping and the waking, and the rain and the harvest – one goes and the other comes, and we know nothing how nor where. We may strive and scrat and fend, but it’s little we can do arter all – the big things come and go wi’ no striving o’ our’n – they do, that they do; and I think you’re in the right on it to keep the little un, Master Marner, seeing as it’s been sent to you…”