The Mill on the Floss (Version 2)


Read by Tom Denholm

(4.8 stars; 50 reviews)

The Mill on the Floss is George Eliot’s second novel, and was published in 1860, only a year after her first, Adam Bede. It centres on the lives of brother and sister Tom and Maggie Tulliver growing up on the river Floss near the town of St. Oggs (a fictionalised version of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, England) in the years following the Napoleonic Wars, with both as young adults eventually meeting a tragic end by the Mill which the family holds so dear. In large measure, their lives are dominated by their father, a successful miller brought down by his inability to resist settling arguments in a court of law. Character differences between Tom and Maggie - he dour and rigid of thought, she lively and impulsive - seem to matter little in childhood, but eventually strain their relationship beyond breaking point. It is Maggie, however, who is the dominant character of the book, arguably one of the great characters of 19th century literature. Each of her relationships is vital to the narrative: with her parents, with Tom above all, but on a romantic level with Philip Wakem, the sensitive hunchbacked son of her father’s (and Tom’s) bitterest enemy, and with charming and urbane Stephen Guest, fiance of Maggie’s cousin Lucy Deane. Maggie’s life is changed utterly by an impulsive elopement which she turns back from, but too late to stop the inevitable abuse and contempt. This is a semi-autobiographical reflection of the vilification which George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) herself had to endure while openly living with a married man, a time when her brother was willing to communicate with her only through lawyers. Eliot writes of character and relationships with an insight and sharp detail that few authors have ever equaled. It’s a long book, but you will appreciate it for its depth. - Summary by Tom Denholm (25 hr 39 min)

Chapters

BOOK FIRST. BOY AND GIRL. Chapter I. Outside Dorlcote Mill 7:08 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter II. Mr Tulliver, of Dorlcote Mill, Declares His Resolution about Tom 17:01 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter III. Mr Riley Gives His Advice Concerning a School for Tom 37:59 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter IV. Tom Is Expected 15:10 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter V. Tom Comes Home 28:05 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VI. The Aunts and Uncles Are Coming 33:09 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VII. Part i Enter the Aunts and Uncles 35:11 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VII. Part ii Enter the Aunts and Uncles, cont'd 31:11 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VIII. Mr Tulliver Shows His Weaker Side 28:20 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter IX. To Garum Firs 41:53 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter X. Maggie Behaves Worse Than She Expected 17:47 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter XI. Maggie Tries to Run away from Her Shadow 33:13 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter XII. Mr and Mrs Glegg at Home 39:37 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter XIII. Mr Tulliver Further Entangles the Skein of Life 9:38 Read by Tom Denholm
BOOK SECOND. SCHOOL-TIME. Chapter I. Part I Tom’s ''First Half'' 36:51 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter I. Part II Tom’s ''First Half'', cont'd 24:01 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter II. The Christmas Holidays 23:16 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter III. The New Schoolfellow 17:07 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter IV. ''The Young Idea'' 32:05 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter V. Maggie's Second Visit 14:01 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VI. A Love-Scene 13:49 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VII. The Golden Gates Are Passed 19:36 Read by Tom Denholm
BOOK THIRD. THE DOWNFALL. Chapter I. What Had Happened at Home 18:40 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter II. Mrs Tulliver's Teraphim, or Household Gods 14:05 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter III. Part i The Family Council 21:14 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter III. Part ii The Family Council, cont'd 24:49 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter IV. A Vanishing Gleam 11:02 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter V. Tom Applies His Knife to the Oyster 34:03 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VI. Tending to Refute the Popular Prejudice against the Present of a Po… 20:50 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VII. How a Hen Takes to Strategem 35:11 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VIII. Daylight on the Wreck 23:41 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter IX. An Item Added to the Family Register 17:13 Read by Tom Denholm
BOOK FOURTH. THE VALLEY OF HUMILIATION. Chapter I. A Variation of Protestantism… 15:29 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter II. The Torn Nest is Pierced by the Thorns 17:03 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter III. Part i A Voice from the Past 21:58 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter III. Part ii A Voice from the Past, cont'd 22:50 Read by Tom Denholm
BOOK FIFTH. WHEAT AND TARES. Chapter I. In the Red Deeps 36:20 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter II. Part i Aunt Glegg Learns the Breadth of Bob's Thumb 23:31 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter II. Part ii Aunt Glegg Learns the Breadth of Bob's Thumb, cont'd 26:14 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter III. The Wavering Balance 20:38 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter IV. Another Love-Scene 16:59 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter V. The Cloven Tree 35:46 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VI. The Hard-Won Triumph 13:34 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VII. A Day of Reckoning 20:09 Read by Tom Denholm
BOOK SIXTH. THE GREAT TEMPTATION. Chapter I. A Duet in Paradise 24:47 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter II. First Impressions 36:41 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter III. Confidential Moments 12:54 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter IV. Brother and Sister 21:30 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter V. Showing That Tom Had Opened the Oyster 12:30 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VI. Illustrating the Laws of Attraction 31:10 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VII. Philip Re-enters 39:29 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter VIII. Wakem in a New Light 21:23 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter IX. Charity in Full-Dress 29:22 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter X. The Spell Seems Broken 19:15 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter XI. In the Lane 19:54 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter XII. A Family Party 19:54 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter XIII. Borne Along by the Tide 41:06 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter XIV. Waking 34:09 Read by Tom Denholm
BOOK SEVENTH. THE FINAL RESCUE. Chapter I. The Return to the Mill 22:00 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter II. St Ogg's Passes Judgment 27:32 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter III. Showing That Old Acquaintances Are Capable of Surprising Us 20:58 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter IV. Maggie and Lucy 20:08 Read by Tom Denholm
Chapter V. The Last Conflict, and Conclusion 37:10 Read by Tom Denholm

Reviews


(5 stars)

If, like me, you’ve struggled reading Eliot’s classic, then this recording is a great version which would be completely at home on a paid for platform. Tom Denham’s fine reading really brings the story alive; I literally couldn’t stop listening. He narrates in a soft North East accent (Durham/Teesside maybe), which, as an ancient English dialect, is perfect for the 19th Century rural Lincolnshire characters. Tom’s development from an impetuous boy to a brooding adult and successful entrepreneur, Maggie’s trials and tribulations growing from a wildling girl to an intensely independent and intelligent, but flawed young woman are brought dramatically to life. The shrewish, sanctimonious Aunts Glegg, Pullet and Deane are brilliantly satired as is Mr Tulliver Snr with all his bluster, but also depicted with sensitivity and pathos as called for by the text. A really excellent all round recording and one of the best on LibriVox.

Beautifully read


(5 stars)

Tom Denholm's reading of this book is a pleasure. Sometimes the earlier sections are slow-moving, but there is quite a bit of hidden tongue-in-cheek humour hiding in it, as well as some wrily-observed comments on the intellectual superiority of men. The irony that this is a female author, covering a wide range of subjects, is not lost!

Beautiful reading


(5 stars)

A wonderful reading, with a steady pace that weaves through Eliot's elaborate sentences very pleasingly. Dignified and heartfelt, this really seems to do the story justice.

A glimpse of times past


(5 stars)

A brilliant reading of a wonderful book

Amazing


(5 stars)

A wonderful and moving tale.

Excellent reading


(4 stars)

A great book indeed, though for me it was difficult to get through because of the overwhelmingly depressed character of Maggie. Yes it rings so true, because lives are so often torn down by internal conflicts like her's, but none the less she is impossible to bear. A very disturbing book about the implacability of Fate, lit up by scenes of comedy with her aunt's.


(5 stars)

Omniscient narration gives splendid insight to all characters. Tragedy and sorrow has complete satisfaction in personification, and other literary models, especially metaphor, were exhausted to the uttermost. Eliot”s genius stirs this readers’s sincere approbation.

Most enjoyable


(5 stars)

Very well read. Full of character.