Romola
“British actress Lucy Scott captures the sweeping drama of this literary classic with a thoughtful and calming narration…The audiobook adaptation of this novel is lengthy and sometimes so rich with detail that it can be easy to lose track of the plot. But Scott’s narration carries the listener through by maintaining focus on the heart of the story.”
AudioFile
Set in the turbulent years following the death of Lorenzo de’ Medici, George Eliot’s fourth novel, Romola, moves the stage from the English countryside of the nineteenth century to Italy four centuries before her time. It tells the tale of a young Florentine woman, Romola de’ Bardi, and her coming of age through her troubled marriage to the suave and self-absorbed Greek, Tito. Slowly Tito’s true character begins to unfurl and his lies and treachery push Romola towards a more spiritual path, where she transcends into a majestic, Madonna-like role, while Tito descends further into corruption and villainy.
Impeccably researched, the novel features a cast of historical characters including Girolamo Savonarola, Piero di Cosimo, and Niccolò Machiavelli and draws parallels between the Republic of Rome of Eliot’s day and the Republic of Florence ruled by Savonarola, most famous for its “bonfire of the vanities,” depicted here in vivid detail.
Praise