Laodicean
Thomas Hardy
Play
Length 14 h 19 min
Chapters 57
First published 1881
The Laodicean (someone whose religious beliefs are “lukewarm”) of the title is Paula Power who bought the ancient castle De Stancy which she is determined to restore. Being of a modern frame of mind, she has the telegraph connected to the castle – and uses it all the time in the course of the story.
George Somerset is a young architect who is invited to compete for the chance of the commission to restore the castle and who falls in love with Paula.
However, the brother of Paula’s great friend Charlotte De Stancy – of the aristocratic family that once owned the castle – aided by his villainous illegitimate son, sets out to win Paula for himself.
Although Paula likes the idea of being a De Stancy, she is drawn to George from the start. The various machinations of De Stancy and his son keep the narrative moving along at a fast pace.
Summary by Simon Evers
Chapters
1
Preface Read by Simon Evers 1:56
2
Book the First, Part 2 Read by Simon Evers 25:14
3
Book the First, Part 3 Read by Simon Evers 12:46
4
Book the First, Part 4 Read by Simon Evers 23:09
5
Book the First, Part 5 Read by Simon Evers 22:50
6
Book the First, Part 6 Read by Simon Evers 14:33
7
Book the First, Part 7 Read by Simon Evers 15:06
8
Book the First, Part 8 Read by Simon Evers 17:55
9
Book the First, Part 9 Read by Simon Evers 14:10
10
Book the First, Part 10 Read by Simon Evers 10:03
11
Book the First, Part 11 Read by Simon Evers 15:57
12
Book the First, Part 12 Read by Simon Evers 16:08
13
Book the First, Part 13 Read by Simon Evers 12:43
14
Book the First, Part 14 Read by Simon Evers 12:28
15
Book the First, Part 15 Read by Simon Evers 20:10
16
Book the Second, Part 1 Read by Simon Evers 16:50
17
Book the Second, Part 2 Read by Simon Evers 18:15
18
Book the Second, Part 3 Read by Simon Evers 10:45
19
Book the Second, Part 4 Read by Simon Evers 17:33
20
Book the Second, Part 5 Read by Simon Evers 19:37
21
Book the Second, Part 6 Read by Simon Evers 9:55
22
Book the Second, Part 7 Read by Simon Evers 8:30
23
Book the Third, Part 1 Read by Simon Evers 16:45
24
Book the Third, Part 2 Read by Simon Evers 19:06
25
Book the Third, Part 3 Read by Simon Evers 18:03
26
Book the Third, Part 4 Read by Simon Evers 17:00
27
Book the Third, Part 5 Read by Simon Evers 14:40
28
Book the Third, Part 6 Read by Simon Evers 18:04
29
Book the Third, Part 7 Read by Simon Evers 7:35
30
Book the Third, Part 8 Read by Simon Evers 11:49
31
Book the Third, Part 9 Read by Simon Evers 12:59
32
Book the Third, Part 10 Read by Simon Evers 16:08
33
Book the Third, Part 11 Read by Simon Evers 20:37
34
Book the Fourth, Part 1 Read by Simon Evers 15:55
35
Book the Fourth, Part 2 Read by Simon Evers 9:41
36
Book the Fourth, Part 3 Read by Simon Evers 13:18
37
Book the Fourth, Part 4 Read by Simon Evers 13:14
38
Book the Fourth, Part 5 Read by Simon Evers 10:06
39
Book the Fifth, Part 1 Read by Simon Evers 14:04
40
Book the Fifth, Part 2 Read by Simon Evers 12:48
41
Book the Fifth, Part 3 Read by Simon Evers 12:35
42
Book the Fifth, Part 4 Read by Simon Evers 12:26
43
Book the Fifth, Part 5 Read by Simon Evers 13:20
44
Book the Fifth, Part 6 Read by Simon Evers 9:30
45
Book the Fifth, Part 7 Read by Simon Evers 13:50
46
Book the Fifth, Part 8 Read by Simon Evers 10:14
47
Book the Fifth, Part 9 Read by Simon Evers 13:13
48
Book the Fifth, Part 10 Read by Simon Evers 23:15
49
Book the Fifth, Part 11 Read by Simon Evers 23:03
50
Book the Fifth, Part 12 Read by Simon Evers 12:47
51
Book the Fifth, Part 13 Read by Simon Evers 10:12
52
Book the Fifth, Part 14 Read by Simon Evers 11:39
53
Book the Sixth, Part 1 Read by Simon Evers 15:39
54
Book the Sixth, Part 2 Read by Simon Evers 16:59
55
Book the Sixth, Part 3 Read by Simon Evers 20:11
56
Book the Sixth, Part 4 Read by Simon Evers 12:23
57
Book the Sixth, Part 5 Read by Simon Evers 15:39
From LibriVox, read by volunteers and in the public domain. LibriVox page (opens librivox.org) , the text (opens gutenberg.org) , all files on the Internet Archive (opens archive.org) .
