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The LibriVox

Blithedale Romance

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The Blithedale Romance is the story of four principal characters who work
with -- and sometimes against -- each other on Blithedale, a communal farm
antecedent to those that sprang up later in the 1960s, and similar to one on
which Hawthorne himself lived in 1841. These communes arose out of the
pressures on society and the individual brought by the Industrial Revolution.
Some were organized around religious philosophies, some were secular.
Among the secularists, the Transcendental movement mentioned in the
novel espoused the idea that the individual's intuition, rather than religious
dogma, was the true path to spiritual enlightenment. Our four characters,
like so many who fled to these communes, struggle to free mankind from
bondage as they struggle with the unaccustomed day-to-day tasks of farm
life. But they are plagued by a mystery that follows them from the world, and
ultimately leads to tragedy. (Summary by Christine Dufour)

Read by Christine Dufour. Total running time: 8:48:27

This recording is in the public domain and may be reproduced, distributed,
or modified without permission. For more information or to volunteer, visit
librivox.org.

Cover picture of Brook Farm where Hawthorne lived in 1840 and on which
this book is modelled (1850). Copyright expired in U.S., Canada, EU. and all
countries with author's life +70 yrs laws. Cover design by Annise. This
design is in the public domain.

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