The Finger of Fate - A Romance by Mayne Reid AUDIOBOOK

First published in the late Victorian era, Mayne Reid’s The Finger of Fate – A Romance combines the drama of family discord with the evocative landscapes of rural England. Reid, a celebrated chronicler of adventure and the complexities of character, opens his story on the frosty grounds of a Buckinghamshire estate, recently purchased by General Harding after a career in the far reaches of British India. This setting—an Elizabethan mansion amidst wintry woods and carefully tended covers—establishes an atmosphere at once grand and tinged with the unresolved tensions of past and present.

At the book’s core are the half-brothers, Nigel and Henry, whose clashing temperaments and distinctly different heritages reflect in both their appearance and worldviews. Nigel, the dark-skinned elder, betrays flashes of inherited volatility, while the fairer Henry is marked by compassion and restraint. Their rivalry, ignited by an incident of cruelty during a day’s sport, soon kindles an enduring enmity. Reid unfolds the psychological drama with nuance—aided by atmospheric country detail, sharply drawn secondary figures (like the unsavory keeper, Doggy Dick), and a keen sense of class and colonial legacy.

Reid’s style is precise and spirited, alive to both the evocative detail of an English winter and the minute gradations of character. Through the siblings’ strife, issues of inheritance, moral integrity, and the lingering shadows of empire surface organically, giving the novel a depth beyond its engaging surface.

Listeners drawn to family sagas shaded by social and historical context will find The Finger of Fate a compelling portrait of Victorian England in miniature—its privileges, prejudices, and secret wounds. Reid’s narrative voice, attentive to both beauty and brutality, ensures a listening experience at once thoughtful and vivid.

Audiobook time & format : 9h30m20s, OPUS, 445 Mo
Audiobook free extract time & format : 5m (see below to listen), WAV
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