The Paying Guest (dramatic reading)

Written by George Gissing

Narrated by LibriVox Community

Clarence and Emmeline Mumford are in for a real treat when they take in the young, outspoken Miss Louise Derrick as their guest. Shedding a light on class struggles in the Victorian era, The Paying Guest offers a look at just what "proper society" expects. (Summary by Amanda Friday)

Cast:
Narrator: Elizabeth Klett
Clarence Mumford: AllenJohns
Emmeline Mumford: Arielle Lipshaw
Louise Derrick: Amanda Friday
Mrs. Higgins: Kristingj
Mr. Bilton/Man: Noel Badrian
Mr. Cobb: Robert Hoffman
Servant: April Gonzales
Dr. Billings: Ernst Pattynama
Mrs. Grove: Tiffany Halla Colonna

Audio edited by: Amanda Friday

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

George Gissing

George Gissing (1857-1903) was an English novelist. Born in Yorkshire, he excelled as a student from a young age, earning a scholarship to Owens College where he won prizes for his poetry and academic writing. Expelled and arrested for a series of thefts in 1876, Gissing was forced to leave England for the United States, teaching classics and working as a short story writer in Massachusetts and Chicago. The following year, he returned to England and embarked on a career as a professional novelist, publishing works of naturalism inspired by his experience of poverty and the works of Charles Dickens. After going through an acrimonious divorce, Gissing remarried in 1891 and entered a turbulent relationship with Edith Alice Underwood, with whom he raised two children before separating in 1897. During this time, after writing several unpublished novels, Gissing found success with New Grub Street (1891), Born in Exile (1892), and The Odd Women (1893). In the last years of his life, Gissing befriended H.G. Wells and travelled throughout Italy, Germany, and France, where he died after falling ill during a winter walk.