vinegarSpanning 350 years, Orlando is a time-travel adventure that tells the story of a seemingly immortal aristocrat and aspiring writer who catches the eye of Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. Upon his arrival at court, he becomes Elizabeth’s lover, who is upset when she sees him kissing a younger woman, but grants him lands and fortunes. In the 17th century, during the reign of Charles II, he is created a duke and appointed ambassador to Constantinople. There, he sleeps for seven days and wakes up as a woman. On his return to England, Orlando finds that he can no longer own a house due to his gender, leading to a court battle that lasts years. She begins to wear men’s clothing to regain her authority and fight against the forces of patriarchy.
Nearly a century after it was written, Virginia Woolf’s pioneering, genre-defying novel (a feminist fantasy written as a biography) comes into its own in an age of greater understanding and awareness of gender nonconformity. Actress and sound veteran Juliet Stevenson voices Orlando, and her reading skillfully navigates the book’s narrative detours and numerous voices, capturing the distinctive rhythms of Woolf’s prose. Decades pass, and the protagonist travels the world, has multiple relationships, and refuses to be bound by the conventions of her time. By the 20th century, she has made a name for herself as a writer. Orlando is a refreshing reminder that gender fluidity is not a modern invention, and that, given time, one person can live multiple lives.
Available from Naxos Audiobooks, 9 hours 16 minutes
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