14 h 41 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if everyone knows your duty, but no one thinks to ask what you want?
Ingeborg grows up in an English bishop's household, where obedience leaves little room for her own wishes. When she marries a German pastor, she moves from one church household to another. Her place changes, but the question remains: how much of her life can belong to her when others keep deciding what she ought to be?
In The Pastor's Wife, Elizabeth von Arnim turns marriage, household work and parish expectations into comedy with a serious edge. Neighbors watch, duty earns praise, and personal wishes slip out of sight. Close to Ingeborg, the dry, observant narrator finds both humor and tenderness in a woman beginning to find her own mind.
What you’ll discover
- A daughter shaped by duty Meet Ingeborg in a family where her father's position helps define her place.
- Marriage under watchful eyes Enter a pastor's household where private life faces the judgment of parish and neighbors.
- The work behind the role Notice the daily labor hidden within the respectable title of a pastor's wife.
- Wit with a serious edge Enjoy a dry, quick narrator who stays close to Ingeborg while keeping a smile in reserve.
- A quiet reach for freedom Explore what independence can mean without grand revolt, banners or speeches.
Who will love it
Readers who love witty domestic comedy, sharp portraits of marriage and family, and heroines who stumble toward a life of their own. Fans of Jane Austen's irony and of stories about women finding their voice will feel at home.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A pulled tooth gives Ingeborg her first freedom
- A talkative pastor shows her another way to live
- A proposal arrives with a cake and seven witnesses
- Home in Redchester, she faces the Bishop at last
- Kökensee brings a happy start and a locked laboratory
- Motherhood takes over her body and her days
- She looks for comfort beyond the parsonage
- A painter urges her to feed her mind
- What the story is really about, and how it is told
Who’s who
- Ingeborg BullivantA bishop's dutiful daughter who bursts into sudden, impulsive freedom and wants to please everyone while longing to live for herself.
- Robert DremmelA German pastor who loves fertilizer more than sermons, proposes in a flash, and forgets his family whenever he is working.
- The BishopIngeborg's father, a handsome, vain churchman who expects his daughter to serve him and cannot forgive her for leaving.
- JudithIngeborg's astonishingly beautiful younger sister, who marries the Master of Ananias and says almost nothing.
- Mrs BullivantIngeborg's mother, who has avoided her husband and all difficulties for years by staying on a sofa.
- Frau DremmelRobert's silent, stern mother, who judges her daughter-in-law and expects food, attention, and respect.
- Baroness GlambeckThe wife of the village patron, a firm believer in instincts, customs, and the proper clothing for a pastor's wife.
- Edward IngramA celebrated painter who is tired of fashionable society and wants a pure muse to restore his art.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 14 h 41 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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The Pastor's Wife
by Elizabeth von Arnim · 1914
A bishop's daughter spends her dentist money on a trip to Lucerne and meets a pastor who preaches manure.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What would you do with a free afternoon, ten pounds, and no one to ask? Ingeborg Bullivant, a bishop's daughter of twenty-two, walks out of a London dentist's office and finds out.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A pulled tooth gives Ingeborg her first freedom
The story opens on an April afternoon in London. Ingeborg has just had a tooth pulled, and for the first time in her twenty-two years she is alone. She is the right hand of her father the Bishop, who relies on her for every button, letter, and train time.
Her family sent her to the dentist only after her toothache disturbed the whole household. Now the pain is gone, her aunt is away, and she has ten pounds in her pocket. She imagines grand dinners and a drive to Windsor, but ends up with a huge cup of cocoa at a bread shop.
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What is The Pastor's Wife about?
It follows Ingeborg Bullivant, a bishop's daughter who escapes on a Swiss tour, marries a German pastor, and spends years in East Prussia. The story looks at marriage, motherhood, and a woman's search for a voice of her own.
Who is Ingeborg Bullivant?
She is the unmarried daughter of an English bishop, trained to obey and serve her father. After a sudden holiday, she marries Herr Dremmel and becomes the pastor's wife of the title in the village of Kökensee.
Is The Pastor's Wife a true story?
It is a novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim. It follows Ingeborg through an English church household and married life in a German village.
The author
Elizabeth von Arnim
1866–1941 · British-Australian novelist
Elizabeth von Arnim was an Australian-born British novelist celebrated for her wry, sunlit comedies of manners — most famously The Enchanted April, the story of four women transformed by a month in an Italian castle.
More by Elizabeth von Arnim
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