The Ponder Heart Audiobook By Eudora Welty cover art

The Ponder Heart

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Ponder Heart

By: Eudora Welty
Narrated by: Sally Darling
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $11.17

Buy for $11.17

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Originally published in The New Yorker in 1954, The Ponder Heart is easily Eudora Welty’s most comic novel, a lighthearted burlesque that rivals Caldwell’s Tobacco Road for capturing rural idioms, and the novels of Mark Twain for high farce.

Edna Earle, a person of large distinction in Clay County, and the talkative owner of the Beulah Hotel, tells the story of her Uncle Daniel Ponder, a local hero whose over-affection for society compels him to give everything he owns away. The disappearance of Uncle Daniel’s second wife, the waifish and willowy Bonnie Dee Peacock, leads to his arrest for murder. The trial, which comprises the second half of the novel, is a masterpiece of courtroom anarchy. A cast of Dickensian characters coupled with Edna’s hysterically accurate observations of small-town life, transport the reader, like a raucous family drive, to a truly original conclusion.

©1982 Eudora Welty (P)1994 Recorded Books, LLC
Fiction Classics Short Story
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Ponder Heart

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    24
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    27
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very Southern

The story was quite engaging. The southern accent was perfect and the setting of a small southern town brought back memories.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great reader

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I liked the reader, although the comedy was often over-the-top, and the characters, especially Uncle Daniel and the lawyers, were not believable. The courtroom scene was interminable.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It was okay; I was glad when the book was over.

What does Sally Darling bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her Southern accent is very good. She makes Edna Earle, the narrator, come to life.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No. I'm not a fan of Southern comedies. I've liked Eudora Welty in the past, although not this one so much.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A little too "Southern" for me

While I strongly identify with a number of female southern writers, I did not particularly enjoy this book. I recalled starting on it years ago in paperback form and never coming back to it. Welty's ability to capture the essence of the town and the characters was excellent, but the story itself was so sticky-sweet and sappy (typical rendition of many southern towns and their people), I almost stopped listening a couple chapters in. I did finish listening, however.
For what the story was, the narrator was perfect and did an excellent job delivering each character's most likely voice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!