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Publisher's Summary

Shamela is a bawdy, spirited, and hilarious response to Samuel Richardson's hugely popular 1740 novel, Pamela. In this pointed satire, Shamela (which transpires to be the real name of Richardson's Pamela) reveals the ulterior motives behind the events that took place in Pamela.

Shamela is unlike the virtuous young lady portrayed in Richardson's novel and she takes command of her master, Squire Booby. Our heroine has planned it all out from the start and she is determined to entrap her master into marriage.

Fielding, most famous as the author of Tom Jones and Joseph Andrews, equated morality with expediency, and he takes advantage of the comic form to provide a multi-layered satire of contemporary politics and values. He lampoons political figures, the clergy, and contemporary writers with criticisms that, most importantly, contribute to a comic tour-de-force unlike any other.
Public Domain (P)2013 Naxos AudioBooks

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  • Johanna
  • 23-12-2015

A fun listen after Pamela

If you've successfully waded through Pamela, then congratulations, you've earned this audio book!

What if Pamela Andrews fooled us all, and her "virtue" is just an act? Fielding's satire is wonderfully silly.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 09-11-2020

Loved it!

A GREAT "antidote to the Poison" of Pamela by Richardson! I found myself completely unconvinced and honestly pissed when reading Pamela at the simultaneous cleverness and stupidity of the characters, and I believe, even if questionable, this story provides a great explanation and rebuttal to Pamela and the praise it received (pun intended).

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  • theamazingcatherine
  • 11-04-2017

Couldn't finish it.

Ya know, I've read some dodgy, dodgy, idtastic smut in my time. But this one... bothered me. Maybe it's the atmosphere of 'if she pushes you off she just wants you to try harder, she's probably a whore, go ahead and try to break into her bedroom at night' that just... wasn't something I could see the humour in.

It's a product of its time, perhaps.

But the voice-acting was beautiful.

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  • Anfisa
  • 21-03-2016

Read this after Pamela!

Presented as a list of letters, this satire of Samuel Richardson's best-seller narrates the 'real story' of Pamela Andrews and it's infinitely more enjoyable than the original. The wonderful Clare Corbett narrated both Shamela and Pamela and it's clear she had much more fun doing this book.

There are additional letters included, one from an outraged parson which Fielding uses as a vehicle to deliver contemporary criticisms of Pamela.

This book would be enjoyable enough as a standalone work, but is essential as comic relief for anyone that's been unfortunate enough to read Pamela.

3 people found this helpful

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