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Emma

By: Jane Austen
Narrated by: Jenny Agutter
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Publisher's Summary

Exclusively from Audible

Emma can be enjoyed as a charming love story, a detective story, and a comic and lively picture of English life 200 years ago.

Austen's beautiful, clever, wilful but fallible heroine Emma Woodhouse believes she knows best. Perfectly content with her life she sees no need for either love or marriage, yet nothing pleases her more than meddling in the romantic lives of others. But when she fails to heed the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and schemes to arrange a suitable match for her protégée, Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. She discovers that she understands the feelings of others as little as she does her own heart.

With a cast of unforgettable characters, it is a lively comedy of manners that explores the concerns of genteel women living in Regency times.

Jane Austen was an English writer known primarily for her six major novels which focused on the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Her plots often explore women's dependence on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security.

Narrator Biography

Jenny Agutter began her acting career as a child in 1964's East of Sudan and is well known for appearing in three adaptations of The Railway Children. She starred in the critically acclaimed 1971 film Walkabout as well as receiving a string of Hollywood roles. She won an Emmy for her role in The Snow Goose (1971), as well as a BAFTA for her role in Equus (1997).

More recently she has appeared in several television dramas, including Spooks (2002-2003), and Call the Midwife since 2012. She has performed in numerous theatre productions, including roles with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has also narrated audiobooks like Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle, and featured in the Doctor Who audio dramas inThe Bride of Peladon, and The Minister of Chance. In 2012 she was appointed OBE for her charity work.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Emma

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Wonderful reading brought the story alive.

The narration was easy to follow and the intonation of the dialogue conveyed the characterisations perfectly and made it easier to follow the story. Highly recommended.

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Incredibly performance of this beloved classic!

Listen to this - you won’t regret it. The narrator is absolutely captivating and represents each of the characters to perfection. And of course, Jane Austen delivers a witty, wonderful, heart-warming story of redemption worth revisiting over and over. I couldn’t recommend this audiobook more!

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  • Overall
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Great narration

The narration of this book is a 10 out of 10! I enjoyed it thoroughly!

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  • Overall
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Loved it!

A re-reading (listening) after 20 years and it is better than ever. Jane Austen is an incredible storyteller and Jenny Agutter does the story justice. An absolute treat!

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Easy listening

It was easy to listen to driving around home town or at home doing daily jobs

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  • Overall
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Captivating story, sometimes difficult to follow

‘Emma’ was the final piece of the Jane Austen collection for me to experience, The story itself was enthralling as in typical Austen fashion, though the standout would be the characters who were arguably some of her most nuanced (and oftentimes vexing).

Though Jenny Agutter has a lovely voice that one can easily fall into, the overall performance was disappointing. There was inconsistency in voice changes between characters, along with abrupt changes in tone mid-sentence, and a few editing errors. I needed to rewind a fair bit due to lack of clarity as to which character was speaking.

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  • Overall
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Not my favourite Austen

This is the last in my austenathon inc Lady Susan and maybe it’s the duration of it but while I have reached a new appreciation of Northanger Abbey Emma I found a struggle with the heroine by todays standards not particularly likeable.

Persuasion remains my favourite

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Great story, occasionally underwhelming performance

Classic story, mostly well performed except that the same voice was frequently carried over from one character to the next, or from a piece of narrative to speech. This was particularly noticeable when transitioning to a male character, and made it difficult at times to determine which character was speaking. The reading was otherwise very expressive and evocative, and many of the female characters were very well done - notably Miss Bates and Mrs Elton.

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Jenny Agutter is superb

Such a nuanced and delightful interpretation: Jenny Agutter extracts the humour and characters perfectly. A delight to revisit an old favourite in this way.

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Another Jane Austen delight

I’ve so enjoyed all the Jane Austen novels that I’ve heard on audible. Coming to them years after a first reading has been a true delight. All the narrators have proved equal to their task and I’m sorry that I now have no more to listen to!

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