Linda

John Wood's compelling reading demonstrates a true and deep understanding of this, one of Henry James's greatest novels. His characterizations were perfect, particularly the difficult and at times enigmatic character of Isabel Archer. I hope Mr. Wood will do many more of James's works.

David Timson never fails to deliver, whatever he narrates, but his genius and versatility are best displayed in Dickens's novels, with their great variety of unique and eccentric characters. Timson seems to know these people as intimately as Dickens did, and in Timson's voice, they come vividly to life, each with his or her own highly individual vocal tics. At the same time, Timson has a keen sense of what the narrator is really saying, and how it should be said, from the slyly sarcastic to the genuinely poignant.

While Dombey and Son is considered by some as being among the "lesser" of Dickens's novels (due, perhaps, to the premature death of an important character and the necessity of contriving a plot thereafter), it is nonetheless filled with the rich characterizations, astute humor, and just plain beautiful writing that earn him a place among the greatest of English novelists.

Dickens's spellbinding indictment of the 19th Century British legal system and its tragic impact on the people caught up in it is populated with some of his most vividly drawn characters. Hugh Dickson renders them all perfectly, the high and the low and the middle, from the cool Lady Dedlock to the pathetic Jo to the hilarious William Guppy. I found myself laughing out loud and weeping at scenes that never made me weep before. Highly recommended.

A brilliant reading of a lesser-known, but fascinating tale of love and greed in 19th Century England. Ms. O'Brien has a keen understanding of James's complex style and characters, whom she subtly and distinctly delineates in this excellent recording.

David Timson's narration of Dickens's last completed novel is a tour de force of brilliant characterization. He portrays every one of the many characters so vividly, that, after hearing his reading, you feel you know them. I laughed and wept and didn't want it to end.

An excellent, spellbinding reading of a complex, dark classic. David Timson and Janet McTeer give brilliant performances, he telling Mr. Lockwood's part of the tragic tale, and she Ellen Dean's. Their voice characterizations of the other characters are perfectly done, both actors shifting easily from the King's English to authentic Yorkshire dialect. (McTeer's clear rendering of Joseph's nearly unintelligible dialect is particularly laudable.) Highly recommended.