Emma [Naxos Edition]

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

One of Jane Austen's most popular novels. Arrogant, self-willed, and egotistical, Emma is her most unusual heroine.

Public Domain (P)2006 Naxos Audiobooks

Loved it!

Very well read and engaging. I loved this reader, she did a nice job. I would listen again.

Great performance

Juliet Stephenson is a wonderful actress, and she brings each character to life, distinctly and with great charm. Even the odious Emma is made tolerable by her acting. She is far and away my favorite performer of the Austen novels.

Must Read!!

I have read this book before, and am sure that I will read it again. Jane Austen continues to grab the reader and thrust them fully into the world she created around her characters. List this bookas "Must Read"!!

Excellent narration

Juliet Stevenson does a fantastic job narrating 'Emma'. I didn't like 'Emma' much when I read it myself a couple of years ago, but I think that's because it book features a much different sort of character development compared to most of Jane Austen's other fabulous novels. This second experience, hearing it read, really brought out the fine points of the book, and highlighted the masterful depictions of 'polite' conversation. Really, I can't say enough about the narration - Ms. Stevenson has a very pleasing voice, and she modulated admirably for various characters.

Though this audiobook is quite pricey, even with Audible.com membership discount, I'm convinced it's worth every penny.

Loved, loved, loved the narration!

I loved this rendition of Emma - wonderfully narrated! And of course, a lovely story.

Best Narration EVER!

Juliet Stevenson made a great book even better with her reading style and acting! I believe she played Mrs Elton in the movie with Gwyneth Paltrow, but I'll have to check. (Stephen Fry and Elijah Wood are also fantastic)I kept forgetting that I wasn't listening to actual men and women talking, but just one person! This book really came alive in Ms Stevenson's hands. I highly, highly recommend this book! And now, I'm going to find the movie, Emma, to watch. The one with Gwyneth Paltrow...

Best book of all time

This is one of the best books in English literature. Complex, well-developed characters, especially the heroine.

Wonderful characterisation

Emma is probably my least favourite Jane Austen novel - Emma is spoilt, her father is a paranoid hypochondriac and everyone seems to dabble in everyone else's business. However, Juliet Stevenson brought the whole story to life. She has a superb ability to give all the characters an individual accent and/or manner of speech and it becomes an audio play with parts being intersperse with narration. I loved it - I loved it so much I am about to go for the third Jane Austen novel read by Juliet - they are such a treat. If you love Jane Austen these versions are the versions for you.

Most Beloved Emma

I loved the suburb narration of Juliet Stevenson. The story is a delight and an escape.

Setting aside the richness of Austen's narrative:

Juliet Stephenson's performance is, again, phenomenal. Her gift is, at least, worthy of the great works she narrates. (I can vouch, at least, for this fact in Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook; the auditory experience of which not only did that great and beloved book 'justice,' but revealed layers I'd missed in my own previous readings.)

Especially praiseworthy is the distinctness of each character's narration; one rarely questions whether a particular snippet of dialogue belongs to Emma, her father, or her young charge, Miss Harriet Smith - etc. Those of us who take in these readings while simultaneously engaged in other necessary pursuits - housecleaning or driving, for instance, may be particularly grateful for this.

Alternatively, if one has been too intimidated - or simply overwhelmed with other duties - to read certain classics in the past, one could not hope for a better introduction than that which Stephenson makes possible. (While I'd previously read - and thoroughly fallen in love with - the aforementioned book by Lessing - this audiobook has been my first introduction to Jane Austen, and now I find myself alternating between the narration and a Kindle edition, highlighting especially brilliant passages - each complementing the other quite richly. And, even better, I am able to manage this while juggling all sorts of motherly and other responsibilities.)

In short: I would listen to Juliet Stephenson's reading of a phone book - but, blessedly, she narrates classic works instead, bringing them to life in unexpectedly vivid ways. ***APPLAUSE.***