Emma

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Jenny Agutter

Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins

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.

A stunningly complex web of affections

Trying not to give away spoilers, but this has to be the most artfully crafted web of interpersonal true and false attachments ever to grace the pages of fiction.

To follow all the sincerity and insincerity, public narratives and secrets, spoken and unspoken communications takes a bold focus, but if you succeed, there are many sweet rewards awaiting you.

Sadly there are many whole chapters that appear to offer the story line no forward motion... just be patient. Austen enjoys merely showing off how ridiculous Victorian elite can be.

Did the narrator not like the book?

Usually audible narrators are fantastic. The performance here seems rushed with little effort to distinguish among the voices of the characters. Disappointing.

Unabridged Goodness

I love this unabridged performance by the talented Jenny Agutter. I wish I'd never purchased the Ana Lea adaptation. Emma may be my least favorite Austen character but she comes off even worse when you abridge!

beautifully written

I love these classic romances. They are among my favorite to listen to. The narrator was acceptable.

the romance that started it all

It's clear where modern romance novels get many of their tropes! The idle small talk often lacks any relevance to the plot, but it is exceptionally well written and distressingly similar to the aimless chit chat that persists when folks are attempting to be extra polite, so Jane Austen gets points for realism at the very least. Jenny Agutter reads the novel excellently. I had never been able to get through Emma in print, but I had no trouble listening to it read!

Perfection!

A perfect marriage of novel & reader’s voice! Agutter not only reads; she channels Jane Austen—& Emma. So much FUN to listen to!!

More slow-moving than other Jane Austin novels

Well-read story and well-developed characters, but the pace was too slow for my liking.

Jenny Agutter (of “Logan’s Run” and “Call the Midwife” fame) Is a marvelous narrator!

A great rendition of a favorite Jane Austen novel. A trained and experienced actor bringing skills to narration.

Well done Jenny, well done

A delightful reading of Emma by Jenny Agutter. Her various voices for different characters was excellent, I especially enjoyed her portrayal of Miss Bates! When did she take a breath? And her voices for men were great. I've heard some female readers just go husky but not Ms. Agutter. I'm afraid I compare all readers of Jane Austen to Karen Savage and find them wanting. It was definitely not the case here. Thank you Jenny for bringing Emma alive for my daughter and me on a cross-country trip.

Wonderful

Better than I expected. Jane Austen writes so many types of people. Everything comes together brilliantly at the end.