Jane Eyre  By  cover art

Jane Eyre

By: Charlotte Brontë
Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

Publisher's summary

The work tells the story of Jane's early life, her experience at Lowood School and as a governess. Her refusal to accept Rochester's love on any but her own strictly moral terms is a passionate cry for independence.
©2006 BBC Audiobooks (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Jane Eyre

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent, but second best...

Jane Eyre is, for me, the greatest of all classic British literature. It is a remarkable gift to have such a magnificent novel read by such capable readers. While Juliet Stevenson does an excellent job, I find the older (and less expensive) version read by Lucy Scott to be as exceptional as the book itself. Stevenson has bit deeper a British accent, while Scott maintains a greater clarity of speech while creating an authentic English tone.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Superb narration of a great romantic classic

Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, narrated by the incomparable Juliet Stevenson. Sigh. This is classical romance at its best.

Some who read rather than listen may find parts slow, unrealistic and liberally laced with purple prose. But not so listening to Stevenson. Her voice envelopes the high morality of Victorian England, the expressions of love, sacrifice, pain, confusion, desperation – and transports these into the realm of prose-music. Her voice caresses the words. She transforms the coincidences and high drama to the level of probability. She gentles the listener into suspending belief and luxuriating in the outpouring of human emotions, the urgency of secret love and devotion, the unquestioning correctness of sacrifice, the terror of the insane.

Romantics will be enthralled by the barriers to the consummation of love, the very least being the class system and Victorian self restraint.

Stevenson's narration is better than good. This is great classic, read superbly.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous book and narrator

Jane Eyre is, of course, a fabulous book. But when narrated by Juliet Stevenson, it is brought to life in the most satisfying way. I have loved listening to this book and getting to know the characters (again) through Ms. Stevenson's lively narration.

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21 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • 08-13-13

Perfect in Every Way

This performance by Juliet Stevenson is absolute perfection. The headphones never left my ears for days.
I cannot recommend this too highly.

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14 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

How a Classic should Sound

Jane Eyre and Juliet Stevenson. Sheer Heaven. It always surprises me how long Jane Eyre can be, but this edition makes you understand why good old Jane has appealed to so many for so long. Once again, the narrator makes the difference, and I just can't recommend Juliet Stevenson enough! Long may she read!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful narrator

Juliet Stevenson is my favourite narrator, period. She understands the characters, and plays them amazingly. Some of the books I choose to listen is because of her narration, and not the book itself (although it obviously plays a role in the matter).

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Jane Eyre narrated by Juliet Stevenson

Fantastic! Stevenson was superb in her narration! Definite recommendation for those who love the classic art.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Mellifluous

I was captivated with Charlotte Brontë's heroine from the moment we were introduced to her. Jane is an independents spirit, a smart girl with a strong sense of morals who has met with more than her fair share of bad luck, and it's impossible not to feel intense sympathy for her cause. She is both naive and infinitely wise beyond her years, and while the young woman is very much bound by the conventions of her time, the fact that she must follow her heart at every turn pushes her to act in surprising ways and make choices that seem unbearably difficult, which of course makes for great storytelling. Brontës vivid descriptions of the surroundings help us place the action in time and place, but also serve to give us much information about the character's inner workings. I was delighted to discover upon this second reading, that I had forgotten all of the second half of the story, in which Jane's quest for belonging and family rang all too true.

Listening to the excellent actress Juliet Stevenson narrate this story with her trademark rich, smooth voice, truly made this excellent story all the more pleasant to rediscover.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Glad I Finally Read This Classic

I was thoroughly charmed by this book. It is written in a totally different style than what one would expect of a 21st century book, but putting myself in an early 19th century frame, I was able to enjoy this book. I loved the flow of the prose, the use of currently little-used words, the elegance of the whole thing. I can't believe I have lived this long without even knowing the story line of Jane Eyre. I was enthralled with it on many levels. I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the writing, creativity and the obvious intelligence of the author. I will be thinking about this story for a long time to come. I think everyone should read it sooner or later. Jane is a great role model for not just young girls, but for everyone who is trying to be a better human being. I hope that is all of us.

The narrator, Juliet Stevenson, was excellent. My one complaint is that she is very soft spoken and could be a little hard to hear.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The Brontes loved their bad boys

I approached Jane Eyre as a sort of literary castor oil, something I knew I should read one of these days but didn't feel much enthusiasm for. I already knew the basic story, and I'm really not into wish-fulfillment women's fiction, even if it is classic Victorian literature. To my surprise, I rather enjoyed it.

A modern editor would probably have cut much of the last third of the book, in which Jane flees from Thornfield Hall after learning Mr. Rochester's deep dark secret, and then spends many chapters with her new family, the Rivers, and not much happens except that a fortune falls into her lap, she has to entertain a marriage proposal, and then she goes off to find Rochester again and discovers him conveniently widowed and in need of an angelic woman to nurse him back to health. So they live happily ever after, the end.

Okay, there are some more details to the last part of the book that make it worth reading, like the studied contrast between the good and noble but cold and severe St. John Rivers and the hot-blooded romantic bad boy Edward Rochester. I did not like Rochester; he's not as horrible as Heathcliff, the romantic bad boy created by Charlotte's sister Emily in Wuthering Heights, but I think both Bronte sisters had some seriously warped ideas about what made a man desirable. Crazily, passionately in love with you and otherwise amoral and willing to destroy anyone and anything that gets between you? Yes, you can probably blame the Brontes in part for this trope that persists in romantic fantasies to this day. Jane Eyre is totally wish-fulfillment for women who want a Rochester or a Heathcliff to obsess over them. But it's a classic and well-written and while I wouldn't say Charlotte Bronte's understanding of human nature was particularly broad or even enlightened, she had a fine eye for the detailed personalities of her small cast of characters in the little world she created.

So, is Jane Eyre worth reading? Definitely.

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