Villette

By: Charlotte Brontë

Narrated by: Mandy Weston

Length: 20 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Long overshadowed by Jane Eyre, Villette is widely admired as one of Charlotte Bronte's finest works. This story of a young teacher at a girl's school in the city of Villette is a particular challenge for the young reader, for it requires maturity of vision, a fine narrative sense - and a command of French! Mandy Weston, a newcomer to Naxos AudioBooks, tells the story magnificently.

©2007 Naxos Rights International (P)2007 Naxos Rights International

Villette

A truly remarkable book and reading experience. I had not heard of this Brontë book til recently but am so so glad I did. I loved it and I highly recommend

Performance Was Fantastic

Great voice, timing. This read is one of the best I’ve heard in a long time. It kept me coming back to the story.

a novel about state of mind

I was a little disappointed in Villette. The narration is fine. But the novel is almost painfully lacking in any real events. The best thing about it is the subtle representation in Lucy Snowe, the narrator, of desires that she is not fully aware of. But she is a frustratingly cold and uncurious personality. She's so turned in on herself, so reluctant to actually do anything, that the novel becomes boring at times.

The Best of Villette

Excellent narration of Charlotte Brontë’s finest novel. Great job with the different accents and characters, and the French pronunciations seem right. An easy listening voice.

Note: this novel contains many French sentences and phrases in dialogue. The story overall is still pretty obvious if you don’t know the language, but to get the most out of it, it might be a good idea to check out an annotated copy of the book, like Penguin’s (my well-loved copy), and follow the footnotes in the back by chapter, which translates them.

Touching story

The amount of French threw me off a bit but the story as a whole is one that needs to be known. Lucy Snow is an amazingly complex character who unapologetically matches to the beat of her own drum and faces adversities with the truth of pain and honor

classic

Though nothing can compare with Jane Eyre, this was a great story, well told and well narrated. I had never read this before hearing it performed, and I followed without difficulty.

My heart did break.

What took me so long to read this masterpiece? I found Lucy so incredibly relatable despite her attempts to keep herself hidden from those around her and the reader. My heart sank as I stood upon that shore with Lucy waiting for hope to be realized…

Not for Everyone

This is a work strange and perverse. The heroine makes Jane Eyre seem even-tempered. So it is not for those who want a pleasant romantic storyline. There's much of interest here: some really well-drawn characters and vivid description. Of interest to students and admirers of the Victorian era and women's place in it. Lucy Snowe (the narrator and heroine) is full of anger and repression and is therefore a heck of a psychological study in herself. The plot is nearly non-existent. Best, I think, for those who are interested in the role of women in society in general, and in the character and talent of the Brontes in particular.

Good story, though some concerns

The story was good, excellent writing, and the narration superb. I do have some reservations about the relationship between Paul and Lucy. I don't want to write any spoilers, but I found Lucy to be too desperate (perhaps she was really desperate for friendship and love), and too willing to be toyed with. Some reviewers commented about the French dialog. I know that if I were reading it rather than listening, I would have done better with the French - seeing the words in front of me helps. I was lazy, because even if I missed some of it (I did learn 4 years of H.S. French oh, so long ago), from the context you could fill it in. I did think every so often of looking at the text, but then I never bothered to interrupt my listening to do that. I do not view this more-than-usual use of French as a fault of the book. I view it as my deficiency. It's a language I feel I ought to know, and wish I could understand better. Don't let it deter you!

So good!!

Oh my I could listen to this again! It was really good! And the reader is also very good. I don’t speak French I can only imagine how much better I would be if I did. Still a great book - even without know French, lol