The French Lieutenant's Woman

This is my first review of an audible book. Had to recommend it. Amazing story, remarkable insight into both the Victorian, and mid-20th century cultures. Best of all: this is truly an OUTSTANDING reader -- believable (accurate) accents, great pace and tone. The skills of both the author and the reader add up to sophisticated story telling at its very best. This is a book to return to again and again.

There was a big-time film version of this novel, with fine stars. I saw it but can't remember it. This presentation is one I will never forget. If you liked the film, which I dimly recall presents a romance between two cast members as well as the one in the film itself, I think you will like this much better. It is the most enjoyable and unusual writing about Victorian times I know of and the narration by Paul Shelley is perfection. Just be warned. This is not light reading and the ending may stun a sensitive soul. Like me.

I have been listening to two Audible books per month for two years now. This is not only the finest book I have ever listened to, it is probably also the finest I have ever read. The story is compelling and the asides addressing the foibles of the Victorian era are genius. The narration is simply superb. I have tried reading the book several times over the years, and the intricacy of it on the written page always dissuaded me. Thank goodness I did not miss out on it any longer. A sensational listen.

As an audible listener for a number of years I have found that books of this length (over 17 hours) have the great potential of becoming tedious. This is NOT one of them. As other reviewers have mentioned this is a book that will keep you interested throughout, both because of the story itself, but also because of the narration. And the author's tendency to let the reader into his own mind and to understand the choices he makes in telling the story are quite engaging. One of the best aspects is not being able to quite predict what will happen next, even up to the very end.

Fowles' novel is spectacular and the reading does it justice. It is metafiction in the guise of realism. The narrator's entries into the text and the fascinating ending contrast and play with the "truth-telling" function of traditional realism.

I'm a regular audible listener, listening to books during walks, and I extended my walks to get some extra listening time on this one.

This is a must for fans of 19th century literature, and as far as I know (I hope that I'm worng), a unique novel. It's as though Fowles was channelling by turns Hardy, Eliot and Trollope with a controlled authentic sounding Victorian voice, interspersed with a postmodern wink and a nod to the "death of the author." It's a novel that I will pick up in print to catch some of the voice play.

The narration was excellent, too and suited the text so well. The narrator was one of those rare male readers who can "do" female voices - that is, distinguish among all the characters - without a silly falsetto or similar affectation.

I saw the movie back in the early 80s, but didn't really get it. Now I think I will watch it again and better understand what the screenwrtier was trying to do.

This should be a required close study for anyone who attempts historical ficition (esp. 19th century) - Perhaps then there might be better stuff passed off as "historical fiction."

I had seen the movie which was okay, but the book has so many more layers. The entwining of the story, some history of social attitudes during the victorian era, and even some gentle humour make the whole experience a delicious feast that infuses with the sights and aromas of victorian rural England
If you have even the least interest in the victorian era, read this book. The narration is great too. Overall I award this book the the ultimate prize ...... 3 chocolate fish.

I found the author thoroughly irritating because he kept putting his voice into the story, talking about the writing of it. I'm sure there's some great literary reason for this, but it just kept pulling me out of the story. The storyline captivated me though, and it's stayed in my thoughts. Despite the irritating side lines from the author, this book was beautifully written and written in such a way that what might have been a fairly mundane story was instead transformed into something that felt incredibly personal and evocative. Narration was good, took me a few minutes to get into it but then I was hooked - this seems to be the norm for me with audio books.

If the author had stuck to the story and dropped his increasingly interrupting asides about the victorian period relative to his perspective when he was about to retell the story from another angle. What I originally thought would be a creative read, became a tedious listen and toward the end, I found myself completely tuned out during his diatribes and needed to rewind when I finally tuned back in to discover that the story had finally continued.

No, only from this author.

I would have put the book down by halfway through as the author's interruptions became worse and worse as the book progressed, but the narrator was an engaging reader for me. I don't understand how he managed to read such a tedious book so well.

A good pair of scissors and a hard copy would redeem it for me.

I hate to give negative reviews and I can even enjoy an authors interference in a plot line, but this book was excessive.

I chose this when it was on sale, and hadn't seen the movie, but had heard of it, so thought I'd give it a listen. I really didn't enjoy the story...it was complicated, which is OK, but I personally thought it strange that the author inserted himself into the story. And I didn't like the way it ended, which is a personal thing, but ended up feeling disappointed and wishing I had picked a different book. Well, at least now I know...