Persuasion

Nadia May is my second-favorite reader of Jane Austen after Flo Gibson. Both have an uncanny ability to render the sometimes riotously funny characters in Austen's work; and this one, even with its somewhat autumnal glow, is no exception. (It may seem strange to speak of Jane Austen's characters as riotously funny, but in my estimation Anne Elliot's father and sisters fall into this category; and Admiral Croft gets off a few good lines as well.)

The sound quality of this recording is significantly better than that of Flo Gibson's reading, also available here.

The fabulous Nadia May brings Austen's characters to life with her nuanced reading. This is the version to buy. Delicious!

the book, of course, is a classic. i'm taking the time to write a review to warn potential listeners to spend more time than i did listening to the sample. there are frequent, noticeable pauses and in some of them you can hear the narrator swallow. i've listened to over 30 books and never noticed this before. other than this awkwardness, her speech and tone are very good and appropriately convey Austen's skill with language.

"Persuasion" is the often overlooked jewel of Austen's books, in this listener/reader's humble opinion, so it was a pleasure to to hear this wonderful story told. Nadia May does an excellent job narrating, really bringing these richly-drawn characters to life.

If you've only ever seen the movie versions or heard/read the abridged version, this is not to be missed.

This is one of my favorite stories by Jane Austen. And to have it read by one of my fav narrator is so wonderful!
Her voice does need a bit of get use to. But her abilities to make each characters come to life, and do it so well, well, that's priceless!
My first read by this narrator was for Pride and Prejudice. Her enactment of Mrs. Bennett was the best I have heard from any Jane Austen readers.
I <3 Nadia May~!

Loved the tale, I always have, but the reader started to get on my nerves part of the way through. The high pitch of her vocalization on certain parts left me a little annoyed and thus I had trouble enjoying the story. A five star story read by an over-emoting 3 star reader.

What a lovely story! The scenes are brilliantly framed and marvelously read. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I always enjoy Nadia May. She does such fine job with those wonderful comic Austen characters. This story was set in and around Bath which as you may recall was the place where Miss Austen received and accepted her only known marriage proposal. Then the very next morning, forced her kinsman to drive her pell mell all the way back to Bath to take back her yes. That had to be the ultimate AAM (Austen Awkward Moment).

The Austens were a navy family with at least two Captains (later Admirals) so Miss Austen could write with some first-hand knowledge of sailors and general maritime matters, from conversations in the parlor and letters from the four points of the compass. Oh yes, Miss Austen's fine naval fervor and patriotism on display in Persuasion was perhaps not so wonderful since the husband of a close relative was guillotined by the French. Persuasion is set in a period of worldwide famines, dislocations and turmoil caused by several centuries of global cooling during the Little Ice Age. The results are in the history books ranging from the destruction of the Vikings to the fall of empires including the French Revolution. In the words of that Chinese proverb, Miss Austen lived and wrote in interesting times. She didn't write of war and political intrigues but her characters are foils of these great events.

This final and most poignant novel of Jane Austen is beautifully rendered in this recording. I listen to it over and over again.

I'm nearing the conclusion of my mission to read all of Austen's works. Started on the quest by one of my daughters, I've worked by way through to the more known works, or at least the ones that have gotten multiple BBC treatments. Of course, for my daughter, all the stories were new because she had never seen those productions (Taiwan schools keeping kids to busy for anything like that). Persuassion didn't surprise in anyway then, because I knew the story, but listening to this book now, I was surprised by the writing. So many senteneces I just wanted to write down and read again. Nadia May is just perfect in reading this book, as well as the other Austen novels.