Camilla

A Picture of Youth

By: Fanny Burney

Narrated by: Lucy Scott

Length: 37 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Among Jane Austen's favorite novels, and a key work in the rise of Romanticism, Camilla follows the story of three young women, from childhood to young adulthood, and their pursuit of matrimony.

Kind but naive Camilla is in love with Edgar Mandlebert, a handsome and noble young man, but must suffer a series of frequent misunderstandings that threaten their happy union. Intelligent Eugenia, destined to inherit her uncle's great wealth, is plagued with misfortune as she is left disfigured by smallpox and has men court her for financial gain only. Meanwhile their cousin, beautiful but selfish Indiana, never finds a fortune for her good looks. Accompanying them is a cast of memorable characters, such as the rowdy prankster Lionel, the dim-witted Mr. Dubster, and the scornful Miss Margland.

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Public Domain (P)2019 Naxos Audiobooks

A bit long winded and overdramatic but sometimes insightful

Addiction, pride, miscommunication and false judgement are all still relevant themes. It was an enjoyable listen, and if I had been reading, there were some phrases that deserved highlighting and quoting on social media. But sometimes the painful bits were overdrawn IMO. I like exercising my vocabulary with the classics and this one definitely did that for me!

Wonderfully long and detailed story.

I'm not sure how I've missed this story all these years. The level of detail and passion written into these characters is astounding. I have to say that sometimes it reads like Three's Company, a sitcom from the late 70s, early 80s? How does Edgar not question what he sees according to who Camila has always been is beyond me. If only Camila would speak up... at so many moments... it would have cleared everything up immediately. ugh! However, those were the times I suppose, and the story would have been disappointingly short. Lucy Scott has done an amazing job at creating voices for so many characters. They are distinct and recognizable immediately. I actually wept at the point of Camila's accounting to her own conscience and Ms. Scott's agonized voice depicting it all.
My husband and I were on a road trip listening to it. He came in to the story just past the mid point. He would pause it once in a while to express frustration at the proceedings and people's (women's) inability to express what they really felt and the self denial of what was right for themselves. We have truly come a long way from those times in that regard.
Well done!

Love books by Fanny Burney

This book is a delight to anyone who likes 18 century books. The price is gorgeous And the character easy to like. It does get a little slow towards the end but overall I just love these books. Lucy Scott’s narration is excellent. She gives each character an appropriate voice and she never stumbles over the complex prose. Now I’m waiting for them to finally do a professional narration of “Cecilia”…

Loved it

It was long but I enjoyed it. My only complaint is that Camila spend so much time in remorse and crying and that voice she used for those emotions was a little shrill/whiny and began to get on my nerves. Even with that her performance skills are amazing!!! She is a true actress and probably a girl of 19 in distress would sound shrill and whiny. The story was beautiful and characters vivid.

Fantastic!

I wanted it to go on forever! I wanted to stay in their world forever!

Perfection!

I love Camilla! I've read it a few times. Yes, it's long, but it's a lovely story and I don't want it to end. Fanny Burney creates memorable characters, a beautiful picture of British country life, and is funny as hell. The narration adds so much to it! Especially the scene with the inept actors who all have different accents- I could not stop laughing. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a great historic novel.

Tedious in the extreme

Ok, we all like a little drama, a little contrary obstacle to overcome in a tale of thwarted romance, but these characters are just plain and simply, infuriating. At what point do they actually “grow a pair”? To use a rather vulgar euphemism. Add to that, the frustration with the narrator who seems to run on in a mindless dash at times and it’s made the whole experience one of annoyance. No... I love 17-18th century writings, but this one is just not worth the effort and frustration.

Great story and wonderful narration

Great story with a group of characters ranging from villainous to virtuous. Camilla is the main character but Eugenia's growth is explored in depth. The narration really adds to the experience.

Long, super long and tedious.

This book is more “Wide, Wide World” than “Pride and Prejudice”. The heroine and hero are tedious, and the book is LONG. If you are a fan of sentimental literature or a grad student still in the throes of reading about financial transactions in 19th century transatlantic literature then proceed eagerly. Otherwise, I would let this one pass. Evelina is worth a read.