Evelina

Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World

By: Frances Burney

Narrated by: Orson Scott Card, Emily Rankin, Stefan Rudnicki, Gabrielle de Cuir

Originally published in 1778, Evelina is Frances Burney's first and most beloved novel. It was a landmark in the development of the novel of manners and went on to influence such enduringly popular authors as Jane Austen.

By turns hilarious and grim, witty and lyrical, the story follows young Evelina as she leaves the seclusion of her country home and enters into late eighteenth-century London society - both its pleasures and its dangers. Life in eighteenth-century England is vividly rendered as Evelina is educated in the ways of the world and, eventually, love. As she battles such cruelties as social snobbery and delights in such thrills as pleasure gardens and balls, Evelina strives toward her final triumph, while capturing the hearts of listeners everywhere along the way.

Public Domain (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Delightful

This is my favorite Francey Burney novel and this audiobook version was wonderful. Emily Rankin did an incredible job with all the different voices. I listened to another version after this one and this version was by far superior. If you enjoy Jane Austen, Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth... you will thoroughly enjoy this book. Very cleverly written and well-performed.

A delight

A wonderfully read and performed version of Burney's work. I especially loved the afterward that expresses such enthusiasm about Austen's favorite novel.

Very entertaining!

If you like Jane Austen you will love this book. The narration is fantastic and the story is both captivating and entertaining. It has social satire, sarcasm, romance and plenty of period drama, too.

Satisfactory, a solid B

Appreciated there being multiple narrators and the main woman does a good job portraying different voices, etc. However I do wish everyone had an English accent (or Scottish where it pertains), as it would have felt more authentic.

American Narrator...but don't let that stop you

I get that the venerable Orson Scott Card loves this book so much that he selected the narrators (and bought the rights...?) but an American woman is a poor choice to voice an English girl. That being said, I found the story itself so charming and the narration otherwise so faultless that it was easy for me to sink into the book. May be harder for a British reader, however, to get over the very English story voiced by an American.