Sense and Sensibility

With an Excerpt from 'Jane and Me: My Austen Heritage'

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Alison Larkin

Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

AudioFile Earphones award-winning recording!

Following her critically acclaimed narration of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice with Songs from Regency England, Emma, Persuasion & Poems and Northanger Abbey & The History of England, award-winning narrator Alison Larkin is back, bringing depth and a light comedic touch in this Earphones award-winning recording of Austen's first published novel.

"Alison Larkin's narration will captivate listeners from the first sentence. Her delicate voice and perfect English accent sweep the listener back in time, right into the lives of the characters," raves AudioFile Magazine.

Thanks to her manipulative daughter-in-law, Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters must leave their beloved family home in Sussex for a small cottage in Devon. While Marianne, impulsive and passionate to the core falls madly in love with an unsuitable man, her more conventional sister Elinor struggles to hide her true feelings for the man she must try to forget.

This AudioFile award-winning recording of Sense and Sensibility is followed by a short excerpt from Jane and Me: My Austen Heritage by Caroline Jane Knight, Jane Austen's fifth great niece — the last of Austen's descendants to grow up on the estate where Austen lived and wrote. Like the Dashwoods, Caroline and her family were forced to leave their family home for financial reasons. The parallels are fascinating.

©1818 and 2017 Public Domain and Caroline Jane Knight (P)2017 Alison Larkin Presents

Great listen!

absolutely loved listening to this! Great narration to a great classic. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher

Jane Austen never sounded better!

Sense and Sensibility is my one of my most cherished Jane Austen novels. This is the classic unabridged story of the Dashwood sisters: how their half-brother throws them out of their family home soon after their father dies, how Marianne’s heart gets broken by Willoughby’s cruel rejection, and how Elinor conceals her own heartbreak when the love of her life is engaged to be married to someone else. And then there is my personal favorite Austen hero, the understated yet constant force that is Colonial Brandon (sigh).

I was thrilled to see Alison Larkin finally narrate Sense and Sensibility because she has a way of conveying Jane’s dry wit like no other. Jane Austen wrote most of her novels as satire and no one conveys it better than Alison. Her narration brings to life these beloved characters with her smooth undertones and subtle nuances. As she does with all of her narrations, Alison uses differing voices for all characters, and changes up the tempo during the most exciting parts of the story.

As an added bonus, this version of the audiobook includes a short excerpt from Jane and Me: My Austen Heritage by Caroline Jane Knight, Jane Austen's 5th great grandniece. I loved hearing how Caroline was embarrassed to read some of Jane’s letters because they included too much personal information. I couldn’t help but smile.

Simply put, I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone – especially those who love a good Jane Austen novel!

Alison Larkin does it again! OUTSTANDING narration

What made the experience of listening to Sense and Sensibility the most enjoyable?

I love Sense and Sensibility as much as I love Pride and Prejudice and having LOVED Alison Larkin's narration of Pride and Prejudice which had songs from Regency England at the end of it, I was really really hoping Sense and Sensibility would be as good. It IS! I love the way she reads. You feel like you're there as you listen. She nails all the characters - she does not overdo them - just manages to get them right. So I guess it was the narrator that made the experience of listening to Sense and Sensibility so special. I also loved the excerpt from Jane and Me!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I think my favorite character is Eleanor. But I also love Maryanne.

Which scene was your favorite?

I like them all but maybe my favorite is the scene at the end when...well, I don't want to spoil it so I won't.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When they had to leave their house - and then the same thing happened to Jane Austen's great niece almost 200 years later - that really was moving!

Any additional comments?

I'm so happy Alison Larkin has narrated this one. She's narrated every novel by Jane Austen now except Mansfield Park, which I THINK is due out later this year. Can't wait!

I sooo love this story!!!

Would you listen to Sense and Sensibility again? Why?

Yes, there are so many different little nuances that i am sure i missed some.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I love Eleanor. She is so strong on the outside and everyone thinks she pretty much has not deeper feelings towards a lot of stuff, but she really is one of the sweetest characters out of the entire book!

Which scene was your favorite?

I loved the beginning where the brother and his wife are talking, how totally despicable as humans they are with their empathy and care of family. and i also absolutely love the ending of the book

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but it was just too long for it

Any additional comments?

I love the movie with Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman, but it was different from the book. In a lot of ways the book was much better with the Willoughby explained more and with the relationship between brother and sisters a little more developed.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

❤️

Sense and Sensibility is such a classic. I always return to this one. A wonderful book I always enjoy.

Alison Larkin is a wonderfully talented narrator. I love her work. She makes this book that much better. Loved it.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Folly of the Male Persuasion

So much folly in one listen! The Dashwood sisters are on the brink of ruination when their father passes and their elder brother is selfishly persuaded by his mean spirited and greedy wife not to provide for them as he promised their father. The sisters retire with their mother to a small cottage provided by Mr. Middleton and are included into the family with open hearted generosity. Both sisters promptly fall in love with seeming cads. Will their reputations be ruined or will love prevail?

This novel by Jane Austen is not so witty and the dialogue not so diverting as Pride and Prejudice but is enjoyable all the same. Edward Farrows is not so likeable as Mr. Darcy and Willoughby not so thoroughly silly as Mr. Bingley. If you are a Jane Austen fan or new to her work, it is another fun piece of Victorian life and it is fun to see the plot wound about so much that it is hardly to be believed that a happy ending will ever be achieved! One or other of the sisters must surely be unhappy forever!

This is another fantastic narration by Alison Larkin. Her voices are varied and her intonation is always perfect for the material. She really brought this audiobook to life with little bits of music and a little piece at the end about the real life struggle of Austen's heir's to maintain the property of the Austen estate.

I received this audiobook from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.