The Complete Novels : Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Alison Larkin

Length: 81 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

“…narrating the novels of Jane Austen reminded me that no matter how much the world changes, human nature never does.” (Alison Larkin)

Ever since Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy emerged from the lake in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the novels of Jane Austen have become more popular than ever, delighting millions of fans all over the world. Now, Alison Larkin's critically acclaimed narrations of Austen's six completed novels are brought together in this very special 200th anniversary audio edition. "Alison Larkin's narration will captivate listeners from the first sentence", raves AudioFile magazine about the Earphones Award-winning recording of Sense and Sensibility, which starts the collection. 

Hailed by The Times as "marvelously light footed...hugely entertaining," Alison Larkin is the perfect vessel to bring the deft, satirical novels of Jane Austen to sparkling new life.

Alison Larkin is the best-selling author of The English American, a comedienne and the award-winning narrator of over 150 audiobooks. In addition to Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice with Songs from Regency England, Mansfield Park, Persuasion & Poems, Emma and Northanger Abbey and the History of England by Jane Austen, other classic narrations include Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass; Fairytales of the Fiercer Sex by the Brothers Grimm, et al; Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (with James Warwick); Peter Pan & the Inconsiderate Waiter; and Agatha Christie's The Secret Adversary.

Title and end music: "The Lonely Ash Grove", sung by Alison Larkin.

Public Domain (P)2017 Alison Larkin Presents

Table of Contents/Navigation Guide!

To get an 81 hour recording of an audiobook of this quality for under $30.00 is unprecedented. Alison Larkin is an A list narrator at the top of her game and she is perfect for Jane Austen. Here's the info I got re the navigation when I called the producers which answered all my questions.

Audible has broken this audiobook into multiple parts to make the download faster. This automatic process sometimes divides the novels in a less than intuitive way. Therefore, we have provided the following guide to help aid you in navigating the contents of the audiobook.

Table of Contents/Navigation Guide

Part 1:
Sense and Sensibility Chapters 1-38

Part 2:
Sense and Sensibility Chapters 39-50
Pride and Prejudice Chapters 1-27

Part 3:
Pride and Prejudice Chapters 28-61
Mansfield Park Chapters 1-5

Part 4:
Mansfield Park Chapters 6-45

Part 5:
Mansfield Park Chapters 46-48
Emma Chapters 1-35

Part 6:
Emma Chapters 36-55
Northanger Abbey Chapters 1-18

Part 7:
Northanger Abbey Chapters 19-31
Persuasion Chapters 1-24

If you are looking for the start of particular book, find the ‘Part’ it is in and look for a file that is between 7-10 seconds long. That will be the intro title for the book.

473 people found this helpful

Insane structure of excellent performance/stories

This review is not about the stories or performance, but the unbelievably insane way they are structured. This is multiple novels supplied as multiple audio books. Seems simple enough. But no. They put part of one novel on one book, part on another, and then start a new novel in the same book. I wanted to begin with Emma, the fourth novel listed so I downloaded the fourth book. Amazingly enough, it begins with chapter 6 of Mansfield Park! As if that's not enough, all of the books have the SAME COVER! So you can't tell them apart. You've got a bunch of books on your Kindle, all looking alike, and all containing random starts and endings of different novels. They don't even have a Table of Contents that lets you see what's in what and jump to things. It's potluck. You take a stab at some book and be happy with what comes up. What genius thought up this method of distributing audio books?

72 people found this helpful

Sort Audio files BY BOOK!

The organization of the audio files is ridiculous, they should've sorted by book. The story and reader are wonderful, but the file organization ruins the download. If you're going to sort the books so poorly you should provide that information in the description!

34 people found this helpful

Jane Austen as she was meant to be heard!!!

I am THRILLED to find out that someone has thought to release Alison Larkin's wonderful Jane Austen narrations in one recording!! Alison Larkin is my absolute favorite Austen narrator because she makes it all so easy to understand and absolutely gets Austen's humor. Plus her voice is just such a pleasure to listen to! What a treat!

86 people found this helpful

Simpering Narrator

I have to respectfully disagree with other reviewers in that I don't think Alison Larkin does justice to these wonderful novels. I love Austen, but I couldn't get through her simpering narration -- high pitched and oftentimes coming dangerously close to lisping. I found it annoying and a bit offended at her silly reading. The sample was misleading because in the snippet she reads the words of a silly, small-minded woman. I didn't realize that was the voice that would be used throughout. There are many reasons Austen novels are so beloved. They are thoughtful, frustrating, uplifting, complex and layered. I'd recommend a different narrator (eg, Rosamund Pike's narration of Pride and Prejudice is fantastic). The overall three stars was augmented by the value of this 6-pack.

31 people found this helpful

No singing

I didn't care for the singing, but the stories were well read. I have always loved Jane Austen's works.

7 people found this helpful

Takes me to my happy place.

This collection is pure joy for me. Alison Larkin was an inspired choice to narrate each of Miss Austen's novels. To be able to buy all of the 200th-anniversary edition novels with one credit is incredible. To have 81 hrs of humor, delight, sorrow, and calm at my command is like mother's milk for my anxiety. It's especially lovely to have to help combat the current anxiety-filled daily news briefings. Miss Austen is always a treasure to experience.

6 people found this helpful

Horrible Narration

I was so excited to get all of Jane Austen's novels in one audiobook. I looked at the reviews and everyone was saying how delightful Alison Larkin was. The snippet piece showed her as so too. However, after downloading the book and preparing to be entertained, I was frustrated instead. Larkin's attempts at changing her voice for different characters wasn't done well. The women voices were okay and could even be entertaining from time to time, but the men's voices all sounded the same and curt. It was had to listen to. I also did not like that the parts weren't by book or maybe two parts by book. I have favorite books that I like to listen to more than others and didn't like to guess where a book finished or started.

12 people found this helpful

Book does not play

What disappointed you about The Complete Novels : Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion?

I started reading Pride & Prejudice but the sound stops after Chapter 112 of the Complete Novels. I tried complaining to Audible but the person who responded to my Chat was unhelpful and I received no response to my further emails.
The only book I read was Pride & Prejudice and as far as it went, the reader was fine.

16 people found this helpful

Alison Larkin excels in this production!

Jane Austin's works are well know for good reason, and Alison Larkin does her works great justice. Her performance here exceeded my expectation. This is a delightful collection of Jane Austin's works.

4 people found this helpful

FANTASTIC! Table of contents/navigation guide

To get an 81 hour recording of an audiobook of this quality for under $30.00 is the best deal on Audible. Run don't walk to download this one. Alison Larkin is an A list narrator at the top of her game and she is perfect for Jane Austen. The reviews and awards are all well deserved. Here's the info I got re the navigation when I called the producers which answered all my questions.

Audible has broken this audiobook into multiple parts to make the download faster. This automatic process sometimes divides the novels in a less than intuitive way. Therefore, we have provided the following guide to help aid you in navigating the contents of the audiobook.

Table of Contents/Navigation Guide

Part 1:
Sense and Sensibility Chapters 1-38

Part 2:
Sense and Sensibility Chapters 39-50
Pride and Prejudice Chapters 1-27

Part 3:
Pride and Prejudice Chapters 28-61
Mansfield Park Chapters 1-5

Part 4:
Mansfield Park Chapters 6-45

Part 5:
Mansfield Park Chapters 46-48
Emma Chapters 1-35

Part 6:
Emma Chapters 36-55
Northanger Abbey Chapters 1-18

Part 7:
Northanger Abbey Chapters 19-31
Persuasion Chapters 1-24

If you are looking for the start of particular book, find the ‘Part’ it is in and look for a file that is between 7-10 seconds long. That will be the intro title for the book.

90 people found this helpful

All in one place

If you could sum up The Complete Novels : Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion in three words, what would they be?

I don't think Jane Austen needs reviewing. I enjoyed the narration by Alison Larkin a lot!

Any additional comments?

I agree with other comments that it wasn't easy to find the start of a book, having broken it down only into equal time slots. Here they are for future use:

Sense & Sensibility
Part 1 Chapters 2 - 41
Part 2 Chapters 1 - 14

Pride & Prejudice
Part 2 Chapters 15 - 43
Part 3 Chapters 1 - 35

Mansfield Park
Part 3 Chapters 36 - 42
Part 4 Chapters 1 - 42
Part 5 Chapters 1 -4

Emma
Part 5 Chapters 5 - 41
Part 6 Chapters 1 - 21

Northanger Abbey
Part 6 Chapters 22 - 40
Part 7 Chapters 2 - 14

Persuasion
Part 7 Chapters 15 - 40

106 people found this helpful

Absolutely Awful

I am so disappointed with this purchase the narrator sounds as though she's reading to small children a whiney high pitched voice and it's difficult to find where any novel is on the playlist.When I think of all the wonderful Austen readers there are on audible.this is a disaster.

6 people found this helpful

Absolutely stunning!

Would you listen to The Complete Novels : Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion again? Why?

Many times. I have heard each of these recordings individually and was thrilled to see them in one collection at such an excellent price, I bought them again!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Complete Novels : Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion?

Oh definitely the moment Emma realizes she loves Mr Knightley. I've always loved that scene.

What about Alison Larkin’s performance did you like?

Everything. She is so clear. And she takes you into Austen's world so authentically you feel like you are actually there. Her character delineations are crystal clear and she brings out the humor in Austen's writer. What a terrific fit!

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes of course. It's Jane Austen. She makes you laugh and cry, often at the same time.

Any additional comments?

Superb.

5 people found this helpful

Very annoying narration, I lasted about an hour...

I love Jane Austen's books, but this audio version of her works is abysmal. I would not have awarded any stars if that was possible.

Firstly, the opening 'song' which seems to be sung by the narrator and who seems not to have listened to it with a critical ear, hence its inclusion.

The narration is bitty, with pauses in strange places which have the effect of losing the flow of Ms Austen's writing making it difficult to take in what is being said.

Added to that, the narrator only seems to have two character voices, a high-pitched whine and a slightly lower version of the same.

Needless to say, I sent the book back.

4 people found this helpful

Great value for money

I thought it seemed too good to be true to get so many books in one but the narration and quality is really good. Although it is a bit annoying that the different books are split over several parts, they say at the start of each chapter which book it is so it is quite easy to navigate to the book you want.

4 people found this helpful

Complete Novels of Jane Austen narrated by Alison Larkin

I love Jane Austen but was so disappointed by the narration which seemed to detract from the storylines. The meaning of sentences was lost by incorrect stresses on certain words and characters sounded either cartoonishly pompous or pathetic. I couldn’t listen to this easily but did because I’d bought it

3 people found this helpful

Alison Larking's voice is irratating!!

The layout of this audio book is confusing. No idea which book is which. The book is not titled on each section. Every book in this audio looks the same. Lost track, patience and interest.

12 people found this helpful

Awesome Austin from Alison Larkin

Loved this adaptation by Alison Larkin, a delightful companion to many hours of sewing and relaxation

2 people found this helpful

The books are not labelled/titled correctly.

I love Austin, and this version ia actually one of the best to listen to. It is just when you download the audible, you can't see what book you are listening to. You have to guess. It doesn't say Mansfield Park, or Emma. It lists the name as all of the books. It may not bother some people, but it does irritate me somewhat if what I want to listen to a specific book in the series.

2 people found this helpful