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Villette
- Penguin Classics
- Narrated by: Charlotte Ritchie
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
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Publisher's Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
This Penguin Classic is performed by Charlotte Ritchie, best known for her roles as Oregon in Channel 4's Fresh Meat, Hannah in the BBC Three comedy Siblings, and as Barbara Gilbert in BBC drama Call the Midwife.
With neither friends nor family, Lucy Snowe, sets sail from England to find employment in a girls' boarding school in the small town of Villette. There she struggles to retain her self-possession in the face of unruly pupils, an initially suspicious headmaster and her own complex feelings, first for the school's English doctor and then for the dictatorial professor Paul Emmanuel.
Drawing on her own deeply unhappy experiences as a governess in Brussels, Charlotte Brontë's last and most autobiographical novel is a powerfully moving study of isolation and the pain of unrequited love, narrated by a heroine determined to preserve an independent spirit in the face of adverse circumstances.
Critic Reviews
"Listening to Call the Midwife actress Charlotte Richie read Charlotte Brontë's lesser-known novel Villette was a hugely enjoyable experience on my morning commute on trains so packed that I could not stretch out my arms to open a book." (i News)
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What listeners say about Villette
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 10-20-20
Boring
This book was boring. Very long tedious prose. 25% in the book and still nothing was happening. Narration was not the best either. Every character had basically the same voice.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 10-06-20
Highly Recommended
The narrator is phenomenal. I love her voice and her inflection. She faithfully portrays each character's voice; how she manages to capture so many, varied tones is amazing. I love this story. I loved it even more as I listened to it. When I read it, the French caused me to struggle with gaps that were held together more easily while listening.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lucy T
- 10-29-20
Great performance, story not so much!
Great narration but I dont know that I'd listen again - depressing and a bit odd. Charlotte did not convince me of her heros good points and her heroine is a prickly character. Dont invest too much in the story and you be fine!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- S McQuilliam
- 05-14-20
Simply beautiful
This narration was beautiful, Charlotte didn't do the awful childlike voices I've heard other narrators mimic.