Northanger Abbey
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Narrated by:
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Anna Massey
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By:
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Jane Austen
About this listen
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Gripping Novel & Performance
- By Harold on 07-29-18
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The American
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Self-made American millionaire Christopher Newman arrives in Paris brimming with hope and optimism, excited to experience the culture and, hopefully, find the perfect woman to become his wife. After a chance encounter with American expatriate friends, his attention is drawn to Madame de Cintré, 25-year-old widowed daughter of the late Marquis de Bellegarde. Having fallen on hard times, the centuries-old aristocratic family permits Newman's courtship to proceed; however, they later persuade the widow to break off her engagement to the nouveau-riche businessman.
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excellent reading
- By Andorboth on 12-03-22
By: Henry James
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Tom Jones
- The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
- By: Henry Fielding
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 37 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Tom Jones, a foundling, is brought up by the kindly Mr. Allworthy as if he were his own son. Forced to leave the house as a young man after tales of his disgraceful behavior reach his benefactor's ears, he sets out in utter despair, not only because of his banishment but because he has now lost all hope of gaining the hand of the beautiful Sophia. But she too is forced to flee her parental home to escape an undesirable marriage and their stories and adventures intertwine.
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terrific story BUT
- By tom on 01-28-14
By: Henry Fielding
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Lady Windermere's Fan
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Samuel West, Michael Sheen, Derek Waring, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Oscar Wilde's first play confronts the hypocrisy of public "morality" compared with genuine, private kindness. The reasons for its continued popularity are not difficult to identify: the play's witty dialogue contains many of Wilde's most quoted aphorisms, its stylish setting provides opportunities for elegant presentation, and its cast of memorable characters play out a story which is genuinely moving. This new audio production brings together a full cast worthy of Wilde's creative genius.
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An exciting night at the
- By Karen on 11-28-04
By: Oscar Wilde
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Swann's Way
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 21 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Swann’s Way is the first of seven volumes in Remembrance of Things Past. It sets the scene with the narrator’s memories being famously provoked by the taste of that little cake, the madeleine, accompanied by a cup of lime-flowered tea. It is an unmatched portrait of fin-de-siècle France.
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Not a book one reads but inhabits & floats through
- By Darwin8u on 02-24-13
By: Marcel Proust
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The Mill on the Floss
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Laura Paton
- Length: 20 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Maggie Tulliver has two lovers: Philip Wakem, son of her father’s enemy, and Stephen Guest, already promised to her cousin. But the love she wants most in the world is that of her brother Tom. Maggie’s struggle against her passionate and sensual nature leads her to a deeper understanding and to eventual tragedy
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Great compassion
- By nina lalumia on 12-26-16
By: George Eliot
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Middlemarch
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 35 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Dorothea Brooke is an ardent idealist who represses her vivacity and intelligence for the cold, theological pedant Casaubon. One man understands her true nature: the artist Will Ladislaw. But how can love triumph against her sense of duty and Casaubon’s mean spirit? Meanwhile, in the little world of Middlemarch, the broader world is mirrored: the world of politics, social change, and reforms, as well as betrayal, greed, blackmail, ambition, and disappointment.
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Best Audible book ever
- By Molly-o on 12-25-11
By: George Eliot
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Austen wrote, 'I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like' and thus introduces the handsome, clever, rich - and flawed, Emma Woodhouse. Emma is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage; nothing however delights her more than matchmaking her fellow residents of Highbury. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.
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Background sonds RUINED this
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Perfect
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Emma
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Emma can be enjoyed as a charming love story, a detective story, and a comic and lively picture of English life 200 years ago. Austen's beautiful, clever, wilful but fallible heroine Emma Woodhouse believes she knows best. Perfectly content with her life she sees no need for either love or marriage, yet nothing pleases her more than meddling in the romantic lives of others.
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pure pleasure
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Magnifique lively narrator
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Jane Eyre
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Excellent, but second best...
- By R. David Mintz on 02-15-10
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Sense & Sensibility
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Excellent narration
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Austen wrote, 'I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like' and thus introduces the handsome, clever, rich - and flawed, Emma Woodhouse. Emma is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage; nothing however delights her more than matchmaking her fellow residents of Highbury. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.
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Background sonds RUINED this
- By Sandra Dodd on 09-09-18
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Perfect
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Emma can be enjoyed as a charming love story, a detective story, and a comic and lively picture of English life 200 years ago. Austen's beautiful, clever, wilful but fallible heroine Emma Woodhouse believes she knows best. Perfectly content with her life she sees no need for either love or marriage, yet nothing pleases her more than meddling in the romantic lives of others.
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pure pleasure
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Magnifique lively narrator
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Excellent, but second best...
- By R. David Mintz on 02-15-10
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David Copperfield
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When David Copperfield escapes from the cruelty of his childhood home, he embarks on a journey to adulthood which leads him through comedy and tragedy, love and heartbreak, and friendship and betrayal.
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Perfect narrator for one of the best classics.
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Great Expectations
- The Audible Dickens Collection
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In this Audible Exclusive performance by Matt Lucas of Great Expectations, Charles Dickens demonstrates that conscience, loyalty and empathy are virtues far more valuable than intellect, wealth and social standing. First published in Dickens’ own periodical, All the Year Round, the novel was divided into nine monthly instalments, from December 1860 to August 1861. Unsurprisingly, it was an instant success and managed to sell over 100,000 copies per week. Though written at a challenging time in Dickens’ life, when the impending breakdown of his marriage loomed over him, Great Expectations proves to be one of his most optimistic, comical and romantic novels.
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SPOILER IN THE PREFACE
- By Jaimy on 07-30-19
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One of Dickens' early works, Nicholas Nickleby combines comedy and tragedy in a tale of triumph over adversity that is interspersed with Dickens' moving condemnation of society's mistreatment of children and the cruelty of the educational system. Young Nickleby struggles to seek his fortune in Victorian England, yet succeeds despite social injustice, in a story that mirrors Dickens' own rise from poverty to great success.
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Wonderful tale, wonderful reader
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Wuthering Heights
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The passionate and tragic story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff is one of the high points of 19th-century Romantic literature. In the relationship of Cathy and Heathcliff, and in the wild, bleak Yorkshire Moors of its setting, Wuthering Heights creates a world of its own, conceived with a disregard for convention and an instinct for poetry and the darkest depths of the human soul in torment.
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I loved how much I hated everyone
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Little Women
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Little Women, closely based on Louisa May Alcott’s own experience of family life, was first published in 1869 and follows the lives of the four March sisters and their mother, "Marmee". With the heartrending story of gentle Beth, the humorous adventures of tomboyish Jo, Meg’s vain attempts to cut a fashionable figure in "society", and the artistic ambitions of the youngest sister Amy, it has never lost its extraordinary power to move and delight.
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What Maisie Knew
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Maisie is an innocent six year-old, torn between her divorced parents, pathetically isolated yet tragically involved.
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A great reader reads a great writer
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Tess of the D'Urbervilles
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Performance
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Story
When John Durbeyfield discovers a family connection to the ancient Norman family, the D'Urbervilles, the fate of daughter Tess is transformed. Sent by her ambitious parents to visit her wealthy D'Urberville cousins, Tess attracts the attention of the unscrupulous Alec. Seduced and discarded by him and alone in the world, she finds work as a milkmaid and the love of Angel Clare. Yet his love cannot accept the truth about Tess's past.
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Peter Firth gets this book
- By Claire on 04-11-10
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Gulliver's Travels
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- Abridged
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Story
Andrew Sachs reads Jonathan Swift's humorous and unforgettable tale of a strange man in some very strange lands. Gulliver had always wanted to see the world. But whenever he steps on board a ship, bad luck always seems near at hand. He is shipwrecked, abandoned, marooned and mutinied against - and each time lands in a strange and curious place.
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another great abridgement
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By: Jonathan Swift
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Pride and Prejudice [Audible Studios]
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- Unabridged
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Pride and Prejudice has delighted generations of readers with its unforgettable cast of characters, carefully choreographed plot, and a hugely entertaining view of the world and its absurdities. With the arrival of eligible young men in their neighbourhood, the lives of Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters are turned inside out and upside down.
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Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice
- By Dr. Roberta on 05-28-09
By: Jane Austen
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Northanger Abbey
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
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- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
When Catherine Morland, a country clergyman's daughter, is invited to spend a season in Bath with the fashionable high society, little does she imagine the delights and perils that await her. Captivated and disconcerted by what she finds, and introduced to the joys of "Gothic novels" by her new friend, Isabella, Catherine longs for mystery and romance. When she is invited to stay with the beguiling Henry Tilney and his family at Northanger Abbey, she expects mystery and intrigue at every turn.
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Awesome
- By Johnny on 08-01-09
By: Jane Austen
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Wives and Daughters
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- Unabridged
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Story
Molly Gibson, the only daughter of a widowed doctor in the small provincial town of Hollingford, lost her mother when she was a child. Her father remarries wanting to give Molly the woman's presence he feels she lacks. To Molly, any stepmother would have been a shock, but the new Mrs. Gibson is a self-absorbed, petty widow, and Molly's unhappiness is compounded by the realisation that her father has come to regret his second marriage.
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Superb! Story and Narration A++
- By Jo on 05-24-10
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The House of Mirth
- By: Edith Wharton
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- Unabridged
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Beautiful, sophisticated and endlessly ambitious Lily Bart endeavours to climb the social ladder of New York's elite by securing a good match and living beyond her means. Now nearing 30 years of age and having rejected several proposals, forever in the hope of finding someone better, her future prospects are threatened. A damning commentary of 20th-century social order, Edith Wharton's tale established her as one of the greatest British novelists of the 1900s.
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Like Henry James but more accessible
- By Merlin on 08-19-12
By: Edith Wharton
What listeners say about Northanger Abbey
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Moc.12
- 11-13-22
Good, but some tough narration points
The narrator is a very good reader and does perfectly fitting voices for many of the characters, but some of the voice inflections she did for certain characters were horrid, especially for men. Like Thorp for instance… her voice there was nasal and difficult to listen to. She mostly did it for characters that were obnoxious or ridiculous by design, but oh that voice…I had to jump past some parts just to get by. Thankfully, I’ve read the book, so I know what I’m skipping, but if you haven’t, you’re going to have to suffer the grind of getting through. Even annoying characters have to be able to be listened to without wincing or it destroys the whole listen.
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- W. McGahey
- 10-23-23
Snarky wit with unfortunate narration
The narrator, while accurately and carefully portraying the personality of each character with her different voices, made some of them almost impossible to listen to. This book has always been a lighthearted take on the novel itself, and stands the test of time, but the story was hard to enjoy this time.
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- Vadim Yegudkin
- 04-12-24
Super funny and unique!
Since Jane Austen wrote this so early in her life it is tainted with youth. It’s a great story. Her writing style is so unique and engrossing at points that you forget you’re reading.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-02-22
Just a fun listen
Sometimes felt it was over acted. Jane Austin is always fun but predictable. It was perfect after a long stressful day to smile and relax on the commute home.
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- Cassia Karin Ferrara
- 11-14-21
Eh...great since it’s free...
The Narration was fine, but did get a little monotonous... such slow fine talk on such petty detailed narrative got a little old, but I made it through! I had a hard time figuring out how to read it... at first it seemed like it was sarcastic and humorous, but then turned a little bitter, then scary and suspenseful... so I think I need some education on it. I particularly enjoyed Jane Austen's candid and open talk about her theories on writing. "Novels are to be written this way or that..." And "readers most enjoy this and that"(paraphrases of course). I found this humorous and helpful at the same time.
The characters probably will not hold a strong impression in my heart or life, but they are honest characters whom I expect to see and now at least recognize in my own experience and in my own short life time.
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- Bruce
- 03-28-21
I came to Austen via Rowling. Thanks JKR.
I may be a rare person that actually prefers a single narrator. This was just as good as the Audible Original Drama version. I don't need theatrics to enliven the story.
Let's imagine that you did not know the word "gothic" other than as some kind of wardrobe. This is the place to start. A mere 40 years after The Castle of Otranto; ninety years before Dracula, 190 years before Harry Potter. Gives us another Swift-like example of satire. It is fun to see how she plays with the narrational voice, in a way that is rare today.
As I noted, scholars (eg Beatrice Grove "Literary Allusion...") of the works of JKR keep pointing here. Really glad I checked out these references to Austen and Brontë.
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- Gigi
- 03-08-22
Narrator nearly drove me mad!
As long as the narrator portrayed women she was good. Her voice for the male characters was like nails on a chalkboard.
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- Emilie Lynn
- 07-05-23
Definitely not my favorite Austen story
It’s almost as if she didn’t know where she wanted the story to go or had to hurry and finish it. SO much build up and mystery for…what? A regular and expedited happy ending? I didn’t hate it, but I wouldn’t listen to or read it again.
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- Heather
- 08-19-23
It’s an inside joke!
I first read this book a few years ago at the suggestion of my two best friends. They encouraged me that it was their favorite because Austen so clearly mocks classic Gothic literature. When I read it then, I was unenthused. I trudged through with difficulty.
This time, however, I found myself laughing out loud. Having read “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” and so many of Austen’s own work, she really does mock the genre and even some of her own tropes. She describes Catherine as the “heroine” throughout and, at times, makes statements about what COULD happen or SHOULD happen to a heroine, but do not in this story. The narrative, as a result, feels uneventful in the end.
This is, I think, the most distinct of Austen’s novels. Catherine isn’t highly intelligent but actually rather simple minded and immature. She is enraptured throughout by horror stories, exciting her own imagination that things are not what they seem but eerie and perverse like the novels she is reading. She works herself up into a real terror at the movement of a curtain or the opening of a dark black wardrobe only to find nothing inside it. For this reason, I think this is more of a coming of age story where she learns not to be so easily excitable and to have realistic expectations of people and places.
“Northanger Abbey” is like a giant inside joke; and if you haven’t read any gothic literature before reading this one, you won’t get it.
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- A. Coggins
- 06-17-24
Surprisingly Delighted
I loved the story and the narrator was great. One can't go wrong with Austen
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