-
The Portrait of a Lady
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 21 hrs and 31 mins
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Publisher's summary
When Isabel Archer, a young American woman with looks, wit, and imagination, arrives in Europe, she sees the world as "a place of brightness, of free expression, of irresistible action". She turns aside from suitors who offer her their wealth and devotion to follow her own path. But that way leads to disillusionment and a future as constricted as "a dark narrow alley with a dead wall at the end". In one of the most moving conclusions in modern fiction, Isabel makes her final choice.
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Prince Myshkin, is thrust into the heart of a society more concerned with wealth, power, and sexual conquest than the ideals of Christianity. Myshkin soon finds himself at the center of a violent love triangle in which a notorious woman and a beautiful young girl become rivals for his affections. Extortion, scandal, and murder follow, testing the wreckage left by human misery to find "man in man."
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Intense and painfully sad
- By Tad on 04-27-12
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North and South
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Written at the request of Charles Dickens, North and South is a book about rebellion that poses fundamental questions about the nature of social authority and obedience. Gaskell expertly blends individual feeling with social concern and her heroine, Margaret Hale, is one of the most original creations of Victorian literature. When Margaret Hale's father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience she is forced to leave her comfortable home in the tranquil countryside of Hampshire....
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Delightful
- By Sally on 01-04-10
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Timeless Tales for Kids
- By: E. Nesbit, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, and others
- Narrated by: Alistair McGowan, Olivia Colman, Bill Nighy, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
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Timeless Tales for Kids is an enchanting compilation of children's classic stories read by an all-star cast. Olivia Colman reads E. Nesbit's classic novel The Railway Children, a masterpiece in children's fiction wonderfully evoking a bygone age, packed with fun, excitement and adventure. Bill Nighy reads a much-loved children's classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which continues to delight young and old with its enchanting tale of witches, flying monkeys and magical shoes.
By: E. Nesbit, and others
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The Woman in White
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One of the greatest mystery thrillers ever written, Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White was a phenomenal best seller in the 1860s, achieving even greater success than works by Charles Dickens. Full of surprise, intrigue, and suspense, this vastly entertaining novel continues to enthrall audiences today.
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Gripping novel, excellent production
- By David on 01-18-11
By: Wilkie Collins
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The Ladies of Rosings Park
- A Pride and Prejudice Sequel and Companion to The Darcys of Pemberley
- By: Shannon Winslow
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Chapter by chapter, these ladies of Rosings Park take turns telling the tale from the moment Elizabeth Bennet sets foot in Hunsford, changing everything. Is Anne heartbroken or relieved to discover Mr. Darcy will never marry her? As an heiress, even a sickly one, she must have other suitors. Does Lady Catherine gracefully accept the defeat of her original plan or keep conniving? Will Anne’s health ever improve? And what really happened to her father?
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NOT Jane Austen
- By susan on 03-02-19
By: Shannon Winslow
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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
- Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
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- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
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Overall
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"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem.
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One word - Awesome!
- By Katelyn on 05-22-09
By: Seth Grahame-Smith, and others
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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
- By: Anne Brontë
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Jenny Agutter
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Fleeing a disastrous marriage, Helen Huntingdon retreats to the desolate mansion, Wildfell Hall, with her son, Arthur. There, she makes her living as a painter. Finding it difficult to avoid her neighbors, she is soon an object of speculation and gossip. Brontë portrays Helen's eloquent struggle for independence at a time when society defined a married woman as her husband's property.
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Excellent performances of an abridged version
- By LSK on 04-21-19
By: Anne Brontë
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The Custom of the Country
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- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
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One of Edith Wharton's most acclaimed works, The Custom of the Country is a blistering indictment of materialism, power, and misplaced values. Its heroine, Undine Spragg, is one of the most ruthless characters in all of literature, as selfishly unscrupulous as she is fiercely beautiful. As she climbs the class ladder through a series of marriages and affairs, she shows little concern for who she has to step on.
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Narrator kills the book
- By Mississippi Malka on 05-24-10
By: Edith Wharton
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When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American, is brought to Europe by her wealthy aunt Touchett, it is expected that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to enjoy her freedom, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors. Then she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Gilbert Osmond. Charming and cultivated, Osmond sees Isabel as a rich prize waiting to be taken. In this portrait of a 'young woman affronting her destiny', Henry James created one of his most magnificent heroines, and a story of intense poignancy.
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Ulysses is Life
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In Madame Bovary, one of the great novels of 19th-century France, Flaubert draws a deeply felt and sympathetic portrait of a woman who, having married a country doctor and found herself unhappy with a rural, genteel existence, longs for love and excitement. However, her aspirations and her desires to escape only bring her further disappointment and eventually lead to unexpected, painful consequences. Flaubert’s critical portrait of bourgeois provincial life remains as powerful as ever
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Excellent narrator, beautiful writing
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What listeners say about The Portrait of a Lady
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Melissa R. H.
- 03-30-14
Loved it
Would you listen to The Portrait of a Lady again? Why?
Probably. It's a very detailed book and explains the characters' motives and thought processes so thoroughly, yet without taking you out of the story in the least, that you feel very connected to everything going on. Some people find this a drawback in James' work but I find it a highlight. This sort of exposition makes the story much more realistic and connectable.
With so much detail, rich characters, great dialogue and an engaging story, I could definitely see myself re-reading this in future.
What did you like best about this story?
The storyline between Ralph and Isabel.
Which character – as performed by Wanda McCaddon – was your favorite?
Ralph.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes. The pacing is very good.
Any additional comments?
Wanda McCaddon's performance is quite excellent in many aspects but she does have a difficult time maintaining separate voices for each character sometimes and will slip even in a conversation between only two characters. It can be slightly confusing from time to time but I would still recommend her as she's good with conveying the right emotional tone.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Todd Hauter
- 06-08-21
Good story
I was about a third of the way through this when I went on vacation. After a week of being back I decided to start where I had left off. I am glad I did. It takes awhile to get going but it pays out in the end. The narration is quite good and helped to bring me back into the story.
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- Jane
- 10-21-15
Marvellous and still so relevant
Achingly beautiful, sad, complex and perplexing, and in places funny, The Portrait of a Lady should be followed by a strong dose of Luce Irigaray; for Henry James, like that good French feminist did some 100 years hence, exposes the circulating commodity of women - bought, sold, bartered and discarded by men, and what that means for that "sex which is not one".
"In still other words: all the systems of exchange that organize patriarchal societies and all the modalities of productive work that are recognized, valued, and rewarded in these societies are men’s business. The production of women, signs, and commodities is always referred back to men (when a man buys a girl, he “pays” the father or the brother, not the mother … ), and they always pass from one man to another, from one group of men to another. The work force is thus always assumed to be masculine, and “products” are objects to be used, objects of transaction among men alone." (Luce Irigaray, The Sex Which is Not One" (1985)
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6 people found this helpful
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- Dee Lance
- 07-06-21
Excellent in every way.
Having read the novel before, I can quite honestly say that Wanda McCaddon’s excellent performance as narrator captures every nuance of the characters and differentiates them beautifully. It was a pure pleasure to listen to.
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Overall
- Karen
- 04-26-09
Bleak and believable
Beautifully read, but oh so bleak. You have to love James to love this one. I like James, and liked this.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Harvey C. Mansfield
- 10-16-21
Wonderful narrator, exquisite writing, but something is off
Basically, I do not like how little we actually get to know the characters so that James can pull off the grand reveals and plot twists (of sorts) at the end. Will reread at some point but I felt a little betrayed as a reader, and underwhelmed.
Stylistically he reminds me of John Singer Sargent, a master of his craft, an absolute master, but somehow without revealing enough about his subjects.
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- Kindle Customer
- 09-21-22
More complex than I'd imagined
More complex than I'd imagined. A good presentation of how a narcissist draws in and then abuses his victims (re Gilbert Osmond). Isabel is not a perfect character, but she is capable of wrestling with hard decisions and living with them, which makes her worthwhile to read about.
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- mary
- 10-31-22
Stunning
James uses a lot of words! Not a casual read. Very much a book to be reading now when women are moving forward in their potential and men are struggling to navigate the challenges of equality.
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Overall
- Patricia Marino
- 11-09-09
Complex and absorbing
Listening to this audio book was one of the great literary experiences of my life. Like most of James's novels it is complex; but once I got absorbed in the story I was completely hooked. Wanda McCadden's reading is phenomenal.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Barbara Joan
- 07-03-23
Marvellous
Read exquisitely complimenting the exquisite prose and insight. James plots his story and delves into the complexities of his character’s heart and mind — as it was over a hundred years ago. I suppose I should be happy that the constraints a woman faced then are so much more relaxed now but I feel we have simply allowed ourselves to become more vulgar, less thoughtful and though we all —- or many of us — have freedom and careers, modernity may have diminished us as thinking beings.
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