The Portrait of a Lady
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $46.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Juliet Stevenson
-
By:
-
Henry James
About this listen
The Portrait of a Lady tells the compelling and ultimately tragic tale of a beautiful young American woman's encounter with European sophistication. Set principally in England and Italy, the story follows Isabel Archer's fortunes as a variety of admirers vie for her hand. Her choice will be crucial, and she is not wanting for advice, whether from the generous-spirited Ralph Touchett or the charming Madame Merle.
The Portrait of a Lady was an immediate success upon publication; it remains the most popular of James' longer works and is generally regarded as the masterpiece of his early period.
Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2016 Naxos AudioBooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Golden Bowl
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 25 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wealthy Maggie Verver has everything she could ever ask for - except a husband and a title. While in Italy, acquiring art for his museum back in the States, Maggie’s millionaire father, Adam, decides to remedy this and acquire a husband for Maggie. Enter Prince Amerigo, of a titled but now poor aristocratic Florentine family. Amerigo is the perfect candidate.
-
-
If you don't love this book, it's your fault
- By Viewer on 09-14-18
By: Henry James
-
The Custom of the Country
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edith Wharton stands among the finest writers of early 20th-century America. In The Custom of the Country, Wharton’s scathing social commentary is on full display through the beautiful and manipulative Undine Spragg. When Undine convinces her nouveau riche parents to move to New York, she quickly injects herself into high society. But even a well-to-do husband isn’t enough for Undine, whose overwhelming lust for wealth proves to be her undoing.
-
-
Cannot recommend a better narrator!
- By Esther on 07-29-12
By: Edith Wharton
-
The Wings of the Dove
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 22 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milly Theale is a young, beautiful, and fabulously wealthy American. When she arrives in London and meets the equally beautiful but impoverished Kate Croy, they form an intimate friendship. But nothing is as it seems: materialism, romance, self-delusion, and ultimately fatal illness insidiously contaminate the glamorous social whirl.
-
-
Not an easy read but SO worth it!
- By Julie Gray on 10-31-17
By: Henry James
-
The American
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
excellent reading
- By Andorboth on 12-03-22
By: Henry James
-
Middlemarch
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 35 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Best Audible book ever
- By Molly-o on 12-25-11
By: George Eliot
-
The Bostonians
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, a decade after the Civil War, The Bostonians tells the story of two cousins who battle for the affections of and control over an enchanting prophetess. While visiting his cousin Olive Chancellor, a fierce feminist deeply involved in the Suffragette movement, Basil Ransom, a Confederate Civil War veteran turned lawyer, attends a speech by the talented young orator Verena Tarrant. Basil quickly falls in love with Verena, although he disagrees with her politics; Olive, however, sees her as the future of the women's rights movement.
-
-
A satire that turns tragic
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-20
By: Henry James
-
The Golden Bowl
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 25 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wealthy Maggie Verver has everything she could ever ask for - except a husband and a title. While in Italy, acquiring art for his museum back in the States, Maggie’s millionaire father, Adam, decides to remedy this and acquire a husband for Maggie. Enter Prince Amerigo, of a titled but now poor aristocratic Florentine family. Amerigo is the perfect candidate.
-
-
If you don't love this book, it's your fault
- By Viewer on 09-14-18
By: Henry James
-
The Custom of the Country
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edith Wharton stands among the finest writers of early 20th-century America. In The Custom of the Country, Wharton’s scathing social commentary is on full display through the beautiful and manipulative Undine Spragg. When Undine convinces her nouveau riche parents to move to New York, she quickly injects herself into high society. But even a well-to-do husband isn’t enough for Undine, whose overwhelming lust for wealth proves to be her undoing.
-
-
Cannot recommend a better narrator!
- By Esther on 07-29-12
By: Edith Wharton
-
The Wings of the Dove
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 22 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milly Theale is a young, beautiful, and fabulously wealthy American. When she arrives in London and meets the equally beautiful but impoverished Kate Croy, they form an intimate friendship. But nothing is as it seems: materialism, romance, self-delusion, and ultimately fatal illness insidiously contaminate the glamorous social whirl.
-
-
Not an easy read but SO worth it!
- By Julie Gray on 10-31-17
By: Henry James
-
The American
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
excellent reading
- By Andorboth on 12-03-22
By: Henry James
-
Middlemarch
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 35 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Best Audible book ever
- By Molly-o on 12-25-11
By: George Eliot
-
The Bostonians
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, a decade after the Civil War, The Bostonians tells the story of two cousins who battle for the affections of and control over an enchanting prophetess. While visiting his cousin Olive Chancellor, a fierce feminist deeply involved in the Suffragette movement, Basil Ransom, a Confederate Civil War veteran turned lawyer, attends a speech by the talented young orator Verena Tarrant. Basil quickly falls in love with Verena, although he disagrees with her politics; Olive, however, sees her as the future of the women's rights movement.
-
-
A satire that turns tragic
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-20
By: Henry James
-
Mrs. Dalloway
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is a June day in London in 1923, and the lovely Clarissa Dalloway is having a party. Whom will she see? Her friend Peter, back from India, who has never really stopped loving her? What about Sally, with whom Clarissa had her life’s happiest moment? Meanwhile, the shell-shocked Septimus Smith is struggling with his life on the same London day.
-
-
One Tough Read Perfectly Delivered
- By Chris on 06-11-12
By: Virginia Woolf
-
Daisy Miller
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Ellie Kendrick
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Travelling in Europe with her family, Daisy Miller, an exquisitely beautiful young American woman, presents her fellow countryman Winterbourne with a dilemma he cannot resolve. Is she deliberately flouting social convention in the outspoken way she talks and acts, or is she simply ignorant of those conventions? When she strikes up an intimate friendship with an urbane young Italian, her flat refusal to observe the codes of respectable behaviour leave her perilously exposed.
-
-
loved the story
- By Dominick Garcez on 02-18-23
By: Henry James
-
Daniel Deronda
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 36 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meeting by chance at a gambling hall in Europe, the separate lives of Daniel Deronda and Gwendolen Harleth are immediately intertwined. Daniel, an Englishman of uncertain parentage, becomes Gwendolyn's redeemer as she finds herself drawn to his spiritual and altruistic nature after a loveless marriage. But Daniel's path was already set when he rescued a young Jewess from suicide.
-
-
Give it a try!
- By Tucker LaPrade on 01-30-16
By: George Eliot
-
Emma
- An Audible Original Drama
- By: Jane Austen, Anna Lea - adaptation
- Narrated by: Emma Thompson, Joanne Froggatt, Isabella Inchbald, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Background sonds RUINED this
- By Sandra Dodd on 09-09-18
By: Jane Austen, and others
-
Emma [Naxos Edition]
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of Jane Austen's most popular novels. Arrogant, self-willed, and egotistical, Emma is her most unusual heroine.
-
-
Wonderful listen
- By A. Bloom on 08-07-08
By: Jane Austen
-
To the Lighthouse
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Nicole Kidman
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To the Lighthouse is Virginia Woolf’s arresting analysis of domestic family life, centering on the Ramseys and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland in the early 1900s. Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge, Eyes Wide Shut), who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Woolf in the film adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel
The Hours, brings the impressionistic prose of this classic to vibrant life.
-
-
A book that will challenge you to think.
- By Kelly on 04-23-17
By: Virginia Woolf
-
The Mill on the Floss
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Mill on the Floss is one of the great works of English literature. It is perhaps the most autobiographical of all Eliot's novels. The relationship between its heroine, Maggie Tulliver, and her brother, Tom, closely resembles that of George Eliot and her own brother, Isaac. The subject of sibling affection was clearly a deeply poignant one for George Eliot - she also wrote a series of beautiful and evocative sonnets entitled 'Brother and Sister'.
-
-
Fiona Shaw makes George Eliot endurable
- By Starr on 04-21-16
By: George Eliot
-
The Master
- By: Colm Toibin
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beautiful and profoundly moving, The Master tells the story of Henry James, a man born into one of America’s first intellectual families who leaves his country in the late 19th century to live in Paris, Rome, Venice, and London among privileged artists and writers. With stunningly resonant prose, “The Master is unquestionably the work of a first-rate novelist: artful, moving, and very beautiful” (The New York Times Book Review). The emotional intensity of this portrait is riveting.
-
-
What a Terrible Disappointment!
- By Sherry M. Rogers on 08-20-21
By: Colm Toibin
-
North and South
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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....
-
-
Delightful
- By Sally on 01-04-10
-
Vanity Fair (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: William Makepeace Thackeray
- Narrated by: Joel Froomkin
- Length: 32 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Napoleon has England on edge. For the cunning and conniving Becky Sharp, it’s an opportunity to take advantage of the chaos and improve her lowly station. Her friend Amelia Sedley, a blue-blood pawn, affords Becky entrée into the moneyed class. As the guileless Amelia pines for a rakish soldier, the ruthless Becky climbs upward, setting the stage for a domestic battlefield of greed, ambition, deception, and dizzying reversals of love and fortune.
-
The House of Mirth
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Eleanor Bron
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Like Henry James but more accessible
- By Merlin on 08-19-12
By: Edith Wharton
-
The Great Gatsby
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Jake Gyllenhaal
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel of the Roaring Twenties is beloved by generations of readers and stands as his crowning work. This new audio edition, authorized by the Fitzgerald estate, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain). Gyllenhaal's performance is a faithful delivery in the voice of Nick Carraway, the Midwesterner turned New York bond salesman, who rents a small house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby....
-
-
Simple, Beautiful, and Exquisitely Textured
- By Darwin8u on 04-09-13
Related to this topic
-
The Bostonians
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, a decade after the Civil War, The Bostonians tells the story of two cousins who battle for the affections of and control over an enchanting prophetess. While visiting his cousin Olive Chancellor, a fierce feminist deeply involved in the Suffragette movement, Basil Ransom, a Confederate Civil War veteran turned lawyer, attends a speech by the talented young orator Verena Tarrant. Basil quickly falls in love with Verena, although he disagrees with her politics; Olive, however, sees her as the future of the women's rights movement.
-
-
A satire that turns tragic
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-20
By: Henry James
-
Daisy Miller
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Ellie Kendrick
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Travelling in Europe with her family, Daisy Miller, an exquisitely beautiful young American woman, presents her fellow countryman Winterbourne with a dilemma he cannot resolve. Is she deliberately flouting social convention in the outspoken way she talks and acts, or is she simply ignorant of those conventions? When she strikes up an intimate friendship with an urbane young Italian, her flat refusal to observe the codes of respectable behaviour leave her perilously exposed.
-
-
loved the story
- By Dominick Garcez on 02-18-23
By: Henry James
-
3 Classic Novels
- Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Giuliano, The Spire
- Length: 36 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to the world of Jane Austen, one of the most beloved authors in the English language. Austen's works are known for their wit, social commentary, and romantic storylines that have captivated readers for generations.
-
-
Classic Novels are the best.
- By Maureen Hart on 09-07-23
By: Jane Austen
-
Middlemarch
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 35 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Best Audible book ever
- By Molly-o on 12-25-11
By: George Eliot
-
Wives and Daughters
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 25 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centers on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new stepsister enters Molly's quiet life, the loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The narrative traces the development of the two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.
-
-
It's not about the ending!
- By Sandra on 07-25-05
-
Ayala's Angel
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Katharine Brooks
- Length: 19 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Ayala's Angel" (1878) is a novel by Anthony Trollope. The story focuses on two orphaned sisters, Ayala and Lucy Dormer, and their trials, first with their relatives, then of the heart. As in most Trollope novels, pages are given over to subplots related to the main plot. Excerpt from the book: "It was now the beginning of February. As Tom and his uncle had walked from Somerset House the streets were dry and the weather fine; but, as Mr. Dosett had remarked, the wind was changing a little out of the east and threatened rain.
-
-
Great Story for Trollope Fans
- By S. White on 04-28-20
By: Anthony Trollope
-
The Bostonians
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, a decade after the Civil War, The Bostonians tells the story of two cousins who battle for the affections of and control over an enchanting prophetess. While visiting his cousin Olive Chancellor, a fierce feminist deeply involved in the Suffragette movement, Basil Ransom, a Confederate Civil War veteran turned lawyer, attends a speech by the talented young orator Verena Tarrant. Basil quickly falls in love with Verena, although he disagrees with her politics; Olive, however, sees her as the future of the women's rights movement.
-
-
A satire that turns tragic
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-20
By: Henry James
-
Daisy Miller
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Ellie Kendrick
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Travelling in Europe with her family, Daisy Miller, an exquisitely beautiful young American woman, presents her fellow countryman Winterbourne with a dilemma he cannot resolve. Is she deliberately flouting social convention in the outspoken way she talks and acts, or is she simply ignorant of those conventions? When she strikes up an intimate friendship with an urbane young Italian, her flat refusal to observe the codes of respectable behaviour leave her perilously exposed.
-
-
loved the story
- By Dominick Garcez on 02-18-23
By: Henry James
-
3 Classic Novels
- Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Giuliano, The Spire
- Length: 36 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to the world of Jane Austen, one of the most beloved authors in the English language. Austen's works are known for their wit, social commentary, and romantic storylines that have captivated readers for generations.
-
-
Classic Novels are the best.
- By Maureen Hart on 09-07-23
By: Jane Austen
-
Middlemarch
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 35 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Best Audible book ever
- By Molly-o on 12-25-11
By: George Eliot
-
Wives and Daughters
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 25 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Wives and Daughters centers on the story of youthful Molly Gibson, brought up from childhood by her father. When he remarries, a new stepsister enters Molly's quiet life, the loveable, but worldly and troubling, Cynthia. The narrative traces the development of the two girls into womanhood within the gossiping and watchful society of Hollingford.
-
-
It's not about the ending!
- By Sandra on 07-25-05
-
Ayala's Angel
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Katharine Brooks
- Length: 19 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Ayala's Angel" (1878) is a novel by Anthony Trollope. The story focuses on two orphaned sisters, Ayala and Lucy Dormer, and their trials, first with their relatives, then of the heart. As in most Trollope novels, pages are given over to subplots related to the main plot. Excerpt from the book: "It was now the beginning of February. As Tom and his uncle had walked from Somerset House the streets were dry and the weather fine; but, as Mr. Dosett had remarked, the wind was changing a little out of the east and threatened rain.
-
-
Great Story for Trollope Fans
- By S. White on 04-28-20
By: Anthony Trollope
-
Can You Forgive Her?
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Timothy West
- Length: 28 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can You Forgive Her? is the first of the six in the Palliser series. Trollope inextricably binds together the issues of parliamentary election and marriage, of politics and privacy. The values and aspirations of the governing stratum of Victorian society are ruthlessly examined, and none remains unscathed. But above all Trollope focuses on the predicament of women. 'What should a woman do with her life?' asks Alice Vavasor of herself, and this theme is echoed by every other woman in the audiobook.
-
-
Superb performance and sound
- By David on 05-21-10
By: Anthony Trollope
-
The Moonstone
- By: Wilkie Collins
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No, the "Moonstone" isn't a celestial relic, it's a gigantic yellow diamond of unearthly beauty that was given to Rachel Verinder as a present on her 18th birthday - and stolen that very night! Betteredge, one of the most beloved butlers in English literature, is the focus of this seminal detective novel, which examines how one family's life is turned upside-down by the theft. And find out why the answers to all of life's problems can be found in the pages of Robinson Crusoe.
-
-
One of the best readings ever
- By Catherine on 05-22-03
By: Wilkie Collins
-
Northanger Abbey
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Harriet Stevens
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Jane Austen's first completed novel that was submitted to be published, Northanger Abbey is a miraculously weaved tale of love, society, and deception, themes that would come to be synonymous in literature with Austen's name. The young Catherine Morland receives a fantastic opportunity to explore the city of Bath with some family friends, and while there, she experiences a level of mental and emotional growth that was as yet unparalleled in her life.
-
-
Great Listening Experience
- By Robert Jennings on 05-18-16
By: Jane Austen
-
Swann's Way
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 21 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Not a book one reads but inhabits & floats through
- By Darwin8u on 02-24-13
By: Marcel Proust
-
The Idiot [Blackstone]
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 22 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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."
-
-
Intense and painfully sad
- By Tad on 04-27-12
-
North and South
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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....
-
-
Delightful
- By Sally on 01-04-10
-
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
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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
-
The Woman in White
- By: Wilkie Collins
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey, Simon Prebble
- Length: 25 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Gripping novel, excellent production
- By David on 01-18-11
By: Wilkie Collins
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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?
-
-
NOT Jane Austen
- By susan on 03-02-19
By: Shannon Winslow
-
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
- Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
- By: Seth Grahame-Smith, Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"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.
-
-
One word - Awesome!
- By Katelyn on 05-22-09
By: Seth Grahame-Smith, and others
-
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
- By: Anne Brontë
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Jenny Agutter
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Excellent performances of an abridged version
- By LSK on 04-21-19
By: Anne Brontë
-
The Custom of the Country
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Narrator kills the book
- By Mississippi Malka on 05-24-10
By: Edith Wharton
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Wings of the Dove
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 22 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milly Theale is a young, beautiful, and fabulously wealthy American. When she arrives in London and meets the equally beautiful but impoverished Kate Croy, they form an intimate friendship. But nothing is as it seems: materialism, romance, self-delusion, and ultimately fatal illness insidiously contaminate the glamorous social whirl.
-
-
Not an easy read but SO worth it!
- By Julie Gray on 10-31-17
By: Henry James
-
The Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: John Wood
- Length: 23 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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 the freedom that her fortune has opened up and to determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors, declaring that she will never marry. It is only when she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the cultivated but worthless Gilbert Osmond that she discovers that wealth is a two-edged sword.
-
-
Highly recommended
- By David on 06-26-10
By: Henry James
-
Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Cyril Taylor-Carr, The Oxford 8
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Portrait of a Lady is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan's Magazine in 1880-81 and then as a book in 1881. It is one of James's most popular novels and is regarded by critics as one of his finest.
By: Henry James
-
The Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Erin Bateman
- Length: 23 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Isabel Archer is a young woman who has inherited a large sum of money after the death of her father. She is invited to visit her aunt and uncle’s estate in London, where she is greeted by a cast of eclectic neighbors, many of whom offer her marriage very quickly due to her status. Isabel is set on maintaining independence though and refuses several offers of marriage as she lives in pursuit of her destiny. Eventually, she does fall prey to the people trying to gain her fortune and settles into an unhappy marriage with an egotistical man named Gilbert Osmond.
By: Henry James
-
Lady Audley's Secret
- By: Mary Elizabeth Braddon
- Narrated by: Olivia Poulet
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of The Christmas Hirelings comes this Audible Exclusive production of Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s classic sensation novel Lady Audley’s Secret. English actress Olivia Poulet gives an assured and captivating narration; a cornerstone of the genre and a scandal at the time of its publication, Lady Audley’s Secret is an entertaining and shocking tale of high drama and shifting perceptions.
-
-
Classic 19th Century “sensation novel”
- By Susan on 08-20-19
-
The Golden Bowl
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 25 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wealthy Maggie Verver has everything she could ever ask for - except a husband and a title. While in Italy, acquiring art for his museum back in the States, Maggie’s millionaire father, Adam, decides to remedy this and acquire a husband for Maggie. Enter Prince Amerigo, of a titled but now poor aristocratic Florentine family. Amerigo is the perfect candidate.
-
-
If you don't love this book, it's your fault
- By Viewer on 09-14-18
By: Henry James
-
The Wings of the Dove
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 22 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milly Theale is a young, beautiful, and fabulously wealthy American. When she arrives in London and meets the equally beautiful but impoverished Kate Croy, they form an intimate friendship. But nothing is as it seems: materialism, romance, self-delusion, and ultimately fatal illness insidiously contaminate the glamorous social whirl.
-
-
Not an easy read but SO worth it!
- By Julie Gray on 10-31-17
By: Henry James
-
The Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: John Wood
- Length: 23 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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 the freedom that her fortune has opened up and to determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors, declaring that she will never marry. It is only when she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the cultivated but worthless Gilbert Osmond that she discovers that wealth is a two-edged sword.
-
-
Highly recommended
- By David on 06-26-10
By: Henry James
-
Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Cyril Taylor-Carr, The Oxford 8
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Portrait of a Lady is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan's Magazine in 1880-81 and then as a book in 1881. It is one of James's most popular novels and is regarded by critics as one of his finest.
By: Henry James
-
The Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Erin Bateman
- Length: 23 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Isabel Archer is a young woman who has inherited a large sum of money after the death of her father. She is invited to visit her aunt and uncle’s estate in London, where she is greeted by a cast of eclectic neighbors, many of whom offer her marriage very quickly due to her status. Isabel is set on maintaining independence though and refuses several offers of marriage as she lives in pursuit of her destiny. Eventually, she does fall prey to the people trying to gain her fortune and settles into an unhappy marriage with an egotistical man named Gilbert Osmond.
By: Henry James
-
Lady Audley's Secret
- By: Mary Elizabeth Braddon
- Narrated by: Olivia Poulet
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of The Christmas Hirelings comes this Audible Exclusive production of Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s classic sensation novel Lady Audley’s Secret. English actress Olivia Poulet gives an assured and captivating narration; a cornerstone of the genre and a scandal at the time of its publication, Lady Audley’s Secret is an entertaining and shocking tale of high drama and shifting perceptions.
-
-
Classic 19th Century “sensation novel”
- By Susan on 08-20-19
-
The Golden Bowl
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 25 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wealthy Maggie Verver has everything she could ever ask for - except a husband and a title. While in Italy, acquiring art for his museum back in the States, Maggie’s millionaire father, Adam, decides to remedy this and acquire a husband for Maggie. Enter Prince Amerigo, of a titled but now poor aristocratic Florentine family. Amerigo is the perfect candidate.
-
-
If you don't love this book, it's your fault
- By Viewer on 09-14-18
By: Henry James
-
The American
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
excellent reading
- By Andorboth on 12-03-22
By: Henry James
-
Little Dorrit
- The Audible Dickens Collection
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 40 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Audible Exclusive production revisits Charles Dickens’ tragi-comic novel Little Dorrit. Written during the Crimean War, it a story of fortunes won and lost and a masterly portrayal of the failings of Victorian Society, with the ever-present spectre of law enforcement and imprisonment looming over a fearful population. Divided into two parts, Book One: Poverty and Book Two: Riches, Little Dorrit satirises the debtors prisons and the detrimental effect of enforcing a British class system.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Bunky on 09-19-19
By: Charles Dickens
-
The King's General
- By: Daphne du Maurier
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 13 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A classic work of historical fiction from the author of Rebecca and The Birds. Honor Harris is only 18 when she first meets Richard Grenvile, proud, reckless - and utterly captivating. But following a riding accident, Honor must reconcile herself to a life alone. As the English Civil War is waged across the country, Richard rises through the ranks of the army, marries and makes enemies, and Honor remains true to him. Decades later, an undaunted Sir Richard, now a general serving King Charles I, finds her.
-
-
Engaging...but not my favorite du Maurier title
- By Janna Wong Healy on 10-30-16
-
The Portrait of a Lady
- Penguin Classics
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Simon Harrison
- Length: 22 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
By: Henry James
-
The Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 21 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Bleak and believable
- By Karen on 04-26-09
By: Henry James
-
Night and Day
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written before she began her experiments in the writing of fiction, Virginia Woolf's second novel, Night and Day, is a story about a group of young people trying to discover what it means to fall in love. It asks all the big questions: What does it mean to fall in love? Does marriage grant happiness? What is happiness? Night and Day is a conventional novel; however, it maps out for us the world of Virginia Woolf in its wondrous prose: For her it was the beginning, leading on to a prolonged engagement with her search for the means to express the "inner life".
-
-
"After all, what is love?"
- By Eman Abd Allah on 12-13-16
By: Virginia Woolf
-
Daniel Deronda
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 36 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meeting by chance at a gambling hall in Europe, the separate lives of Daniel Deronda and Gwendolen Harleth are immediately intertwined. Daniel, an Englishman of uncertain parentage, becomes Gwendolyn's redeemer as she finds herself drawn to his spiritual and altruistic nature after a loveless marriage. But Daniel's path was already set when he rescued a young Jewess from suicide.
-
-
Give it a try!
- By Tucker LaPrade on 01-30-16
By: George Eliot
-
The Transit of Venus
- By: Shirley Hazzard
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson, Shirley Hazzard
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Caro, gallant and adventurous, has been courted long and hopelessly by young scientist, Ted Tice. The milder Grace seeks fulfilment in an apparently happy marriage. But as the decades pass and the characters weave in and out of each other's lives, love, death, and two secrets wait in ambush for them.
By: Shirley Hazzard
-
The Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the death of her father, Isabel Archer leaves the comforts of Albany, New York, to stay with her aunt, Lydia Touchett, at her London estate. There she meets Lydia's rich husband, David; her cousin, Ralph; and the Touchetts' proud neighbor, Lord Warburton. Soon, too, come marriage proposals from Lord Warburton and Caspar Goodwood, the son of a wealthy mill owner. Although Isabel declines both offers, she eventually gives her hand to Gilbert Osmond, an American expat in Florence.
By: Henry James
-
Northanger Abbey
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Anna Massey
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Catherine Morland reads tales of Gothic romance, yet leads a country life in Wiltshire. When she travels to Bath, she meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney. She is invited by his sister and father to stay at Northanger Abbey, where she meets all the trappings of Gothic horror that she has read about. Fortunately, she has her own good sense and irresistible but unsentimental hero, Henry Tilney.
-
-
A pleasing but too serious narrator
- By karen R on 12-08-15
By: Jane Austen
-
The Odd Women
- By: George Gissing
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The young Monica Madden cries for two days before her marriage to Edmund Widdowson; the ensuing claustrophobia, which opens the door for the more desirable Bevis, contrasts with Rhoda's independence - yet Rhoda's own principles are tested when she falls in love rather by accident.... The Odd Women is a remarkable book, ultimately optimistic in its hope for a societal shift that will benefit both men and women alike.
-
-
Excellent novel beautifully read
- By Merlin on 07-28-22
By: George Gissing
-
The Aspern Papers
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Jeremy Northam
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the wittiest and most scathing of Henry James' novellas, The Aspern Papers chronicles the attempt to extract the valuable letters of the famous and recently deceased poet Jeffrey Aspern from the hands of his past lover and formidable adversary in the battle Juliana Bordereau. The plot was reputedly suggested to James by a story he heard of an illicit attempt to get hold of several of Lord Byron's letters.
-
-
Cat and mouse
- By Beyler Francois on 01-07-18
By: Henry James
What listeners say about The Portrait of a Lady
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Debbi Ashby
- 11-23-19
Juliet Stevenson is brilliant as ever
The sound engineers for this book are not
JS's narration of Henrietta for example was so loud it hurt my ears - esp because that character has such a brash nasal tone. When I'd turn down the volume when her character was speaking then I'd have to turn the volume right back up in order to hear the narrators voice or Ralph's, etc
Juliet has an amazing capacity to do so many voices expressing the personality of each character perfectly. That's talent
As for the story all I could say was WTH? at the end. It's almost as if James got tired of writing and just cut off the story as expediently as possible. To go through so much detail and flesh out each character so well then at the end just finish with She went back to Rome?
Honestly. If he was too bored or tired to end the story properly and with some logical extension of the last couple of scenes, then he should've left it up to one of his talented contemporaries to finish the story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- William Crosby
- 08-22-18
The reading equivalent of listening to A Brahms Symphony
This is a perfect novel, brilliantly read. I enjoyed It immensely. As I said the equivalent of listening to a soulfully profound Brahms Symphony. Deeply sad but also bright, vivid and strangely optimistic.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Allyson
- 05-16-19
This One Will Keep You Up
This story becomes more and more engrossing as it progresses. The narrator is one of my favorites and she does the story justice with the exception of her American accents which tend to have an unlikely, crude edge...as though everyone from the USA is from the south shore of New Jersey. Putting aside that disappointment, and the disappointment of the ending, it is well worth a listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Mann
- 01-05-19
More subtle audio interpretation of Isabel needed
I enjoyed this reading of a novel that I know well. A major problem for me is the way Isabel Archer’s lines are read. She’s reduced to a stereotypical American—almost Henrietta Stackpole. Given the significance of her role, this is a major problem, reflecting the reader’s inability to comprehend fully the protagonist. Editor was needed early on.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- naw74
- 06-25-21
Juliet Stevenson is wonderful
I love Juliet Stevenson as an actress on the screen, and her voice is perfect for this novel. The story was hard for me to get into at first, but once I did, I was hooked. If you like Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, etc., but want something a little grittier; this is a great choice- A classic that was new to me.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 06-24-23
Portrait of a Lady, after sixty years
I remember reading Portrait of a Lady in college and loving it, To revisit it today, after fifty years was delicious joy!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Julie Gray
- 12-02-17
Hypnotic, Romantic, Challenging
Henry James is not an easy read, let's just get that out of the way. He was an incredibly verbose, detailed writer, the likes of which we do not see in modern writing. I found his storytelling incredibly hypnotic and beautiful - but yes, it does try one's patience. Read this book if you want to give your brain a workout and improve your focus and ability to concentrate. It's very good for that, and I truly mean it. But do not read this book if you want a very plot-driven, quick read, because the plot really does take a very long time to play out and even the end is slightly abrupt, in my view. This book, like all of James' novels, is a commitment, but you will be very enriched for having read it. Personally, I preferred The Wings of the Dove because the plot - also very slow to begin and to play out - was more interesting to me, but Portrait is a fine novel as well and reading Henry James is good for the brain and the soul. I see other reviews here, complaining of the narrator's American accents, and while this did not bother me personally, yes, they are a bit theatrical but I would listen to Juliet Stephenson read a grocery list, honestly.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- foodwaterbooks
- 08-16-17
Love Juliet Stevenson, but she has a terrible ear
What did you love best about The Portrait of a Lady?
not sure I loved it but there are flighs of language that are deeply wonderful
What other book might you compare The Portrait of a Lady to and why?
I think it is Diceknsian while trying to be Whartonian. James is in his own way all the time--loving his own cleverness. it's like French cooking--take some meat, do omething to it, then do something else to that and then do something alse to it it all
Would you listen to another book narrated by Juliet Stevenson?
Perhaps, but not one where she impersonated Americans. She and/or the director seem to have a very narrow view of us. Her young bright girls sound like middle aged matrons, vocally, her Isabelle sounded half-witted and breathy, Ms. Stackpole a screeching bourgeoise twice her intended age. her Englishmen did not have much to distinguish among them. Im a third-generation New Yorker, well acquainted with the different ways we can all sound and sadly she never came close. Even the odious Gilbert had less personality than described for him.and Pansy-! surely an Englishwoman can do a better French accentnnn.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Couldn't
Any additional comments?
Still finishing it. So tragic.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Roger Perrault
- 04-15-18
Packs a punch
Listening to this story after an absence of forty years serves to teach me that views change over time. Today, I see Balzac with the presence of money in relationships. James weaves a long story and then out of nowhere there is a slap to the face. The narrator successfully brings all this to life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- bill m
- 10-08-20
Another brilliant rendition of a novel by Juliet Stevenson
A brilliant book, a brilliant audible.
I noticed that in another review that there was a complaint about the American accent of Ms Stevenson. I could not disagree more. Ms Stevenson imbued a more sophisticated rendition of wealthy Americans within the stories appropriate to the late 19th century and not a Texas drawl!
This audible met all my expectations for a Juliet Stevenson performance.
Please read Mrs Oswald by John Banville for a brilliant and credible conclusion to this story,
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!