Villette Audiobook By Charlotte Brontë cover art

Villette

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Villette

By: Charlotte Brontë
Narrated by: Davina Porter
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Hailed as Charlotte Brontë’s “finest novel” by Virginia Woolf, Villette is the timeless semi-autobiographical tale of Lucy Snowe. Left with no family and no money, Lucy goes against her own timid nature and travels to the small city of Villette, France, where she becomes a school teacher in Madame Beck’s school for girls. During her stay, she falls in love—twice—and discovers an independent, inner strength rarely seen in women of her time.

Public Domain (P)2006 Recorded Books, LLC Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Romance Heartfelt

Editorial reviews

Charlotte Brontë's Villette follows protagonist Lucy Snowe as she bounces from one career to another. First a servant, then a teacher, the hapless Snowe is besotted by family tragedy and doomed romance. Eloquent performer Davina Porter imbues the hard-working Snowe with solemnity tinged by optimism. Indeed, as an unwed, working woman in 19th-century Europe, Snowe must struggle to define herself against the prevailing gender codes of her day. Porter, known for her painstaking attention to historical detail, captures the mannerisms and conventions of Brontë's characters, lending context and veracity to this striking case study of a Victorian woman’s prospects for love, happiness, and independence.
Beautiful Writing • Complex Characters • Interesting Historical Context • Gothic Elements • Unpredictable Plot
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maybe im being snobbish but the awful mispronunciation of every french word was a shame

i was disappointed

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The character Lucy was inspiring in her wholesome way of handling life’s joys and disappointments.

Authors word pictures and similes

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This certainly was no Jane Austen novel. It's rather uneventful, and dreary but if you love language as I do, you may like just the sound of it and Divina Porter is the best

OK for the diehard Victorian novel enthusiast

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The reader, Davina Porter, made Lucie Snow more real than any simple reading could do. I am now, more curious about Charlette Bronte and the era in which she lived. I wish this resource had been available when I was in school. I couldn't stop listening.
Bronte's writing is musical and poetic, and Davina's delivery elevates perfect literature.

Character brought to life brilliantly

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This story was about Villette so it did not let me down on that. The problem was that her life wasn't all that exciting. The narrator did a fine job. However, not the narrators fault, there were so many parts spoken in French of which I would have like to know what they were all about. Being that the book is published in English, the writer should not have assumed that everyone reads or understands French. Even if written as so, the director of the audiobook might have added the little curtesy of translation. I wasn't altogether disappointed with the book, which I knew was an old classic and would be written in that time frame's style.I had never read Charlotte Bronte or other classics such as Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and thought I probably missed something. I'm glad I read it but wouldn't read it again as I do my favorites.

Long documentary of this person's boring life.

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Unless you understand French, I would NOT buy this Audiobook. A great deal is spoken in French and the story becomes segmented and the meaning is lost if French is NOT understood. At least with the Kindle version you have the opportunity to highlight the French and translate to English.
It would be nice to have an ALL ENGLISH VERSION from Audible, with the French translated to English.

A lot of French

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I've read about six classics by women authors this year, all books that I'd managed to avoid during my formal education years. Villette is definitely my favorite. A woman without means ventures much on a trip to a destination unknown to her, without letters of introduction or even enough coin to support herself upon arrival, and makes a go of it. At least, as "a go of it" would be defined 170 years ago in England.

My only piece of advice: Probably better read, with a good French-English dictionary at your side, unless your command of spoken French is passingly adequate.

Wow said the male listener

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What does Davina Porter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She has fantastic french. She has specific voices for each character. She uses several different accents and pulls them off very well. She puts feeling and interest into her reading. I enjoyed Davina as a narrator.

great narration !

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They sort was delightful, intriguing, and fun of little twists. They only thing that was frustrating for me was the parts in French. I do know that the book was written at a time and place where French was spoken by a great deal of people. I don’t know how Audible could have added any translations but that would have been nice.

Truly a fun read.

Enjoyed very much except...

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If not, don’t listen to this book. A large portion of the dialogue is in French. Frustrating!

Do you speak French

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