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Emma cover art

Emma

By: Jane Austen
Narrated by: Jenny Agutter
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Summary

Exclusively from Audible

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. But when she fails to heed the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and schemes to arrange a suitable match for her protégée, Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. She discovers that she understands the feelings of others as little as she does her own heart.

With a cast of unforgettable characters, it is a lively comedy of manners that explores the concerns of genteel women living in Regency times.

Jane Austen was an English writer known primarily for her six major novels which focused on the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Her plots often explore women's dependence on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security.

Narrator Biography

Jenny Agutter began her acting career as a child in 1964's East of Sudan and is well known for appearing in three adaptations of The Railway Children. She starred in the critically acclaimed 1971 film Walkabout as well as receiving a string of Hollywood roles. She won an Emmy for her role in The Snow Goose (1971), as well as a BAFTA for her role in Equus (1997).

More recently she has appeared in several television dramas, including Spooks (2002-2003), and Call the Midwife since 2012. She has performed in numerous theatre productions, including roles with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has also narrated audiobooks like Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle, and featured in the Doctor Who audio dramas inThe Bride of Peladon, and The Minister of Chance. In 2012 she was appointed OBE for her charity work.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Emma

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Poor narration spoilt it for me

Jenny Agutter is a great actress but she should not do this kind of work. I gave up listening as I felt she just wasn't doing justice to the text.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Disappointed

I love Jane Austen, I love Emma and I admire Jenny Agutter; but I was disappointed by her narration. The novel is very dialogue-heavy, with lots of quick-fire wit, and I didn’t think the voices of the characters were sufficiently distinct. At times the read felt laboured and I lost concentration. The Audible versions of Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion were far superior in my view.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A triumph of narration

Jenny Agutter presents Austen’s Emma in glorious detail. The nuances of wit and vivacity hit every note perfectly.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A little disappointing

As good an actor as she is, Jenny Agutter isn’t as good a narrator as I had expected. Her delivery was rather flat and sometimes it was tricky to work out who was speaking.
It was also rather oddly arranged with Audible’s chapters including several of the book’s chapters.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great work

So good - a reading in the hands of a master. Such a range of personalities.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Awful reading of decent novel

Too fast. irritating voice and no intonation where it should be and too much where it shouldn't.
I tried and tried to listen but couldn't stand it.
Just re-purchased with Emma Thompson reading - much much better

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully read

Can't fault Jenny Agutter's rendition: she gets the feel, tone and characterisation just right. Very pleased with this version, highly recommended.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

wonderful

Of course it's wonderful - it's Jane Austen! Delightful characters and the loathsome Mrs Elron (we all know one of those unfortunately!) So entertaining. Superb narration too. Highly recommended.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

perfect narration

Wonderful novel and a perfectly matched narrator. Sound quality is excellent, pacing, variation between characters all excellent, with no jarring OTT over-acting.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely Voices

I cannot explain how glad I am to have found a narrator that gives Emma the voice she deserves. Having a nasal bitch as the main character, is, not just wrong, because Emma is a decent person, but annoying to listen to.

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