Irritating narrator

While I enjoy Jane Austen and am pleased in general with this book - reasonably priced and listed chronologically - within seconds I was dismayed. Apart from the narrators grating mispronunciations of words like room (rum) and really (rally), during Lady Susan, her pronunciation of the surname Mainwaring - pronounced Mannering in reality - as Main Wearing had me cringing every time. I detected a slightly American lilt to the narrator's accent, which is not an issue in itself, but if she was trying to effect an English accent it might have been prudent to learn how to pronounce certain words properly. Another niggle is that Jane Austen was from the southern home counties, so words like laughter, glass, etc would have been pronounced with the long a sound - i.e. glars, barth - rather than the short a sound. Otherwise, its an enjoyable book to listen to.

Sorry, having listened further, it's lost a star. The narrator obviously struggles to retain a vaguely English accent and her inability to pronounce some simple words, that Google Translate would have easily sorted, I find distracts me from truly enjoying the novels. If you are going to narrate a period novel in an accent that is not your natural one, at least make the effort to learn how to pronounce certain words properly. As her American accent is obvious throughout, it would have been much more preferable - and easier on her vocal chords, I would imagine - if she had used her natural accent and just checked on the place names, etc. English is a tricky language, full of contradictions in pronunciations - heck, even some native British people struggle with it, especially if they are not familiar with the local pronunciations of places and names. Seeing Featherstonehaugh, as a surname, and knowing to pronounce it Fanshaw, for example. I heard her mention 'Comb' Magna, during Sense and Sensibility, when Combe is pronounced 'coom'. Maybe I'm just being pedantic but I am finding new horrors - to me, anyway - with each chopter.....sorry, chapter.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful