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Vanity Fair
- Narrated by: Jane Lapotaire
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
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Vanity Fair
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Editorial reviews
Vanity Fair is a sprawling, tongue-in-cheek comment on the questionable mores of British society and remains one of the defining satirical works of the 19th Century.
An exquisite farce and lengthy dig at the stodgy, The Pilgrim’s Progress, the story primarily follows the travails of Amelia Sedley and Rebecca Sharp, as they leave their button-up girls academy and enter the strangely revered town of Vanity and it’s endless fair, where desires of the heart reign.
Jane Lapotaire narrates this rich, character driven-narrative with grace and restraint, sounding a bit like the grand Dame Judi Dench in the process.
Publisher's summary
Vanity Fair, with its rich cast of characters, takes place on the snakes-and-ladders board of life. Amelia Sedley, daughter of a wealthy merchant, has a loving mother to supervise her courtship. Becky Sharp, an orphan, has to use her wit, charm, and resourcefulness to escape from her destiny as a governess. This she does ruthlessly, musing: "I think I could become a good woman, if I had 5000 pounds a year." Thackeray's story is set at the time of the battle of Waterloo, in which the Sedley fortune is lost - and Amelia is back to square one - while Becky rises with contemptuous ease.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
balzac rocks
- By beatrice on 03-12-10
By: Honoré de Balzac
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The Warden
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Nigel Hawthorne
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
Set in the world of the Victorian professional and landed classes, the story centres on Mr Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity who is nevertheless in possession of an income from a charity far in excess of the sum devoted to it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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a delight
- By Janet on 12-22-08
By: Anthony Trollope
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The Way We Live Now
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Timothy West
- Length: 32 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,387
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,118
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,106
In this world of bribes, vendettas, and swindling, in which heiresses are gambled and won, Trollope's characters embody all the vices: Lady Carbury is 'false from head to foot'; her son Felix has 'the instincts of a horse, not approaching the higher sympathies of a dog'; and Melmotte - the colossal figure who dominates the book - is a 'horrid, big, rich scoundrel...a bloated swindler...a vile city ruffian'. But as vile as he is, he is considered one of Trollope's greatest creations.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Finally!
- By Laurene on 06-05-10
By: Anthony Trollope
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Cousin Bette
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Johanna Ward
- Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 422
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 314
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 316
The Bette referred to in this magnificent novel's title is Lisbeth Fischer, an excruciatingly cunning poor relation who both depends upon and nurses a terrible grudge against the family of her beautiful cousin, Adeline. That family is slowly being ruined by the uncontrollable sexual appetites of Adeline's husband, Baron Hulot - appetites that will, in time, give Cousin Bette opportunity to exact her vengeance.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Narrator!
- By Murasaki on 12-03-06
By: Honoré de Balzac
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No Name
- By: Wilkie Collins
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton, Rachel Atkins, Russell Bentley, and others
- Length: 27 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 118
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 105
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
Magdalen and Norah Vanstone have known only comfort and affluence for their entire lives. Orphaned suddenly following the unexpected deaths of their parents, the illegitimate sisters find themselves flung into the other extreme of living: their father had neglected to amend his will following their parents' recent marriage, leaving them with nothing, and their bitter, estranged uncle, the legal inheritor of the family fortune, mercilessly refuses them support.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good and Evil and Funny
- By John on 07-06-20
By: Wilkie Collins
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Cranford
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Prunella Scales
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 552
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 445
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 443
A vivid and affectionate portrait of the residents of an English country town in the mid-19th century, Cranford describes a community dominated by its independent and refined women, relating the adventures of Miss Matty and Miss Deborah, two middle-aged spinster sisters striving to live with dignity in reduced circumstances. Through a series of satirical vignettes, Gaskell sympathetically portrays changing small town customs and values in mid-Victorian England....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Quietly, subtly sweet and heartwarming
- By T. on 03-26-12
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Agnes Grey
- By: Anne Brontë
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 717
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 622
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 616
Having lost the family savings on risky investments, Richard Grey removes himself from family life and suffers a bout of depression. Feeling helpless and frustrated, his youngest daughter, Agnes, applies for a job as a governess to the children of a wealthy, upper-class, English family. Ecstatic at the thought that she has finally gained control and freedom over her own life, Agnes arrives at the Bloomfield mansion armed with confidence and purpose.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it
- By Kerry on 05-22-10
By: Anne Brontë
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Agnes Grey
- By: Anne Bronte
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 113
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 113
Written when women---and workers generally---had few rights in England, Agnes Grey exposes the brutal inequities of the rigid class system in mid-19th-century Britain. Agnes comes from a respectable middle-class family, but their financial reverses have forced her to seek work as a governess.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Make.it.stop.
- By Wayne on 03-18-22
By: Anne Bronte
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Anna Karenina
- By: Leo Tolstoy
- Narrated by: Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Length: 35 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13,412
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12,272
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12,201
Leo Tolstoy's classic story of doomed love is one of the most admired novels in world literature. Generations of readers have been enthralled by his magnificent heroine, the unhappily married Anna Karenina, and her tragic affair with dashing Count Vronsky.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Need to Disclose and Highlight Name of Translator
- By Charles B on 08-27-18
By: Leo Tolstoy
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The American
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 40
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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.
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5 out of 5 stars
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excellent reading
- By Andorboth on 12-03-22
By: Henry James
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The Mill on the Floss
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Laura Paton
- Length: 20 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 343
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 313
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 313
Maggie Tulliver has two lovers: Philip Wakem, son of her father’s enemy, and Stephen Guest, already promised to her cousin. But the love she wants most in the world is that of her brother Tom. Maggie’s struggle against her passionate and sensual nature leads her to a deeper understanding and to eventual tragedy
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great compassion
- By nina lalumia on 12-26-16
By: George Eliot
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Man and Wife
- By: Wilkie Collins
- Narrated by: Nicolas Boulton
- Length: 23 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Published 10 years after Collins’s most popular novel The Woman in White, Man and Wife centres on the confused and inequitable marriage laws of 19th-century Britain, reflecting the author’s own antipathy toward the institution. The plot follows the fortunes of a woman who, committed to marriage with one man, comes to believe that she may have inadvertently married his friend, according to the archaic laws of Scotland and Ireland.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Intricate plot, good dialogue, desperately needed an editor
- By Seth on 07-25-21
By: Wilkie Collins
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Lady Susan, The Watsons, and Sanditon
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Norma West
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 101
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Previously unpublished in unabridged audio, these three works (one novel unpublished in her lifetime and two unfinished fragments) reveal Jane Austen's development as a great artist.
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4 out of 5 stars
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For the Austen Addict
- By Joseph R on 09-09-09
By: Jane Austen
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Lady Audley's Secret
- By: Mary Elizabeth Braddon
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 104
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
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Story4 out of 5 stars 86
A fast-paced Victorian thriller that will delight audiences today as it did 100 years ago, Lady Audley's Secret has subterfuge, kidnapping, jealousy, and fraud, all thrown into the mix and shaken up for good measure.
A mystery which keeps a listener guessing until the last moments, this production is a must-listen for anyone who enjoys playing detective.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Narrator creates the listen
- By connie on 02-06-12
What listeners say about Vanity Fair
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Placeholder
- 04-13-15
Fantastic
I finally understand all the references to Becky Sharp!
Excellent reading, excellent story. Leaves one with many things to think about, like all good literature.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Joy
- 02-02-12
I know the problem
I was listening to the abridged version with out realizing it until the end. Never again will I make that mistake. Loved this Narrator.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- ronwyn
- 02-09-11
Wonderful experience
The reader has an excellent accent and tone, which made for a very enjoyable listen.
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1 person found this helpful