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Miss Austen
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
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Miss Austen
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
The Sunday Times best-seller, and set to be a major TV drama.
A wonderfully original, emotionally complex novel that delves into why Cassandra burned a treasure trove of letters written by her sister, Jane Austen – an act of destruction that has troubled academics for centuries.
1840: 23 years after the death of her famous sister Jane, Cassandra Austen returns to the village of Kintbury, and the home of her family’s friends, the Fowles.
She knows that, in some dusty corner of the sprawling vicarage, there is a cache of family letters which hold secrets she is desperate should not be revealed.
As Cassandra recalls her youth and her relationship with her brilliant yet complex sister, she pieces together buried truths about Jane’s history and her own. And she faces a stark choice: should she act to protect Jane’s reputation? Or leave the contents of the letters to go unguarded into posterity....
Based on a literary mystery that has long puzzled biographers and academics, Miss Austen is a wonderfully original and emotionally complex novel about the loves and lives of Cassandra and Jane Austen.
Critic reviews
"Without romanticising its period setting or underplaying the precariousness of any woman’s position in this society, it celebrates unexamined lives, sisterhood and virtues such as kindness and loyalty." (Sunday Times)
"The perfect book to wrap yourself around on a dark night." (STYLIST)
"So good, so intelligent, so clever, so entertaining - I adored it." (Claire Tomalin)
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What listeners say about Miss Austen
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
- Helen M.
- 26-12-23
Excellent
An excellent read. I enjoyed every minute and felt completely immersed in Austen territory. Thank you.
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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
- Carrie-Anne Lavender
- 09-07-20
Austen herself would be proud
What an exquisitely enjoyable book. The writing was beautiful and Austenesque with excellent eccentric characters and believable and realistic portrayals of Jane and Cassandra. Juliet Stevenson's narration was impeccable and gave life to the characters within. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Roisin
- 21-05-21
Insights and interesting
Some insight to what I imagine Jane’s life was like and the narrator was so skilled it kept me listening and interested.
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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
- Whistling Woman
- 06-03-20
Loved, loved, loved it
I steamed through this book in 2 sick days, letting Juliet Stevenson's always-wonderful narration carry me away to the late 18th/early 19th century. Gill Hornby has the Austenesque knack of making the tiny domestic sphere endlessly fascinating through the personalities of those who inhabit it. The story, from Cassandra Austen's point of view, is told in flashback and Hornby's Jane is not always the demure and ladylike figure one might expect or one that is necessarily easy to live with, but she is very very human. This is a book about women at a time when men held every bit of power and I recognise them, so will you for surely human nature doesn't change so very much. We all know the women who do the caring, and the ones who *think* they do while they sit on the sofa drinking tea, the women we giggle with and the women we avoid at Christmas parties. They are all here in this book, bonnets and reticules notwithstanding, and so are laughter, tears and a really absorbing story. Thank you so much. I expect to listen to this many times.
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14 people found this helpful
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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
- Christiane Gaud
- 12-04-21
Very good
I really loved it a lot. It was really good story. I will recommend it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- G. Walton
- 18-04-21
Brilliant book, brilliantly executed
Loved it.. brought the characters to life and presented a very believable life story and explained clearly why Cassie burnt the letters.. altogether a lovely piece of work.
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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
- Nicole Andrews
- 25-07-23
Loved it
What started out as an unpromising tale of old biddies turned into a beautiful complex telling. Imagined and written with the reviving of Jane Austen's clever sarcasm, a necessary conversational style when dealing with the Mary's of this world. Lovely accounts of the family's dynamics and a sub plot revealing the woven experience of Jane Austen's life and the inspirations for her novels.
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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
- Anonymous User
- 08-03-20
Pitch Perfect and the private story that rings true to me.
Not as rich and witty a storyteller as Jane Austen, but as Casandra’s story, it rings true. Written with a love and respect that can hold no fears for those who cherish the work and life of Jane Austen.
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4 people found this helpful
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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
- sue Sargent
- 01-11-22
great!
this was recommended to me by a Austen fan, as am I, I have read the book of the letters between Cassandra and Jane, it was fascinating to listen to it.
enjoyable, great narration of all the different characters.
I would listen again in case I missed bits.
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1 person found this helpful
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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
- Christina Foden
- 28-05-21
Excellent story
I really loved the performance and the voices, it made the story come to life.
The plot was interesting and a fictional insight to how Jane Austen might have been as a person. An excellent book.
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1 person found this helpful