-
Villette
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 22 hrs and 39 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $39.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Professor
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: James Wilby
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Professor is Charlotte Brontë's first novel albeit the last to have been published. Edited and distributed by Arthur Bell Nicholls, two years after Brontë's death, it is based on her experiences of living as a language student in Brussels. The Professor follows the career and love affairs of William Crimsworth, a reserved but compassionate aristocrat who has been ostracised by his family and left penniless.
-
-
Beautiful
- By ilene on 12-26-16
By: Charlotte Brontë
-
Shirley
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the industrialising England of the Napoleonic wars, a period of bad harvests, Luddite riots, and economic unrest, Shirley is the story of two contrasting heroines and the men they love. One is the shy Caroline Helstone, trapped in the oppressive atmosphere of a Yorkshire rectory, whose life represents the plight of single women in the 19th century. The other is the vivacious Shirley Keeldar, who inherits a local estate and whose wealth liberates her from convention.
-
-
"As Romantic As Monday Morning"
- By Joseph R on 09-15-09
By: Charlotte Brontë
-
The Poems of Charlotte Brontë
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Jan Hartley
- Length: 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlotte Brontë (21 April 1816 - 31 March 1855) was a British novelist, the eldest of the three famous Brontë sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature. Charlotte Brontë, who used the pen name Currer Bell, is best known for Jane Eyre, one of the most famous of English novels. This audiobook collects together ten of her best works of poetry, first published in the collection 'Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell' in 1846.
-
-
Notes From the Heart
- By Joseph R on 01-20-10
By: Charlotte Brontë
-
Jane Eyre
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Emma Messenger
- Length: 21 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of eponymous Jane Eyre, her growth to adulthood, and her love for Mr. Rochester, the byronic master of Thornfield Hall. The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, but is nonetheless a novel many consider ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of sexuality, religion, and proto-feminism.
-
-
Wonderful story, wonderfully narrated
- By A. Thompson on 02-28-13
By: Charlotte Brontë
-
The Mill on the Floss
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Sara Kestelman
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Sara Kestelman
- By Cliente de Amazon on 11-15-19
By: George Eliot
-
Middlemarch
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 31 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Middlemarch is a recognized masterpiece that explores the complex social world of 19th century England. It is concerned with the lives of several ordinary people, albeit ones with high social standing. The novel explores the very fabric of Victorian society in the 1800s, showing how various human passions, heroism, egotism, love, and lust, interrelate within this society.
-
-
Engrossing, non-stuffy entertainment!
- By Jennifer on 06-21-06
By: George Eliot
-
The Professor
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: James Wilby
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Professor is Charlotte Brontë's first novel albeit the last to have been published. Edited and distributed by Arthur Bell Nicholls, two years after Brontë's death, it is based on her experiences of living as a language student in Brussels. The Professor follows the career and love affairs of William Crimsworth, a reserved but compassionate aristocrat who has been ostracised by his family and left penniless.
-
-
Beautiful
- By ilene on 12-26-16
By: Charlotte Brontë
-
Shirley
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the industrialising England of the Napoleonic wars, a period of bad harvests, Luddite riots, and economic unrest, Shirley is the story of two contrasting heroines and the men they love. One is the shy Caroline Helstone, trapped in the oppressive atmosphere of a Yorkshire rectory, whose life represents the plight of single women in the 19th century. The other is the vivacious Shirley Keeldar, who inherits a local estate and whose wealth liberates her from convention.
-
-
"As Romantic As Monday Morning"
- By Joseph R on 09-15-09
By: Charlotte Brontë
-
The Poems of Charlotte Brontë
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Jan Hartley
- Length: 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlotte Brontë (21 April 1816 - 31 March 1855) was a British novelist, the eldest of the three famous Brontë sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature. Charlotte Brontë, who used the pen name Currer Bell, is best known for Jane Eyre, one of the most famous of English novels. This audiobook collects together ten of her best works of poetry, first published in the collection 'Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell' in 1846.
-
-
Notes From the Heart
- By Joseph R on 01-20-10
By: Charlotte Brontë
-
Jane Eyre
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Emma Messenger
- Length: 21 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of eponymous Jane Eyre, her growth to adulthood, and her love for Mr. Rochester, the byronic master of Thornfield Hall. The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, but is nonetheless a novel many consider ahead of its time given the individualistic character of Jane and the novel's exploration of sexuality, religion, and proto-feminism.
-
-
Wonderful story, wonderfully narrated
- By A. Thompson on 02-28-13
By: Charlotte Brontë
-
The Mill on the Floss
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Sara Kestelman
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Sara Kestelman
- By Cliente de Amazon on 11-15-19
By: George Eliot
-
Middlemarch
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 31 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Middlemarch is a recognized masterpiece that explores the complex social world of 19th century England. It is concerned with the lives of several ordinary people, albeit ones with high social standing. The novel explores the very fabric of Victorian society in the 1800s, showing how various human passions, heroism, egotism, love, and lust, interrelate within this society.
-
-
Engrossing, non-stuffy entertainment!
- By Jennifer on 06-21-06
By: George Eliot
-
The Making of a Marchioness
- By: Frances Hodgson-Burnett
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Frances Hodgson Burnett published The Making of a Marchioness in 1901. She had written Little Lord Fauntleroy 15 years before and would write The Secret Garden in 10 years' time; it is these two books for which she is best known. Yet Marchioness was one of Nancy Mitford's favourite books, was considered 'the best novel Mrs Hodgson Burnett wrote' by Marghanita Laski, and is taught on a university course in America together with novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Daisy Miller.
-
-
A Sweet Romantic Tale
- By Curatina on 11-23-11
-
Ruth
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Eve Matheson
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The orphaned heroine Ruth, apprenticed to a dressmaker, is seduced by wealthy Henry Bellingham who is captivated by her simplicity and beauty. Their affair causes her to lose her home and job to which he offers her shelter, only to cruelly abandon her soon after. She is offered a chance of a new life though shamed in the eyes of society by her illegitimate son. When Henry reappears offering marriage she must choose between social acceptance and her own pride.
-
-
Fallen Woman Finds Redemption
- By Susan on 12-06-12
-
Mansfield Park (Naxos Edition)
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the tender age of 10, Fanny Price is 'adopted' by her rich relations and is removed from the poverty of her home in Portsmouth to the opulence of Mansfield Park. The transplantation is not a happy one. Dependent, helpless, neglected and forgotten, Fanny struggles to come to terms with her new life until, tested almost to the limits of endurance, she assumes her rightful role....
-
-
Oh such felicity, such gaiety, such rapture!
- By Neil Chisholm on 02-05-12
By: Jane Austen
-
Outlander
- Outlander, Book 1
- By: Diana Gabaldon
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 32 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: An all-time Audible favorite that mixes historic fiction, adventure, and romance with one of the most fascinating literary devices: time travel. Outlander introduces an exhilarating world of heroism and breathtaking thrills as one woman is torn between past and present, passion and love. In 1945, former combat nurse Claire Randall returns from World War II and joins her husband for a second honeymoon. But their blissful reunion is shattered....
-
-
Interesting story with a little too much romance
- By Anonymous User on 11-30-18
By: Diana Gabaldon
-
Pride and Prejudice
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Rosamund Pike
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of Jane Austen’s most beloved works, Pride and Prejudice, is vividly brought to life by Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike ( Gone Girl). In her bright and energetic performance of this British classic, she expertly captures Austen’s signature wit and tone. Her attention to detail, her literary background, and her performance in the 2005 feature film version of the novel provide the perfect foundation from which to convey the story of Elizabeth Bennet, her four sisters, and the inimitable Mr. Darcy.
-
-
Cant stand narration!
- By K Kimpe on 02-05-20
By: Jane Austen
-
The Complete Novels : Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 81 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since Colin Firth's Mr Darcy emerged from the lake in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the novels of Jane Austen have become more popular than ever, delighting millions of fans all over the world. Now, Alison Larkin's critically acclaimed narrations of Austen's six completed novels are brought together in this very special 200th anniversary audio edition. "Alison Larkin's narration will captivate listeners from the first sentence" raves AudioFile magazine about the Earphones Award-winning recording of Sense and Sensibility, which starts the collection.
-
-
Table of Contents/Navigation Guide!
- By Jim on 02-23-18
By: Jane Austen
-
Our Mutual Friend
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sinister masterpiece, Our Mutual Friend was Dickens' last completed novel. It is perhaps his ultimate vision of a dark, macabre London and the corrupting power of money.
-
-
Worth six stars
- By Erez on 07-05-08
By: Charles Dickens
-
Anna Karenina
- By: Leo Tolstoy
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 36 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of the unhappy family of Anna Karenina. The novel contains much concerning Tolstoy's spiritual crisis and his search for the meaning of life. But it is also chiefly about marriage, and the growth and death of love.
-
-
wonderful translation & reader
- By Eileen on 09-08-09
By: Leo Tolstoy
-
Camilla
- A Picture of Youth
- By: Fanny Burney
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 37 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Among Jane Austen's favorite novels, and a key work in the rise of Romanticism, Camilla follows the story of three young women, from childhood to young adulthood, and their pursuit of matrimony. Kind but naive Camilla is in love with Edgar Mandlebert, a handsome and noble young man. Intelligent Eugenia, destined to inherit her uncle's great wealth, is plagued with misfortune as she is left disfigured by smallpox and has men court her for financial gain only. Meanwhile their cousin, beautiful but selfish Indiana, never finds a fortune for her good looks.
-
-
Tedious in the extreme
- By SavvyShopper on 06-11-20
By: Fanny Burney
-
Speaker for the Dead
- By: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: David Birney, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender Wiggin disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: the Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story of the Bugger War. Now, long years later, a second alien race has been discovered by Portuguese colonists on the planet Lusitania. But again the aliens' ways are strange and frightening...again, humans die. And it is only the Speaker for the Dead, who is also Ender Wiggin the Xenocide, who has the courage to confront the mystery...and the truth.
-
-
The Enderverse
- By Joe on 06-13-05
By: Orson Scott Card
-
The Thirteenth Tale
- A Novel
- By: Diane Setterfield
- Narrated by: Bianca Amato, Jill Tanner
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All children mythologize their birth... So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's beloved collection of stories, long famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale. The enigmatic Winter has always kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she summons a biographer to tell the truth about her extraordinary life: Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth remains an ever-present pain.
-
-
Combination mind-numbing and truly great
- By Christina on 04-25-10
-
Middlesex
- By: Jeffrey Eugenides
- Narrated by: Kristoffer Tabori
- Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 1974, Calliope Stephanides, a student at a girls' school in Grosse Pointe, finds herself drawn to a chain-smoking, strawberry-blonde classmate with a gift for acting. The passion that furtively develops between them - along with Callie's failure to develop physically - leads Callie to suspect that she is not like other girls. In fact, she is not really a girl at all.
-
-
Worth Waiting It Out
- By D. N. Meads on 08-28-09
Publisher's Summary
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.
More from the same
What listeners say about Villette
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- peachnmario
- 03-17-15
The Divine Ms. Porter delivers as always
A beautiful performance of Charlotte Bronte's highly under-appreciated (but best, in my opinion) work. Not just a reader who is good with dialects, Davina Porter is an *actress* who performs each book with passion, emotion, and full commitment.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 06-24-16
Wow said the male listener
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.
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jodi
- 06-27-13
great narration !
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.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- HK
- 12-15-17
enjoyable relaxing story, fantastic narration
I enjoyed listening to this on my commute. A story about people nad their relationships and perceptions and growth. Simple without major drama, it was a perfect companion for driving in daily Los Angeles traffic for my commute. However the one thing that drove me nuts was that a large portion of it was spoken in FRENCH!!! I DON'T KNOW FRENCH, so I have no idea what took place in those scenes, other than a bit of inferred guessing. Why on EARTH would the book have significant plot points in a language the reader likely would not understand? WHY not translate it??????
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LaLa
- 05-02-14
Too much french
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
This was a good book, however there's a lot of french in it. I can read french, but it was quite annoying to miss major plot points because they were read in french, Would have been useful, if not true to the book, to translate.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Clearly our main character- I like how she took her destiny in her own hands and went for what she wanted.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Davina Porter?
Noone- she's always great
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A+D
- 09-23-19
Cold, Shadow is Lucy Snowe
If you know Charlotte Bronte's life story, you will probably like this very much.
Davina Porter gives a wonderful narration. I found it helpful to have an annotated Kindle version to read along with. I would not have made it through all the French without having the ability to translate it. If you speak French, you will have no problem.
Lucy Snowe is a cold shadow of a girl and woman. She does not invite the reader to like her at all, In fact, there are times she seems to yell at the reader and not want the attention given.
I understand now, at my age, why I did not like this book in high school. The first half is a slog through introductions to characters and Lucy's dismal life. It becomes more interesting when we begin to see returning characters.
I never really came to like Lucy but I did want her to find happiness.
Why did I choose this book to listen to? Originally, I bought it because it is a classic and I try to read/listen to at least one per year. Second, it became the September book choice for Author Rachel McMillian's Facebook bookclub "Rachel's Readalongs"
Rachel gives great insight into the why's of this story and Bronte's life, making this story much more interesting.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Karen L.
- 03-16-16
Good book, memorable characters, perfect narration.
Picture this: a tiny young girl, regarded by some as a pest, likes to crawl up onto the lap of a sixteen-year-old boy she isn't related to--while he is studying--and he lets her! Endearing characters! You're hooked right here in one of the first chapters. You know you'll encounter these characters again later, but focus shifts to Lucy, not as endearing, but a sympathetic character, nevertheless. Through her, we get accounts and judgements of other characters: teachers, students, priests, a doctor, and a school administrator. Also, we watch her search for her voice, her self, and finally, her place.
I'm glad I also got the Kindle for two reasons. First, it helps to have the French in text. Davina Porter's French is perfect, but I like to have the spelling, just in case I need to consult my French dictionary--and an English one, too, since Bronte's vocab can stump anyone. A second use for the text is to flip through a few pages at a time to get past metaphors that go on and on to describe the weather in terms of some shenanegans of Apollo and other celestials. (Bronte is much better with imagery than with figurative language.)
I don't always like ambiguous endings. The reader shouldn't expect literary justice, not for all the characters. As in life, some never learn--because they never have to.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rhonda
- 03-19-15
Beautiful Narration, a bit long
At the 18 hour mark, I was wishing it would wrap up. I realize this is the age it was written.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jessica
- 09-01-13
I couldn't believe...
that I managed to finish this book. I couldn't believe it was finally over. I thought it would never end. It went on .. and on ... and ON ... with very little plot to boast of, and characterization alternatingly overly subtle, then hit-you-over-the-head-with-a-hammer. This book was a chore, and one I'm glad is done.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Reademandweep
- 12-30-14
OK for the diehard Victorian novel enthusiast
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
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Annie
- 05-27-14
Delivery is all.
If you could sum up Villette in three words, what would they be?
This is a classic and worth reading for that alone. It also gives a social history.
For me it was spoilt by unenthusiastic reading and by not including a translation of some of the most important parts of the text which was, at times, in French. I have heard this done by footnote references and this would only be needed where the French is relevant to the plot etc.
4 people found this helpful