The Jane Austen Collection

An Audible Original Drama

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Claire Foy, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Billie Piper, Florence Pugh, Emma Thompson

Sense and Sensibility - narrated by Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Austen introduces us to the Dashwood sisters who upon the death of their father are left with little money, status or their family home. Marianne wears her heart on her sleeve and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment.

Directed by Celia de Wolff. Adapted by Anna Lea. With Bessie Carter, Anya Chalotra, Josh Dylan, Robert Glenister, Paterson Joseph, Emma Mackey, Hattie Morahan, Carl Prekopp, Blake Ritson, Lesley Sharp, Fenella Woolgar, Nicolas Armfield, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Lily Cooper and Tom Glenister.

Pride and Prejudice - narrated by Claire Foy.

Centred around the Bennet family, their five unmarried daughters and their mother’s desperation for at least one of them to make a wealthy match to save the family from destitution. When Charles Bingley moves into nearby Netherfield, it seems that Jane, the eldest, may have found her match, but it also introduces Elizabeth to Bingley’s friend, the aloof Mr Darcy.

Directed by Nicolette Chin. Adapted by Sian Owen, script edited by Anna Lea. With Tarrick Benham, Nicole Davis, Barnaby Edwards, Billie Fulford-Brown, Rebecca Front, Emma Gregory, Ferdinand Kingsley, Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Tim McInnerny, Heather Nicol, Sarah Ovens, Janet Prince, Jenny Rainsford, Jennifer Saayeng, Sam Stafford, Katy Sobey, Homer Todiwala, Patience Tomlinson and Simon Yadoo.

Mansfield Park - narrated by Billie Piper.

Adopted into the household of her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, Fanny Price grows up a meek outsider among her cousins in the unaccustomed elegance of Mansfield Park. Soon after Sir Thomas leaves on business, Mary Crawford and her brother, Henry, arrive at Mansfield, bringing with them London glamour and the seductive taste for flirtation and theatre that precipitates a crisis.

Directed by Tamsin Collison. Adapted by Catherine Dyson, script edited by Anna Lea. With Matt Addis, Lucy Briers, James Corrigan, Scarlett Courtney, Rosalind Eleazar, Jennifer English, Emma Fielding, Ash Hunter, Joel MacCormack, Harry Myers, Esme Scarborough, Lucy Scott, Bert Seymour and Natalie Simpson.

Emma - narrated by Emma Thompson.

Emma is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage; nothing delights her more than matchmaking her fellow residents of Highbury. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.

Directed by Katherine Thompson. Adapted by Anna Lea.

Isabella Inchbald played Emma Woodhouse, and Joseph Millson played George Knightley.

With Alexa Davies, Joanne Froggatt, Adam Gillen, Rupert Holliday-Evans, Isabella Inchbald, Aisling Loftus, Anjella Mackintosh, Joseph Millson, Ukweli Roach, Morgana Robinson, Nicholas Rowe, Benjamin Wainwright, Eve Webster and Ria Zmitrowicz.

Northanger Abbey - narrated by Emma Thompson.

A coming-of-age tale for naïve 17-year-old Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey takes a comical look at themes of class, family, love and literature. Revelling in the sensationalist - and extremely popular - Gothic fiction of the day, the story follows Catherine out of Bath to the lofty manor of the Tilneys, where her overactive imagination gets to work constructing an absurd and melodramatic explanation for the death of Mrs Tilney, which threatens to jeopardise her newly forged friendships.

Directed by Katherine Thompson. Adapted by Anna Lea.

With Douglas Booth, Robin Brown, Gunnar Cauthery, Anna Chancellor, Lily Cole, Beth Goddard, Nickolas Grace, Jeremy Irvine, Carla Mendonca, Ella Purnell, George Rainsford, Simon Shepherd, Emma Thompson, Eleanor Tomlinson, Lorraine Ansell, Naomi Felton, Bethan Rose Young as Anne Thorpe and Joanna Ruiz.

Persuasion - narrated by Florence Pugh.

Anne Elliot, daughter of the snobbish Sir Walter, is woman of quiet charm and deep feelings. Eight years before our story begins, she is happily betrothed to naval officer Frederick Wentworth, but she breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret.

Directed by Emma Hearn. Adapted by Anna Lea. With Annabel Baldwin, Michael Fox, Julian Wadham, Laure Stockley, Lizzie Stables, Oscar Batterham, Ewan Bailey, Samantha Béart, Andrew Wheildon-Dennis, Al Weaver, Tom Andrew, Molly Harris, Martha Mackintosh, Vineeta Rishi, Isabel Adomakoh Young and Sophie Aldred.

Public Domain (P)2020 Audible, Ltd

Brilliant, a few disappointments, good labels

Emma & Northanger Abbey: In case you missed it, this collection includes Emma & Northanger Abbey with Emma Thompson that were previously released in 2018 and 2017. They are superb, and have been richly discussed already.

Pride and Prejudice: Claire Foy is a brilliant narrator! She does a fantastic job conveying both the excitement of each scene and Austen’s subtle irony. There are also great performances from the main cast: Lizzy, Darcy, Jane, Mr. Bingley, and Mr. Collins (to name a few notable characters) are carefully delineated and the energy among them is captivating. However, I was disappointed with some of the supporting cast. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are incredibly dull; at times it feels as if the two actors are just reading their lines cold. This is a shame, especially when compared to the endearing Alison Steadman and Benjamin Whitrow (BBC series, 1995) or the hilarious Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland (2005). The excessive giggling makes Lydia and Kitty indistinguishable and all the nuances of their characters have been done away with. Overall, it is a delightful drama even if it falls short of the Emma & Northanger Abbey adaptations in the same collection.

Persuasion: This is my favorite Austen novel, and I always thought the 1995 TV film with Amanda Root and Ciarán Hinds the most faithful adaptation of any of her work. So the stakes were a bit high for this one. Florence Pugh is a dynamic narrator. At first I thought that she was reading way too fast, but then I came around to her performance. Anne’s life feels suspended in time, as if she has been forgotten, and Pugh’s narration brings out Anne’s deep, hidden feelings that are the bedrock of the novel. The cast is very strong with one notable exception. Anne is perfect and so is Lady Russel. But Captain Wentworth! He sounds old, beaten up, and melancholic, when he is supposed to be at the pinnacle of his career and incredibly full of life and energetic (in contrast to Anne in the first part of the story). His character is disappointing, but does not ruin the experience. There are also a couple of unusual choices: Elizabeth is more reasonable and sympathetic than perhaps Austen intended, and Captain Wentworth has his sister, Mrs. Croft, too much in his confidence. Overall, it is a fresh and enjoyable rendition of Austen’s last novel, and I will listen to it again.

Sense and Sensibility & Mansfield Park: Not my favorite Austen novels, so I have yet to finish them. The first few chapters of Sense and Sensibility are promising.

Easy to navigate: This is in response to a previous review from Amazon UK. At least in the US, the titles are clearly labeled and I can easily navigate between the dramas both on the app and on the website. I got the collection when it was released on November 5, 2020, and I haven’t had any technical issues.

loved Persuasion!

I really enjoyed Persuasion. haven't listened to the others yet, but it's really well done so far!

oh my goodness perfection!

listening to this was like was like listening to an unabridged movie. phenomenal job by every single performer!

well done adaptation

I liked several of the narrators especially the woman who did Northanger Abby. It is not a complete collection of Jane Austin but probably the most pop. Nor are they fully read but it is still well done. like listening to a play.

worth a listen

Decent way to digest Jane Austin's works. Varied actors allowed for ease of visualization of each character and story being played out for listeners.

Good dramatizations with some flaws

I enjoyed the dramatization, making this more like radio plays than just audiobooks. The musical clips at the end and beginning of every chapter were jarring and annoying, with no apparent purpose. Having different actors as narrator for each novel was interesting, but some were definitely better than others. Florence Pugh in Persuasion was terrible, practically monotone; most of the time it sounded like she was just reading the words in front of her without regard to the meaning.

Even more than I could’ve hoped for

I love that it was more than just someone reading the book. I like the little inserts of what felt like movie clips with all sorts of people doing voices.

Jane Austin collection

Enjoyed this performance thoroughly. Hours of well done dramatization a balanced combination of narration and performance.

Well done!

All of the performances were well done. Enjoyed listening and like having in my library for future repeat listens.

Forever a Fan

Well read and entertaining. Could've done without the music between chapters. I love Jane!