Listen to a sample
Villette
- Author
- Charlotte Brontë
- Narrator
- Wanda McCaddon
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 1 January 2006
- Run Time
- 20 hours 10 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Classic fiction
No longer available
This audiobook isn't available to buy at the moment. If it's already in your library you can still listen to it in My Books.
What to expect
Arguably Charlotte Brontë's most deeply felt work, Villette draws on her own profound loneliness following the deaths of her three siblings.
Left to fend for herself after a family tragedy, Lucy Snowe flees from her unhappy past in England to begin a new life as a teacher at a French boarding school in the cosmopolitan capital of Villette. There, Lucy struggles to prove herself in her new circumstances and to manage both her unruly students and her inner grief. But her quest for independence and stability is soon challenged by her complex feelings for a worldly English doctor and then an autocratic professor. Brontë's strikingly modern heroine must decide if there is any man in her society with whom she can live and still be free.
Plain, poor, and lacking charm as well as any trace of self-esteem, Lucy is an unusual but utterly memorable heroine. As this thoughtful novel delves into her psyche, listeners will come to know and love her as a friend.
Critics Review
-
“[Villette is] Brontë’s finest novel.”
Virginia Woolf
-
“Villette! Villette! Have you read it? It is a still more wonderful book than Jane Eyre. There is something almost preternatural in its power.”
George Eliot
-
“Villette is an amazing book. Written before psychoanalysis came into being, Villette is nevertheless a psychoanalytic work—a psychosexual study of its heroine, Lucy Snowe. Written before the philosophy of existentialism was formulated, the novel’s view of the world can only be described as existential...Today it is read and discussed more intensely than Charlotte Brontë’s other novels, and many critics now believe it to be a true master-piece, a work of genius that more than fulfilled the promise of Jane Eyre.”
Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, bestselling novelist
-
“[McCaddon] convincingly portrays the many moods and complex character of Charlotte Brontë’s heroine…Her many voices, with subtle timing, sweep us at a quick clip through a narrative of psychological insight and vividly rendered places, people and landscapes.”
AudioFile
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Charlotte Brontë
- Narrator
- Wanda McCaddon
- Duration
- 20 hours 10 minutes
- Release Date
- 1 January 2006
- ISBN
- 9781483074160
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Classic fiction
Synopsis
Arguably Charlotte Brontë's most deeply felt work, Villette draws on her own profound loneliness following the deaths of her three siblings.Left to fend for herself after a family tragedy, Lucy Snowe flees from her unhappy past in England to begin a new life as a teacher at a French boarding school in the cosmopolitan capital of Villette. There, Lucy struggles to prove herself in her new circumstances and to manage both her unruly students and her inner grief. But her quest for independence and stability is soon challenged by her complex feelings for a worldly English doctor and then an autocratic professor. Brontë's strikingly modern heroine must decide if there is any man in her society with whom she can live and still be free.Plain, poor, and lacking charm as well as any trace of self-esteem, Lucy is an unusual but utterly memorable heroine. As this thoughtful novel delves into her psyche, listeners will come to know and love her as a friend.
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.