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The Professor cover art

The Professor

By: Charlotte Brontë
Narrated by: James Wilby
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Summary

Exclusively from Audible

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 only male narrator and protagonist in her stories, 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.

Well educated and eager to enthuse others, William becomes a teacher and leaves his scornful family behind to work at a boy's boarding school in Brussels. Unimpeded by his gender, unlike the female characters in her stories, Charlotte takes advantage of William's freedom to travel and delight in the pleasures of the opposite sex. Her hero becomes enamoured with the headmistress of a neighbouring girl's school and this tempestuous relationship is mirrored with the sweet and gentle bond he forges with pupil, Frances Henri.

Described by Brontë herself as possessing more 'pith, more substance' and 'more reality' than Jane Eyre, this audiobook provides greater insight into the short life of the beloved author and reaffirms that her reputation as one of the greats of English Literature, is well deserved.

Narrator Biography

James Wilby trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and later became an associate member of the institution.

He is an English actor, celebrated for appearing in films such as Maurice, Gosford Park, Howard's End and A Room with a View.

James' breakthrough performance was in the production of Privileged, in which he starred alongside Hugh Grant. This led to his being cast in the critically acclaimed Maurice, for which he won the Venice Film Festival's Best Actor award.

His stage performances include Helping Harry, Don Juan, Less Than Kind, On Emotion and The Consultant. He starred in the Royal Shakespeare Company's revival of John Osborne's A Patriot for Me, which was met with very favourable reviews.

James has also worked on the making of various audiobooks and is widely considered to be one of the greatest voices of the British drama. His audio work includes Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind, Graham Greene's It's a Battlefield, Ian McEwan's Saturday and The Girl at the Lion D'Or by Sebastian Faulks.

©2005 BBC Audiobooks (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Professor

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautfil use of the English language

I love the use of the English language, so flowery and descriptive. The story gives great insight into the minds of men and women from that period, and the codes of conduct and protocol. Unfortunately, I don't speak a word of French, so some passages get lost on me.

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8 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Compelling Story

I found this book hard to put down. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly are all found interwoven into the story.
However the narrator, ie the Professor, is rather twee, almost too good to be true. It is a quieter story than some of the Bronte novels, but the passion and romance are there and it is a good "listen".

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great if you speak French

I love the Brontes but I’m sad to say that I gave up on this book in the end. I found the characters unlikable but that usually isn’t a reason for me to quit a book. However, the sections in French were so frequent that I felt I was missing whole conversations and I felt like I was wasting my time listening to a book I didn’t understand whole chunks of. Such a shame for me but I’m sure it’s great if you do speak French!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

James Wilby is an excellent narrator.

The story follows William Crimsworth from his humble beginnings, to his career as a teacher and eventual marriage to the woman he loves. Though intended to be a sympathetic hero, Crimsworth is a very judgemental and xenophobic character and goes on at some length about how superior he is to absolutely everyone. While this book did lack the underlying passion and angst that Bronte became so brilliant at writing, later on,
This is the third audiobook I have listened to narrated by James WIlby and he really does an excellent job of catching the feeling and flavor of the story.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

need to be French speaking

Couldn't finish it, first chapters good but far to much French spoken in latter chapters

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Ghastly!

Interesting. There isn’t a sympathetic character among them. She hadn’t yet found her theme. It’s interesting to see how Jane Eyre developed from it, but other than that, the publishers who rejected it were spot on. (Re the French, if you don’t understand it, you’re not missing much, and you can always hover your phone over the text to translate it.)

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Poor story from a great author

Well narrated but the story itself is dull & protracted with no subtlety as to the plot or characters.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I really enjoyed listening to this again

I read this years ago and have really enjoyed listening to it again I might get more Brontë books to explore all over again.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

just dreadful

not a single likeable character. William himself is an absolute sleezebag; he made my skin crawl. I only kept going because I'm reading all the Bronte books, but this one will never be repeated. so glad it's over!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A long and winding road

The book is extremely well written but the main character is not one that I could relate with easily. The reader was exceptionally pleasant to listen to and that’s what kept me going on.

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1 person found this helpful