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Emma

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Emma

By: Alexander McCall Smith
Narrated by: Georgina Terry
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Summary

‘It's comfort reading at its most soothing’ Independent

‘Funny, heartfelt and very readable’ Good Housekeeping

In this reimagined modern classic, prepare to meet a young woman who thinks she knows everything…

Fresh from university, Emma Woodhouse triumphantly arrives home in Norfolk ready to embark on adult life with a splash. Not only has her sister, Isabella, been whisked away on a motorcycle up to London, but her astute governess, Miss Taylor is at a loose end, abandoned in the giant family pile, Hartfield, alongside Emma’s anxiety-ridden father. Someone is needed to rule the roost and young Emma is more than happy to oblige.

And there is plenty to delight her in the buzzing little village of Highbury. At the helm of her own dinner parties and instructing her new little protégée, Harriet Smith, Emma reigns forth. But there is only one person who can play with Emma’s indestructible confidence, her old friend and inscrutable neighbour George Knightley – this time has Emma finally met her match?

©2014 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction War & Military Women's Fiction Village Military
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Critic reviews

‘Entertaining . . . McCall Smith brings such intelligence and wit’ The Daily Mail

‘Funny, heartfelt and very readable’ Good Housekeeping

‘Funny and clever’ Fabulous Magazine

‘Delightful’ Closer

Praise for Alexander McCall Smith:

‘Witty, elegant, gentle, compassionate’
Guardian

‘The kind of simplicity one finds in the best children's stories and a fluency which reflects his practice of writing 4,000 words a day in a stint of four hours… A talent for traditional story telling’ Guardian
All stars
Most relevant
I did not think this book needed to be written as the original by Jane Austen was as good as it could get. Parts of the story seemed to be rushed and I do not think the modernising worked in many of the characters. Mr Woodhouse was a very inconsistent character and did not really fit into the rest of the book. George Knightly was a bit wet and why did Frank Churchill need to trick Emma into believing he was gay? This book was a travesty really!

Not one of his best!

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An excellent Austen adaptation keeping her wit, cutting tongue and insight in a new modern setting.

Loved it!

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Witty but not a patch on the original. Emma just too horrible to like and I wasn't keen on the narrator.

Average

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It was a great book but the reading was quite slow but overall I really enjoyed it q

Amazing

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Not an homage to Austen. Except for the names & a nodding acquaintance with ‘Emma’ it bears little similarity to the original story. It’s more like Scotland Street in middle England.
Although the narrator has adopted the right cut glass middle class accent, she has a problem with pronunciation of unfamiliar words.
Overall I wasted a credit!

Not worth the effort

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