Vanity Fair cover art

Vanity Fair

A Novel without a Hero

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Vanity Fair

By: William Makepeace Thackeray
Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
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About this listen

Vanity Fair, with its rich cast of characters, takes place on the snakes-and-ladders board of life. Amelia Sedley, daughter of a wealthy merchant, has a loving mother to supervise her courtship. Becky Sharp, an orphan, has to use her wit, charm, and resourcefulness to escape from her destiny as a governess. This she does ruthlessly, musing: "I think I could become a good woman, if I had £5,000 a year."

Thackeray’s story is set at the time of the battle of Waterloo, in which the Sedley fortunes are lost - and Amelia is back to square one - while Becky rises with contemptuous ease.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2013 Naxos AudioBooks Classics
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Enjoyable and great narration which really added a lot to the novel. Funny in parts and clever writing.

Great narrator

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Originally written as a series published in Punch magazine in the 1800s there are parts that will definitely have worked better in that format. There is a great amount of name and title droppi g with explanations of who has which title and is related to whom. This may have been like celebrity gossip to the series reader as they tried to work out who the author had in mind as the real person behind the character. Unfortunately, it now just results in boring sections where nothing happens and the author just talks of lords, ladies and other distinguished imaginary folk of that era. This aside, it is a great commentary on life around the time of Waterloo and on human nature - with love, deceit, murder and mischief. The author is also brutal in his analysis of the different characters - to the point that, as a reader, you're not certain who is to be admired, if anyone.

A bit too slow in parts but worth persevering

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Very enjoyable. It’s perfect for a long road trip or while doing mundane work, I listened while digger driving to build our new driveway. I loved the narration which brought the Vanity Fair world to life.

Classically brilliant

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Enjoyed the story and the characters within. William M Thackeray does a good job bringing out the personalities of each character to make the story engaging.
Narrator was excellent! She made the book even more enjoyable through her different accents and pitches. Would definitely recommend this book

Funny but so sarcastic

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Excellent well-loved book, beautifully narrated. Truly enjoyed listening to the Audible version while painting or walking!

Lovely narration

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