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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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Summary

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

Lovely narration

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Great strong characters we recognise today against a historical factual backdrop interwoven with the interaction of real fallible humans to events around them and other people.

The original feminist!

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Thackeray's satire of the English gentility during and after the Napoleonic Wars is a rare beast - a satire that is actually funny. His warmth towards his deeply flawed and often ridiculous characters makes them enjoyable to spend time with even when they're behaving at their worst. Becky Sharp is one of the best, if most immoral, heroines in Victorian fiction, putting to shame all those drooping angelic women trotted out by so many authors of the time, especially male authors. And Georgina Sutton's narration is excellent - she creates individual and believable voices for each of the huge cast of characters and brings out all Thackeray's humour, making it as pleasurable to listen to as to read.

A satire that's actually funny...

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If you could sum up Vanity Fair in three words, what would they be?

I had read Vanity Fair and had watched the film and television series, but until I listened to this reading, I had never really understood, how funny & 'tongue in cheek' it was!

Just be careful to choose the right reader. I chose one & within minutes couldn't cope with the voice although I had heard them reading other things. It just didn't feel right. Glad that Audible swapped it & that I persevered!

Try it!

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It was quite tricky at first to find a foothold in the story given the nature of its heroin. Georgina Sutton brought life to the innumerable characters however and made sure you couldn't get lost in the crowd!

Brilliant performance

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