Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë

Narrated By: Wanda McCaddon

Duration: 18 hours and 52 minutes

What to expect

Jane Eyre, the plain yet spirited governess, introduced a new kind of heroine to literature: one whose virtuous integrity, sharp intellect, and tireless perseverance broke through class barriers to win equal stature with the man she loved.

Orphaned and subject to a cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. How she takes up the post of governess at Thornfield Hall, meets and loves Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage are elements in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman’s passionate search for a wider and richer life than that traditionally accorded to her sex in Victorian society.

Hailed by William Makepeace Thackeray as “the masterwork of a great genius,” this impassioned love story is still regarded, over a century after it first appeared, as one of the finest novels in literature.

Genre

Classic fiction

Listen to a sample

“At the end we are steeped through and through with the genius, the vehemence, the indignation of Charlotte Brontë.”

“One of my very favorites of all time is Jane Eyre. It simply has it all—a marvelous, compelling story told brilliantly, wonderfully realized characters, a gorgeous love story, evocative settings. And the madwoman in the attic. Hard to top it.”

“Jane Eyre was the book that made me want to write.”

“Jane Eyre is full of drama: fires, storms, attempted murder, and a mad wife conveniently stashed away in the attic. This is very sexy stuff.”

“This is an extraordinary book. Although a work of fiction, it is no mere novel, for there is nothing but nature and truth about it...The story is, therefore, unlike all that we have read, with very few exceptions; and for power of thought and expression, we do not know its rival.”

“What a joy to hear a favorite classic performed with excellence! Nadia May’s skill as a storyteller has the listener soon believing Jane Eyre is speaking directly to him or her, ‘the gentle reader.’ The story of Jane, orphan governess, and her tragic love, Mr. Rochester, has the same plot as many of today’s romances, but Brontë’s masterful use of language and description moves it to a higher plane. Her portrayal of the social milieu of the times and Jane’s view of realities and her yearnings to transcend them will give present-day women much to ponder. A timeless work flawlessly presented.”

“Narrator Nadia May pulls listeners deep into Brontë’s most widely read work, producing a rewarding experience for lovers of the book and, even more critically, introducing newcomers to why the novel is so deeply admired. She reads in a crisp voice that gives Jane the exact tone the novel suggests—no nonsense, a bit brisk, but with a delightful undercurrent of self-conscious awareness, not to mention the passionate intensity that pops out here and there. May performs Jane as a young girl and as a wiser woman, a feat she carries off with admirable success. She renders the terrible Mrs. Reed, the brooding Rochester, and the demanding John Rivers with strong ability as well.”