JANE EYRE

To listen to narrator Josephine Bailey’s interpretation of this classic is to be swept back in time to the nineteenth-century English countryside. Bailey’s clipped diction and air of formality perfectly overlay Jane’s depth of emotion—from despair to joy and back again. Bailey portrays Jane’s true love, Edward Rochester, with a wry sense of humor. Their dialogue crackles with tension and teasing wit. The novel covers more than a decade in Jane’s life as she is turned out from her aunt’s loveless but luxurious household for the harsh environment of a charity school, and then to the grand estate Thornfield, where she finds work as a governess. The richness and complexity of Bailey’s reading bring every page and every character vividly to life. F.J.K. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2011]