12 Gifts of Christmas: Jane Austen's Birthday!

Inquiring readers, During this month of holiday celebrations, Laurel Ann and I will be offering the Twelve Gifts of Christmas. Some of the gifts will be giveaways, others will be free offerings online, and still others will be great gift ideas for you to give to others. Every gift will have a special relationship to this blog, us, or Jane Austen. Today in honor of Jane Austen’s Birthday we are happy to present gifts to our readers, all seven of Jane Austen’s major novels on unabridged audio by Naxos AudioBooks. Leave a comment stating why you enjoy reading or viewing Jane Austen by December 31st, and you will be eligible for a drawing for one of the following unabridged audios.

Gift Eight: Jane Austen Birthday Celebration Giveaways!

Sense and Sensibility: Read by Juliet Stevenson

When Mrs Dashwood is forced by an avaricious daughter-in-law to leave the family home in Sussex, she takes her three daughters to live in a modest cottage in Devon. For Elinor, the eldest daughter, the move means a painful separation from the man she loves, but her sister Marianne finds in Devon the romance and excitement which she longs for. The contrasting fortunes and temperaments of the two girls as they struggle to cope in their different ways with the cruel events which fate has in store for them are portrayed by Jane Austen with her usual irony, humour and profound sensibility. 11 CDs • Running Time: 11½ hours • ISBN: 978-9626343616

Pride and Prejudice: Read by Emilia Fox

Jane Austen’s most popular novel, originally published in 1813, some seventeen years after it was first written, presents the Bennet family of Longbourn. Against the background of gossipy Mrs Bennet and the detached Mr Bennet, the quest is on for husbands for the five daughters, beautiful Jane, witty Elizabeth, scholarly Mary, impressionable Kitty and wilful Lydia. The spotlight falls on Elizabeth, second eldest, who is courted by Mr Darcy though initially she is more concerned with the fate of her other sisters. This marvellous account of family life in Regency England is read with vigour and style by Emilia Fox. 11 CDs • Running Time: 15 hours • ISBN: 978-9626343562

Mansfield Park: Read by Juliet Stevenson

When timid, ten-year-old Fanny Price is plucked from her large, raucous and somewhat impoverished family in Portsmouth to live with wealthy relatives in Mansfield Park her life is changed for ever. Immediately forming a strong attraction for her cousin Edmund, she develops into a genteel and mature young woman, whose love for him remains undimmed despite the diversion brought into both their lives by the attractive but morally bankrupt Crawfords. With its suggestion of adultery, and written with all the wit and style of the mature Jane Austen, this is the work of a writer at the peak of her powers. It was published in 1814, and unlike its predecessors, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility which were revisions of her juvenile writing, Mansfield Park was completely original. Like its heroine Fanny Price, who develops during the course of the story to reach maturity, Jane Austen’s third published novel was a much more mature work from a writer of increasing experience. 14 CDs • Running Time: 17 hours • ISBN: 978-9626344675

Emma: Read by Juliet Stevenson

Arrogant, self-willed and egotistical, young Miss Emma Woodhouse is Jane Austen’s most unusual heroine. Her interfering ways and inveterate matchmaking are at once shocking and comic. She is ‘handsome, clever and rich’ and has ‘a disposition to think too well of herself’. When she decides to introduce the humble Harriet Smith, the natual daughter of who knows whom, to the delights of genteel society and to find her a suitable husband, she precipitates herself and her immediate circle into a web of misunderstanding, intrigue, and comedy from which no-one emerges unchanged. 13 CDs • Running Time: 16 hours • ISBN: 978-9626343944

Northanger Abbey: Read by Juliet Stevenson

When Catherine Morland, a country clergyman’s daughter, is invited to spend a season in Bath with the fashionable high society, little does she imagine the delights and perils that await her. Captivated and disconcerted by what she finds, and introduced to the joys of ‘Gothic novels’ by her new friend, Isabella, Catherine longs for mystery and romance. When she is invited to stay with the beguiling Henry Tilney and his family at Northanger Abbey, she expects mystery and intrigue at every turn. However, the truth turns out to be even stranger than fiction. 7 CDs • Running Time: 9 hours • ISBN: 978-9626344279

Persuasion: Read by Juliet Stevenson

Anne Elliot has grieved for seven years over the loss of her first and only love, Captain Frederick Wentworth. When their paths finally cross again, Anne finds herself slighted and all traces of their former intimacy gone. As the pair continue to share the same social circle, dramatic events in Lyme Regis, and later in Bath, conspire to unravel the knots of deceit and misunderstanding in this beguiling and gently comic story of love and fidelity. Juliet Stevenson reads this unabridged recording with her customary clarity and particular understanding for the words and world of Jane Austen. Running Time: 8½ hours • ISBN: 978-9626344361

Lady Susan: Read by Harriet Walter, Kim Hicks, Carole Boyd, and cast

Lady Susan was the first of Jane Austen’s novels to be completed. An epistolary novel in eighteenth-century style, it tells the story of the recently widowed Lady Susan Vernon, intelligent but highly manipulative, who is intent on gaining financially secure relationships for both herself and her wayward but shy teenage daughter Frederica. Less known than Austen’s six great later novels, it demonstrates the wit and sharp observations of Jane Austen – and is shown at its best in audiobook form, with different actresses presenting real characters as they read their letters. Featuring nineteenth-century chamber music. 2 CDs • Running Time: 2½ hours • ISBN: 978-9626342282

Both Vic (Ms. Place) and Laurel Ann adore audio books and know that each of the winners will be thrilled to listen to one of these quality recordings. You can visit the Naxos AudioBooks web site for detailed information on each of the audio recordings and listen to previews.



Happy Birthday Jane Austen! Pass on the celebration by sharing the news of this giveaway with your friends. A big thank you to the folks at Naxos AudioBooks USA for their generous support in our celebration of Jane Austen’s Birthday.

Happy Holidays from Vic(Jane Austen's World) & Laurel Ann (Austenprose)