A Visitor's Guide to Jane Austen's England cover art

A Visitor's Guide to Jane Austen's England

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A Visitor's Guide to Jane Austen's England

By: Sue Wilkes
Narrated by: Christine Rendel
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About this listen

Immerse yourself in the vanished world inhabited by Jane Austen's contemporaries. Packed with detail and anecdotes, this is an intimate exploration of how the middle and upper classes lived from 1775, the year of Austen's birth, to the coronation of George IV in 1820. Sue Wilkes skillfully conjures up all aspects of daily life within the period, drawing on contemporary diaries, illustrations, letters, novels, travel literature, and archives.

  • Were all unmarried affluent men really "in want of a wife"?
  • Where would a young lady seek adventure?
  • Would "taking the waters" at Bath and other spas kill or cure you?
  • Was Lizzy Bennet bitten by bed-bugs while traveling?
  • What would you wear to a country ball or a dance at Almack's?
  • Would Mr. Darcy have worn a corset?
  • What hidden horrors lurked in elegant Regency houses?
©2014 Sue Wilkes (P)2021 Tantor Europe Great Britain

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All stars
Most relevant  
Overall recommend. I couldn’t work out if the reader was an AI program or human - nice voice but weirdly robotic intonation and pace!

Fascinating insight into Austen’s World

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This is interesting and well written, it is a great book. The narrator is fine in places but odd in others. The way she reads dates is annoying and some pronunciation too but in other places it's fine and easy to listen to. Overall good

Great book but narrator is odd

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I found this book to be really well researched and full of small bits of information that relate directly to Jane Austen stories. However the narration is quite off putting, almost as if the narrator is reading to five year olds. Shame because the narrator spoilt the book for me and I couldn't finish it

Well researched, weird narration though

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I really wanted to listen to this book so decided to go ahead despite not liking the sound of the narrator in the sample. But gosh it got a lot worse. She is totally unnatural - I am sure it is AI. Makes it very hard to actually concentrate on the content bc you become so wrapped up in listening to the weird voice. It’s also so slow you have to set the speed at 1.2x which feels both fast and yet still at times too slow as the narrator speeds up then slows right down, separating out each individual word with ridiculous and unnatural pauses between each word. Like. Reading. A. Sentence. Like. . . This.

Surely the narrator is AI

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I don't feel like I learned a lot. It often felt like the fictional excerpts were providing the "history" rather than a historical analysis providing a contextual understanding of Austen's novels. Easy enough to listen to if you want a reminder of Austen storytelling but that's about it.

Fictional anecdotes

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This is a nice little book but - especially in comparison with works by Ruth Goodman and Liza Picard - a little dry at times. However, lovers of Jane Austen and her work will undoubtedly revel in all the fun facts and historical details Sue Wilkes provides.

A nice introduction to Regency England.

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This is a fantastic book but the narrator sounded a little unnatural. It reminded me of AI and it was a struggle to connect with.

Super book - new narration needed

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Although interesting book is a little clunky in places, not helped by the narrator who seems to struggle with pronunciations does not help the flow and meaning of the text

Interesting, but a different narrator needed

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Horrific reading. I couldn’t get past about five minutes. Bizarre enunciation that is so overpowering as to make you unable to take in anything in the book. It sounds like a reading at the wrong speed, multiple syllables where they shouldn’t be. Incredibly frustrating as keen to know more. Will just have to buy the book.

Worst reading I’ve heard on audible

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I couldn’t finish this audiobook — the narration ruined it for me. It was far too slow and mannered, to the point of being twee. The effect was rather like being lectured by an elderly maiden aunt or a slightly patronising Sunday School teacher. For better content and a much more natural delivery, I would recommend ‘A Time-Traveller’s Guide to Regency England’ by Ian Mortimer. The narration in the latter book is provided by the author, who is a historian and not a trained actor (or someone mistakenly attempting to sound like one). The result is a good deal less intrusive and irritating, illustrating all too clearly that reading a non-fiction audiobook is seldom improved by attempting to act it out.

Ruined by the narration

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