Which Jane Eyre recording should you buy?
A cleaner listing than most Victorian novels on Audible UK: the complete readings run 17 hrs 27 mins to 22 hrs 51 mins, and the short entries all say what they are: the two dramatisations are marked abridged, and the Oxford Bookworms reader carries Adaptation in its title.
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Charlotte Bronte · 9 Audible UK recordings compared
Short answer
Juliet Stevenson. Complete, solo, and squarely inside the range of the full readings here (17 hrs 27 mins to 22 hrs 51 mins), which on a page like this is the evidence that nothing has been trimmed. Thandiwe Newton at 19h10 is equally complete and equally solo, so if you prefer her voice you lose nothing by taking it. The only thing to be careful of is the two dramatisations: the BBC Radio 4 production with Tom Burke and the Claire Bloom dramatised reading are both worth hearing, and neither is the novel. Both say abridged, which is more than most listings manage. So, in its way, does the Ishia Bennison listing at 3h21: its title carries Adaptation, and it is an Oxford Bookworms reader for learners of English.
The recordings, compared
| Narrator | Length | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juliet Stevenson Our pick | 19 hrs 13 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Thandiwe Newton | 19 hrs 10 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. A straight choice of voice against Stevenson, not of content. |
| Anna Popplewell | 22 hrs 51 mins | Unabridged | Complete, and the longest reading here. |
| Amanda Root | 20 hrs 33 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Juliet Mills | 19 hrs 10 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Susan Ericksen | 17 hrs 27 mins | Unabridged | Complete; the briskest of the full readings. |
| Ishia Bennison | 3 hrs 21 mins | Oxford Bookworms graded reader | Not the book: "An Oxford Bookworms Library reader for learners of English", in Audible's own description. The title carries (Adaptation), so this one is labelled. |
| Amanda Hale, Tom Burke and a full cast | 2 hrs 13 mins | Full-cast dramatisation, marked abridged | A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation, and honestly marked abridged. |
| Claire Bloom and Anthony Quayle | 2 hrs 54 mins | Dramatised reading, marked abridged | A dramatised reading, marked abridged. |