Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackeray) – A BBC Radio 4 Cast Dramatisation [4 CD Set]

Description

Running Time approx 5hrs

Stephen Fry narrates this full-cast dramatisation of the famous Victorian comic novel

THE BOOK
Orphan Becky Sharp and wealthy Amelia Sedley are best friends at Miss Pinkerton’s Academy for Young Ladies. On leaving school, ambitious, social-climbing Becky looks for a rich man to support her, while the sweet-natured
Amelia meets her old friend Dobbin, who is instantly captivated.
Becky takes a job in the service of Sir Pitt Crawley, and uses her charm to hook his dashing son. However, marriage to Captain Rawdon of the Guards does not provide the fortune she seeks.
Meanwhile, Amelia rejects the faithful Dobbin and becomes engaged to the handsome George Osborne – but destiny has some shocks in store for her, too.
As time goes by, the girls’ fortunes rise and fall. War, financial disaster and the ruin of her reputation leave the resourceful Becky undaunted, but Amelia finds it harder to bear fate’s blows.
It will be many years before their story is played out, and their futures finally decided…

William Makepeace Thackeray’s classic satire of passion and ambition, first published in 1847 and 1848, is a deliciously ironic portrait of English society and its mores. This engaging 2004 radio production, published for the first time on audio, features a distinguished cast including Emma Fielding as Becky Sharp, Katy Cavanagh as Amelia and Toby Jones as Jos Sedley.

THE READER
Stephen Fry is an award-winning comedian, actor, presenter and director. He rose to fame alongside Hugh Laurie in A Bit of Fry and Laurie (which he co-wrote with Laurie) and Jeeves and Wooster, and was unforgettable as General
Melchett in Blackadder. He has hosted over 180 episodes of QI, and has narrated all seven of the Harry Potter novels for the audiobook recordings. He is the bestselling author of four novels – The Stars’ Tennis Balls, Making History, The Hippopotamus and The Liar – as well as three volumes of autobiography – Moab is My Washpot, The Fry Chronicles and More Fool Me. Mythos and Heroes, his retelling of the Greek myths, are both Sunday Times bestsellers.