Cecilia Beverley is young, clever and rich, but her inheritance comes with a strange condition: any man she marries must be willing to take her family name, or she will lose her fortune. Her guardians are selfish, her suitors have motives of their own, and the fashionable world of London is full of snares for an unprotected heiress. Fanny Burney follows Cecilia through balls, visits, quarrels, misunderstandings and mounting anxiety, painting a lively picture of society in the 1780s. The novel mixes comedy with real distress, and its cast of misers, spendthrifts and gossips is wonderfully drawn. This is a very long, immersive book, ideal for listeners who like to settle into a world and stay there. Jane Austen admired it, and a phrase from its closing pages is thought to have given her the title of Pride and Prejudice.
Introduction
Fanny Burney, born in 1752 and died in 1840, was an English novelist, diarist and playwright. She became famous with her first novel, Evelina, in 1778, and followed it with Cecilia, published in 1782. Both books examine the position of a young woman entering society, and both were widely read and praised. Burney later became a lady-in-waiting at the court of Queen Charlotte, an experience she described in her diaries, and her writing was an important influence on the next generation of women novelists.
Jane Austen was one of those admirers. In Northanger Abbey she refers to Cecilia as one of the works in which, as she puts it, the greatest powers of the mind are displayed. A well-known phrase from Cecilia, pride and prejudice, is even said to have helped give Austen the title of her own most famous novel. Reading Burney is therefore a good way to understand where Austen’s world came from.
The novel is long, and the LibriVox recording reflects this: it contains one hundred and seven sections, grouped into books, and runs for nearly thirty-six hours. It is read by several volunteers. This is a book to enjoy over weeks, a companion for walks and journeys, full of sharp observation, social comedy and the ordeals of a young woman who must find out whom she can trust.
Burney’s great strengths are her ear for conversation and her sense of comedy. Her characters talk and talk, often at cross purposes, and the humour comes from what they fail to say. Readers who enjoy social satire, and who have the time for a leisurely, richly furnished story, will find much to enjoy.
Public domain
Fanny Burney died in 1840: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
