EMMA

Jane Austen's novels have long been fodder for transference to other media. The same quality that makes such adaptation a good idea also makes it difficult--her elusive tone. When is she kidding? When serious? How to communicate what Sir Walter Scott called "that exquisite touch which renders ordinary, commonplace things and characters interesting?" Performance pros struggle with it as much as everybody else. For this reason, Prunella Scales's interpretation of Emma is most welcome. Scales "nails" it, as actors say. One of England's finest actresses, Scales hits the right note from the beginning and unerringly follows the author's amusing and insightful trajectory to the very end. There are no actorly pyrotechnics here, just Jane Austen, which is certainly good enough for me. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 99]