Free public-domain audiobook
Listen to Pride and Prejudice as a free audiobook on iPhone
You can listen to Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen as a free audiobook on your iPhone. Because the book is in the public domain, you can download a free EPUB edition and have it read aloud with natural on-device voices - privately, offline, and without buying an audiobook.
Elizabeth Bennet, the second of five sisters, sparks against the proud Mr Darcy across a year of balls, letters, and misjudgements. Austen turns a courtship plot into a sharp comedy of manners about first impressions and the cost of pride. It reads aloud beautifully - the dialogue is the engine.
Why Pride and Prejudice is free to listen to
First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has been in the public domain worldwide for well over a century. Free EPUB editions are widely available from Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks.
Length: 61 short chapters, roughly an average-length novel.
How to listen to Pride and Prejudice on iPhone
- Download a free public-domain EPUB of Pride and Prejudice (Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks both offer one).
- Move the EPUB to your iPhone via AirDrop, iCloud Drive, email, or a direct download into Files.
- Open the EPUB in a reader app that reads text aloud, or use Apple's built-in Speak Screen to hear the open page.
- Choose a voice and press play. A reader that generates the voice on the device works offline, with nothing uploaded.
Questions & answers
Is Pride and Prejudice a good first audiobook to listen to with text-to-speech?
Pride and Prejudice is one of the best public-domain books to start with, because Austen carries the story almost entirely through clear, witty dialogue and short chapters. There is little dense description for a synthetic voice to stumble over, so the listen stays light and easy to follow from the first chapter.
Which characters appear in Pride and Prejudice?
Pride and Prejudice follows Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters, the wealthy and reserved Mr Darcy, the amiable Mr Bingley, the smooth-talking Wickham, and the absurd clergyman Mr Collins. The Bennet parents frame the comedy. Keeping these names in mind before you press play makes the early chapters easier to track by ear.