Showing results by author "Audiobook" in All Categories

Edward Pierson is the widowed vicar of a London church. He has two daughters, Eve and Noel, who is 17. In essence, the novel follows the battle between Edward’s faith and the lack of faith of his daughters following a seemingly disastrous mistake made by Noel. The novel is set during the first World War and explores their lives and their relationships with various other characters in a time of great stress when lives are profoundly changed by the devastating effects of the war. (Summary by Simon Evers)

"The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set in the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of Ilium, by a coalition of Greek States, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege" (Summary from Wikipedia)

The book revolves around the story of two love affairs. Miltoun (an aspiring politician) proposes to Mrs Audrey Noel, only to find that she is not a widow as everyone supposes, but that her husband is still alive and therefore the match is impossible. Meanwhile, Miltoun’s younger sister Barbara develops an equally unwise romance with the rebellious Courtier.The story of what happens to these ill-matched pairs is played out against a brilliant portrayal of the Victorian upper class, its snobbery and its concerns. (The patrician in the title refers to Miltoun, who is thus called by Courtier, ...

A satire of middle-class complacency and artistic aspiration. It is the story of a strange bohemian upper-class love triangle, and of a mystic tract.(Summary by Simon Evers)

'The Forsyte Saga' is the story of a wealthy London family stretching from the eighteen-eighties until the nineteen-twenties. The Man of Property is the first book in the saga. The 'man of property' of the title is Soames Forsyte, a partner in the family law firm. He is married to Irene but the marriage is not happy and during the book she falls in love with another man.Another branch of the family is headed by 'Old Jolyon,' estranged from his bohemian artist son 'Young Jolyon' and the story tells of their rapprochement and of Young Jolyon's daughter June who is engaged to an architect Philip ...

Richard Shelton is wrestling with his conscience. As a member of the upper class at a time when the British Empire is at its height, he sees beyond the façade of their and his luxurious life. He has become engaged to Antonia and during the course of the book he meets, notices and talks to people from the lower classes and comes to reject the idea that Britain and his own class is good, thus becoming something of a moral outcast. The book follows his journey and is a scathing satire of life in his time. (Summary by Simon Evers)

Gyp, the daughter of ex-Major Charles Claire Winton, at the age of 23 marries Fiorsen, a Swedish violin virtuoso. Her mother, the wife of another man, has been Winton's mistress; she had died when Gyp was born. A highly sensitive child, Gyp has grown up in isolated surroundings with a kind, but very British, father.As she gets older her father tries to introduce her into society. An attack of gout takes him to Wiesbaden for a cure and, as he never goes anywhere without her, she accompanies him. There she is mesmerised by Fiorsen and his playing. Intensely musical herself and inexperienced, ...

The Freelands family is a mixture: Tod Freeland is an uncommunicative gentle giant, his wife Kirsteen passionate and free-spoken, Felix is a literary man, Stanley the man of business, John is in politics. Their mother is a practical uncomprehending old lady while Nedda and Derek, the younger generation and cousins, fall head over heels in love. The story revolves around the ‘land question’ which was the chief matter of moment when the novel was written – British agriculture was depressed as imported food (chiefly from the USA) meant that domestic farmers were struggling. The rich ...

Brief plot lines of these 16 stories by Nobel Prize winning author John Galsworthy: 01, 02, 03 "A Feud" The breaking of an engagement ignites a feud. 04 "The Man Who Kept His Form" Ruding’s financial prospects disappoint. He adjusts. 05 "A Hedonist" Still single at 55, Vaness declares his love to a woman, 26. 06 "Timber" Hirries takes a celebratory afternoon walk in his forest. 07 "Santa Lucia" Old Trevillian recalls a past attraction begun at a casino. 08 "Blackmail" Money given to a needy woman leads to a blackmail threat. 09 "The Broken Boot" An impoverished actor chances upon an old ...

This is a collection of essays by John Galsworthy. A multitude of subjects is covered, but the essays are connected by an artistic spirit, and they are written much more like short stories than in the classical style of essays. - Summary by Carolin

Galsworthy's classic The Dark Flower is a study of love. Spring is the beginning when all is new and full of hope. However, the woman Lennan has fallen for is out of reach, a forbidden love. Can he overcome the challenges? As he matures, he discovers two different loves: the first is platonic, comfortable, and one that can last a lifetime. The other is crazy, passionate, and dangerous. As he matures, he settles into a somewhat boring and safe marriage, but then excitement and danger re-emerge in the form of a young mistress. The denouement comes as he makes the choice between the tried and ...

A small play in three acts. A kind of comic tragedy. The plot tells the story of the interaction between two very different families in rural England just after the end of the First World War. Squire Hillcrist lives in the manor house where his family has lived for generations. He has a daughter, Jill, who is in her late teens; and a wife, Amy, as well as servants and retainers. He is "old money", although his finances are at a bit of low ebb. The other family is the "nouveau riche" Hornblowers, headed by the single-minded and rich industrialist Hornblower, who throws old retainers the ...

In “The Country House”, John Galsworthy explores many of the themes he would later expand upon in his better known, nine-novel, “The Forsyth Saga”. This is a novel of English society as 1900 approaches. A divorce is being threatened in the Pendyce family, whose members are of the landed gentry. Such an event would be an enormous scandal. There is little action. The story paints, in exquisite language, the feelings of each of the six or so main characters. These feelings concern the necessity for family honor and the horror of scandal; the stifling effect of the social mores of the time...

'The Forsyte Saga' is the story of a wealthy London family stretching from the eighteen-eighties until the nineteen-twenties. In Chancery is the second book in the saga. Five years have passed since Irene left Soames and the death of Bosinney. Old Jolyon meets Irene and is enchanted by her. At his death he leaves her a legacy sufficient for her to live an independent life in Paris.Soames who is desperate for a son, attempts to effect a rapprochement but is rejected by her. Meanwhile Young Jolyon, now a widower,who is Irene’s trustee falls in love with herSoames suspects Young Jolyon and ...

John Builder is a solid, middle-class Englishman. He is very domineering but finds that the women around him are insistent on living their own lives. They will not let him take control. His world begins to fall apart around him. Summary by Michele Eaton Cast:Stage Directions: MichaelMaggsMr Builder: Adrian StephensMaud: Jenn BrodaGuy: John PaytonTopping: Alan MapstoneHarris: Andrew KennedyCamille: JennPrattMrs Builder: WendyKatzhillerAnnie: Michele EatonMayor: ToddHWAthene: Diana Helen KennedyRalph: Anthony JosephSergeant: David PurdyMoon: James R. HedrickChantrey: Mark KilkellyBoy's Voice: ...

Homer’s Iliad is the first great work of Western literature. Composed in twenty-four books of Greek hexameter poetry, it portrays the events of the last year of the Trojan War. Its translation into rhyming couplets by Alexander Pope is considered by some the greatest act of translation in English. Its power sweeps the reader along through an epic tale that begins with the wrath of Achilles and ends with the burial of Hector, breaker of horses. (Introduction by Steve Perkins)

One of the earliest works of this Italian philosopher and literary critic, Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic marks the beginning of Croce's elaboration of his highly influential ideas of aesthetics. Croce defines art in terms of intuition and expression, thus replacing beauty as the primary criterion for aesthetic evaluation. - Summary by Mary J

This, the fifth novel in Zola's Rougon-Macquart Cycle, serves effectively as a sequel to "The Conquest of Plassans". Serge Mouret, the son of Francois and Marthe, is now a priest, in the little backwater of Artauds. After he suffers a breakdown, with subsequent amnesia, however, he enters into a romance with the childlike Albine, which leads to catastrophe. - Summary by Mark Leder

Mr Punch Presents: Rebecca, based upon the best-selling novel by Daphne du Maurier. Laurence Olivier plays Maxim de Winter, and Vivien Leigh is the shy and naïve ladies companion that he meets while holidaying in Monte Carlo. They fall in love, get married and return to Maxim's beloved Manderley in Cornwall, where the second Mrs de Winter now meets the mysterious Mrs Danvers and finds that Rebecca is not forgotten. The film was to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Mr Punch Presents: National Velvet, telling the story of Velvet Brown (Elizabeth Taylor), the idealistic English farm girl with a passion for horses, who wins the spirited steed ‘Pie’ in the local town lottery. Her infectious enthusiasm encourages the embittered jockey Mi Taylor (Mickey Rooney) to train the horse ‘Pie’ for the Grand National - England's greatest racing event.