The Age of Innocence centers on an upper-class couple's impending marriage, and the introduction of a woman plagued by scandal whose presence threatens their happiness. Though the novel questions the assumptions and morals of 1870s' New York society, it never devolves into an outright condemnation of the institution. In fact, Wharton considered this novel an "apology" for her earlier, more brutal and critical novel, The House of Mirth. Not to be overlooked is Wharton's attention to detailing the charms and customs of the upper caste. The novel is lauded for its accurate portrayal of how the 19th-century East Coast American upper class lived, and this, combined with the social tragedy, earned Wharton a Pulitzer Prize — the first Pulitzer awarded to a woman. Edith Wharton was 58 years old at publication; she lived in that world, and saw it change dramatically by the end of World War I. The title is an ironic comment on the polished outward manners of New York society, when compared to its inward machinations.
Following Anne of Green Gables (1908), the book covers the second chapter in the life of Anne Shirley. This book follows Anne from the age of 16 to 18, during the two years that she teaches at Avonlea school. It includes many of the characters from Anne of Green Gables, as well as new ones like Mr. Harrison, Miss Lavendar Lewis, Paul Irving, and the twins Dora and Davy.
Black Beauty is a fictional autobiographical memoir told by a horse, who recounts many tales, both of cruelty and kindness. The title page of the first edition states that it was "Translated from the Original Equine by Anna Sewell." After its publication in 1877, Sewell lived just long enough to see her first and only novel become an immediate bestseller, as well as it encouraging the better treatment of many cruelly-treated animals.
Although initially intended for people who work with horses, it soon became a children's classic. While outwardly teaching animal welfare, it also contains allegorical lessons about how to treat people with kindness, sympathy and respect. The story is narrated in the first person and each short chapter relates an incident in Black Beauty's life, with Sewell's detailed observations and extensive descriptions of horse behaviour lending the novel a good deal of verisimilitude.
Roberta, Peter and Phyllis are suddenly yanked out of their comfortable lives and removed to live in the country with only their mother and to "play at being poor". Will they ever again be allowed to have bread with butter AND jam? Why does mother spend all day frantically writing in her room? And what has happened to their father?
The Railway Children is one of Edith Nesbit's best-loved books. It has been made into five films and a musical. The story of three children making friends with everyone around them and doing their best to do good and to be good (but not always succeeding) contains no magic, but the warmth of Nesbit's storytelling permeates the book.
Over the years, strange things have been happening at the Paris Opéra House. The new owners, M. Moncharmin and M. Richard don't know what to do about the mysterious "Opera Ghost" demanding money, nor the tragic death of the chief scene-shifter. Now the young Soprano, Christine Daae, has been kidnapped and her lover, the Vicomte de Chagny, is going mad. The opera house is falling to pieces. Could this all be the work of the mysterious Phantom of the Opera?
A Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the repressed culture of Edwardian era England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century.
A mysterious young widow arrives at Wildfell Hall, an Elizabethan mansion which has been empty for many years, with her young son. She lives there under an assumed name, Helen Graham, and very soon finds herself the victim of local slander. Refusing to believe anything scandalous about her, Gilbert Markham discovers her dark secrets. In her diary Helen writes about her husband's physical and moral decline through alcohol and the world of debauchery and cruelty from which she has fled. This passionate novel of betrayal is set within a moral framework tempered by Anne's optimistic belief in universal salvation. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is mainly considered to be one of the first sustained feminist novels. May Sinclair, in 1913, said that the slamming of Helen's bedroom door against her husband reverberated throughout Victorian England. In escaping from her husband, she violates not only social conventions, but also English law.
A series of mysterious and increasingly alarming crimes are taking place across London. People are being injured, even murdered without mercy and without reason. And yet, the perpetrator cannot be found. The crimes happen overnight, but in the morning the murderer is gone "like breath upon a mirror". Mr Utterson (a lawyer), Dr Lanyon and Dr Jekyll each bring their insights to this sinister conundrum.
Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is brought to life with a cast of voices in this dramatic reading. Only 10 chapters long, tradition says that Stevenson wrote the novella in less than a week, yet the central idea of the duality of human nature continues to fascinate through the ages!
In the next installment of the Anne series, newlyweds Anne and Gilbert move to the harbor town of Four Winds. There they meet new friends and experience joy as well as heartbreak.
In one of Plato's more accessible works, Apollodorus tells a friend about a drinking party (or symposium) attended by many of intellectuals of late 5th century Athens. The men are one their second night of celebration for Agathon's victory at the city Dionysia, and decide that instead of drinking, they should give speeches in praise of love.
The Marvelous Land of Oz Being an account of the further adventures of the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman and also the strange experiences of the highly magnified Woggle-Bug, Jack Pumpkin-head, the Animated Saw-Horse and the Gump; the story being A Sequel to The Wizard of Oz.
The story begins when Pollyanna arrives in Beldingsville to live with her Aunt Polly, a strict and dutiful middle aged woman. Pollyanna immediately begins to brighten up everyone's life by the "Glad Game." Trying to find something to be glad about in every situation, Pollyanna is happy, joyful, lively, and soon transforms the whole town. One day something so terrible happens, even Pollyanna doesn't know how to be glad about it.
Daisy Miller is an 1878 novella by Henry James first appearing in Cornhill Magazine in June–July 1879, and in book form the following year. It portrays the courtship of the beautiful American girl Daisy Miller by Frederick Winterbourne, a sophisticated compatriot of hers. His pursuit of her is hampered by her own flirtatiousness, which is frowned upon by the other expatriates when they meet in Switzerland and Italy.
The last collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories contains some of the most dramatic moments of the entire Sherlock Holmes canon. "The Dying Detective" sees the great Holmes brought low by a fatal illness and refusing even Dr Watson's medical care. "The Bruce-Partington Plans" is a case of national importance, not least for the introduction of Mycroft Holmes. It also contains the quintessential Holmes line "whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
"The Devil's Foot" is what happens when the great sleuth and his doctor attempt to go on a restful holiday. "His Last Bow" is the last ever Sherlock Holmes story, about his war service and undercover spy experiences. These and other classic Holmes and Watson stories are here brought to life by a dramatic cast of voices, so sit back and let the mysteries unfold!
After an unspecified family disaster, protagonist Lucy Snowe travels to the fictional city of Villette to teach at an all-girls school where she is unwillingly pulled into both adventure and romance.
Anne of Green Gables is all grown up and married, and this is the story of her daughter “Rilla”, named for the indomitable Marilla Cuthbert of Anne’s childhood. The young Rilla will need all her strength for the dark days ahead, as her coming of age will be in the midst of World War I. Her brothers and sweetheart will go to war, and not all of them will come back. Her sisters will become nurses, but Rilla herself is too young. What can she do back home to support the war effort? How can she be involved in doing good in her own backyard? What difference can one person’s ‘keeping the faith’ make in the titanic struggle of world events?
LM Montgomery, in this final installment of the Anne of Green Gables books, takes us through the terror, the suspense and the sacrifices of ‘The Great War’ as told through the eyes of Rilla. Of course, as in any girl’s diary, there are also chronicled the romances of Miranda, Gertrude, Mary and Rilla herself. At the same time, the small details of everyday life lighten the drama with humorous stories of the antics of the Ingleside cat, the putting on of a wedding with one day’s notice and ‘that prayer meeting’ which will forever go down in the local lore of little Glen St Mary!
This surprisingly explicit sample of Victorian erotica follows the sexual awakening and subsequent adventures of its author, Kate Percival, the "belle of the Delaware." Content warning: this one is definitely NC-17 rated.
Little Men is the sequel to Louisa May Alcott's bestselling book Little Women. It opens as Jo March and her husband Fritz Bhaer begin a school for boys, called Plumfield. The book follows the escapades of the Plumfield boys and the children of Jo, Amy and Meg as mischief, laughter and love fill the school.
When orphaned Oliver Twist asks for more food, the workhouse board are horrified and immediately pack him off to work for an undertaker, who treats him badly. Oliver runs away and finds himself in the streets of London, where he meets the Artful Dodger and is lured into a gang of young pickpockets, led by the evil Fagin. Even amidst his horrible surroundings, Oliver escapes and finds his way into a loving home. But Fagin's gang are determined to steal him back to their life of crime, coming closer and closer...
Dickens' classic tale of an orphan boy who has adventures with pickpockets and thieves, is here brought to life in a dramatised reading with a full cast! Scheming Fagin, cruel Bill Sykes and innocent Oliver tell their stories in their own voices, as dramatically as Dickens intended. Oliver Twist has been made into several movies and a musical, as the themes of social justice and the triumph of goodness over evil are perennially appealing.
Anne Shirley is grown up and married, and her six children are off having their own adventures with the Merediths - the four children of a widowed, absent-minded minister. Whether they're hiding a runaway home girl and plotting to save her from the orphanage or organizing a day of fasting to punish themselves for singing an awful song in the graveyard, their adventures and misadventures make this seventh Anne novel a different, but still delightful, story.
Clym Yeobright returns home to Egdon Heath, a scattered collection of houses on the isolated Wessex moors, and is caught up in a "love pentagon" which includes: his cousin, Thomasin Yeobright; the shadowy inn-keeper, Damon Wildeve; the controversial and romantic Eustacia Vye; and the mysterious reddleman, Diggory Venn, whose skin is stained completely red from his work. This work has all the well-known marks of Thomas Hardy: the Wessex landscape, a choice of lovers, a wedding gone wrong, a particularly shy 30-something man, and a woman with an independent spirit. But, The Return of the Native is unique in its pagan undertones - the first five books take place over a year and a day, starting on All Hallow's Eve, and hints of magic and witchcraft.
Lesley Castle is a melodramatic epistolary novelette written by Jane Austen when she was sixteen years old. Although the novels Austen became known for were not published until she was in her thirties, she was an active writer from the age of twelve, frequently composing epistolary works such as Lesley Castle. Austen eventually compiled 29 of her early writings in three notebooks that became known as the Juvenilia and that she called “Volume the First”, “Volume the Second”, and “Volume the Third”, including Lesley Castle in “Volume the Second”.
Lesley Castle is set contemporaneously to Austen’s writing and consists of a series of ten letters by five characters, all of whom are women of high society living in Great Britain. In this short work, Austen employs a mock serious tone to humorously critique her peers on subjects such as self-absorption and jealousy. Austen acknowledged in a prefatory note that she left Lesley Castle unfinished; it includes several interconnected storylines, but no overarching plot or clear conclusion.
This story is about an American lad of 7 years old who lives with his young widowed mother in New York. He spends his days with his friend the grocery man Mr. Hobbs, the boot black Dick, and other young lads from his town. His best friend is his mother, whom he calls dearest, because that is what his papa used to call her. Cedric has curly blond hair, a sturdy young body, and a beautiful face that is only matched by his sweet temperament. He is always thinking of others and what they might need.
One day, an English lawyer comes to Cedric's house with news that will change his young life forever. Cedric's papa was the son of a great Earl in England. The earl has lost all three of his sons and is now looking for his heir. He is a crusty old gentlemen with a hard, cold heart. He has spent his life chasing after his own pleasures and not caring one mite for the needs of others, especially the needs his tenantry. He is extremely prejudiced against Americans and was outraged when his youngest son married an American woman. His proud heart views with disgust his young heir before he even meets him, expecting him to be rude, uneducated, and selfish. Little does he know that the meeting of the Earl of Dorincourt with little Cedric is destined to change his life forever.
In this dramatic reading of the classic epic Ben Hur, rediscover the wonder of three wise men who travel through the wilderness together. Thirty years later, Judah ben Hur accidentally looses a tile upon the head of the Roman governor and is sentenced to the galleys for life. When he escapes, he is caught up in his thirst for revenge against his accuser, Messala, and his search for the Messiah of his people, the King who is to come. As Judah learns more about this King, however, he begins to realize that the kingdom he is searching for may not be found in what he can see and the revenge he is seeking may not be found in the way that he expects
Finding a Psammead (sand-fairy) to grant any wish your heart desires seems like the beginning of endless delights, but as Cyril, Anthea, Robert and Jane soon discover, being beautiful, wealthy and popular can have surprising pitfalls! When it comes to wishing they had wings, lived in a besieged castle or to fight Red Indians in the English countryside, the results of their wishes lead to hilarious narrow escapes and (usually) being sent to bed.
"Five Children and It" is the first of the three "Psammead" books by Edith Nesbit, introducing the irascible sand fairy who uses the children's wishes to teach them lessons about life. This dramatised reading brings the four children and their friend vividly to life!
Agnes Grey is the daughter of a minister, whose family comes to financial ruin. Desperate to earn money to care for herself, she takes one of the few jobs allowed to respectable women in the early Victorian era, as a governess to the children of the wealthy. In working with two different families, the Bloomfields and the Murrays, she comes to learn about the troubles that face a young woman who must try to rein in unruly, spoiled children for a living, and about the ability of wealth and status to destroy social values. After her father's death, Agnes opens a small school with her mother and finds happiness with a man who loves her for herself.
Doctor John Dolittle is an animal doctor and famous naturalist whose success hinges on his ability to speak the languages of many different kinds of animals. This book, the second Dr. Dolittle adventure, is narrated by Tommy Stubbins, who meets the Doctor after finding an injured squirrel. Stubbins becomes interested in the Doctor's work and has the opportunity to travel with him and several animal companions to a mysterious floating island called Spidermonkey Island.
Sylvie and Bruno, first published in 1889, and its 1893 second volume Sylvie and Bruno Concluded form the last novel by Lewis Carroll published during his lifetime. Both volumes were illustrated by Harry Furniss.
The novel has two main plots; one set in the real world at the time the book was published (the Victorian era), the other in the fantasy world of Fairyland. While the latter plot is a fairy tale with many nonsense elements and poems, similar to Carroll's Alice books, the story set in Victorian Britain is a social novel, with its characters discussing various concepts and aspects of religion, society, philosophy and morality.
In this first collection of stories following the characters from the "Anne of Green Gables" series, we see 12 vignettes into the lives of the other inhabitants of Avonlea. The case of Ludovic Speed as mentioned in "Anne of the Island" is finally detailed, along with another appearance by Anne Shirley herself in "The Courting of Prissy Strong". We meet some old friends and many new ones from "The Island", in stories both sweet and poignant. An old lady finds happiness in being a "fairy godmother" to a young music teacher; two lovers will not speak for fifteen years, but still love each other dearly; a woman-hater is quarantined with a man-hater; and other anecdotes of country town life are drawn by the delicate and sure hand of L.M. Montgomery.
When Jack and Jill tumble off their sled on the first good snow of the season, their injuries cause them to be bedridden for many months, putting an end to their fun and frolics. Their parents and friends fill their days with the joys of Christmas preparations, a theatrical production and many other imaginative events. Both learn how to become better friends to each other and their other school mates through their many trials. This is sure to become a family favorite!
Wilde's collection of fairy tales has delighted both children and adults since it was first published in 1888. It contains five stories, "The Happy Prince", "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Selfish Giant", "The Devoted Friend", and "The Remarkable Rocket".
Molly and her father have lived alone since the death of her mother. Now Mr Gibson decides it will be in Molly's best interests for him to marry again. The new "Mama" brings to the household many changes, including a glamorous new step-sister. Mrs Gibson starts scheming to have Cynthia marry one of the sons of the local squire, but she does not understand Cynthia's reluctance or why Molly is meeting Mr Preston in the forest. Secrets, love affairs and society gossip abound in this social commentary novel written by Mrs Gaskell (author of North and South and Mary Barton). Love across the class divide, love of parents for children and step-children, love which is a 'heated fancy', love between sisters, and sincere self-sacrificing love of one person for another whether brother or beloved - all are delicately and delightfully drawn in this masterpiece of 19th century literature, and all are brought to life in this dramatic reading with a stunning cast of voices.
When country girl Polly Milton comes to visit her friend Fanny Shaw, city life isn’t all she had hoped it would be. Thrown in the middle of a dysfunctional family, Polly remembers the teachings of her wise mother, and does her best to plant seeds of cheerfulness, honesty, and respect -- and teaching virtue by example.
Four years later, Polly returns to scratch out a living as a music teacher, but finds herself mixed up in much more than piano lessons. Through heartache and love triangles, temptation and tragedy, Polly’s story shows that even the dreams of old-fashioned girls can come true.
Jo’s little men and women are grown up and entering new stages of life. Along with discovering their individual niches, there are lots of lessons to study, plays to perform, and parties to attend… and love is undeniably in the air. When three of Jo’s most beloved boys embark on journeys of their own, they encounter some of the most difficult challenges ever faced in their young lives. Meanwhile, back at home, Jo and her family must be strong when they receive the news that not all three of the boys may return. Will Emil, Nat, and Dan find their way home to Plumfield?
Find out in Jo’s Boys, the final installment of the Little Women trilogy by Louisa May Alcott.
One of the most famous Italian books in history, The Betrothed was written by Alessandro Manzoni in 1827. The two main characters, Renzo and Lucy, are engaged to be married when Lucy tragically disappears. Little does Renzo know that Lucy has been kidnapped by a criminal, The Unnamed, feared by all the people of Northern Italy, where the story is set. Despite the threat of death and the fear of never laying eyes on one another again, Renzo and Lucy maintain a deep love for each other throughout the book that displays the true sacrifice and commitment of marriage. The book was recommended by Pope Francis to engaged couples in 2015 as preparation for marriage.
Cyril, Robert, Anthea and Jane need a new carpet for the nursery, but it turns out to be a magic carpet containing a phoenix egg! They discover how to hatch the egg, but a magical creature with a big ego and a wishing carpet that can read but not talk leads straight to another hilarious series of adventures! Throw in a thief, a cook, a lot of cats and a cow, and stir well with a Phoenix feather for a recipe for excitement...
The second book of the "Psammead" trilogy, following on directly after "Five Children and It" sees the children once again being caught up in magic events which, despite their best intentions, cause chaos and usually result in their being sent to bed!
Iolanthe is a fairy banished from fairyland for the crime of marrying a mortal. Her half-fairy, half-human son Strephon is a fairy down to the waist, but his legs are human. He loves Phyllis, but she is courted by the whole House of Lords and the Lord High Chancellor himself! Strephon decides the only way to win his love is to go into Parliament, with the help of his mother and all his fairy aunts. None of them understand politics, but that doesn't matter. He will soon make some changes, starting with throwing the Peerage open to competitive examination! But how will Phyllis react when she catches Strephon with an impossibly young and very beautiful lady who he claims is his fairy mother?
This is a spoken "poetic" version of the libretto written by W. S. Gilbert, where a full cast of voices brings the sparkling wit of Gilbert to the fore, and will enhance understanding and appreciation of this comic light opera.
When ten-year-old Rebecca Randall arrives at her aunts' brick house in Riverboro, she is not exactly welcomed with the open arms one would hope for. Her cheerful spirit touches the lives of many, but will Rebecca be able to endure Aunt Miranda's stern ways?
A translation of 'Les Liaisons dangereuses' alternative title 'Dangerous Liasons'
Everyone probably has Glenn Close and John Malkovich in mind, but for those who have not seen the movie, this epistolary fiction describes how a young girl, Cécile de Voanges, walks on the road to perdition, and is just a toy in the Vicomte de Valmont's and the Comtesse de Merteuil's hands.
At a fete in the New Palace, the court seems to be in perfect order. Only two people know the truth: the telegraph wire beyond Tomsk, connecting Western Russia with Siberia, has been cut! The Czar and General Kissoff can tell that it is the work of traitorous Ivan Ogareff, who is inciting an insurrection in Siberia. If the Grand Duke, governing Siberia from Irkutsk, does not hear of the insurrection in time, the criminals in Siberia will take over the city, and eventually, all of Russia! Only a brave and fast courier can take it to the Duke in time. The general assures the czar that he has the perfect courier--Michael Strogoff. He will have to travel in disguise to escape the traps set by Ivan Ogareff, and above all never reveal--He is the courier of the czar!
After her famed book "Anne of Green Gables," Lucy Maud Montgomery continued her stories in "Chronicles of Avonlea" followed by "Further Chronicles of Avonlea." The book includes fifteen short and entertaining, funny, and romantic stories. She brings back old characters such as Anne, Rachel Lynde, and Matthew Cuthbert, although most of the stories are focused around new characters living in Avonlea.
Beatrix Potter's delightful stories come to life in this recording of some of her most famous tales. This collection is extra special because it was read by children for children.
L. Frank Baum takes us through the adventures of Santa Claus beginning with his adoption as an infant by Necile the nymph. As a youth, Claus discovers fellow humans on earth and returns to their world where he decides his duty is to make children happy through the gift of toys. Claus has to fight Awgwa’s and eventually gets help from the Flossie and Glossie, the first reindeers. Through his tireless work Claus is declared a Saint and is bestowed with immortality. His work lives on today with the help of good parents around the world.
The Five Children (from Five Children and It) are once again on holidays, but this time with no sand fairy to grant wishes - or is there? In a pet shop they meet with their friend the Psammead again, and a whirlwind adventure follows through time and space! The magical Amulet has been broken in half, and they must find and reunite the lost half with their own. But they are not the only ones seeking the power of the Amulet...
After a strange event at the Raymond First Church, Reverend Henry Maxwell asks his congregation a startling question: Will they pledge to try and do only what Jesus would for an entire year? Even more important, however is the question: Who will follow through the whole way?
While working in Africa, the eminent naturalist John Dolittle sets out to create the best post office on earth, using his bird friends to carry messages and packages anywhere in the world in record time. Along the way, he also manages to foil a slave trader, enrich a kingdom, save a ship, and meet the oldest living creature on earth!
Author and editor of numerous children's books, Thornton W. Burgess was also a noted conservationist. In writing for youngsters he combined a gift for storytelling with his love of the outdoors, creating an entertaining menagerie of animals whose adventures he skillfully recounted in a series of charming fables. In them, he taught young readers about nature and encouraged them to love the "lesser folk in fur and feathers."
In this delightfully told tale, Burgess chronicles the escapades of Chatterer the Red Squirrel, who's known throughout the Green Forest as a mischief maker. Narrowly escaping the clutches of Shadow the Weasel and Redtail the Hawk, the bushy-tailed little fellow decides to leave the forest for a new home, only to learn that curiosity, carelessness, and mistrust can lead to a heap of troubles.
First published in 1915, this engaging story will charm readers of all ages — as well as young listeners.
Recorded by students of Houghton College in Houghton, NY
Characters:
Mercedes Miller: Narrator
Joe Miner: Chatterer
Hannah Messerschmidt: Reddy, Pussy, Boy, Voices
Kaitlyn McKinney: Sammy, Mom, Porky, Tommy
Robert Kuchar: Peter, Farmer, Shadow
Katy Carr always gets in trouble for everything. When her mother died, she told Katy to be a mother to the little ones. But it seems like Katy can't do anything right. Her Aunt Izzie always scolds her, so one day Katy decides to ignore her aunt's command and ride the swing in the barn. Suddenly, something cracks, Katy feels like she's falling, and everything goes dark.
Sara Crewe is a very intelligent, polite, and creative young girl. Born to a wealthy soldier in India, Sara was brought all the way to London in Victorian-era England for a formal education. At the upscale boarding school, Sara is forced to tolerate the haughty, disdainful headmistress, Miss Minchin. Unfortunately, things only get worse for Sara when her father's bankruptcy and death leave her impoverished and at the mercy of the jealous Miss Minchin. Sara undergoes numerous trials as she humbly allows herself to be subjected to servitude, but with the help of several dear friends (both seen and unseen), she remains as proud and unwavering and imaginative as ever, proving to all that she is, as the title says, "a little princess."
A novelist finds himself struggling to make ends meet. In his effort to raise a bit of money to get him by, he finds himself in the middle of a mystery. Murder, theft, and love, all the ingredients for a wonderful reading. Please note: There is some stereotyping of ethnic groups however it is presented without malice but rather a sign of the times.
This book tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures.