Publisher: Charles River Editors
Anthony Trollope was a British writer who is considered to be one of the most prominent authors of the Victorian era. Trollope created the fictional county of Barsetshire which many of his novels are set in. Trollope also wrote on the political and social issues on England during his time. This edition of The Duke’s Children includes a table of contents.
"The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan is one of the most important works of English literature. Initially published in 1678, this religious allegory details the journey of the protagonist, Christian, from his hometown to the Celestial City. Along the way, Christian encounters various symbolic characters and obstacles that represent the trials and tribulations faced by a soul on its path to the Christian faith. The work is divided into two parts: the first follows Christian's journey, while the second part, published in 1684, follows the journey of his wife, Christiana. It's a deeply spiritual and moral text that has had a significant influence on Christianity and literatureShow book
Hide and Seek (1854) is a novel with an intricate plot, in two parts: the history of "Madonna" Grice and Matthew Grice's discovery of her. Mary Grice is courted and seduced by a man. Mary's sister, Joanna drives the pregnant, unmarried Mary from the family home. Mary gives birth to a daughter and dies miserably, attended only by performers from a travelling circus. Martha, wife of one of the clowns, adopts the baby (also Mary), who becomes a circus performer and is struck deaf and dumb after a riding accident. The circus owner exploits her. To rescue Mary, Martha takes her to the home of a minister. There a painter adopts her, and she acquires the nickname Madonna. The painter's friend, Zack, admires her. Zack defends a man who turns out to be Matthew (Mat) Grice, Mary Sr.'s brother. Mat has spent decades wandering, but returns home after making his fortune. His next concern is to find out the fate of his family.Show book
King Arthur loved Christmas and New Year - it was an excellent excuse for feasting, exchanging gifts and a time for general good fellowship among the knights at Camelot. And he wouldn't stop feasting until some marvellous adventure had befallen either him or one of his companions. One year, there was an adventure to top the lot. An enormous knight rides into the hall dressed in green. Everything is green. His hair and beard are green. Even his horse is green. "Great outfit", says King Arthur, "What is your name, Sir Knight?". "I am known as 'The Green Knight'", replies the stranger to no-one's surprise, and proposes that someone in the court strikes him once with his axe, on condition that the Green Knight can return the blow one year and one day later. Gawain volunteers, picks up an axe, and lops off the Green Knight's head, thinking this will mark the end of a rather stupid game. But no. Cool as you like, the Green Knight picks up his head, reminds Gawain of his promise, and rides off, leaving the entire Round Table gawping in amazement and Gawain rather apprehensive about what will happen in 366 days' time . . . This wonderful, good-natured adventure was written sometime in the late 14th century by an excellent poet based, we think, somewhere in Cheshire. Not only has the tale come down to us intact (unlike much Arthurian literature), it has captured readers' (and listeners') imaginations for over 600 years. Tolkien was a fan and produced a translation from the Middle English, and Sean Connery starred as the Green Knight in a 1984 movie. What you'll hear on this audio is a faithful translation of the original by Jessie L. Weston, a scholar and poetess of whom TS Eliot was much enamoured.Show book
“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,And then is heard no more. It is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing.”If you had the chance to seize great power for yourself and your family, what lengths would you go to to claim it as your own – and how would you live with yourself if you went against morality to do it? This is the question of Macbeth, a tragedy about seeking political gain above all else, and the consequences sacrificing one’s humanity for the sake of power.Macbeth is a general for Scotland who has been prophesied to be the future King of Scotland. Rather than wait for this prophecy to take hold of its own accord, and after taking the advice of his power-hungry wife, he murders the current king and takes his place. But it doesn’t take long for tremendous guilt and fear to take hold of him, and turn his reign into one of tyranny and brutality as he and Lady Macbeth commit more and more crimes to avoid the consequences coming for them. As Macbeth’s streak of brutality and war continues, he believes himself to be invulnerable, which ultimately leads to his downfall.Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s well-known tragedies, and despite superstitions about it being “cursed,” is still often performed and presented for audiences in the modern era.Show book
An enchantingly sentimental tale of a traveller who finds a very beautiful miniature portrait of a young woman in his temporary lodgings.Seeking to learn more about the beauty, he eventually comes across some personal papers which reveal the tragedy of her life. Now all he needs to do is find out her identity....Show book
A. J. Alan's delicious narrative of a strange adventure on a cold winter night in Norfolk. The narrator is spending a night in an unfamiliar bungalow on the Norfolk Broads. He hears the sound of a car outside, and on investigation finds a young woman whose vehicle has broken down. Attempts to fix the car fail, but they flag down a milk lorry which offers the lady a lift to Norwich, while the broken car is wheeled into the narrator's garage for the night.After the two have set off in the milk lorry, the narrator checks over the car again, only to discover the dead body of a man on the rear seat. This is bad enough...but events only get weirder from here....Show book
