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  Great Expectations

  Charles Dickens

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  Great Expectations, written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1861, is a classic novel that follows the life of an orphaned boy named Pip. Through a series of unexpected events, Pip embarks upon a journey of self-discovery and maturity. Along the way, he meets a variety of colorful characters and learns valuable life lessons. Great Expectations is an uplifting story of hope, perseverance, and the power of redemption. It is a timeless tale of courage and determination that will continue to inspire generations to come. 
  Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England, and lived in London for much of his life. He was the second of eight children and had a difficult childhood. He was forced to leave school at the age of twelve and start working at a factory to help support his family. Despite his difficult circumstances, Dickens was an avid reader and a talented writer. He began publishing his works in 1833, and quickly gained fame and popularity. 
  Throughout his career, Dickens wrote some of the most influential works of the 19th century, exploring themes of morality, poverty, and social justice. He was also an outspoken critic of Victorian-era injustices, particularly those experienced by the poor. His works were often seen as critiques of the social and political issues of his time. 
  Dickens' popularity has endured over the years and his works are still widely read today. His novels have been adapted and re-imagined countless times, and his characters and stories have become part of the English literary canon. He is remembered as one of the most influential authors of all time, and his works have shaped generations of readers.

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  Betty Brown the St Giles Orange...

  Hannah More

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  Hannah More was born on February 2nd, 1745 at Fishponds in the parish of Stapleton, near Bristol. She was the fourth of five daughters. 
  The City of Bristol, at that time, was a centre for slave-trading and Hannah would, over time, become one of its staunchest critics.  
  She was keen to learn, possessed a sharp intellect and was assiduous in studying.  Hannah first wrote in 1762 with The Search after Happiness (by the mid-1780s some 10,000 copies had been sold). 
  In 1767 Hannah became engaged to William Turner.  After six years, with no wedding in sight, the engagement was broken off.  Turner then bestowed upon her an annual annuity of £200.  This was enough to meet her needs and set her free to pursue a literary career.   
  Her first play, The Inflexible Captive, was staged at Bath in 1775. The famous David Garrick himself produced her next play, Percy, in 1777 as well as writing both the Prologue and Epilogue for it.  It was a great success when performed at Covent Garden in December of that year.  
  Hannah turned to religious writing with Sacred Dramas in 1782; it rapidly ran through nineteen editions. These and the poems Bas-Bleu and Florio (1786) mark her gradual transition to a more serious and considered view of life. 
  Hannah contributed much to the newly-founded Abolition Society including, in February 1788, her publication of Slavery, a Poem recognised as one of the most important of the abolition period.   
  Her work now became more evangelical.  In the 1790s she wrote several Cheap Repository Tracts which covered moral, religious and political topics and were both for sale or distributed to literate poor people.  The most famous is, perhaps, The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, describing a family of incredible frugality and contentment. Two million copies of these were circulated, in one year. 
  In 1789, she purchased a small house at Cowslip Green in Somerset. She was instrumental in setting up twelve schools in the area by 1800. 
  She continued to oppose slavery throughout her life, but at the time of the Abolition Bill of 1807, her health did not permit her to take as active a role in the movement as she had done in the late 1780s, although she maintained a correspondence with Wilberforce and others.  
  In July 1833, the Bill to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire passed in the House of Commons, followed by the House of Lords on August 1st. 
  Hannah More died on September 7th, 1833.

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  Melodrama A - The Union - From...

  T Baron Russell

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  The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors.  From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure.  Among them is T Baron Russell.

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  Great Expectations

  Charles Dickens

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  "Great Expectations" is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published in serialized form between 1860 and 1861. The story follows the life of an orphan named Pip, who rises from humble beginnings thanks to an anonymous benefactor. Set in Victorian England, the narrative explores themes of social class, personal development, and the complexity of human emotions, as Pip navigates love, ambition, and moral dilemmas. The novel is considered one of Dickens's greatest works and a classic of English literature.

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  The Flayed Hand

  Guy de Maupassant

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  Title: The Flayed Hand 
  Author: Guy de Maupassant 
  Narrator: Jonathan Dunne 
  Original Publication: 1875 
  Public Domain: Yes 
  Series Placement: Number 25 in the Timeless Terrors series 
  Description: 
  The Flayed Hand by Guy de Maupassant is a macabre tale of obsession, vengeance, and the supernatural — a chilling exploration of how the dead may reach back to punish the living. When a collector acquires a mummified human hand, said to have belonged to a murderer, he regards it as a mere curiosity. But when the relic’s gruesome history begins to manifest in reality, terror takes hold, and reason gives way to horror. 
  Maupassant’s sharp realism and psychological insight lend the story a disturbing plausibility, transforming a simple ghost tale into a meditation on guilt, possession, and the price of curiosity. 
  Narrated by Amazon bestselling horror author Jonathan Dunne, this performance captures the story’s eerie tension and mounting dread — the quiet unease of an ordinary setting pierced by the inexplicable. While the text itself resides in the public domain, this narration is an original work and copyright © 2025 Jonathan Dunne. 
  This audiobook is part of Timeless Terrors, a series devoted to reviving the dark classics of horror and the uncanny — timeless stories that still chill the blood, rendered in haunting new performances for a modern audience. 
  Listeners should prepare for a tale where curiosity becomes curse, where relics of the past refuse to rest, and where the hand of the dead may yet reach for the living.

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  The Short stories by Anton Chekhov

  Anton Chekhov

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  Anton Chekhov belongs to the cohort of the most prominent Russian classics, together with Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev and Pushkin. The rankings of the most read authors, comprising the 'golden fund' of the world's literature, persistently include Chekhov alongside Charles Dickens, the Bronte Sisters, Mark Twain... Chekhov's plays, such as 'Three Sisters', 'The Cherry Orchard', and the short stories of this collection, are featured in the curriculum of faculties of philology of top global universities, such as University of Oxford, Harvard University and many more.
  This audiobook includes:
  A Lottery Ticket
  A Story Without An End
  About Love
  Difficult People
  The Doctor

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