Other books that might interest you

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  The Yellow Wallpaper

  Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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  Audiobook "The Yellow Wallpaper" (original title: "The Yellow Wall-paper. A Story") is a short story by American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine. It is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature for its illustration of the attitudes towards mental and physical health of women in the 19th century. It is also lauded as an excellent work of horror fiction. 
  The story is written as a collection of journal entries narrated in the first person. The journal was written by a woman whose physician husband has rented an old mansion for the summer. Forgoing other rooms in the house, the husband confines the woman to an upstairs nursery. As a form of treatment, the husband forbids the journal writer from working or writing, and encourages her to eat well and get plenty of air so that she can recuperate from what he calls a "temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency", a common diagnosis in women at the time. As the reader continues through the journal entries, they experience the writer's gradual descent into madness with nothing better to do than observe the peeling yellow wallpaper in her room. 
  CREATED: 
  Narrated by Abigail Weir 
  Author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman 
  Date of original publication: 1892 
  Genre: short story 
  Language : English 
  Version : unabridged, full/complete 
  Without subtitles

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  A Wicked Voice - Violet Paget...

  Vernon Lee

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  Vernon Lee was born Violet Paget on 4th October 1856 in Boulogne, France to intellectual expatriate British parents.   
   
  In common with several other very talented literary women of the day she felt it necessary to publish under a masculine pseudonym in order for her writing to be taken seriously.  Indeed she seems to have adopted that persona across her whole lifestyle becoming personally known and acknowledged by all as Vernon Lee and accordingly dressed as a man.    
   
  Her first published work, in 1880, was taken from her collection of essays that had originally appeared in Fraser’s Magazine with the scholarly title of; ‘Studies of the Eighteenth Century in Italy.’ It reflected her passion for music and centered on the rich creative lives of poet-librettist Pietro Metastasio and dramatists Carlo Goldoni and Carlo Gozzi.   
   
  She wrote over a dozen volumes of essays on art, music, and travel with her scholarly appreciation animated by wit and imagination.  Lee was well-regarded as an expert on the Italian Renaissance and was a proponent of the Aesthetic movement. 
   
  Her literary talents were extensive and she wrote a number of novels and plays.  Perhaps her best remembered works are her haunting and powerful short stories exploring the supernatural.  Lee has often received accolades for these and glowingly compared to other authors such as M R James. 
    
  A committed pacifist she was resolved to protest against World War I. Her social activism in other areas was perhaps fueled by her feminist beliefs.  In her private life she was a lesbian and had long-term passionate relationships with three women including the doomed author and poet, Amy Levy.   
   
  Vernon Lee died on 13th February 1935 in San Gervasio Bresciano, Italy.  
   
  In this story a writer of Operas discovers the history of a venetian singer whose very voice could lift an audience to ecstasy, love and even death.

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  The Wife of His Youth - From...

  Charles W Chesnutt

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  Charles Waddell Chesnutt was born on 20th June 1858 in Cleveland, Ohio, to parents who were both ‘free persons of color’. His paternal grandfather was a white slaveholder, and Chesnutt although he identified as African-American noted that he was seven-eighths white.   
  By age 20 Chesnutt had married and settled in Cleveland.  After reading law and passing the bar exam he established a lucrative court reporting business, which rapidly elevated his financial standing. 
  The Atlantic Monthly published his short story, and the first by an African-American, ‘The Goophered Grapevine’. This was quickly followed by 2 volumes of his short stories mainly themed with racial identity that were more complex than those of many of his contemporaries.  
  Encouraged by Atlantic editors, Chestnutt moved to writing novels. It published his first ‘The House behind the Cedars’ in 1900. 
  As well as business interests and his writing he also toured on the national lecture circuit, primarily in northern states. 
  Despite this his novels received poor sales but excellent reviews and so a self-fueling literary career based on novels was beyond his reach.   
  With the turn of the new century Chesnutt turned more energies to his court reporting business and in 1910, he served on the General Committee of the newly founded National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) becoming one of the early 20th century's most prominent activists and commentators. 
  Chesnutt is now regarded as an integral part of the Harlem Renaissance which did much to reinforce Black culture as a thriving, vibrant and essential part of 20th Century culture. 
  Charles W Chesnutt died on 15th November 1932.  He was 74.

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  The Mysterious Island

  Jules Verne

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  The Mysterious Island is one of Jules Verne's greatest and most imaginative adventure novels—a powerful story of survival, ingenuity, and the triumph of human intelligence over nature. Set during the American Civil War, the novel begins when five prisoners escape captivity in a stolen balloon, only to be cast away by a violent storm on an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean.
  
  Led by the brilliant engineer Cyrus Harding, the castaways must rely on science, cooperation, and determination to survive in their new and hostile environment. From building shelter and tools to mastering fire, agriculture, and industry, the group transforms the unknown island into a place of order and civilization. Yet the island holds many secrets—mysterious interventions, unexplained phenomena, and hidden dangers that suggest a powerful unseen presence at work.
  
  As the castaways uncover the truth behind the island's mysteries, the novel expands into a larger narrative that connects to Verne's broader literary universe, rewarding readers with suspense, wonder, and emotional depth. Rich in scientific detail and philosophical reflection, the story celebrates knowledge, teamwork, and moral strength.
  
  The Mysterious Island is a timeless classic of science fiction and adventure, offering an unforgettable exploration of human resilience and curiosity. It stands as a crowning achievement of Jules Verne's storytelling—both thrilling and profoundly inspiring.

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  Brothers Karamazov

  Fyodor Dostoevsky

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  First published in 1880, "The Brothers Karamazov" is a philosophical novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. The story revolves around the morally complex Karamazov family: Fyodor, the debauched father, and his three sons—Dmitri, Ivan, and Alyosha. The novel delves deep into themes like faith, doubt, morality, and the complexities of human nature. Through a blend of narrative styles, including dialogues, monologues, and essays, the book grapples with existential and spiritual questions.

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  The Comedy of Errors

  William Shakespeare

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  Mistaken identity (which the Elizabethans called “Error”) is nearly always amusing, whether on the stage or in actual life. The Comedy of Errors is a play in which this situation is developed to the extreme of improbability – but we lose sight of this improbability in the roaring fun which results. Nowadays we should call a play of this type a farce, since most of the fun comes from situations which are improbable and the play depends on these for success, rather than on characterization or dialogue. Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors draws on a much older play, Menaechmi, written by the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 B.C.).A merchant of Syracuse has twin sons and buys twin servants for them. His wife, with one twin and one servant, is soon separated from him by a shipwreck, and comes to live in Ephesus. When grown, the other son and his slave start out to find their brothers, and the father, some years later, starts out in turn to find them. Once in Ephesus, an amusing series of errors begins. The wife takes the wrong twin for her husband, the master beats the wrong slave, the wrong son disowns his father, the twin at Ephesus is arrested instead of his brother, and the twin slave Dromio of Syracuse is claimed as a husband by a black kitchen girl of Ephesus. The situation gets more and more mixed, until at last the real identity of the strangers from Syracuse is established, and all ends happily. 
  Featuring the voices of Susan Iannucci, Gary MacFadden, David Shears, Dara Brown, Blaise Doran, Aisling Gray, Claudia Anglade, Kendra Murray and P.J. Morgan

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