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  The Brothers

  Louisa May Alcott

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  Louisa May Alcott was born on 29th November 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. 
   
  She is most definitely a writer of her own experiences.  Her father was a transcendentalist, philosopher and educational experimenter who founded, Fruitlands, a utopian community. Although poor, her liberal and progressive parents provided Louisa with much of her education, which was enhanced by many family friends that included Thoreau, Hawthorne and Emerson, a neighbour whose library she was often found reading in.    
   
  She started writing stories as a way of providing the family with some financial stability. Times were difficult and the effects of poverty were always close at hand.  During the Civil War she went to Washington to be a nurse and became ill with typhoid fever although she continued to write and build her success.  However, the treatment for typhus gave her mercury poisoning which caused further health issues for the rest of her life and eventually contributed to her death.   
   
  Alcott visited her father on his deathbed in Boston. Two days later on 6th March 1888 she also died resulting in a joint funeral.   
   
  Well-loved for her classic ‘Little Women’ she was a superb writer in difficult times for any woman, a strong advocate of women’s issues, the anti-slavery movement, temperance and social reform.    
   
  Her work often reflects on the rich experiences in her life and these poignant short stories are a fine testament to this. Additionally under pseudonyms she wrote dozens of gothic thrillers and sensation stories.  She is also famed for her children’s stories.  
   
  One of Alcott’s most startling stories is the ‘The Brothers’ a tale of two brothers during the Civil War and the after-effects.

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  The Ghost in the Garden Room

  Elizabeth Gaskell

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  Elizabeth Stevenson was born in Chelsea in London on 29th September 1810.  
   
  Both parents embedded their strong Unitarian beliefs into Elizabeth who rebelliously was often reluctant to display these religious convictions.  
   
  The early death of Elizabeth’s mother saw her sent away to be brought up by her maternal aunt in Knutsford, Cheshire.  
   
  Her father now remarried but Elizabeth spent most of her childhood in Cheshire away from her father and his new family but was supportive towards her half-siblings.  
   
  Elizabeth’s aunt encouraged her education and particularly to read and express herself through writing.   
   
  In 1828, her brother John, who worked in the merchant navy, disappeared on a journey to India. This disastrous loss depressed her father, and she went to his household to nurse him for the next year before he died.  
   
  In 1832, she fell in love with William Gaskell, a Unitarian minister like her father, and married him.  They settled in Manchester. This booming industrial city had a great impact on Elizabeth who felt the need to speak up for poor workers and their exploitation by large industrial companies. A collection of poems and short stories, ‘Sketches among the Poor’ appeared in 1837, co-authored by her husband.  Her first major work, under a pseudonym, was ‘Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life’ published in 1848. 
   
  During her career she worked continually with Charles Dickens and published much in his various magazines. With him she published ‘Lizzie Leigh’ in 1850 which dealt with the taboo subject of prostitution.  She was an excellent writer and impressed her many Victorian literary peers. Much of her writing reflects her work as a social critic highlighting the exploitation of the working class and the situation of women in society.  
   
  On 12th November 1865, Elizabeth Gaskell died in Holybourne, Hampshire, after suffering from a heart attack a month earlier.

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  A Prayer for the Living

  Ben Okri

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  Playful, frightening, shocking—these stories from a writer at the height of his power will make you think, or make you laugh. Sometimes they’ll make you want to look away, but they will always hold your gaze. These are stories set in London, in Byzantium, in the ghetto, in the Andes, and in a printer’s shop in Lagos. Characters include a murderer, a writer, a detective, a woman in a dream, a man in a mirror, a little girl, a prison door, and the author himself. Each one of these twenty-four stories will make you wonder if what you see in the world can really be all there is …

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  A Collection Of Ten Short...

  Mike Jones

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  This is the second audiobook. It is a collection of ten short stories for children. They are funny and enjoyable. This audiobook collection contains the following stories: The Man Who Likes To Shout (1) A goat herder who spent his days in the fields shouting at his goats. When he was with other people he found that he had a problem which made them dislike him. – The Sly Fox, The Sneaky Snake And The Dirty Rat (2) A little girl who lived with her grandma enjoyed helping her around the house. One day the little girl had to go to the market by herself. – The Big Fat Fly (3) There was an old town where people threw their rubbish into the streets and it was the animals that cleaned it up. The flies weren’t happy so something had to be done. – A Little Bird Who Likes to Sing and Dance (4) A happy little bird who loved to sing and dance and playing with the other birds. Unfortunately for the little bird his happiness was taken away. – The Uninvited Visitor (5) An old man and his wife wanted a quiet life away from the noise and city life. Their peace and quiet was interrupted by an uninvited visitor. – The Little Pussycat (6) A little lion cub who lived in a jungle. His parents did a very good job protecting him, but maybe too well. – The Man With A Fat Belly (7) A man who had a belly that was not quite ordinary. It was extremely fat. No one knew why this man’s belly was so fat. – A Promise is A Promise (8) There was a young man who had no money and often no food. One day when the young man was looking for food he came across a dried up old tree which changed his fortune. – Big Brown Bear (9) A big brown bear who enjoys stealing food. – The Wicked Witch (10) A wicked witch who enjoyed a good wicked laugh.

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  Stories and Music for Children

  Beatrix Potter, Hans Christian...

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  An entertaining selection of short stories and songs, perfect for bedtime.

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  The Rise and Fall of Melchriess

  Martin Lundqvist

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  A flash fiction story about the demoness Melchriess, who uses a nun to be reborn into our world. To stop her, the patron saint of the poor, St Martin, intervenes in an unexpected way.

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