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  Sketches by Boz: Volume 3

  Charles Dickens

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  Queen Victoria... and Prince Albert were married in 1840. Dickens uses this event as an ingenious ploy to salute and promote domestic felicity, advising young ladies upon several examples of the different types of male available as partners. There follows a section describing various married couples from whom the young ladies could possibly learn a lesson. The author then entertains with a tale of Nicholas Tulrumble, newly appointed Mayor of Mudfog, with ideas above his station. Mudfog is modelled on the town of Dickens childhood, Chatham, and he continues, with this backdrop, to regale us with a satirical tale about the first meeting of ‘The British Association for the Advancement of Everything [aka Science]’ supposedly held there. Here his imagination runs riot and the authors huge influence and importance in the evolution of humorous writing is once again confirmed.Fantastic ideas such as using cauliflowers as parachutes, theme parks for dissolute nobleman to indulge their rowdy behaviour, an automaton pickpocket that could be utilised by Her Majesties Government- the only disadvantage being it would soon wear out from overwork ! Redolent with the author’s usual swipes at the establishment and his reforming zeal Volume 3 of the Sketches is a Dickensian treat.©2011 Assembled Stories (P)2009 Assembled Stories

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  Richard II

  William Shakespeare

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  Richard II tells the dramatic and bloody story of his fall and the ascension of Bolingbroke as Henry IV.

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  Ethan Frome

  Edith Wharton

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  Burdened by poverty and spiritually dulled by a loveless marriage to Zeena, his older and ailing wife, Ethan Frome is emotionally stirred by the arrival of their youthful cousin, Mattie Silver, who becomes employed as household help. Mattie's presence not only brightens a gloomy house but also stirs long-dormant feelings in Ethan. However, their growing love for each other is discovered by the embittered Zeena, and it presages an ending to the tale that is both shocking and savagely ironic.

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  Henry VI Pt 2 (Argo Classics)

  William Shakespeare

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  William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time. 
  ‘For where thou art, there is the world itself, 
  With every several pleasure in the world, 
  And where thou art not, desolation.’ 
  Henry VI Part II is part of Shakespeare’s trilogy centred on the Wars of the Roses. 
  Against the wishes of the nobles, King Henry marries the penniless Margaret who plots against him with her lover. As tensions between York and Lancaster build, the Duke of York gathers supporters for his claim to the throne. York secretly leads a rebellion, his supporters proclaim him king, and Henry is forced to flee. 
  All of the Shakespeare plays within the ARGO Classics catalogue are performed by the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players. The Marlowe was founded in 1907 with a mission to focus on effective delivery of verse, respect the integrity of texts, and rescue neglected plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries and the less performed plays of Shakespeare himself. The Marlowe has performed annually at Cambridge Arts Theatre since its opening in 1936 and continues to produce some of the finest actors of their generations. 
  Thurston Dart, Professor of Music at London University and a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge, directed the music for this production. 
  The full cast includes: Richard Marquand; David King; Denis McCarthy; Peter Orr; Richard Wordsworth; Patrick Wymark; Roger Croucher; Gary Watson; David Jones; Tony Church; John Shrapnel; John Tydeman; Frank Duncan; Robin Ellis; Miles Malleson; Guy Slater; Michael Turnbull; Bob Jones; David Buck; Terrence Hardiman; Raymond Clarke; Dudley Jones; Bob Jones; Peter Woodthorpe; Terrence Hardiman; David Burke; Philip Strick; Michael Bates; Trevor Nunn; Norman Rossington; Stephen Thorne; David Burke; Mary Morris; Yvonne Bonnamy; George Rylands; Patsy Byrne; Terrence Hardiman. 
  This top performing piece of European theatre, Henry VI, Part 2, is a testament to the best of Shakespeare's work. The play, brought to life by the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players, showcases the tumultuous era of the Wars of the Roses in a way that only the Bard himself could. 
  For fans of Richard Parsons (GCSE English Shakespeare Text Guide), and Arthur Miller (Incident at Vichy).

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  Tess of the d'Urbervilles

  Thomas Hardy

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  One of the best books of all time, Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles. If you haven't read this classic already, then you're missing out - listen to this audiobook edition of Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy today!A heartbreaking portrayal of a woman faced by an impossible choice in the pursuit of happiness.When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D’Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her ‘cousin’ Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and with its powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the D’Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy’s novels.

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  The Scarlet Letter

  Nathaniel Hawthorne

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  First published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne's masterpiece and one of the greatest American novels. Its themes of sin, guilt, and redemption, woven through a story of adultery in the early days of the Massachusetts Colony, are revealed with remarkable psychological penetration and understanding of the human heart. The book's immediate and lasting success are due to the way it addresses spiritual and moral issues from a uniquely American standpoint. In 1850, adultery was an extremely risqué subject, but because Hawthorne had the support of the New England literary establishment, it passed easily into the realm of appropriate reading. It has been said that this work represents the height of Hawthorne's literary genius, dense with terse descriptions. It remains relevant for its philosophical and psychological depth, and continues to be read as a classic tale on a universal theme.

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