Grab the Top Full Audiobooks in Literature, Literary Fiction

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/297196 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Story of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens

Author: William Shakespeare

Narrator: Richard Mitchley

Format: Abridged Audiobook

Length: 0 hours 29 minutes

Release date: May 4, 2017

Genres: Literary Fiction

Publisher's Summary:

Timon Of Athens. This Shakespeare play is often regarded as the most difficult and obscure of all his plays and certainly his tragedies. Our version is a very simplified form that focuses on the story of the play itself and does not use any of the original text. It is therefore suitable for all listeners including children which is further reinforced by the clarity of our reader Richard Mitchley.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296978 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Billy Budd

Author: Herman Melville

Narrator: Christopher Timothy

Format: Abridged Audiobook

Length: 2 hours 20 minutes

Release date: May 4, 2017

Genres: Literary Fiction

Publisher's Summary:

The action of Billy Budd is set within the claustrophobic confines of a British man-of-war ship in the mutiny shadowed summer of 179 7. Here, cramped between decks, live the crew of HMS Indomitable, many of them pressed into service against their will, and all bound by the Royal Navy's iron discipline. The innocent and handsome Billy Budd, however, enjoys naval life. Claggart the evil master-at-arms, loathes such cheerful innocence and, setting out to entrap and ruin the young sailor, accuses him of mutiny. From this false charge springs a naval tragedy. 1. A HANDSOME SAILOR. When a press-gang from the navel vessel HMS Indomitable intercepts the merchant ship Rights-of-Man looking to recruit sailors, they find a prize in Billy Bud, a youthful seaman. Billy's shipmaster, captain Graveling, begs lieutenant Ratcliffe of the warship to leave the boy, but Ratcliffe will not be dissuaded and Billy is willingly taken away. On leaving the Rights-of-Man, he bids the ship farewell, surprisingly the officers of the Indomitable think he is being sarcastic. This is not the case, however, for Billy has an innocent, open nature. 2. AN OFFICER'S DISLIKE Several mutinies disturb the navy in the summer of 1797, but Captain Vere, a man of noble birth and esteemed for his naval abilities aboard the Indomitable, is not over-worried. Billy, too, is happy with life on the warship and is keen to please, especially after he witnesses a flogging. He does, however, get into trouble for small faults, such as stowing his bag wrongly. This worries him because he is conscientious boy and takes his failings seriously. Billy talks to a Danish man, the Dansker, who tells him that John Claggart, the master-at-arms, is 'down' on him. The boy does not believe this because Claggart is so pleasant to him, soon after, when Billy spills some soup on the deck near Claggart, the non-commissioned officer jokes about it, confirming Billy's view. In fact, Claggart has taken a violent dislike to Billy Budd. 3. CLAGGART'S BLACK SOUL Claggart's hatred of Billy springs from his envy of the boy's youth, good looks and innocence. The master-at-arms assumes that Billy returns his hatred and tells one of his underlings to gather, or fabricate, information against the boy. On deck, a few nights later, Billy is woken by an unknown sailor who tries to bribe him to join a mutiny. Billy indignantly scorns the idea but is upset by the offer. He tells the Dansker, who again says that Claggart is against him. Billy, in his innocence, rejects this idea. 4. FALSE ACCUSATION. Billy forgets his worries while busy with daily life at sea. Claggart also seems to smile on him. However, the man is merely biding his time until one day, after an encounter with the enemy, he approaches Captain Vere with damning news. The Captain, who instinctively dislikes Claggart, is annoyed by his comparison of the Indomitable with another ship involved in a recent mutiny, he is also astonished when Claggart claims that Billy is a mutineer. Claggart insists that the boy's innocence is false. 5. MURDEROUS INNOCENCE. Vere, recalling his favourable impressions of Billy, decides to see him and Claggart privately in his cabin. Billy is surprised but not worried to find himself with the two officers, until he is accused of mutiny. Then he is dumbfounded. Vere, observing Billy, guesses that boy is struggling to overcome a stutter and is suffused with anger. He tells Billy not to rush with an explanation, but the boy, unable to speak, lashes out and accidentally hits and kills Claggart. Vere calls for the surgeon who confirms that Claggart is dead. The Captain then orders an improvised court martial to try Billy for murder. 6. THE TRIAL. Vere is worried that if he delays the trial, rumour of Claggart's death and the boy's imprisonment may stir up mutiny. He decides to proceed at once, although it would be more correct to wait until returning to the squadron. During the trial, Vere acts as witness, with his most senior officers as judges. Billy explains that he hit Claggart because he could not speak to defend himself, and that he cannot imagine why Claggart should hate him. He also declares that he is loyal to the captain, and Vere believes him. The officers are uncertain of what to do, until Vere reminds them of their duty and they find Billy guilty. He is sentenced to hang at dawn. 7. DEATH AT DAYBREAK. Vere informs Billy of his fate. The First Lieutenant is stuck by his Captain's expression of grief on leaving the lad. The crew is stunned by the news. Claggart is buried with full honours, while the Chaplain goes to preach to Billy. The first time he finds Billy asleep, the second, he finds him so unafraid that he abandons sermonizing, and kisses him farewell. At daybreak, the crew gathers and Billy is taken out. His last words are 'God bless Captain Vere', which the crew echo. As his body hangs from the mast, it seems transfigured by the sun's rays. 8. THE LEGACY OF BILLY BUDD. The lack of the normal convulsions during hanging perplexes onlookers then and later, and the surgeon can offer no explanation. As Billy's corpse in a weighted hammock falls into the water, sea birds appear and circle the spot, as if in homage. Soon after, the Indomitable attacks a French ship and Captain Vere is mortally wounded. He dies murmuring, 'Billy Budd'. The official notice casts Billy as a mutineer who stabbed Claggart. But the crew regard the spar from which Billy was hanged as a holy relic and a ballad is written - Billy in the Manacles.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296951 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Mill On The Floss

Author: George Elliot

Narrator: Hannah Gordon

Format: Abridged Audiobook

Length: 2 hours 25 minutes

Release date: May 4, 2017

Genres: Literary Fiction

Publisher's Summary:

The action starts and ends on the River Floss at Dorlcote Mill, home to the Tullivers for generations. But, for all the mill's beauty, Maggie Tulliver, the heroine, finds family life intolerably narrow. The Tullivers, for so long solidly prosperous, are soon beset by financial problems, the result of Mr Tulliver's misguided lawsuit and his feud with Wakem. Against this troubled background, Maggie's well-meaning attempts to reconcile her pursuit of love and happiness with her sense of duty to her family lead to tragedy. 1. A FAMILY GATHERING. Mr Tulliver, owner of Dorlcote Mill, decides that his son, Tom, must have a proper education. His wife agrees but suggests they ask the advice of her Dodson sisters, which annoys him. Both Tullivers agree that Maggie, their daughter, is brighter than Tom and difficult to control. The family party takes place in Easter week, with all relations invited. Lucy Deane, blonde and quiet, contrasts with her boisterous cousin Maggie. When Tom's education is discussed, Mrs Glegg, sharp-tongued and bossy, quarrels with her brother-in-law Tulliver. Attention is distracted when Maggie appears, having hacked her hair short. In the row that follows, Tulliver takes his daughter's side, thus strengthening the bond between them. The gathering breaks up in acrimony. Afterwards, Maggie's life reverts to forlornly following after Tom, who likes to spend time with Bob Jakin, a local lad. 2. SCHOOL-DAYS. Tom finds being a pupil of the Reverend Stelling trying, for he is no scholar. He goes home for Christmas and learns that his father is engaged in a major lawsuit with his neighbour Pivart over water rights. Tom also learns that Philip Wakem, the crippled son of the lawyer who acts for Pivart, will be joining him at Stelling's. 3. RUIN. Tom goes back to Stelling's to find Philip Wakem there. The boys are wary of each other until Tom notices Philip's wonderful drawings. Despite his admiration, the boys have little in common for Tom is extrovert and athletic while Philip is withdrawn and bookish. In contrast, Maggie finds Philip interesting when she meets him on a visit to the school. Some time later, Maggie arrives unexpectedly at the Reverend Stelling's. She reveals that their father has lost his lawsuit and is ruined. He has also fallen from his horse and lost his senses. Drawn together in sorrow, brother and sister leave for home. 4. SOLD UP. While Tulliver lies insensible upstairs, the mill and its contents must be auctioned to pay the family's debts. Bob Jakin offers Tom ten guineas which he has just earned. Tom, who doesn't recognize Bob at first, declines but is touched by Bob's kindness. Tom finds a job with a local merchant. Tulliver recovers enough to come downstairs to see his empty house. It now belongs to Wakem, who has bought it. He has offered Tulliver the post of mill manager Tulliver sees this as a grievous insult but has to accept. He makes Tom write in the family Bible that he will never forgive Wakem. 5. LOVE BETWEEN ENEMIES. Maggie often takes walks up to a wild spot called the Red Deeps. One day, she meets Philip Wakem there and, timidly, he reveals his love for her. Maggie is both moved and worried, for Philip's father, the lawyer Wakem, is her family's worst enemy. She tells Philip any relationship is impossible but nonetheless agrees to see him again. Meanwhile, Tom has been given a business tip by Bob Jakin. He borrows money from an uncle and begins to trade on his own account. 6. A SECRET IS OUT. Maggie blushes when her Aunt Pullet mentions Philip Wakem's name in connection with the Red Deeps. Tom is suspicious, and more so when he hears from Bob that Phil is often seen going to the Red Deeps. Tom confronts Maggie, drags her off to meet Philip and forbids any further trysts. Maggie is deeply upset. Tom pleases his father by making enough money in trade to pay off the family debts. Revived, Tulliver mounts his horse and sets off to take revenge on Wakem. He collapses as he whips the lawyer, then takes to his bed and dies, still swearing revenge. 7. THE BEST INTENTIONS. Lucy Deane is happily engaged to Stephen Guest. She invites Maggie to stay, hoping she and Philip, a mutual friend, will make a match. But Stephen and Maggie find themselves falling in love, despite their best intentions. Lucy notices nothing but the observant Philip does and withdraws. Maggie and Stephen go boating together. Stephen declares his love and Maggie, aware of her true feelings, does not turn him down. They take a ship to Mudport, but there Maggie decides she cannot elope with Stephen. 8. REJECTION. Maggie returns to Dorlcote five days after suddenly vanishing with Stephen Guest to find herself widely regarded as a fallen woman. She is turned away from the mill by Tom. Her mother chooses to go with her, however, and Bob Jakin takes them in. Maggie is very depressed, despite an understanding letter from Philip and a visit from Lucy, which gives Maggie a chance to explain herself. A letter from Stephen, still passionate, adds to her woes. A tremendous flood sweeps the valley one night. Maggie rouses Bob and finds a boat in order to rescue Tom from the mill. Their craft is hit by floating wreckage and capsizes. Brother and sister are drowned together, united again.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296930 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Old Wives Tale

Author: Arnold Bennett

Narrator: Eileen Atkins

Format: Abridged Audiobook

Length: 2 hours 24 minutes

Release date: May 4, 2017

Genres: Literary Fiction

Publisher's Summary:

Spanning nearly half a century, The Old Wives Tale is epic in scale and scope, tracing as it does the effects of time on two sisters and their surroundings. The novel is a domestic story told with tenderness, and is concerned not with heroic statesmen or soldiers, but with small details of daily life in a way which demonstrates Bennett's great debt to French realist writers. The action is concentrated mainly within the provincial town of Bursley, a startling contrast to Paris where Sophia and Gerald elope. 1. GIRLS TOGETHER. Constance and Sophia are the teenage daughters of invalid John Baines, Bursley's foremost draper. As the girl laugh at Maggie, the maid, who is in love yet again, Samuel Povey, an assistant in the shop, arrives suffering from toothache. He later asks for medicine and the girls comply. Cyril falls asleep with his mouth open and, mischievously, Sophia removes his loose tooth with a pair of pliers. At tea, to the girls' embarrassment, he suddenly declares that he must have swallowen his tooth. 2. DEATH IN THE FAMILY. A circus comes to Bursley and although not considered respectable entertainment, Constance persuades her mother to accompany her to see the elephant. Mr Povey escorts the ladies, leaving Sophia to look after her father. However, while they are out, Gerald Scales, a handsome salesman, calls and flirts with Sophia in the shop. Meanwhile, Mr. Baines is left on his own and chokes to death. On hearing the news Mrs Baines is magnificently calm in public, but in private she collapses. 3. WEDDING BELLS. Soon after Mrs. Baines hears that Gerald Scales has inherited money and left his firm. She discovers that her daughter has also gone. A fortnight later, a note from Sophia announces her marriage to Gerald and their departure for Paris. Mrs Baines is distraught. Samuel Povey marries Constance and, back from their honeymoon, they self-consciously settle into the Baines house. On their first night home, Constance chides Samuel for his `horrid' paper collars, which he had not worn on their honeymoon. He is insulted and for a moment they are on the edge of violent quarrel. Six years pass smoothly in hard work and marital happiness. Samuel is almost 40 when Constance announces she is pregnant. 4. SQUANDERED WEALTH. Gerald and Sophia, living abroad, act as if his fortune will last forever. The capital melts away, however, hastened by Gerald's disastrous speculations on the stock exchange. By May 1870 they are almost penniless and are living in cheap hotel. Sophia realizes that her elopement was a mistake and that Gerald is also unfaithful to her. However, she refuses his request to write to her family begging for money. One night Gerald abandons Sophia. She is left with little money, but she manages to lease the pension Frensham, an English hotel in Paris. She knows nothing of hotel-keeping, but her work makes it a success. She is now called Mrs. Frensham by most guests, and continues to have no contact with her family in Bursley. 5. CONTACT RENEWED. Matthew Peel- Swynnerton, from an eminent family in the Five Towns, stays at the Frensham. He suspects its proprietress to be the long vanished aunt of his friend Cyril Povey. Sophia does not react to his enquiries concerning Cyril, but facially she 'reminds Matthew so strongly of his friend that he is certain she is Cyril's aunt. Back in London, Matthew relays the news to Cyril, who is uninterested. Matthew then hastens to Bursly to tell Constance of his meeting with Sophia. She collapses in a shock, for she hasn't heard from her sister in 30 years. She writes a warm letter to Sophia and re-establishes contact. Sophia responds quickly, although she vows never to return to Bursley. However, Constance is in ill health, so Sophia goes to her. 6. FAMILY REUNION. In Bursly, awkward in each other's company after so many years apart, Sophia and Constance chat politely over tea and admire old photographs. Sophia shakes Constance by admitting that she does not know where her husband is, or even if he is still, alive. The next day, Sophia is dismayed by the cramped ugliness of Bursly. However, she has no wish to leave Constance now. 7. DOUBLE DEATH. Unable to persuade Constance to leave Bursly, Sophia stays on but is irritated because she cannot modernise the house. In every other way, however, she rules the home, to Constance's secret annoyance. None the less, the women are happy together until a telegram from Manchester announces that Gerald us ill. Sophia rushes to him, but arrives too late. Looking at his corpse, she grieves bitterly for his lost youth and vigour. Back in Bursly, she has a fit and dies. 8. CONSTANCE'S END. Cyril arrives in time for his aunt's funeral and organizes everything perfectly. He inherits Sophia's considerable fortune but this scarcely affects him, for he drifts through life a dilettante, after failing as an artist. While travelling abroad, he misses his mother's last illness, the gravity of which is hidden from her. Constance accepts her condition with her normal resignation, regretting only that she has spoiled Cyril. She dies calmly in the night.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296929 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall

Author: Anne Bronte

Narrator: David Rintoul, Carole Boyd

Format: Abridged Audiobook

Length: 2 hours 21 minutes

Release date: May 4, 2017

Genres: Literary Fiction

Publisher's Summary:

When a beautiful young woman, thought to be recently widowed, suddenly moves into the half ruined Wildfell Hall with her five year old son, young squire Gilbert Markham and the local residents are intrigued. Gilbert meets the aloof newcomer Helen Graham by chance, falls in love with her, and she with him. Their passion is held in check by her mysterious relationship with the handsome but cruel Arthur Huntingdon. Her dramatic flight from him is revealed in her journal - a story within a story. 1. A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. Wildfell Hall, long unoccupied, now has tenants - a beautiful young artist and her child. Mrs. Markham, a neighbour, and her daughter Helen Graham, the new arrival, but are snubbed. In church, Gilbert Markham decides that he prefers Helen at a distance. Soon after, he rescues Arthur, her small son, from a tree. Helen appears hostile, but a month later Gilbert visits her socially. In Helen's studio he examines her painting while she is out of the room. He turns over one which is facing the wall and admires the portrait of a handsome man. 2. LOVE'S CROSSED PURPOSES. As the months pass, Gilbert and Helen become ever closer friends. He is upset, however, by the scandalous gossip which is beginning to circulate about her, the result of her reticence about herself. One evening, he offers to defend her reputation and proposes marriage, but she refuses him. She hints at secrets to be told and warns him that her formal life may shock him. A meeting at the moor is arranged when Helen will divulge her past to Gilbert. He leaves, ecstatic that she loves him, but turning back for one last look, overhears her talking intimately to Frederick Lawrence, the owner of the hall. Furious, Gilbert refuses to see Helen. 3. A YOUNG GIRL'S STORY. Gilbert reads in her diary that as a young girl Helen was brought up by her aristocratic relatives. In London her uncle's rich and odious acquaintances makes unwelcome advances and this upsets her. One evening, however, she meets debonair and handsome Arthur Huntington, and soon he is courting her. Helen falls in love with him, but he makes her miserable by teasing her and seeming to prefer the pretty coquette Annabelle Wilmot. Finally, having reduced Helen to tears, he proposes. 4. MISERY. Helen's uncle consents to marriage because Arthur is rich, but her aunt has reservations. Helen becomes Mrs. Huntingdon of Grassdale manor, but is quickly disappointed in her marriage. Arthur lacks her intellectual interests and is miserable when he cannot hunt. He treats her in cavalier way and shocks her with stories of his former affairs. Two months into their marriage, a joint visit to London proves joyless. Arthur becomes dissipated and asks Helen to return to Grassdale Manor without him. Only her baby son gives Helen any pleasure. 5. BETRAYED. Arthur continues to be absent from home for much of the time. When he does return, he is restless and drinks. He expects Helen to be at his beck and call, and even refuses to let her attend her father's funeral. Arthur invites a party of his drinking cronies to the Manor. With them come Lord Lowborough and his new wife Annabelle, nee Wilmot. Oddly, Arthur drinks less while his guest are staying. Pleased at this, Helen overhears one of them apparently talking about her hold on Arthur. Out in the garden at dusk, she happily surprises her husband with an embrace. He grasps her, first in passion then in strange horror. Next day, she sees Arthur and Annabelle clasped together on the shrubbery. Appalled at such betrayal, Helen confronts Arthur. He bluntly refuses her request for a divorce and she swears henceforth to be his wife only in name. 6. ESCAPE AND RETURN. Helen's diary ends with an account of her escape to Wildfell Hall, a sanctuary provided by Frederick Lawrence, her brother. Gilbert then revisits Helen but is desolated by her announcement that they must never meet again, for she remains a married woman. Later, he discovers that she has left Wildfell Hall. He calls on Frederick for an explanation and is told that Helen has returned to nurse Arthur, who has been seriously injured in a riding accident. Frederick then gives Gilbert a letter he has received from his sister. 7. DEATH AT RAKE. Helen's note relates that far from being glad to see her, Arthur at first takes her for an evil phantom. He mocks her Christian faith, while at the same time voicing his fear of death and damnation. His misery rouses her pity, but he is too lost in terror to heed her attempts at spiritual comfort. A second letter tells of Arthur's bitter death. 8. HAPPY ENDINGS. Before Helen returns to Wildfell Hall, her uncle dies, bequeathing her Staningley, his estate. While there Helen collapses from exhaustion. Gilbert sets out to visit her. As the coach approaches the estate, he learns from a passenger the extent of Helen's new wealth. He is embarrassed by his relativity modest affluence, and is hesitating at the gates of the estate when a carriage sweeps past. In it are little Arthur and Helen, who invite him to the house. Love overcomes his reticence, but this time it is Helen who proposes to Gilbert. Soon afterwards, they are married.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296509 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Red River

Author: Anonymous

Narrator: John Wayne

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 0 hours 59 minutes

Release date: May 4, 2017

Genres: Literary Fiction

Publisher's Summary:

In our Hollywood Stage presentation John Wayne reprises his role as Tom Dunston and his journey west to build a cattle empire. He adopts a young boy, Matthew, orphaned by an Indian raid. Returning from the Civil War Mathew helps his father on a massive cattle drive only for their relationship to completely fall apart as Father is pitted against Son.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296508 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: His Girl Friday

Author: Anonymous

Narrator: Fred Macmurray

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 0 hours 53 minutes

Release date: May 4, 2017

Genres: Literary Fiction

Publisher's Summary:

Walter Burns is the editor of a major Chicago newspaper whose ace reporter and exwife, Hildy Johnson, visits him to announce her forthcoming marriage to an insurance salesman. Walter, resourceful, cunning, and connected, works overtime to prevent the loss of Hildy to this other man. Here, Fred Macmurray and Claudette Colbert clash words and wit in this enduring classic comedy.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296507 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Miracle On 34th Street

Author: Anonymous

Narrator: Maureen O'Hara

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 1 hour 0 minutes

Release date: May 4, 2017

Genres: Literary Fiction

Publisher's Summary:

Maureen O'Hara plays Doris Walker a Special Events Director at the Macy's department store in New York. The actor she has employed to play Santa at their Thanksgiving parade is drunk. The whiskered old man who finds him is persuaded by Doris to replace him and does so extremely effectively.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296506 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Naked Jungle

Author: Anonymous

Narrator: Charlton Heston

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 0 hours 52 minutes

Release date: May 4, 2017

Genres: Literary Fiction

Publisher's Summary:

Charlton Heston reprises his film role as Christopher Leiningen, a cold and remote plantation boss in South America. He is joined by a widow, Joanna, who has agreed to marry him. However, Leiningen rejects her, and so the following week she will return to the United States. But before she can leave news comes through that millions of marching ants will soon be here to destroy all before them.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296498 to listen full audiobooks.

Title: Sexus

Author: Henry Miller

Narrator: Steven Berkoff

Format: Abridged Audiobook

Length: 5 hours 12 minutes

Release date: May 4, 2017

Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3 of Total 3

Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 1

Genres: Literary Fiction

Publisher's Summary:

Sexus By Henry Miller. Henry Miller is undisputedly one of the most important American writers and Sexus like his other works was banned in English speaking countries for obscenity. It explores work, love and friendship and as with all his work is based on autobiographical experiences- in this book his passionate affair with a dance hall hostess in NY that is recounted in intimately graphic and vivid detail. The acclaimed actor, writer and director Steven Berkoff is perfectly suited for Miller's relentless power and uncompromising expression making this audio book a deeply compelling listen.