Large Library of Full Greatest Audiobooks in Classics, British Literature Best Sellers

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Title: The Tale of Benjamin Bunny

Author: Beatrix Potter

Narrator: Glenn Hascall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-24-13

Publisher: Spoken Realms

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Glenn Hascall does a beautiful job narrating this classic by Beatrix Potter. It will entertain youngsters, and also provide an object lesson.

Members Reviews:

Good old classic story by a great

Another Beatrice Potter book that is so cute for a little three year old. Good old classic story by a great author

A Classic

Gift for new born. New parents loved it...

Book is small and beautifully bound. Contains the original illustrations of the author

Read these books as a child and bought them to share with the next generation. Book is small and beautifully bound. Contains the original illustrations of the author.

Brand New

This was a lovely addition to an Easter basket! Great quality, brand new.

Potter Perfection

Always <3 Potter!

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Title: Anna

Author: Norman Collins

Narrator: Tatyana Yassukovich

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-17-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Anna is the story of a woman and an era. Against the background of France and Germany at the time of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, Norman Collins tells with great brilliance the story of Anna, a beautiful woman.

Born in Rhineland, when she was 19 she fell in love with a French cousin whom she followed to Paris on the eve of the outbreak of war. When he was killed by her compatriots she found herself in besieged Paris, destitute, alone, and a German.

Thrown into prison, she got out only by marrying a middle-aged restauranteur for whom she had no feeling. These are the opening incidents in a novel that is full of incident, of tragedy, and of adventure, and which carries Anna from France to Germany, and finally to England, where at last she finds both peace and happiness. Few historical novels have a wider scope, a more enchanting heroine and a stronger theme. Here is one of the best of Norman Collins' major novels.

Members Reviews:

I liked the author.... but...

Would you try another book from Norman Collins and/or Tatyana Yassukovich?

Yes, I think I will. I enjoyed the performance to a point... perhaps (I will admit that I am biased, but I do not particularly like the way British narrators pronounce French names and places); and greatly enjoyed the author's writing style... but perhaps because of my narrative snobbishness, or perhaps because the book was more soap opera than epic, I cannot recommend the book itself. The narrator and the author were both good in their way, but the book itself and the French mispronunciation just didn't do it for me.

Any additional comments?

I expected to admire Anna for her strength and find her "enchanting" (to quote the publisher's summary), but I could not do so... she was primarily crying and whining about being trapped. For a woman who contemplated the convent, she is incredibly sexually available to men... Every major male figure in the first 2/3 of the book was sexually attracted to Anna, abusive to her, "forced" her to marry them, or disowned her (in the case of her father). Perhaps it is indicative of European culture, but the book is more about Anna's history with men than it was about the war itself upon her.

Maybe others will like this, but I honestly wasn't a big fan. I will try more Norman Collins' books, and more by the narrator, but this combination wasn't for me.

Old Fashioned Yarn

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

There are some good sections in this book, particularly the description of the Franco-Prussian war and the siege of Paris, however, there is a lot of repitition in the story and I feel an abridged version of it would probably work better.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The main flaw for me was that the central character, Anna, is not very likable and by the end I didn't really care what happened to her. Norman Collins is a great storyteller but this story didn't keep my attention at all as much as some of his other books.

What aspect of Tatyana Yassukovichs performance might you have changed?

The pronuncation of some of the words, both in English and French, is a bit odd but overall she does her best with mediocre material.

Could you see Anna being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

No, I really could not see this happening.

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Title: The Husband's Story

Author: Norman Collins

Narrator: Matthew Frow

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-16-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

This - as only Norman Collins can tell it - is the story of Stanley Pitts, a contracts filing clerk in the Admiralty, a small man - small in stature, small in ambition and achievement, happy in his work, and devoted to his hobby of photography.

For Stan himself, his latest failure with the Civil Service Selection Board might not have mattered too much. But it mattered to his wife, Beryl. For Beryl is a social climber, mistress of the house in Kendal Terrace, Crocketts Green with its garden gnomes, its wall-to-wall carpeting, its ivory enamel kitchen fitments and its fridge full of Oven-Fresh Old Style Farm House Cornish Pasties; Beryl, mother of little Marleen with her flaxen ringlets, prospective winner of the under-12s ballroom dancing championship; Beryl, the South London suburban housewife in her Mexican housecoat with the Sun-God buttons.

When Stan's tasteful photographic study of "Hoarfrost on Wimbledon Common" wins the Admiralty-Division Photographic Competition on the very eve of his expected promotion, never has the future looked brighter for the inhabitants of No. 16. How then did Stan, with his pride in his job and his keen sense of duty, find his way into the dock of No. 1 Court at the Old Bailey? Why was the sentence such a savage one? What became of Beryl? And what part did Mr Cheevers, crime reporter of the Sunday Sun, play in all this?

Norman Collins is a master storyteller. Its high comedy and almost unbearable suspense make it a brilliant and unforgettable novel.

Members Reviews:

A neglected classic

A troubling, elegantly written tragicomedy set in London in the early '60s. Excellent characterization and a leisurely, but never dull, pace.

Great story, pity about the reading

I would definitely try another book written by Norman Collins. I would never ever buy anything narrated by Matthew Frow. I'm only about an hour in and already his performance is helping to ruin a perfectly good book. It's not only the verbal ticks - almost pronounced al (as in Capone)-most, ditto any other word starting with al - but the fact that he has an unerring knack of getting the emphasis of virtually every word in every sentence wrong. The experience is similar to that of a computer "reading" the book to you except the computer would get the feel better. I am not an actor but I could do much, much better. If I didn't want to hear what happens I would definitely exchange this

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Title: The Garden

Author: L. A. G. Strong

Narrator: Derek Perkins

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-16-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

The Garden is set in Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. Dermot, whose family has settled in England, returns for his summers from English Public School to visit his grandfather, and develops affection for the city. During the course of the novel, war breaks out, bringing an end to the Edwardian summer for a whole generation....

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Title: Noble in Reason

Author: Phyllis Bentley

Narrator: Daniel Thomas May

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-13-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Phyllis Bentley, a native of Halifax, has written many novels with a background set in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Her descriptive power has been compared to that of the Brontës, who lived but 12 miles from Miss Bentley's home. Of her stories "The House of Moreys" is perhaps best known, and in the same blunt, homely, Yorkshire tradition comes her novel Noble in Reason.

So intimately written that it appears to be an autobiography, it tells the story of Christopher Jarmayne, a delicate, sensitive lad who suffers a great deal from continued friction with the robust Yorkshire family into which he was born. Filled with self-pity and resentment, he spends an unhappy life until he realizes, in a moment of illumination, that he is as tiresome to them as they are to him. In the light of this revelation he tells the strange and poignant story of his life and, with the wisdom gained from experience, he makes it a dramatic and fascinating story of unusual power.

Phyllis Bentley (1894-1977) published her first work in 1918, a collection of short stories entitled The World's Bane, after which she published several poor-selling novels. The publication in March 1932 of her best-known work, Inheritance, set against the background of the development of the textile industry in the West Riding, received widespread critical acclaim and ran through 23 impressions by 1946, making her the first successful English regional novelist since Thomas Hardy and his Wessex. In 1949 she was awarded an honorary DLitt from Leeds University; in 1958 she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature; and in 1970 was awarded an OBE.

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Title: Flowers on the Grass

Author: Monica Dickens

Narrator: Philip Battley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-10-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

After the sudden death of his wife, Daniel abandons home and security, setting off to find the freedom he knew as a boy. This novel follows his wanderings from a seaside boarding house to a hospital bed, introducing the strange characters he meets and recording his even stranger adventures.

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Title: The Apparition of Mrs. Veal

Author: Daniel Defoe

Narrator: Cathy Dobson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-10-13

Publisher: Red Door Audiobooks

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Originally published anonymously in the form of a pamphlet, the intriguing ghost story entitled: A True Relation of the Apparition of One Mrs. Veal the Next Day after her Death to One Mrs. Bargrave at Canterbury the 8th of September, 1705 has long been the cause of academic speculation and dispute. The theme of the story is an uncanny interaction between the spiritual world and the physical world, as well as the nature of death itself. The story describes a posthumous visit by Mrs. Veal to her friend Mrs. Bargrave, during which strange insights and confidences are exchanged.

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Title: Fuel for the Flame

Author: Alec Waugh

Narrator: Alan Marriott

Format: Unabridged

Length: 20 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

An imaginary island on the Equator has suddenly achieved importance through the discovery of oil - what will happen to the men and women living under the tensions of life on this island? At one end of this island is the oil refinery where the members of the staff live in constant proximity to one another, and where emotions are heightened by the lack of privacy. The men are goaded by ambitions for power, while the women are drawn into affairs of love and passion. At the other end of the island is a hotbed of politics where a British diplomat is attempting to retain the island under Britain's sphere of influence; where an ailing king is fearful of what will happen when he is succeeded by a young and untrained prince; where a nationalist group is plotting to overthrow the monarchy and seize the oil fields. Waugh handles brilliantly his political plots, but always interwoven with them are the personal dramas of love and fear, of cowardice and courage. Rich in detail and characterisation, and in the exotic colours and customs of this strange land, the novel has constant suspense and variety.

Alec Waugh, 1898-1981, was a British novelist born in London and educated at Sherborne Public School, Dorset. Waughs first novel, The Loom of Youth (1917), is a semi-autobiographical account of public-school life that caused some controversy at the time and led to his expulsion. Waugh was the only boy ever to be expelled from The Old Shirburnian Society. Despite setting this record, Waugh went on to become the successful author of over 50 works, and lived in many exotic places throughout his life which later became the settings for some of his texts. He was also a noted wine connoisseur and campaigned to make the cocktail party a regular feature of 1920s social life.

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Title: Wheels Within Wheels

Author: Alec Waugh

Narrator: Steve West

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-30-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Events that take place in an obscure oil-surveyor's camp in the French West Indies act as the link and the catalyst for three desperate groups of people thousands of miles apart - in London, New York, and the picturesque old quarter of New Orleans. Upon often trivial acts depend matters of life and love and death, and as always Alec Waugh has distilled the drama and the truth from a wide spectrum of characters and situations. The fascination of this novel is that it is, in effect, a game of global consequences.

Alec Waugh (1898-1981) was a British novelist born in London and educated at Sherborne Public School, Dorset. Waughs first novel, The Loom of Youth (1917), is a semi-autobiographical account of public-school life that caused some controversy at the time and led to his expulsion. Waugh was the only boy ever to be expelled from The Old Shirburnian Society.

Despite setting this record, Waugh went on to become the successful author of over 50 works, and lived in many exotic places throughout his life which later became the settings for some of his texts. He was also a noted wine connoisseur and campaigned to make the cocktail party a regular feature of 1920s social life.

Members Reviews:

Slow to begin with, you wonder where it is ...

Slow to begin with, you wonder where it is all going and then suddenly everything makes sense! As usual his style of writing takes you on the journey with the characters!

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Title: Where Clocks Chime Twice

Author: Alec Waugh

Narrator: Stephen McLaughlin

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-30-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Part sentimental journey revisiting old well-loved scenes of former travels, and part search for new, out-of-the-way lands, Alec Waugh's travel book tells of a journey halfway round the world. But in new or old places, the author's sense of romance and adventure, his gift of combining past and present, his ability to create a mood and tell a story provide continuously enlightening and enlivening reading. The chief object of these travels was to visit the Seychelles Islands. This remote British colony, lost in the immensity of the Indian Ocean, is a world forgotten by the world, a world in itself. Alec Waugh's description of these tropical islands, their people and their history, ranks among the best of travel writing.

Alec Waugh (1898-1981) was a British novelist born in London and educated at Sherborne Public School, Dorset. Waughs first novel, The Loom of Youth (1917), is a semi-autobiographical account of public-school life that caused some controversy at the time and led to his expulsion. Waugh was the only boy ever to be expelled from The Old Shirburnian Society.

Despite setting this record, Waugh went on to become the successful author of over 50 works, and lived in many exotic places throughout his life which later became the settings for some of his texts. He was also a noted wine connoisseur and campaigned to make the cocktail party a regular feature of 1920s social life.

Members Reviews:

Unique Perspective

Touted as a book about The Seychelles, his stay there covers a significant section of the book (middle); by the time he departed, I found I'd heard enough about the place. First part focusing on the Caribbean island of Dominica I found the most interesting, while the later chapters on Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Iraq gave portraits with little hint of the violence to come in each nation.

Perhaps Waugh did speak with an exaggerated "public school" accent, but the narrator lays it on SO thick that it seems almost a parody, taking some getting used to (on my part).

Verdict: good snapshot of (chiefly British) colonial life in the inter-war period.