Romance - RNIB Library



Classic fiction Pre-20th Century

Talking Books

The titles in this booklist are just a selection of the titles available for loan from the RNIB National Library Talking Book Service.

Don’t forget you are allowed to have up to 6 books on loan. When you return a title, you will then receive another one.

If you would like to read any of these titles then please contact the Customer Services Team on 0303 123 9999 or email library@.uk

If you would like further information, or help in selecting titles to read, then please contact the Reader Services Team on 01733 37 53 33 or email libraryinfo@.uk

You can write to us at RNIB NLS, PO Box 173, Peterborough PE2 6WS

Pre-19th Century

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury tales. 2004 (originally published 1380s). TB13914.

Though writing in the thirteenth century, Chaucer's wit and observation comes down undiminished through the ages, especially in this accessible modern verse translation. The group continues its pilgrimage to Canterbury, talking with each other, their interaction mediated (sometimes) by the host Chaucer himself.

Read by Tim Pigott-Smith, Stephen Tompkinson, Charles Kay, Timothy West,

Rosalind Shanks, Sean Barrett, Michael Maloney, Philip Madoc, 3 hours 43 minutes. TB13914.

Dante Alighieri. The divine comedy. 2013 (originally published 1320). TB20919.

'The Divine Comedy' describes Dante's descent into Hell with Virgil as a guide; his ascent of Mount Purgatory and encounter with his dead love, Beatrice; and, finally, his arrival in Heaven.

Read by Jonathan Oliver, 16 hours 26 minutes. TB20919

Defoe, Daniel. The life, adventures and pyracies of the famous Captain Singleton. 1969. Adventure. TB8194.

The World's classics. Kidnapped as a child, Bob Singleton goes to sea at the age of 12, and makes a fortune crossing Africa on foot, loses the fortune and makes

another as a pirate. This story was published in 1720 and has been traditionally categorised as a minor work.

Read by Ronald Markham, 11 hours. TB8194

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. The sorrows of young Werther and selected writings. 1962 (originally published in 1774). TB408313.

Werther, a sensitive young man, falls in love with Lotte, knowing she is to marry another. Unable to subdue his passion, Werther's infatuation torments him to the point of despair.

Read by volunteers, 10 hours 25 minutes. TB408313

Milton, John. Comus. 1637. TB14706.

Comus is a pagan God, invented by Milton, who waylays travellers and tempts them to drink a magic liquor which changes their faces into those of wild beasts. A lady becomes seperated from her two brothers in a forest and is tempted by Comus. Her brothers are told what has happened by the good Attendant Spirit and they set off to save her.

Read by John Westbrook, 1 hour 8 minutes. TB14706

Milton, John. Paradise regained. 2006 (originally published in 1671). TB15736.

Following the fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden in Milton's "Paradise Lost", Milton turns his attention to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness by Satan in "Paradise Regained". In this work, a sequel to "Paradise Lost", Satan tests

Jesus in a similar way to Eve in the Garden of Eden. However, Jesus is not

seduced by the promises of Satan and passes his test.

Read by Anton Lesser, 2 hours 30 minutes. TB15736

Milton, John. Samson Agonistes. 1970 (originally published in 1671). TB14705.

This dramatic poem deals with the last phase in the life of the Samson mentioned in the Book of Judges; he is blind and a prisoner of the Philistines. In prison he is visited by various people, including his scheming wife, Dalila. He is finally summoned to provide amusement by feats of strength for the Philistine lords

with disasterous consequences for all.

Read by John Westbrook, 1 hour 59 minutes. TB14705

Shakespeare, William. Sonnets. 1609. TB 19559.

This new edition focuses on the Sonnets as poetry - sometimes strikingly individual poems, but often subtly interlinked in thematic, imagistic and other groupings.

Read by Alex Jennings, 2 hours 43 minutes. TB 19559.

19th Century

Bronte, Charlotte. The professor. 1957 (originally published in 1857). Romance. TB2581.

Based on the author's experiences as a teacher in Brussels, this is the story of a young man who seeks his fortune as a schoolmaster and falls in love with a pupil-teacher over whom he exercises great influence.

Read by Andrew Timothy, 11 hours. TB2581

Bronte, Charlotte. Villette. 1853. Classic. TB1428.

A semi-autobiographical novel about a young, poor and unattractive English teacher who takes a post at a Belgian school where she gains esteem and affection through sheer strength of character.

Read by Gabriel Woolf, 14 hours. TB1428

Collins, Wilkie. Basil. 1852. TB13742.

A Victorian suspense melodrama in which the aristocratic young hero, Basil,

develops a fatally passionate love for a shop-keeper's daughter – a relationship which brings him into contact with the extraordinary Robert Mannion.

Read by Edward de Souza, 3 hours 28 minutes. TB13742

Dickens, Charles. Dombey and son. 1848. TB1403.

Dombey has lost his beloved son, and his firm. His wife and daughter are

estranged from him through his arrogance, and he lives alone and desolate until his daughter returns to take care of him.

Read by John Richmond, 41 hours 13 minutes. TB1403

Dickens, Charles. Hard times. 1854. TB7140.

In the persons of Gradgrind and Bounderby, Dickens stigmatized the prevalent philosophy of utilitarianism which, whether in school or factory, allowed human beings to be caged in a dreary scenery of brick terraces and foul chimneys, to be enslaved to machines and reduced to numbers.

Read by Alistair Maydon, 11 hours 51 minutes. TB7140

Dickens, Charles. The old curiosity shop. 1841. Family stories. TB1379.

Little Nell and her grandfather, forced by poverty and debts to leave the shop, are relentlessly pursued by Quilp, the ugly dwarf to whom the money is owed. They search for peace with the devotion of Kit, but Nell dies early of exhaustion.

Read by George Hagan, 25 hours 55 minutes. TB1379

Disraeli, Benjamin. Sybil. 1981 (originally published in 1845). TB401065.

Sybil, or The Two Nations is one of the finest novels to depict the social problems of class-ridden Victorian England. The book's publication in 1845 created a sensation, for its immediacy and readability brought the plight of the working classes sharply to the attention of the reading public.

Read by volunteers, 18 hours 26 minutes. TB401065

Dostoevskii, F M. The house of the dead. 1861. TB 1684.

Written from personal experience, this story of prisoners in Siberia shows the resistance of the human spirit to brutal hardship.

Read by Corbett Woodall, 13 hours.TB1684.

Dumas, Alexandre. The black tulip. 1852. Historical fiction. TB1156.

A romance of 17th century Holland in which adventure blends with love among

the tulip gardens of The Hague.

Read by Robert Gladwell, 7 hours 27 minutes. TB1156

Dumas, Alexandre. Marguerite De Valois. 1847. TB297.

A romance of adventure and intrigue at the French court of Catherine de Medicis.

Read by Anthony Parker, 21 hours 45 minutes. TB297

Eliot, George. Scenes of clerical life. 1853. TB4640.

With the publication of 'Amos Barton' In Blackwood's Magazine the author began her career. 'Mr Gilfil's Love-Story' and 'Janet's Repentance' followed and by 1858 these three stories were published in a book, 'Scenes of Clerical Life.' George

Eliot was established as a writer of sensitivity and tender humour. She gives a picture of English country life that has vanished.

Read by Christopher Saul, 16 hours 13 minutes. TB4640

Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn. Cousin Phillis. 1864. TB3806.

Centres around an early Victorian country town at a crucial moment of transition in English society, besieged by forces it is incapable of understanding or withstanding.

Read by John Westbrook. 4 hours 13 minutes. TB3806

Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn. Ruth. 1853. TB1313.

Ruth, an orphan, is seduced and then deserted by Henry Bellingham. The story sets forth her redemption through her love for her child and the gradual elevation of her character until she succumbs to a fever caught while nursing her worthless lover.

Read by Robin Holmes, 18 hours 30 minutes. TB1313

Gaskell, Elizabeth. Wives and daughters. 1863. TB 1149.

Focusing on two families, the Gibsons and the Hamleys, this novel describes the habits, loyalties, prejudices, petty snobberies, rumours and adjustments of a whole countryside hierarchy.

Read by Robin Holmes, 30 hours. TB 1149.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Faust: a tragedy in two parts with the unpublished scenarios for the Walpurgis night and the Urfaust. 1808. TB 17615.

The legend of Faust grew up in the sixteenth century, a time of transition between medieval and modern culture in Germany. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe adopted the story of the wandering conjuror who accepts Mephistopheles's offer of a pact, selling his soul for the devil's greater knowledge.

Read by David Thorpe, Steve Hodson and Rachel Atkins, 15 hours 34 minutes. TB 17615.

Hardy, Thomas. Desperate remedies: a novel. 1975 (originally published in 1871). TB1245.

Cytherea Gray, lady's maid, decides to marry the villainous Aeneas Manston

after she discovers her true love, Edward Springrove, is already engaged. As soon as she is married she discovers that Aeneas's first wife is still alive. Her investigations into the situation have tragic consequences.

Read by George Hagan. 16 hours 52 minutes. TB1245

Hardy, Thomas. A pair of blue eyes. 1975 (originally published in 1873). TB8200.

New Wessex edition. The eyes are those of Elfride Swancourt, a young lady who wants to take charge of her own life. Her beauty exerts a strong fascination and influence over men - Stephen Smith who woos but fails to win her, and Henry Knight, whose obsessive insistence on her purity embodies the double standards of

Victorian morality. Elfride's inability to act precipitates her tragic destiny.

Read by Peter Wickham, 15 hours 9 minutes. TB8200

Hardy, Thomas. The return of the native. 1878. TB976.

The story of Eustacia Vye, Thomasin and mistress Yeobright, and the men who

influence and alter their lives - Diggory Venn the Reddleman, Damon Wildeve and the returning "native", Clym Yeobright. It is set in Egdon Heath whose lowering, titanic presence dominates the men and women who live on it.

Read by Eric Gillett, 17 hours. TB976

Hardy, Thomas. The Trumpet-major : John Loveday: a soldier in the war with Buonaparte, and Robert his brother, first mate in the Merchant Service: a tale. 1880. TB1844.

Ann has three suitors: one is a braggart and dismissed, and John, the gentle Trumpet-Major, loses her to his cheery, light-hearted brother.

Read by Robin Holmes, 13 hours.

Hardy, Thomas. The woodlanders. 1974 (originally published in 1887). TB310.

Grace Melbury, daughter of a well-to-do timber merchant, returns home from

finishing school; and her father arranges her marriage to a young doctor.

Read by Robin Holmes, 18 hours 31 minutes. TB310.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Blithedale romance. 1983 (originally published in 1852). TB408317.

Read by volunteers, 10 hours 12 minutes. TB408317

Hugo, Victor. Les miserables. 1862. TB1993.

Les Miserables, the compelling story of love, honour and obsession living

amidst one of the most dramatic periods of French history which culminates in an explosive finale on the streets of Paris in the July revolution.

Read by Andrew Timothy, 61 hours 15 minutes. TB1993

James, Henry. The Bostonians. 1984 (originally published between 1855-1866). TB409309.

Satricial novel, one of the earliest American novels to deal with lesbianism. Olive Chancellor, a Boston Feminist in the 1870s, thinks she has found a kindred spirit in Verena Tarrant, a beautiful young woman who, though passive and indecisive, is a

spellbinding orator for women's rights.

Read by volunteers. 18 hours 3 minutes. TB409309.

James, Henry. Daisy Miller. 1986 (originally published in 1878). TB7915.

"What the European male fails to understand is that the American girl is innocent by definition, mythically innocent", and, the confusion of Winterbourne is aggravated by the atmosphere in Vevey, a no-man's land half-way between the grimness of

Geneva and the moral laxity of Rome. Winterbourne mistakes Daisy's frank manner for commonness, yet he is also aware of her delicate grace.

Read by Peter Marinker, 3 hours 43 minutes. TB7915.

James, Henry. The golden bowl. 1904. TB3941.

Maggie marries Prince Amerigo, former lover of her father's new wife. But she discovers that the relationship has not ended with her marriage...

Read by Peter Marinker, 23 hours 19 minutes. TB3941.

James, Henry. The portrait of a lady. 1881. TB1450.

Isabel Archer cherishes her independence and so refuses the proposals of two eligible bachelots. It is only when she meets the elusive and charming Osmond that she is presented with a difficult choice.

Read by Marvin Kane, 24 hours 4 minutes. TB1450.

James, Henry. Roderick Hudson. 1986 (originally published in 1875). TB9363.

Roderick Hudson is an exceptionally gifted but obscure sculptor who is transported to Rome and the aesthetic adventure of Europe by Rowland Mallett , a rich man of fine appreciative sensibilities, who intends to give Roderick the scope to develop his genius. Together they seem like twins or lovers, opposing halves of what

should have been an ideal whole.

Read by Peter Marinker, 16 hours 23 minutes. TB9363.

James, Henry. The reverberator. 1888. TB13849.

In Paris in the 1880's a beautiful American girl marrying into the upper -middle class, should never confide in a gossip-columnist.

Read by Kerry Shale, 2 hours 23 minutes. TB13849.

James, Henry. The turn of the screw. 1898. TB 7954.

A complex web of fantasies, worked upon by the fraught and tortured mind of Miles and Flora's Governess. The other people who haunt this novel include Miles' distant uncle, Miss Jessel the previous governess, and Quint who is found dead on the road from the village. In this novel, Henry James probes the lives and imaginations of the people who live at the big house.

Read by Rosemary Davis, 5 hours 38 minutes. TB7954.

James, Henry. The awkward age. 2003 (originally published 1899-1900). TB21965.

Nineteen-year-old Nanda Brookenham is about to be introduced to London society by her forty-year-old mother. Nanda soon finds herself in love with thirty-four-year-old Vanderbank, who happens to be Mrs. Brook's lover. She is further caught between her respect for maintaining the ideals of her elders and her desire to get away from the confines of society, most of all from its restrictions on women. 1987.

Read by Mac Samples, 17 hours 3 minutes. TB21965

Kingsley, Charles. The heroes. 1856. TB3403.

Three great Greek legends – those concerning Perseus, the Argonauts and

Theseus.

Read by Andrew Timothy. TB3403.

Kipling, Rudyard. Captains Courageous. 1897. TB5316.

After being swept overboard from an ocean liner, fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne, spoiled son of a millionaire, is rescued by New England fishermen who put him to work on their boat.

Read by Christopher Saul, 5 hours 56 minutes. TB5316

Kipling, Rudyard. The light that failed. 1891. TB1838.

Dick Heldar, an artist with a growing reputation, is gradually losing his sight through a sword cut received in the Sudan; Maisie, whom he loves, refuses to come to his aid, and he determines to find his friend, the war -correspondent Torpenhow, and to die at his side in the Sudan.

Read by Garard Green, 9 hours. TB1838.

Kipling, Rudyard. They: and, Mary Postgate. TB8973.

"They" - A drive along lonely English country roads leads to a beautiful and

secluded house where children can be glimpsed playing in the gardens and

watching shyly from the windows. But they are not visible to everyone ... "Mary Postgate" - Her employer's nephew provides dull, methodical Mary Postgate with the only focus for her frustrated motherly affection. When he is killed in the Great War her reaction is matter of fact and without tears, but even inertia can be turned

into a means of retribution.

Read by Michael Elder, 1 hour 23 minutes. TB8973.

Le Fanu, Sheridan. The house by the churchyard. 2007 (originally published in 1863). TB16951.

Tales of mystery & the supernatural Set in the village of Chapelizod, near Dublin, in the 1760s the story opens with the accidental disinterment of an old skull in the churchyard, and an eerie late-night funeral. This discovery relates to murders, both

recent and historical whose repercussions disrupt the complacent pace of village affairs and change the lives of many of its notable characters forever.

Read by Kevin Moore, 24 hours 17 minutes. TB16951.

Peacock, Thomas Love. Crotchet Castle. 1831. TB14405.

A satirical romance, concerning young Mr Crotchet's unfortunate love affairs with Mrs Touchandgo and Lady Clarinda during an extended house-party.

Read by Kenneth Williams, 2 hours 39 minutes. TB14405.

Peacock, Thomas Love. Gryll Grange. 1860. TB1916.

A house party attended by many interesting and somewhat unusual people leads eventually to a prodigious marriage at which there are no less than nine brides and their grooms.

Read by Eric Gillett, 7 hours 45 minutes. TB1916.

Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich. Eugene Onegin: a novel in verse. 1833. TB 17494.

Set in 1820s Russia. Tired of the glitter and glamour of St Petersburg society, aristocratic dandy Eugene Onegin retreats to the country estate he has recently inherited. With the arrival of the idealistic young poet Vladimir Lensky he begins an unlikely friendship, as the poet welcomes his urbane addition to his small social circle - and is happy to introduce Onegin to his fiancee, Olga, and her family. But when Olga's sister Tatiana becomes infatuated with Onegin, his cold rejection of her love brings about a tragedy that engulfs them all.

Read by Jonathan Oliver, 6 hours 8 minutes. TB 17494.

Scott, Walter. The bride of Lammermoor. 1819. TB5825.

Lord Ravenswood, deprived of his title for his part in the Civil War and dispossessed of his estate by trickery, dies in a fit of fury against Sir William Ashton, the man whom he regards as the author of his ruin. His son, the fiery Master of Ravenshood, inherits his father's hatred of Sir William but Fate makes him fall in love with Ashton's daughter, bringing disaster upon both households.

Read by Malcolm Ruthven, 12 hours 28 minutes. TB5825.

Scott, Walter. The heart of Mid-lothian. 1994. TB 18255.

Jeanie Deans, a dairymaid, decides she must walk to London to gain an audience with the Queen. Her sister is to be executed for infanticide and, while refusing to lie to help her case, Jeanie is desperate for a reprieve. Set in the 1730s in a Scotland uneasily united with England, The Heart of Mid-Lothian dramatizes different kinds of justice.

Read by Jonathan Hackett, 29 hours 20 minutes. TB 18255.

Scott, Walter. Kenilworth. 1821. TB775.

A story of the Earl of Leicester, favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, and of his secret marriage to the beautiful Amy Robsart.

Read by Stanley Pritchard, 19 hours 50 minutes. TB775.

Scott, Walter. Old mortality. 1816. TB1066.

A story of the time of Charles II, and in particular Henry Morton, who came to be a leader of the Covenanters who had taken up arms for their religious opinions.

Read by Stanley Pritchard, 17 hours 15 minutes. TB1066.

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. The last man. 2003 (originally published in 1826). TB21977.

In the late twenty-first century, a plague ravages the world, gradually exterminating the entire human race but leaving one man, Lionel Verney, a young Englishman and onetime delinquent. The novel unfolds a sombre and pessimistic vision of mankind confronting inevitable destruction. Interwoven with her futuristic theme,

Mary Shelley incorporates idealised portraits of Shelley and Byron, yet rejects Romanticism and its faith in art and nature. First published in 1826.

Read by Philip Smith, 23 hours 48 minutes. TB21977.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. Catriona. 1893. TB357.

Bloody murder, conspiracy, treachery and escape are all themes in this sequel to "Kidnapped". David Balfour, the hero of the earlier book, is again the narrator, and through his eyes the reader gains insight into the aftermath of Bonnie Prince Charlie's defeat at Culloden.

Read by Stephen Jack, 10 hours 15 minutes. TB357.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. The misadventures of John Nicolson. 1887. TB13850.

John Nicholson was fat, good-natured and inclined to take the line of least resistance. He had a young lady to escort home that night, 400 dollars in his pocket and an assignation at an illegal drinking establishment. He was bound to run into trouble...

Read by Fraser Kerr, 1 hour 15 minutes. TB13850.

Thackeray, W.M. (William Makepeace). The history of Pendennis. 1848. TB1092.

The loves and ambitions of Arthur Pendennis, a frank but selfish and conceited young fellow who, via university and a literary career in London, is finally united with the right girl.

Read by Eric Gillett, 39 hours 15 minutes. TB1092.

Trollope, Anthony. Can you forgive her? 1864. TB817.

Palliser book 1. The first of the Palliser novels, described by the author as 'a series

of semi-political tales' in which we meet Plantagenet Palliser, Duke of Omnium, a very noble gentleman.

Read by Eric Gillett.

Trollope, Anthony. The warden. 1855. TB 919.

The Barsetshire chronicles; book 1. This book centres on Reverend Harding and his youngest daughter Eleanor. With humour and satire, it tells of the moral dilemma he faces when accused of living on the funds that should be distributed to the almshouse for which he is warden. One of his chief critics is John Bold, with whom Eleanor is in love. Harding wants to act courageously but in a way which will not alienate Eleanor or her lover.

Read by Eric Gillett, 7 hours 45 minutes.TB 919.

Trollope, Anthony. Barchester Towers. 1857. TB963.

The Barsetshire chronicles book 2. Clerical feuds in Barchester centre round Mr. Slope, The Bishop's Chaplain , and Mrs. Proudie, the Bishop's wife.

Read by Eric Gillett, 23 hours.

Trollope, Anthony. Dr Thorne. 1858. TB1142.

The Barsetshire chronicles book 3. The story of Frank Gresham and Mary Thorne, intent on marriage despite Mary's ostensible poverty. Only the doctor knows that Mary is to inherit a large legacy that will make her acceptable to the otherwise disapproving middle-class society to which Frank belongs.

Read by Eric Gillett, 22 hours 45 minutes.

Trollope, Anthony. Framley parsonage . 1861. TB1141.

The Barsetshire chronicles book 4. Mark Robarts, an ambitious young clergyman, is helped to a comfortable living at Framley by Lady Lufton. When Robarts becomes liable for the debts of an unreliable friend, he turns for help once again to the reluctant Lady Lufton.

Read by Eric Gillett, 25 hours.

Trollope, Anthony. The small house at Allington. 1864. TB1131.

The Barsetshire chronicles book 5. Lily is the niece of Squire Dale, an embittered old bachelor entrenched in the "Great House" at Allington. His sister-in-law lives at the adjacent "Small House" with her two daughters and the action centres on the

relations between the two houses and on the romantic entanglements of the girls.

Read by Eric Gillett, 29 hours 30 minutes.

Trollope, Anthony. The last chronicle of Barset . 1867. TB1151.

The Barsetshire chronicles book 6. In this, the last of the Barsetshire novels, many familiar characters appear, but the mood of the novel is darker and more uneasy than in earlier volumes. When Mr Crawley, curate of Hogglestock, is falsely accused of theft he suffers bitterly with his family.

Read by Eric Gillett, 33 hours 15 minutes.

Trollope, Anthony. The Belton estate. 1866. TB383.

Set mainly in Somerset, this novel concerns the dilemma of Clara Amedroz who is courted by her two cousins of contrasting temperaments and motives. Will Belton, an uncouth farmer, has inherited her father's estate. Captain Aylmer, M.P. has been left by their rich aunt the property which might have made provision for Clara.

Read by Eric Gillett, 17 hours 27 minutes.

Trollope, Anthony. The Bertrams. 1859. TB8573.

Examines the ideas of competition and survival of the fittest in Victorian society through the careers of three Oxford graduates.

Read by Michael Tudor Barnes, 23 hours, 57 minutes.

Trollope, Anthony. Harry Heathcote of Gangoil : a tale of Australian bushlife . 1992 (originally publishied in 1874).

TB9512.

The problems facing a Harry Heathcote, a young sheepfarmer, or "squatter" in outback Australia. The hero is modelled on Trollope's younger son Frederic, who had lived in Australia since 1865. Using the conventions of the Christmas story, established by Dickens in the 1840s, the novel shows Harry thwarting the anxious ex-convict neighbours, who harbour his disgruntled former employees, and who attempt to set fire to his pastures. The spirit of Christmas is allowed to produce solutions to some of Harry's most pressing problems in a way which Fred Trollope would not have dreamed of, let alone expected.

Read by Peter Wickham, 4 hours 28 minutes.

Trollope, Anthony. Orley farm. 1862. TB4863.

The story deals with the gradual growth of belief that Lady Mason has forged the codicil entitling her to Orley Farm. The case is taken to court with surprising results for all...

Read by Judy Franklin, 31 hours 3 minutes.

Trollope, Anthony. The landleaguers. 1991 (originally published in 1883). TB9446.

When Englishman Philip Jones buys two estates in the "wild and distant" country of Ireland, he thinks he has made a wise investment. But when his son, Fabian, makes a seemingly harmless conversion to Catholicism, he finds that there is a high price to pay on his purchase, not least of which is the unity and happiness of

his family.

Read by Stephen Thorne, 12 hours 9 minutes.

Trollope, Anthony. Dr Wortle's school. 1881. TB 18341.

Mr Peacocke, a classical scholar, has come to Broughtonshire with his beautiful American wife to live as a schoolmaster. But when the blackmailing brother of her first husband - a reprobate from Louisiana - appears at the school gates, their dreadful secret is revealed and the county is scandalised.

Read by Timothy West, 6 hours 58 minutes. TB 18341.

Trollope, Anthony. Rachel Ray. 1988 (originally published in 1863). TB7437.

A love story set in and around a small town in the South Hams of Devonshire

which, despited the idyllic surroundings, provides citizens as implacably factious as any of the author's social groups. The zest and intensity of their religious, political, commercial and class warfare make it a lively comedy.

Read by Pauline Munro, 14 hours 17 minutes. TB7437.

Trollope, Anthony. Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite. 1871. TB 16983.

On the death of his son, Sir Harry Hotspur had determined to give his property to his daughter Emily. She is beautiful and as strong-willed and high-principled as her father. Then she falls in love with the black-sheep of the family.

Read by Tony Britton, 7 hours 50 minutes. TB 16983.

Trollope, Anthony. The vicar of Bullhampton. 1870. TB 20159.

In 'The Vicar of Bullhampton' Trollope boldly addressed the plight of women of his time and the social constraints that were placed upon them by the morals and practices of an unsympathetic society.

Read by Greg Wagland, 21 hours 43 minutes. TB 20159.

Trollope, Anthony. Miss Mackenzie. 2008 (originally published in 1865). TB 17243.

Miss Mackenzie, a spinster long past her first bloom, with the sudden possibility of a fortune, is beset by suitors and personal choices. A deft exploration of money, love, and relationships by a master of sensibility, caricature, and the social mores of his time.

Read by Christopher Oxford, 15 hours 35 minutes.TB 17243.

Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich. On the eve : a novel. 1972 (originally published in 1860). TB409207.

Read by volunteers, 9 hours and 4 minutes.

Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich. First love. 1950 (originally published in 1860). TB 17205.

Set in the world of nineteenth-century Russia's fading aristocracy, Turgenev's story depicts a boy's growth of knowledge and mastery over his own heart as he awakens to the complex nature of adult love.

Read by David Troughton, 2 hours 41 minutes.TB 17205.

Verne, Jules. From the earth to the moon. 1995 (originally published in 1865). Science Fiction. TB12586.

It is the year 1865. Following the end of the American Civil War, the members of Baltimore Gun Club are restless, seeking new ways of using their genius for invention and discovery. So their president, Impey Barbicane, sets his fellows a challenge: to construct a rocket which can reach the moon.

Read by Garrick Hagon, 5 hours 37 minutes. TB12586.

Verne, Jules. Journey to the centre of the earth. 2009 (originally published in 1864). Adventure. TB16979.

Jules Verne's third science fiction novel describes the discovery and exploration of a secret tunnel which leads through a volcano to the centre of the Earth. The leader of the expedition, together with his ward and joined by his nephew and an Icelandic

guide commence the journey.

Read by Garard Greene, 8 hours 3 minutes. TB16979.

Verne, Jules. Twenty thousand leagues under the sea. 1870. TB 3791.

The central character of this book, which is remarkable for its prediction of the invention of the submarine, are in the process of exploring marine disturbances when they are captured by the megalomaniacalCaptain Nemo.

Read by Malcolm Ruthven, 13 hours 29 minutes.TB 3791.

Wilde, Oscar. The Canterville ghost. 1887. Classic fiction. TB21811.

The story begins with an American, Mr Hiram B Otis, buying a house that the previous owner warns him is haunted. Sir Simon de Canterville murdered his wife around three hundred years ago, and since his death, his ghost has haunted the house. But Mr Otis doesn’t heed the warning, and his twin boys take delight in frightening Sir Simon! However, their sister Virginia takes pity on him and agrees to help him unlock the mysteries of his being marooned on earth.

Read by Steve Hodson, 1 hour 26 minutes .

Wilde, Oscar. Lady Windermere's fan. 1997. (originally published in 1893. TB13460.

Lady Windermere learns that her husband is spending much time with a Mrs Erlynne, and fearing that he is being unfaithful to her, she decides that their marriage is over. Then, in an act of generosity, Mrs Erlynne protects Lady Windermere's reputation and the truth about loyalty is revealed. This is a fully dramatised version.

Read by Juliet Stevenson, Emma Fielding, Sarah Badel, Samuel West and Michael Sheen, 1 hour 43 minutes.

Wood, Henry. The Channings. 1862. Family stories. TB1192.

The chronicle of an engaging family for whom honesty and loyalty are all-important.

Read by George Hagan, 22 hours 53 minutes.

Zola, Émile. The Earth. 1980. Classic. TB400513.

Penguin classics

This novel measures the agricultural seasons against the human cycle of birth, marriage and death. Written as part of the vast Rougon-Macquart series, it was Zola's favourite novel and describes the harsh struggles of a farming community to look after their land and control their sometimes wayward society.

Read by Volunteers, 16 hours.

Zola, Emile. The ladies' paradise. 1883. Classic fiction. TB 21185.

Rougon-Macquart; book 11. The 11th book in the Rougon-Macquart cycle, this novel recounts the development of the modern department store in late 19th century Paris. This novel centres around the story of Denise, a young shop girl from the provinces, and Octave Mouret, the dashing young director of a shopping emporium, who find themselves torn between the conflicting forces of love, loyalty and ambition. The store is a symbol of capitalism, and is emblematic of consumer culture and changes in sexual attitudes.

Read by Joan Walker, 18 hours 20 minutes.

Zola, Émile. Nana. 1972 (originally published in 1880). TB403534.

The French novelist's classic study of a prostitute's dissolute existence and spiritual disintegration reflects his concern with the influence of heredity and environment.

Read by volunteers, 17 hours 20 minutes.

Zola, Émile. The debacle: (1870-71). 1972. TB409276.

Penguin classics. Conservative and working-class, Jean Macquart is an experienced, middle-aged soldier in the French army, who has endured deep personal loss. When he first meets the wealthy and mercurial Maurice Levasseur, who never seems to have suffered, his hatred is immediate. But after they are thrown together during the disastrous Franco -Prussian war of 1870-71, the pair are

compelled to understand one other.

Read by volunteers

Zola, Émile. The kill. 1985 (originally published in 1872). TB407607. Grafton classic

The Kill (La Curée) is the second volume in Zola's great cycle of twenty novels, Les Rougon-Macquart, and the first to establish Paris - the capital of modernity - as the centre of Zola's narrative world. Conceived as a representation of the uncontrollable 'appetites' unleashed by the Second Empire (1852-70) and the transformation of the city by Baron Haussmann, the novel combines into a single, powerful vision the twin themes of lust for money and lust for pleasure. The all-pervading promiscuity of the new Paris is reflected in the dissolute and frenetic lives of an unscrupulous property speculator, Saccard, his neurotic wife Renée, and her dandified lover, Saccard's son Maxime.

Read by volunteers.

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