A follow up to 'Ladies of Letters & Ladies of More Letters'. Vera and Irene now communicate daily by e-mail about the the usual domestic mishaps: Irene's daughter Lesley is refusing to marry the worthy but boring Brian; Vera's exhausted daughter Karen has abandoned her third baby at the hospital and eloped with a male nurse; and Vera's gay son...

Nothing escapes the satirical eye of Britain's successful first all-Asian sketch show in the compilation of the best of the first BBC Radio 4 series together with three shows from series two. CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE AND ADULT THEMES.

From 1952 to 1960 the Goons ruled the airwaves, the most celebrated and influential clowns in the history of radio. It's the time of goodwill and custard so join the festive fun with Scrooge and Nellie Scratchit in 'A Christmas Carol' and follow the lost chords of 'The Mighty Wurlitzer' hot foot across the Sahara. Also includes: 'Ye Bandit Of Sherw...

An evocative anthology for Christmas. This collection contains complete versions of old favourites such as 'The Little Match Girl', 'The Night Before Christmas', and 'Christmas Day in the Workhouse'. Other extracts include a sermon by Lancelot Andrews, an account of Christmas under the Puritans and a Mummer's Play.

The well-intentioned, wealthy physician Dr Jekyll is fascinated by the duality of human nature. He discovers a drug which can separate the good and evil sides of his character. But can he stop his dark side, the hideous Mr Hyde, from taking control?

'Five Quarters of the Orange' revolves around a recipe book, continuing the theme of culinary intrigue begun in 'Chocolat' and 'Blackberry Wine'. Framboise returns to the village where she grew up during wartime and, with the help of the recipes scribbled in her mother's album, opens up a small restaurant. Whilst immersing herself once again in the...

A new generation has arrived to divide the Forsyte clan with society scandals and conflicting passions. Set in the years following the First World War, the story moves to Soames Forsyte's daughter Fleur. She is now married to Michael Mont, but when her old love Jon returns after seven years, desire is rekindled and loyalties begin to divide.

After the death of his estranged wife, Quoyle's fortunes begin to change when his long lost Aunt Agnes convinces him to head north to his ancestral home on the coast of Newfoundland with his daughter Bunny. In the small coastal village of Killick-Claw Quoyle lands a job as a reporter for the local newspaper. He reports on the shipping news as he si...

A nervous breakdown seems like a great idea: all that lying in bed and watching daytime TV. But who's going to have it? Will it be housewife Clodagh, who spends her days microwaving pasta for her demanding toddlers and waiting for her beautiful husband Dylan to come home? Or Lisa, reeling from the shock of a demotion from her fabulous job in London...

A historical novel on the corruption of innocence, using the famous painting by Vermeer as an inspiration. Griet, the young daughter of a tilemaker in 17th century Holland, obtains her first job as a servant in Vermeer's household. Tracy Chevalier shows us, through Griet's eyes, the complicated family, the society of the small town of Delft, and li...

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly old skinflint. He hates everyone, especially children. But at Christmas the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future come to visit him, scare him into mending his ways, and he finds, as he celebrates with Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and their family, that geniality brings its own reward.

When the body of Sir Charles Baskerville is found in his garden, there are no signs to explain his death. Did he die of fright? Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson have a mysterious case to solve - is the Baskerville family really haunted by a phantom beast 'with blazing eyes and dripping jaws' which roams the mist-enshrouded moors around the isolated Ba...

Hat Grant is getting married. She is having a proper, big wedding. That is until something goes wrong - six weeks before the wedding, her fiance dumps her. Hat is devastated. This is her special day, she can't cancel everything - what about the flowers, her dress the photographer, the caterers, her ghastly mother? So, she doesn't - she decides to g...

Five disparate voices inhabit Ali Smith's dreamlike 'Hotel World', set in the luxurious anonymity of the Global Hotel, in an unnamed northern English city. The disembodied yet interconnected characters include Sara, a 19-year-old chambermaid who has recently died at the hotel; her bereaved sister, Clare, who visits the scene of Sara's death; Penny,...

Ria Lynch and Marilyn Vine have never met. Ria lives in a big ramshackle house in Tara Road, Dublin, which is filled with family and friends, while Marilyn lives in New England, absorbed in her career. A chance phone call brings them together and they decide to exchange homes. So a magical summer begins, full of discovery, unexpected friendships an...

These stories, all written between 1929 and 1954, all share the themes that feature so strongly in Graham Greene's novels: humour and violence, pity and hatred, betrayal and pursuit. Comic, sad, shocking and tragic, they recount the tales of Mr Maling's loud stomach, destructive gangs of children, indiscretions revealed and secrets uncovered. CONTA...

Obsessed by creating life itself, Doctor Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life using electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker...

This collection of short stories, previously published in anthologies and newspapers, consists of miniature studies of the endless absurdity of human behaviour. It includes 'Our Lives Are Only Lent To Us', discovered amongst the author's papers after her death.

As Romeo and Juliet come from opposing families, their love must be concealed until after their marriage. But having slain Juliet's cousin Tybalt, Romeo is banished and despite the well-meaning intervention of Friar Laurence, fate ensures that the marriage is never truly celebrated. Dramatisation of the New Cambridge version of the text.

A classic tale of wizards, dragons and terrifying shadows. The young wizard Sparrowhawk, tempted by pride to try spells beyond his powers, lets loose an evil shadow-beast in his land. Only he can destroy it, and this quest leads him to the farthest corner of Earthsea.

Captain Gault has decided that his family must leave their home in Lahardane. They are after all Protestants living in the big house in rural Cork in 1921, and Ireland is in turmoil. But 8-year-old Lucy can't bear to leave the seashore, the old house, the woods - so she hatches a plan. It is then that the calamity happens - an accident almost, but...