With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten - a pas...

'There was Manderley, our Manderley, secretive and silent as it had always been...Time itself could not wreck the perfect symmetry of those walls, nor the site itself, a jewel in the hollow of a hand.' When Maxim de Winter brings his shy new bride to his beautiful stately home on the Cornwall coast, it seems like all her dreams have come true. The...

When young Lucy Graham marries Sir Michael Audley, all seems well and good. Sir Michael is thoroughly devoted to his new bride and Lady Audley takes great pride in her privileged position at Audley Court. But Sir Michael's daughter, Alicia, is frustrated and uncomfortable with her new stepmother's girlish ways. Shortly afterwards, Sir Michael's nep...

The unhappily married Lady Constantine breaks all the rules of social decorum when she falls in love with Swithin St. Cleeve, an astronomer who is ten years her junior. Her husband's death leaves the lovers free to marry, but the discovery of a legacy forces them apart.

Drawing on the experience of his own struggle to find enlightenment and a deeper spiritual understanding of life, Tolstoy in this audiobook takes us on the final journey towards death with Ivan Ilyich, who, falling victim to an incurable illness, ponders his own life - its shallowness and lack of compassion, wondering what is the meaning of it all....

This audiobook, a uniquely charming Jewish novel from Tsarist rural Russia, provided the principal character for 'Fiddler on the Roof'. Here we have the full story, with all its Jewish humour, wisdom and despair. The central character, Tevye the milkman, goes around the community in the Russian countryside delivering milk and cheese, but also dispe...

Anna Leath is a young widow, an American living in France. Behind her lies an arid marriage and a life deeply influenced by the rigid code of Old New York. Ahead lies new hope: a chance encounter in London with George Darrow, her first love, has left her awakened, disturbed. Anna returns to her beautiful country chateau, Givre, to await her future....

George Eliot's last novel, which tells the story of young Daniel Deronda and his fateful relationship with the astonishing Gwendolen Harleth. At heart a love story, this audiobook is packed with unforgettable characters, mystery, betrayal and sacrifice.

A new edition of the acclaimed Radio 4 dramatisations of Anthony Trollope's gently satirical tales of provincial life, together in one box set. Nearly twenty hours of ironic and witty drama is contained in this box set. The full-star cast includes Anna Massey, Alex Jennings, David Haig, Rosemary Leach, Kenneth Cranham, Emma Fielding and Brenda Blet...

Little Women begins the much-loved story of the March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. The girls grow up amidst the turmoil, adventures and hardships of the American Civil War. The household is presided over by Mrs. March, 'Marmee', who tries to rule with kindness and to create harmony amongst her four little women.

Based on Flaubert's own youthful passion for an older woman, Sentimental Education was described by its author as "the moral history of the men of my generation." It follows the amorous adventures of Frederic Moreau, a law student who, returning home to Normandy from Paris, notices Mme Arnoux, a slender, dark woman several years older than himself....

Ishmael, the narrator, tells of the adventures of Captain Ahab in his relentless quest to seek revenge on the white whale that bit off his leg. Full of allegory and symbolism, Moby Dick is an epic tragedy of tremendous dramatic power and narrative drive.

Alan Bennett's distinctive readings of children's stories have become classics in their own right. His interpretations of the wonderful characters that people Lewis Carroll's extraordinary novels are, as ever, exactly right.

When the personable Captain Wentworth reappears in Anne Elliot's life several years after she had been persuaded to break off their engagement, he makes no secret of his angry indignation but, as they come to know each other again, their feelings are rekindled. There are many obstacles in their path, however, amongst them Anne's egotistical, snobbi...

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast Unabridged by Andy Barratt of Daniel Defoe's less famous sequel to the classic adventure Robinson Crusoe. After returning to England from his island home, Robinson Crusoe sets sail once more in search of adventure. Starring Tim McInnerny as Robinson Crusoe, with Jonathan Tafler, Adrian Grove, Stephen Critchlow, David Timso...

One of the greatest 'castaway novels ever written, 'Robinson Crusoe' sees its namesake struggling on a desert island after a shipwreck. Robinson Crusoe is a sailor who becomes stranded on a desert island for over twenty years when a storm destroys the boat he is travelling on. The ultimate tale of isolation and survival against the odds, Crusoe ha...

Moll Flanders is an often humorous and always brazen woman, who, born into poverty in Newgate prison, has to cheek and swindle her way through life to survive. A loveable and chastizable heroine makes for a great listen. Moll Flanders is the epitome of a 'bawdy' woman, who makes few excuses for herself and is unashamed of her shady past. Now conve...

The story of Paul Morel, torn between three women. A observant and insightful look at the complexities and dangers surrounding human love and attraction. Sons and Lovers is the moving and explicit account of a young man growing up in a closed mining village. Born into a difficult marriage, Paul Morel is shy and introverted and impressionable. As a...

Lucy Snowe, an English girl, goes to work as a governess in Brussels and finds solace in an unlikely suitor. Largely autobiographical fiction. Based on Charlotte's work as a governess in Brussels, Villette concerns the life of Lucy Snowe, an English girl who obtains a post at a girl's school in Belgium. With few friends and little money, Lucy conc...

A joyfully picaresque novel, Tom Jones is satirical and farcical in large doses, as well as confronting serious issues such as the importance of religion in eighteenth-century society. Tom is thrown out of his foster father's house for 'crimes' that he didn't commit, and proceeds to have numerous bawdy adventures and fights in the process of life,...

Madame Bovary is one of Europe's most famous pieces of literature causing a huge scandal when first published in 1856 as a serial in La Revue de Paris and then, after being acquitted at a trial, as a book in 1857. Ahead of its time, Madame Bovary shocked its readers when first published, with its candid themes of adultery and betrayal. Emma Bovary...