Literary Criticism Audiobooks | Fiction & Literature

A Wilder Shore: The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson

A portrait of the fascinating, unusual and fruitful creative partnership between Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson The romance between Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson was an unlikely Victorian love story: he was an ambitious but drifting college-educated writer from a prominent family in Scotland; she was a forceful and determined farm girl from Indiana with a high school education. She was married, with children, and 10 years his senior when they met in France in 1876. How could a union between them work? A Wilder Shore is a portrait of these two extraordinary people and a nuanced examination of the improbable union that stimulated, frustrated and ultimately sustained them. The book travels the world with the couple as they seek better health for him, a looser lifestyle and more creative freedom, beginning in an art colony outside Paris and ending in Samoa, where they lived and joined the native islanders' fight for independence from imperialist powers. Along the way, the ferment of the Stevensons' deeply loving but stormy marriage produced literary masterpieces by Robert such as Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This sweeping love story of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson and their search for freedom and self-discovery opens up new perspectives on both writers, as well as showing how astonishingly modern they were for their times.

Camille Peri (Author), Jeanette Illidge, TBD (Narrator)

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Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness

A new investigation from Dr Mark Aldridge, exploring a lifetime of Agatha Christie’s Miss Jane Marple. In Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness,‘Agathologist’ Dr Mark Aldridge looks at nearly a century of St Mary Mead’s most famous resident and uses his own detective skills to uncover new information about Miss Jane Marple’s appearances on page, stage, screen and beyond. Drawing on a range of material, some of which is newly discovered and previously unpublished, this book explores everything about Miss Marple, from her origins in a series of short stories penned by Christie, to the recent bestselling HarperCollins collection Marple: Twelve New Stories. This accessible, entertaining and illustrated guide to the world of Miss Marple pieces together the evidence in order to tell you everything you need to know about the world’s favourite female detective.

Mark Aldridge (Author), Jane Slavin, To Be Announced (Narrator)

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Question 7

Brought to you by Penguin. Beginning at a love hotel by Japan’s Inland Sea and ending by a river in Tasmania, Question 7 is about the choices we make about love and the chain reaction that follows. By way of H. G. Wells and Rebecca West’s affair through 1930s nuclear physics to Flanagan's father working as a slave labourer near Hiroshima when the atom bomb is dropped, this daisy chain of events reaches fission when Flanagan as a young man finds himself trapped in a rapid on a wild river not knowing if he is to live or to die. At once a love song to his island home and to his parents, this hypnotic melding of dream, history, place and memory is about how our lives so often arise out of the stories of others and the stories we invent about ourselves. ©2024 Richard Flanagan (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Richard Flanagan (Author), Richard Flanagan, TBD (Narrator)

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The Write Stuff: 40 Episodes from the Panel Game of Literary Correctness

Highlights from the light-hearted literary quiz chaired by James Walton The Write Stuff is the book-based panel show that takes a witty and whimsical look at well-known authors and their work. Host James Walton challenges the erudite contestants with tricky literary teasers, which they endeavour to answer using a combination of knowledge and guesswork. Each episode is themed around an ‘Author of the Week’, who is the subject of the introductory rounds in which the panellists read out favourite quotations from their writing and field questions about their life. Among the intervening rounds are ‘Connections’, ‘Odd One Out’, a music round, an archive round and a fast-paced, fingers-on-buzzers round of general literary knowledge. And for the rib-tickling finale, the contestants are tasked with penning parodies in the style of the chosen author, resulting in comic gems such as Jerome K Jerome’s ‘Three Men on a Club 18-30 Holiday’, a hardboiled crime novel in the style of Virginia Woolf, and a Twitter thread by Jane Eyre. Collected here are 40 of the finest episodes from the show’s 17 series, featuring iconic writers from Jane Austen and Charles Dickens to James Joyce, Anton Chekhov, William Wordsworth and John Milton. Pitting their wits against each other are the fiercely competitive team captains Sebastian Faulks and John Walsh, aided by celebrity guests including Stephen Fry, Miles Kington, Philippa Gregory, Sue Limb, Simon Brett, Lynne Truss, John O’Farrell, Natalie Haynes and Mark Billingham. Also included is a Christmas special, filled with festive quizzing and seasonally themed pastiches. Clever, funny and decidedly unstuffy, this knockabout show is a must for bookworms, bibliophiles and anyone who enjoys mixing some laughter with their literature. Production credits Compiled, written and presented by James Walton Produced by John Rolph, Katie Marsden, Dawn Ellis, Alexandra Smith and Sam Michell Readers: Rachel Atkins, Beth Chalmers and Becky Hindley First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: Jane Austen 31 July 1998 DH Lawrence 28 August 1998 Charles Dickens 4 September 1998 Arthur Conan Doyle 14 July 1999 The Brontë Sisters 21 July 1999 James Joyce 28 July 1999 Oscar Wilde 11 August 1999 William Wordsworth 11 April 2001 Samuel Taylor Coleridge 10 April 2002 Virginia Woolf 17 April 2002 George Orwell 2 April 2003 Dylan Thomas 12 May 2004 Rudyard Kipling 26 May 2004 Alexander Pope 9 June 2004 Samuel Pepys 16 June 2004 The Write Stuff at Christmas 29 December 2004 Lord Byron 25 May 2005 John Milton 22 June 2005 Charles Dickens 29 June 2005 Henry James 19 June 2006 Thomas Hardy 17 July 2006 F Scott Fitzgerald 9 April 2007 John Keats 16 April 2007 Jonathan Swift 7 April 2008 Hans Christian Andersen 14 April 2008 George Eliot 28 April 2004 DH Lawrence 3 November 2008 Marcel Proust 19 October 2010 Daniel Defoe 27 January 2012 Gustav Flaubert 3 February 2012 HG Wells 24 February 2012 The Brontës 12 May 2013 Mark Twain 19 May 2013 Greek Tragedy 26 May 2013 William Blake 9 June 2013 Gerald Manley Hopkins 19 October 2014 Jerome K Jerome 26 October 2014 Henry Fielding 2 November 2014 Virginia Woolf 9 November 2014 © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

James Walton (Author), James Walton, John O’farrell, Lynne Truss, Mark Billingham, Natalie Haynes, Nigel Williams, Sebastian Faulks, Simon Brett, Stephen Fry, Sue Limb, Various (Narrator)

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Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About The End of the World

Dorian Lynskey (Author), Dorian Lynskey, TBD (Narrator)

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Reading Lessons: The books we read at school, the conversations they spark and why they matter

Brought to you by Penguin. An English teacher's love letter to reading and the many ways literature can make us, and our lives, better. How can a Victorian poem help teenagers understand YouTube misogyny? Can Jane Eyre encourage us to speak out? What can Lady Macbeth teach us about empathy? Should our expectations for our futures be any greater than Pip’s? And why is it so important to make space for these conversations in the first place? Over her twenty-five-year career, English teacher Carol Atherton has taught generations of students texts that will be familiar to many of us from our own schooldays. But while the staples of exam syllabuses and reading lists remain largely unchanged, their significance – and their relevance - evolves with each class as they encounter them for the first time. Each chapter of Reading Lessons invites us to take a fresh look at these novels, plays and poems, revealing how they have shaped our beliefs, our values, and how we interact as a society. As she recalls her own evolution as a teacher, Atherton emphasises the vital, undervalued role teachers play, illustrates how essential reading is for developing our empathy, and makes a passionate case for the enduring power of literature. ©2024 Carol Atherton (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Carol Atherton (Author), Emma Cunniffe, TBD (Narrator)

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The Book of Japanese Folklore: An Encyclopedia of the Spirits, Monsters, and Yokai of Japanese Myth:

Discover everything you've ever wondered about the legendary spirits, creatures, and figures of Japanese folklore including how they have found their way into every corner of our pop culture from the creator of the podcast Uncanny Japan. Welcome to The Book of Japanese Folklore: a fascinating journey through Japan's folklore through profiles of the legendary creatures and beings who continue to live on in pop culture today. From the sly kitsune to the orgrish oni and mischievous shape-shifting tanuki, learn all about the origins of these fantastical and mythical creatures. This gorgeous package is complete with stained edges and stunning four-color illustrations. With information on their cultural significance, a retelling of a popular tale tied to that particular yokai, and how it's been spun into today's popular culture, this handsome tome teaches you about the stories and histories of the beings that inspired characters in your favorite movies, animes, manga, and games. Adventure, mystery, and amazing tales await in The Book of Japanese Folklore.

Thersa Matsuura (Author), Thersa Matsuura (Narrator)

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Prophetic Leadership and Visionary Hope: New Essays on the Work of Cornel West

Thirty years have passed since Cornel West's book Race Matters rose to the top of the bestseller lists in 1993. Yet his book remains as relevant as ever to American culture-even more so, if one considers its influence on contemporary racial justice movements such as Black Lives Matter, prison justice, and the fight for police reform. Prophetic Leadership and Visionary Hope looks back to the original 1993 text and forward into the future of racial understanding and healing in our current century. Prophetic Leadership and Visionary Hope offers new points of entry into the thorny issues that the 1993 text addressed: the challenge of leadership in a culture marked by the legacy of white supremacy; the limited value of liberal affirmative action programs in promoting the affirmation of Black humanity; the dangerous seductions of African American conservatism and the question of Black self-regard; the necessity and difficulty of cross-race solidarity and cross-religious affinity; the need to channel legitimate Black rage over untenable conditions of existence into productive opportunities and viewpoints. With essays that span the topics of history, politics, philosophy, religion, cultural studies, music, and aesthetics, Prophetic Leadership and Visionary Hope is as wide-ranging as the thinker whose ideas it engages, interrogates, and celebrates.

Barbara Will (Author), Deanna Anthony (Narrator)

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The Secret Lives of Booksellers & Librarians

Brought to you by Penguin. To be a bookseller or librarian . . . You have to play detective. Be a treasure hunter. A matchmaker. A brilliant listener. A person who creates a kind of magic by pulling a book from a shelf, handing it to someone and saying, 'You've got to read this. You're going to love it'. In this love letter to the heroes of literacy, James Patterson uncovers true stories from booksellers and librarians. Prepare to enter a world where you can feed your curiosities, discover new voices, and find whatever you need. Meet the smart and talented people who live between the shelves - and who can't wait to help you find your next great read. PRAISE FOR JAMES PATTERSON 'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades.' LEE CHILD 'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' IAN RANKIN 'The master storyteller of our times' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON ©2024 James Patterson (P)2024 Penguin Audio

James Patterson (Author), Amy Jensen, Daniel Henning, Deanna Anthony, Jane Oppenheimer, Jenn Lee, Jennifer Pickens, Marni Penning, Nancy Peterson, Rob Reider, Susan Hanfield, TBD, Tom Force (Narrator)

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The Black Box: Writing the Race

Brought to you by Penguin. A foundational reckoning with how Black Americans have used the written word to define and redefine themselves over the course of the country's history. Distilled over many years from Henry Louis Gates Jr's legendary Harvard course in African American Studies, The Black Box: Writing the Race is the story of Black self-definition in America through the prism of the writers who have led the way. From Phillis Wheatley and Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, to Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Toni Morrison, these writers used words to create a liveable world – a “home” – for Black people destined to live in a bitterly racist society. This is a community that defined and transformed itself in defiance of oppression and lies; a collective act of resistance and transcendence that is at the heart of its self-definition. Out of that contested ground has flowered a resilient, creative, powerful, diverse culture formed by people who have often disagreed markedly about what it means to be 'Black', and about how best to shape a usable past out of the materials at hand, to call into being a more just and equitable future. This is the epic story of how, through essays and speeches, novels, plays and poems, a long line of creative thinkers has unveiled the contours of – and resisted confinement in – the black box that this “nation within a nation” has been assigned, from its founding to today. It is a book that records the compelling saga of the creation of a people. ©2024 Henry Louis Gates Jr (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Henry Louis Gates (Author), Dominic Hoffman, TBD (Narrator)

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From Mammies to Militants: Domestics in Black American Literature from Charles Chesnutt to Toni Morr

From Charles Chesnutt's The Marrow of Tradition to Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, Black writers, some of whom worked as maids themselves, have manipulated the stereotype in a strategic way as a figure to comment on Black-white relations or to dramatize the conflicts of the Black protagonists. In fact, the characters themselves, like real-life maids, often use the stereotype to their advantage or to trick their oppressors. Harris combines folkloristic, sociological, historical, and psychological analyses with literary ones, drawing on her own interviews with Black women who worked as domestics. She explores the differences between Northern and Southern maids and between 'mammy' and 'militant.' Often privileging political statements over realistic characterization in the design of their texts, the authors in Harris's study urged Black Americans to take action to change their powerless conditions, politely if possible, violently if necessary. In her new afterword, 'From Militants to Movie Stars,' Harris looks at domestic workers in African American literature after the original publication of her book in 1982. Exploring five subsequent literary treatments of Black domestic workers, Harris tracks how the landscape of representation of domestic workers has broken with tradition and continues to transform into something entirely new.

Trudier Harris (Author), Diana Blue (Narrator)

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A Poetry Handbook

“Mary Oliver would probably never admit to anything so grandiose as an effort to connect the conscious mind and the heart (that’s what she says poetry can do), but that is exactly what she accomplishes in this stunning little handbook.”—Los Angeles Times From the beloved, legendary poet, the ultimate guide to writing and understanding poetry. With passion and wit, Mary Oliver skillfully imparts expertise from her long, celebrated career as a disguised poet. She walks readers through exactly how a poem is built, from meter and rhyme, to form and diction, to sound and sense, drawing on poems by Robert Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, and others. This handbook is an invaluable glimpse into Oliver’s prolific mind—a must-have for all poetry-lovers.

Mary Oliver (Author), Kimberly Farr (Narrator)

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Literary Criticism Audiobooks in Fiction & Literature