Audiobooks narrated by Mark Rice-Oxley

William James Wintle was born in 1861. His talents extended to journalism and writing.He wrote and worked for various magazines and was later the director of a publishing house.He was deeply interested in nature and was a member of many societies as well as a celebrated collector of shells.He died in 1934.

W J Wintle (Author), Mark Rice-Oxley (Narrator)

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Richard Marsh - A Short Story Collection

Richard Bernard Heldmann was born on 12th October 1857, in St Johns Wood, North London. By his early 20’s Heldmann began publishing fiction for the myriad magazine publications that had sprung up and were eager for good well-written content. In October 1882, Heldmann was promoted to co-editor of Union Jack, a popular magazine, but his association with the publication ended suddenly in June 1883. It appears Heldman was prone to issuing forged cheques to finance his lifestyle. In April 1884 he was sentenced to 18 months hard labour. In order to be well away from the scandal and the damage that this had caused to his reputation Heldmann adopted a pseudonym on his release from jail. Shortly thereafter the name ‘Richard Marsh’ began to appear in the literary periodicals. The use of his mother’s maiden name as part of it seems both a release and a lifeline.A stroke of very good fortune arrived with his novel ‘The Beetle’ published in 1897. This would turn out to be his greatest commercial success and added some much-needed gravitas to his literary reputation. Marsh was a prolific writer and wrote almost 80 volumes of fiction as well as many short stories, across many genres from horror and crime to romance and humour. His unusual characters, plotting devices and other literary developments have identified his legacy as one of the best British writers of his time. Richard Marsh died from heart disease in Haywards Heath in Sussex on 9th August 1915. He was 57.

Richard Marsh (Author), Mark Rice-Oxley (Narrator)

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Lord of the Jackals

Sax Rohmer was born on February 15th, 1883 as Arthur Henry Sarsfield in Birmingham to working class parents.Rohmer started his career as a civil servant but soon had ambitions to change careers and write full time.Not content with just fiction he wrote poetry, songs as well as comedy sketches for music hall performers. From these varied beginnings he reinvented himself as Sax Rohmer.He first published in 1903, age 20, with the short story ‘The Mysterious Mummy’ in the magazine Pearson’s Weekly. At this stage his early influences are easy to spot as he pays homage to both Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle. Together with his contemporaries Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen, Rohmer claimed membership to a popular (among creatives) faction of the qabbalistic Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism, Gnosticism, and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Golden Dawn).His career, at this point, is one of transitioning from his earlier genres and short stories, the latter of which were in demand from the plethora of weekly and monthly magazines that were hungry for content and paid relatively well, to full length novels.In 1909 he married Rose Elizabeth Knox to whom he would remain married until his death half a century later.He published his first book Pause! anonymously in 1910 and followed this in 1911 with a stint as ghost-writer on the autobiography of Little Tich, the stage name of the famous 4’ 6” music hall entertainer Harry Relph.The serialization of his first Fu Manchu novel, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, from October 1912 to June 1913 brought him instant success. Though today his works are seen as morally flawed at the time the fast-paced story of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie facing the worldwide conspiracy of the ‘Yellow Peril’ meant only one thing. Sequels.The first three Fu Manchu books were published between 1913–1917. These books were also turned into two successful serials for the cinema by Stoll in the 1920s. (Stoll was based at its own film studios located in Cricklewood, in NW London, which operated from 1920 to 1938 and was owned by Sir Oswald Stoll as the principal base for his Stoll Pictures, which also operated from Surbiton Studios. The studio was the largest in Britain at the time. It was later used for the production of quota quickies. In 1938 the studios were sold off for non-film use. Sir Oswald Stoll is perhaps better known as a theatre owner.)Rohmer then put the character on hiatus whilst he attended to other works and characters. It was only after a 14-year absence in 1931 that Rohmer added a fourth to the series with The Daughter of Fu Manchu after pressure from both the Colliers Magazine and for the marketing opportunity about to be unveiled by the Paramount film The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu, the first talkie version of his works. Rohmer's first effort at reviving the Fu Manchu property was eventually reworked as The Emperor of America as Rohmer was unhappy both with the book as outlined and as it finished. In the meantime, he tried to focus his creative abilities on what was first titled Fu Manchu's Daughter in 1930, but with an older, and knighted, Nayland Smith as the protagonist once more. The results were far superior and jump-started the series back to commercial prominence.In the 28 years from 1931 to 1959, Rohmer added no fewer than 10 new books to the Fu Manchu series, creating thirteen in total and, posthumously, a fourteenth with the collection The Wrath of Fu Manchu.The Fu Manchu series drew a lot of criticism both from the Chinese government and Chinese communities for what was seen as negative and ethnic stereotyping. Whilst many critics say they were products of their time that does not avoid the conflict with modern day sensibilities.Any writer would base a character on a friend or acquaintance and Rohmer was no different. He had made friends with the escapologist Harry Houdini, who wrote to him praising his book The Romance of Sorcery. From this relationship sprang his mystery-solving magician character Bazarada based on Houdini.One book that stands alone in Rohmers’ works is The Orchard of Tears (1918). There are no villains or far-flung locations; instead, there are gentle rabbits and lambs in pastoral settings together with a great deal of philosophical musing, an antidote it seems to the previous few years. The incredible commercial success of Fu Manchu had brought Rohmer both fame and fortune and he wanted to use both to allow him to explore and create other characters as well as other interests.In The Quest of the Sacred Slipper (1919) terror arrives on Britain’s shores when an ego ridden archaeologist happens upon one of Islam's holiest relics—the sacred slipper of the prophet Mohammed. Until it is returned to its rightful people, the Hassan of Aleppo vows his reign of death and destruction shall not cease. Behind these inhuman outrages dwells a secret group of fanatics and not even the best of Scotland Yard detectives seem able to apprehend them.Tales of Chinatown (1922) is a collection of ten stories that first appeared in magazines. It includes a story considered one of his best; "Tcheriapin." The story "The Hand of the Mandarin Quong" was rewritten for this. It had been first published as "Hand of the White Sheikh" but Rohmer changed the setting to a Chinatown background and published it as "The Mystery of the Shriveled Hand" the title then changed for this collection.Rohmer also wrote several novels of supernatural horror, including Brood of the Witch-Queen, which has been described as Rohmer's masterpiece.Unfortunately, despite his ability to generate income, Rohmer lacked the skills to properly manage his wealth and made several very poor business decisions that hobbled him throughout his career. His final success came with a series of novels featuring a female variation on Fu Manchu, Sumuru. This series would run to five novels.Ironically, given that today some of Rohmer’s actions are seen as bordering on racism, his works were banned in Nazi Germany and Rohmer complained loudly that he could not understand such censorship, stating "my stories are not inimical to Nazi ideals".After World War II, Rohmer and his wife moved to New York, only returning to London shortly before his death. Sax Rohmer died on June 1st, 1959, due to an outbreak of influenza, ironically named "Asian Flu".His wife, Rose Elizabeth, together with Cay Van Ash, her husband's former assistant, wrote a biography of Rohmer, Master of Villainy, published in 1972.

Sax Rohmer (Author), Mark Rice-Oxley (Narrator)

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The Hill

R Ellis Roberts (Author), Mark Rice-Oxley (Narrator)

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The White Line

John Ferguson was born on the 18th August 1881 in Stirling in Scotland.He attended the High School there and little other information is available. It is known that he worked primarily in the banking industry. His literary canon is exceedingly small, this being the only volume of his poems ever published. What is known is that he suffered from ill-health and these poems were written whilst in a sanitorium.The book itself was very successful after its publication in 1912, with at least 14 editions published during his lifetime.John Ferguson died on the 8th March 1928 and is buried in the cemetery at Stirling Castle. He was 46.

John Ferguson (Author), Mark Rice-Oxley (Narrator)

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Amy Foster

Joseph Conrad was born on 3rd December 1857 in Berdychiv in the Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. His birthplace had been part of Poland which its neighbours dismembered into their own Empires.Conrad’s early years were spent in constant movement, his father was politically active and frequently in trouble trying to help re-ignite a Polish state which meant arrests and exile and the young Conrad himself suffered from ill-health, spending a year at a retreat in Kyiv recovering. By 11 he was orphaned. His education was mainly private and although he was a voracious reader, he was a poor academic student. Now, being raised by an uncle who wanted Conrad to have a worthwhile job, it was hoped that a merchant-marine career might bring out the best of him.At 16 he was sent to Marseille to embark on that adventure. Conrad himself was determined to be both a sailor and a great writer.Life on board a ship was full of adventures and experiences which included gun-running and close quarter encounters with political conspiracies.By his mid 30’s Conrad had returned to shore permanently to add his prodigious literary talents to full time writing. Although he wrote with a comprehensive command in English his spoken English was often cited as ‘horrible’. He was now also a British Citizen. Conrad brought to English Literature both narrative mastery, compelling prose and fully formed characters as well as a deeper examination of the human psyche in a wealth of work. He wrote many novels, short stories, nonfiction, and memoirs which are rightly regarded today as some of the finest in English literature. Jospeh Conrad died on the 3rd August 1924 at Bishopsbourne, Kent in England. He was 66.

Joseph Conrad (Author), Mark Rice-Oxley (Narrator)

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Transformation

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born on the 30th August 1797 in Somers Town, London.Her mother, the famous feminist philosopher, educator, and writer Mary Wollstonecraft died when Mary was only 11 days old and she was raised by her father, the philosopher, novelist, journalist, and perpetually in debt, William Godwin.Though Mary received little formal education her father taught her a broad range of subjects and added to her bright and curious personality she easily absorbed a good and broad education.In July 1814, after conducting a secret affair with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who had earlier promised to pay off yet another round of her father’s business debts, the pair eloped to France. Within two months, penniless and pregnant they returned to England.Her husbands’ affairs caused her frequent heartbreak but despite all the travails, including the loss of her own child, Shelley’s recent inheritance gave them the opportunity to journey again to Europe.It was here that ‘Frankenstein’ was born and established Mary’s own name in literature.Her life hereafter was plagued with loss; the death of two further children and then her husband in a boating accident. Her writing continued through novels, travel pieces and biographies. Her short stories, some based in Europe, tackle difficult situations and genres as well the obstacles that women were burdened with in society. Her editorship of her late husband’s poetry was also widely praised. Mary’s radical politics continued to guide her journey throughout her life but, by 1840, illness had begun to haunt her years, depriving her of energy and vigour. Mary Shelley died on the 1st February 1851, at Chester Square, London of a suspected brain tumour. She was 53.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Author), Mark Rice-Oxley (Narrator)

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Twilight Alley

Stefan Zweig was born on the 28th November 1881 in Vienna, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and into a wealthy Jewish family with interests in banking and textiles.He studied philosophy at the University of Vienna and achieved his degree in 1904.Zweig first published in 1900 and two decades later was a popular and highly regarded author in many parts of the world, although not in England. During the Great War he served in the Archives of the Ministry of War and supported Austria's war effort through his writings in the ‘Neue Freie Presse’. Whilst his work praised his Country’s progress and, on occasions, its excesses and massacres, he later claimed, in his memoir, that he was a pacifist.In 1912 he began an affair with the married, and mother or two, Friderike Maria von Winternitz, but it was only in 1920 that circumstances allowed them to marry. She took care of much of his business interests and supported him artistically. In this decade too many of his most famous works including the short stories; ‘Amok’, and ‘Letter from an Unknown Woman’ (filmed in 1948 by Max Ophüls), novels; ‘Confusion of Feelings’ and biographies including that on Marie Antoinette (filmed by MGM in 1938) were published.He was also the librettist with Richard Strauss of two operas and a keen collector of autographed musical manuscripts. His collection of over two hundred pieces was later donated to the British Library. In 1934, Zweig, as a Jew, and finding life very difficult under his anti-Semitic government and the neighbouring Nazi’s persuaded him to leave Austria for England. In 1940 Zweig, now divorced and married to his second wife, and former secretary, Lotte Altmann, left London and via New York moved to Petrópolis, a German-colonized town 50 miles north of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Although he continued to write he became, along with his wife, increasingly depressed about the situation in Europe and the future for humanity, His memoir ‘The World of Yesterday’ was completed on the 22nd February 1942.The following day the Zweig’s were found in their house dead of a barbiturate overdose, holding each other’s hand. He was 60.

Stefan Zweig (Author), Mark Rice-Oxley (Narrator)

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