Audiobooks Narrated by Peter John Keeble

The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit

The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (commonly known as Martin Chuzzlewit) is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844. While he was writing it Dickens told a friend that he thought it was his best work, but it was one of his least popular novels. The late nineteenth century English novelist George Gissing read the novel in February 1888 'for refreshment' but felt that it showed 'incomprehensible weakness of story'. Like nearly all of Dickens's novels, Martin Chuzzlewit was first published in monthly instalments. Early sales of the monthly parts were disappointing, compared to previous works, so Dickens changed the plot to send the title character to the United States. Dickens had visited America in 1842 in part as a failed attempt to get the US publishers to honor copyright laws. He satirized the country as a place filled with self-promoting hucksters, eager to sell land sight unseen. In later editions, and in his second visit 24 years later to a much changed US, he made clear it was satire and not a balanced image of nation in a speech and then included that speech in all future editions. The main theme of the novel, according to Dickens's preface, is selfishness, portrayed in a satirical fashion using all the members of the Chuzzlewit family. The novel is also notable for two of Dickens's great villains, Seth Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit. Dickens introduced the first private detective character in this novel. It is dedicated to Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, a friend of Dickens.

Charles Dickens (Author), Peter John Keeble (Narrator)

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The Ultimate Allan Quatermain Collection: 8 Novels, 4 Short Stories & 1 Extracanonical Work

The Ultimate Allan Quatermain Collection includes the 8 full-length novels, 4 short stories and 1 extracanonical work featuring Allan Quatermain. The character Allan Quatermain is an English-born professional big game hunter and occasional trader living in South Africa. An outdoorsman who finds English cities and climate unbearable, he prefers to spend most of his life in Africa, where he grew up under the care of his widower father, a Christian missionary. In the earliest-written novels, native Africans refer to Quatermain as Macumazahn, meaning Watcher-by-Night, a reference to his nocturnal habits and keen instincts. In later-written novels, Macumazahn is said to be a short form of Macumazana, meaning One who stands out. Quatermain is frequently accompanied by his native servant, the Hottentot Hans, a wise and caring family retainer from his youth. His sarcastic comments offer a sharp critique of European conventions. In his final adventures, Quatermain is joined by two British companions, Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good of the Royal Navy, and by his African friend Umslopogaas. Included in this collection: 1. King Solomon's Mines (1885) 2. Allan Quatermain (1887) 3. Allan's Wife and Other Tales (1887): Allan's Wife / Hunter Quatermain's Story / A Tale of Three Lions / Long Odds 4. Marie (1912) 5. Child of Storm (1913) 6. Allan and the Holy Flower (1915) 7. The Ivory Child (1916) 8. The Ancient Allan (1920) 9. She and Allan (1920) 10. Extracanonical Work: Magepa the Buck (1912)

H. Rider Haggard (Author), Elsie Selwyn, Gregg Margarite, John Nicholson, Keith Salis, Kristine Bekere, Lars Rolander, Peter John Keeble, Sean Mckinley (Narrator)

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The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

Nicholas Nickleby or The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is a novel by Charles Dickens originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839. It was Dickens's third novel. The story centres on the life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, a young man who must support his mother and sister after his father dies.

Charles Dickens (Author), Peter John Keeble (Narrator)

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