Showing results for "bbc" in Literary Fiction

Miner's son David Powlett-Jones returns from the carnage of the Western Front in 1918, shell-shocked and bitterly hardened by the violence of war. He begins life again as a master at a remote Devon school, controlling the destiny of boys barely his junior. As the years pass David becomes a teacher of rare talent, begins to find peace, and is able to adjust to the changes which are overwhelming society. But soon he will have to face up to the prospect of another terrible war...

Fay Weldon CBE was an award-winning author and self-declared feminist. Weldon's work features what she described as "overweight, plain women" – as she deliberately sought, she said, to write about and give a voice to women who are often overlooked or not featured in the media. She said there...

Including poems specially adapted into melody and song for this audiobook. One of The New York Times Best Audiobooks of 2024 A BBC ‘BETWEEN THE COVERS’ BOOK CLUB PICK 'I didn't want it to end' - Maggie O'Farrell 'Powerful . . . written with a calm, luminous precision' - Colm Tóibín An...

Twelve dramatisations of the best love stories ever written, performed by star casts Treat yourself to this stunning collection of classic stories of love, loss, obstacles overcome and desperate attraction. This is a beautiful, moving and at times thrilling listen which takes you on a journey...

The Other Bennet Sister presents Mary Bennet in a whole new light as she becomes Austen's newest leading lady. Now a major BBC One TV series, starring Richard E. Grant, Ruth Jones and Ella Bruccoleri. Read by the amazing Kristen Atherton. One by one, the Bennet sisters have found their place...

A definitive collection of eight full-cast BBC Radio productions, featuring stellar talent including Alex Jennings, Michael Kitchen, Ben Miles and Bernard Cribbins ‘Great value for money and a fine celebration of one of the most important English authors of the second half of the Twentieth...

Barbara Pym is one of the 20th-century's wittiest, and most underrated, novelists. Her perceptive comedies of manners, centred around the domestic lives and loves of unassuming middle-class Englishwomen, won her many devoted readers and saw her hailed as a modern-day Jane Austen. Yet she spent 15 years out of print in the 1960s and '70s, until Philip Larkin championed her work in the Times Literary Supplement. Her seventh novel was subsequently shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and writers from Jilly Cooper to Alexander McCall Smith continue to laud her talent today.

Iain Banks, aka Iain M Banks, came to fame in 1984 with his transfixing debut The Wasp Factory, described as both ‘a work of unparalleled depravity’ and 'a masterpiece'. In 1993 he was acknowledged as one of the Best of Young British Writers, and his numerous bestselling books include The Crow Road, Complicity and the ‘Culture’ sci-fi series. Collected here are three of his best works, as heard on BBC Radio.

Aspiring actor Robert is always on the look out for work, and isn’t too fussy about what he takes. Chauffeur, prison performer, children’s TV, part-time teacher - he’ll take it all, and one day he’ll be famous. Maybe the next job will be his big breaK. From the writer behind The Vicar of Dibley, this lively comedy stars John Gordon Sinclair, Caroline Quentin, Gary Waldhorn and Gina McKee.

Elizabeth Gaskell was one of Victorian England's pre-eminent female novelists. Admired by Charles Dickens, who described her as his 'dear Scheherazade', she mingled storytelling and social realism to superb effect in her highly acclaimed fiction. This comprehensive collection comprises dramas and readings of her finest works and some lesser-known pieces.

BBC Radio dramatisations of some of Muriel Spark’s best works, plus bonus episode of The Essay: All Miss Brodie’s Girls Muriel Spark was one of Scotland’s brightest and most original literary talents. In a career spanning over 60 years, she published over 20 novels, as well as essays...

Dramatisations of Thomas Mann’s three bestselling novels '"his collection of radio plays is a wonderful way to explore the world of Thomas Mann and comes strongly recommended." - Entertainment Focus One of Germany’s greatest and most revered writers, Thomas Mann won the Nobel Prize for...

A collection of original radio dramas by the much-loved Irish literary legend One of Ireland’s greatest contemporary authors, William Trevor won the Whitbread Prize three times, and was shortlisted four times for the Man Booker Prize. He received an honorary CBE in 1977 for his services to...

Renowned novelist and poet Thomas Hardy is best known for his fatalistic, often tragic novels set in the 'realistic dream-country' of Wessex, in south and south-west England. Drawing on his own life, he created some of the most memorable characters and stories in Victorian literature—many of which are included here. In five dramas taken from Radio 4's 'Hardy's Women' season, we meet a few of Thomas Hardy's most compelling female protagonists.

Fee Drummond has taken over the running of the Carnbeg Hydro Hotel following the death of her husband in a speedboat accident. But Fee is not short of enemies who would love to see her fail. Can she hold her nerve? Meanwhile, the staff of the Hydro are having their ‘Potential Superfactors’ assessed by a management guru, a distinguished concert violinist suffers stage fright on the eve of the Edinburgh Festival, and the bank drops a legal bombshell.

Dramatisations of two novels by the Nobel Prize-winning author Patrick White Australian author Patrick White is is widely regarded as one of the most important English-language novelists of the 20th century. His debut novel, 1939’s Happy Valley, was awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian...

From one of Italy's most acclaimed authors, The Neapolitan Novels is an exploration of the friendship between Lila and Lena, two bright young girls who grew up in the tough, rough streets of postwar Naples. This is no normal friendship; it's a friendship that loves, hurts, supports and destroys - and yet it is one that lasts a lifetime. These four full-cast BBC adaptations bring the streets of Naples vividly to life.

Patricia Gallimore and Miriam Margolyes star in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of the classic comic novel. Strong of will and slender of ankle, 20-year-old orphan Flora Poste is blessed with every virtue save that of being able to earn her own living. Casting around for suitable...

This audiobook is narrated with stunning authenticity by the author, Graeme Armstrong. The Times Top Ten Bestseller A Granta Best of Young British Novelist ‘Trainspotting for a new generation’ – Independent ‘An instant Scottish classic’ – The Skinny 2005. Glasgow is named Europe’s...

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Marian Keye's heartbreaking stunner of a novel, The Mystery of Mercy Close, read by the actress Niamh Daly. Helen Walsh doesn't believe in fear - it's just a thing invented by men to get all the money and good jobs - and yet she's sinking. Her...