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Elizabeth Gaskell highlights the difference between the middle and working classes in this tale set in the time of the Industrial Revolution. A largely autobiographical story, she also highlights the good that each group can do for each other, and the friendships and understandings that can blossom between two seemingly irreconcilable means and modes of life. Gaskell shows her great love of people, and of love itself, in this touching and enlightening tale.

Here are some truly spooky stories, given a spine-tingling read by Richard Pasco. The stories include "The Mark of the Beast" by Rudyard Kipling, "Aurelia" by E.T.A. Hoffmann, "Ligeia" by Edgar Allan Poe, "Mrs. Amworth" by E.F. Benson, and "Dracula's Guest" by Bram Stoker.

An absorbing, semi-philosphical tale of love and people driven to extremes. Our hero, a carpenter, loves Hetty Sorel, but she loves Arthur Donnington, a local squire. The story soon progresses onto powerful themes, such as: who has the right to determine who lives and who dies?

Sense and Sensibility is the story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, and their very different responses to love, loss, and the crushing of their hopes and dreams. Austen chooses this novel to comment on the financial situation of women. The Dashwood Sisters are virtually penniles in a world where the "marriage market" is largely governed by money. They lose their home on their father's death and receive more kindness from strangers than from their own brother.

Sydney Carton, a lawyer and wastrel, tries to redeem himself somewhere between Paris and London to make up for his mis-spent youth. A tale of two cities is considered by many to be Dickens' most thrilling novel. Whilst contrasting the tranquility of London with revolution-torn Paris, incident follows incident as Sydney Carton finally redeems himself from his past. Read movingly by Martin Jarvis.

This classic story focusses on a naïve governess who takes charge of two children at the lonely House of Bly. When she begins to see ghosts, she believes that the children do too - with devastating consequences. More than just a simple tale of the supernatural, James poses questions about childhood innocence, corruption, and hysteria.

The short stories of Irish writers appeal to audiences far beyond the shores of Eire. These stories, in turn atmospheric, spookily funny, full of intriguing characters, picturesque, and touching, are steeped in the Irish delight in story-telling and cover an intriguing century of Irish city and country life.

This classic children's story is written from the view point of the horse. Ben Fogle, children's television presenter on animal programmes, gives it an enthusiastic read. Great for all children who love horses.

Based on Charlotte Bronte'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 concentrates on her work. However, she starts to find solace in an unlikely suitor. Could there be more to life than loneliness?

Moll Flanders is the epitome of a "bawdy" woman, who makes few excuses for herself and is unashamed of her shady past. Now converted to religion, Moll recounts her history, which includes thievery, prostitution, incest, and deception amongst a list of other necessary evils. Often shocking and always funny, Moll's story is poignant and captivating, and our charismatic narrator is sure to bring joy to a listener's ears and heart.

The action is set within the claustrophobic confines of a British man-of-war ship in the summer of 1797. Here live the crew of the HMS Indomitable, many of them pressed into service against their will.

Billy Budd, however, enjoys naval life. But the evil master-at-arms, Claggart, loathes his fresh-faced innocence and accuses him of mutiny. From this false charge springs a naval tragedy.

Silas Marner, a weaver, is cast out from his religious community and arrives in Raveloe, where he is feared because of his mysterious nature and brooding manner. When he is left an unwanted child to care for, his love for the child grows, and the unlikely pair find that kindness from the community towards them does too.

Oliver Twist is an orphan who was born in a workhouse. After an unhappy apprenticeship, Oliver steals away to London where he is taken in by thieves, headed by a man named Fagin. He is rescued by Mr Brownlow, but the gang kidnaps him back. Oliver discovers the identity of his parents and the gang is exposed.

Maggie and Tom, brother and sister, try to save their livelihood as their parents flounder in the face of modernization. Maggie befriends the disabled son of a family rival in an attempt to build bridges, and Tom fights hard to reclaim the family property. Having drifted apart, they are brought back together in the novel's dramatic and moving conclusion.

Jane Eyre, an orphan, has to suffer appalling conditions when she is sent away to a correctional school. She lands on her feet, or so it seems, when she becomes adult and obtains a job working for Mr Rochester, a brooding and formidable man who initially scares her, but whom she begins to warm to. At the same time, strange things are happening in the house. What is Adele, his ward, afraid of? And what are the strange banging noises coming from the attic at night time?

Robinson Crusoe is a sailor who becomes stranded on a desert island for over 20 years when a storm destroys the ship he is travelling on. The ultimate tale of isolation and survival against the odds, Crusoe has a series of adventures which are both exciting and saddening, as a listener silently joins a man who is desperate for company, yet always adapting better to island life.

"The Perfect Crime" is written in the first person: "I know I committed the perfect crime." Phoebe Wallowes, a well educated American woman, really irritates him. He also has a genuine terror that she will one day marry him. Something therefore has to be done.

Here are tales of mystery, the supernatural, and the paranormal, all moulded by Robin Bailey's very smooth and rolling tones. These intriguing stories include "The Man of the Night" by Edgar Wallace, "No. 1 Branch Line: The Signalman" by Charles Dickens, "A Terribly Strange Bed" by Wilkie Collins, "Sredni Vashtar" by Saki, "The Werewolf" by Frederick Marryat, "The Mezzotint" by M.R. James, and "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe.

Young and susceptible, Catherine Morland expects dark secrets and many dangers to be lurking in the hidden recesses of Northanger Abbey. In fact, the real obstacles lying in her path are more mundane, but just as serious as her imagined horrors.

Anne Elliot made a big mistake: she let the love of her life get away. But seven years later, he comes back from the sea. As with all Jane Austen novels, this draws much of its appeal from the author's talent for observation and satire. The snobberies of a genteel world are exposed by its demurely mischievious heroine.