Showing results by narrator "Nicholas Boulton" in All Categories

The Paris Classics Collection: Stories of the City immerses you in the rich, timeless world of Paris through a collection of iconic stories that span the spectrum of passion, revolution, romance, and intrigue. From the bustling streets to the glittering ballrooms, some of the greatest novels of all time transport you to the heart of one of the world's most captivating cities. Featuring unforgettable characters, dramatic plots, and a deep dive into the human spirit, this collection showcases the best of Parisian storytelling.

Published in 1896, A Child of the Jago is a gritty and realistic portrayal of life in the slums of London’s East End during the late 19th century. The novel is set in an area known as the Old Jago (based on a real-life slum called the Old Nichol) and vividly describes the poverty, crime and squalor that characterised the impoverished neighbourhood.

Trevelyan d'Augustin and Lady Callista Talliafaire were secret sweethearts, until the day her father dismissed him with a whip across the face. Ten years and three jiltings later, shy Callie is resigned to a quiet village life as the late earl's spinster daughter. But now Trev has returned from his estates in France, upending everything, dragging her into adventures, stealing Hubert the prize-winning bull, and flinging Callie's heart into mayhem again.

One of the greatest love stories ever written, Jane Eyre is the tale of a young woman entangled with the powerful Mr. Rochester. What lurks in the attic at Thornfield, the ancestral home of the surly Mr. Rochester? Will the governess Jane Eyre discover his secret–and having discovered it, live to regret that knowledge? Battling inside Jane are passion and prudence; she struggles to survive the turmoil they cause.

After Captain John Carlisle’s dance with death, he’s retreated to the serenity of the Oneida village with his beloved Dellis McKesson to hide from the inevitable truth that war is coming to the Mohawk River Valley. When duty calls, and John’s expertise is needed to negotiate a treaty with the Six Nations of the Iroquois and the Crown, he’ll once again be forced to decide between his conscience and his king.

Daphnis and Chloe is a gem from the pen of the otherwise unknown second-century CE Greek writer Longus. It is the only work of his to survive, and little is known of him. Though perhaps overshadowed by the Roman magnificence of Ovid’s Metamorphoses (dating from a century earlier), Longus’ story entranced the choreographer Michel Fokine, who persuaded the French composer Maurice Ravel to write music for a ballet on the love story as part of the Ballets Russes’ season in Paris in 1912. Ravel, inspired, produced one of the most ravishing scores of the Impressionist period.

As a Frenchwoman of highly questionable upbringing, Marie-Anne de Vauteuil was shunned by genteel society. But then, an invitation to London on a mission of mercy from the very family who cast her aside lands her back in society - and into the arms of a man who is nothing but trouble. Wealthy American businessman Mason is a) accidentally engaged, b) desperate to get out of it, and c) neither wealthy nor a businessman. When he meets Marie-Anne, she makes him rethink his life as a fraud, and hoping for something he never believed possible: A proper life with a not-so-proper wife.

He was once a legendary highwayman. Now he's a recluse in a ruined French castle, with only a half-wild wolf for a companion. When Lady Leigh Strachan comes looking for a man to aid in her revenge, she's disillusioned to find that the famed Prince of Midnight couldn't help even if he cared to - which he doesn't. S. T. Maitland wants nothing to do with his legend, or with this fierce, beautiful, broken woman... until the old thrill of living on the cutting edge of danger begins to rise in his blood again.

Lord Gideon Birch, wounded former naval Captain and freshly minted Viscount, has a colorful history as a renowned lover of women. But a decade at war has transformed this sensual rake, and what he wants now is only to live a life on his own terms. And so, he comes to the quietest village in England, searching for serenity and instead, encounters an astonishingly enthralling pair of green eyes that unsettle his carefully constructed world.

In this audiobook, Oxford biologist John Parrington proposes a radical new theory of human consciousness, arguing that a qualitative leap in consciousness occurred during human evolution as language and tool use transformed our brains. Rejecting outdated views of the brain as a hard-wired circuit diagram, he draws on the latest insights from neuroscience to show that meaning is created within our heads through a dynamic interaction of oscillating brain waves.

Moving from the heart of the city to the Sussex countryside is a big undertaking for born townies, Ollie Harcourt, his wife, Caro, and their twelve-year-old daughter, Jade. But when they view Cold Hill House – a huge, dilapidated, Georgian mansion – they are filled with excitement. Despite the financial strain of the move, Ollie sees Cold Hill House as a paradise for his animal-loving daughter, a base for his web-design business and a terrific long-term investment.

Provocateur and spy for His Majesty, Captain John Carlisle returns to Fort Niagara with the secrets he stole in the arms of the beautiful Oneida innkeeper, Dellis McKesson. Determined to complete his mission and clear his name, he’ll see justice done—and damn the consequences. Now, he finds himself drawn into political intrigue, as the British prepare to launch a three-pronged attack that will bring the rebels and the Mohawk River Valley to its knees. A dangerous revelation finds Dellis as whispers of intrigue insinuate her beloved is not all that he seems.

Father Brown: The Essential Stories brings together the finest tales of the beloved amateur detective, Father Brown - a small, unassuming priest with a remarkable knack for solving the most baffling crimes. With his quiet wisdom, sharp intuition, and deep understanding of human nature, Father Brown solves cases that baffle even the most seasoned detectives.

The Complete Father Brown Collection: Books 1-5, read by the outstanding Nicholas Boulton, includes unabridged recordings of the complete works of Father Brown—G. K. Chesterton's beloved amateur sleuth.

The G.K. Chesterton Fiction Collection brings together thirteen of Chesterton's major novels and short story collections, including the complete compendium of his beloved Father Brown stories. This collection takes you from his first published novel, The Napoleon of Notting Hill (often cited as inspiration for 1984) to stories of his monocled amateur sleuth, Father Brown, and all the way through to his final novel, the high satire The Return of Don Quixote.

Dickens weaves a tale of mystery, betrayal, and social unrest, centered around the simple, good-hearted Barnaby Rudge, a man with a mysterious past and a deep connection to the chaos brewing in London. As Barnaby’s journey unfolds, he is caught in the whirlwind of political and social upheaval, facing dark secrets, unexpected twists, and a society teetering on the brink of violence.

Praised by Chekhov as his favorite writer, Nikolai Leskov occupies a unique place in Russian literature. His original stories often seem like folk-tales, their larger-than-life characters including soldiers, Tsars, priests and gypsies. Leskov's storytelling, simple in its style, combines a deep religious spirit with comic absurdity. The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Leskov's best-known work, is a realist account of a young woman who escapes from her loveless marriage through adultery, leading to violence and murder

Appearing in 1854, Hide and Seek was Wilkie Collins’s third published novel. At the centre of the plot is the mystery surrounding a deaf and dumb girl known as Madonna, whom the painter Valentine Blyth rescues from her life as a circus performer. But it is only when Blyth’s friend Zack Thorpe rebels against his disciplinarian father and falls into bad company that the secret of Madonna is revealed.

William Butler Yeats remains one of the most popular poets of the 20th century.

"The Lake Isle of Innisfree," "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven," "Down by the Salley Gardens," "The Secret Rose": these are just a few of the poems that made William Butler Yeats an international figure. Born in Dublin in 1865, Yeats drew strength from the Irish tradition, as can be seen in this special audiobook, which presents the most important poems in the context of his life and ambitions.

John Donne, Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, Thomas Carew, and Henry Vaughan: these were some of the 17th-century writers who devised a new form of poetry full of wit, intellect and grace, which we now call Metaphysical poetry. They wrote about their deepest religious feelings and their carnal pleasures in a way that was radically new and challenging to their readers. Their work was largely misunderstood or ignored for two centuries, until 20th-century critics rediscovered it, finding in it a deep originality and a willingness to experiment.