Showing results by narrator "Alison Larkin" in All Categories

It was an accident. It was dark, it was raining, Alison had only had two drinks. And the other car ran the stop sign. But Alison finds herself trapped under the crushing weight of grief and guilt, feeling increasingly estranged from her husband, Charlie, who has his own burdens. He's in a job he doesn't love so that Alison can stay at home with the kids (and why isn't she more grateful for that?); he has a house in the suburbs and a long commute to and from the city.

Jane Austen Literacy Foundation judges selected 10 stories, which were read by a panel including Justin Young (Lead Writer, Sanditon Seasons 2 & 3), Susannah Harker (Jane Bennet, BBC Television Pride & Prejudice 1995), Natalie Jenner (International bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society and The Bloomsbury Girls), and Helena Kelly (Writer, academic and author of Jane Austen – The Secret Radical) to choose the final three short stories.

A visit to the library can be full of surprises. When the librarian is late for story time, the children go off to look for her and follow mysterious paw prints to find a bear sitting at her desk. Is the bear a new librarian? Not exactly. The new LiBEARian opens a book about bears and utters a loud growl. The kids love it! Then the real librarian appears and sends the bear back into the book he came from. A fun twist at the end rounds out this magic-infused tale about a universal childhood experience - story time at the library.

Based on the theme ‘The Art of Listening’, the fifth year of the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation short story writing competition attracted a record number of entries. Three finalist stories were chosen by the special Jane Austen Literacy Foundation judging panel including Caroline Jane Knight (Jane Austen’s fifth great niece and the Founder of the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation), Susannah Harker (Jane Bennet, BBC Television Pride & Prejudice 1995) and Natalie Jenner (International bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society) and published online for a public vote to choose the winner.

Soulmate Dog tells the brave, moving story of Michelle Slater’s extraordinary relationship with her German Shepherd, Brady. Narrated by Alison Larkin in an easy-to-listen-to, conversational style, it “charts the nature of love and the inevitability of loss that accompanies it,” while showcasing the telepathic language that can exist between dogs and humans.

Nora seems to have it all – a loving husband, children and a comfortable life. But when a secret from her past threatens her carefully constructed world, she is forced to confront the stark realities of her marriage and the issues of her gender in society. The recording is followed by a fascinating conversation in which the actors talk how powerful and relevant the play still is today and how this unique project came to be. Exclusively for Audible the interview is followed by reviews of A Doll’s House, written between 1879 and 1900.