Showing results by narrator "Amanda Hale" in All Categories

Amanda Hale and Tom Burke star in a brand new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Charlotte Brontë's most beloved novel, adapted by Rachel Joyce. Orphan Jane learns at an early age that self-control is the surest means of retaining self-respect in adversity. It is a lesson that serves her well in the years ahead as she endures the misery of life with her cruel, uncaring aunt, followed by the harsh regime at Lowood Institution, a charity school for poor children.

This diverse, wide-ranging anthology features readings of 10 of the greatest books in the English language, taken from the BBC's Book at Bedtime and performed by a stellar cast of narrators. Here are nearly 27 hours of sensational stories, from iconic romances and humorous travelogues to pioneering Modernist masterpieces and compelling explorations of the human heart. Comprising much-loved favourites as well as neglected classics, this genre-spanning selection has something for everyone.

In this BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of one of Jane Austen's most beloved works, the devoted Dashwood sisters are forced by tragic circumstances to set about the delicate task of finding suitable husbands. John Willoughby quickly and seemingly irreversibly captures Marianne's heart. Her sister, Elinor, finds few suitors and even fewer reasons to open up in a society fuelled by social status.... 

When British hat manufacturer Christopher Brooke is arrested under Regulation 18B in June 1940, a slow process of personal disintegration begins, affecting his family irreversibly. Irish farm girl, Mary Byrne, arrives in England in July 1940 to work as housekeeper for Cynthia Brooke and her three children, bonding with the family. When Mary is shockingly expelled from the house upon Christopher's release from internment in 1943, her narration continues through the mouth of 15-month-old Katie, conceived on a prison leave.

The Reddening Path is the story of Paméla. Adopted as an infant by a Toronto lesbian couple, Paméla travels to Guatemala as an adult to search for her birth mother. Her quest uncovers a tangle of political and romantic intrigue as she discovers her Mayan heritage and learns about the complexities of life in Guatemala.  

“Dear Ones.” So begins each of an extraordinary collection of letters written to friends and family by Catherine Royce as she contemplated how she would live out her life as it was slowly taken from her by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Writing with great humor, candor, and insight, Catherine stares, unblinking, into the glare of her own mortality.