Showing results by narrator "Juliet Stevenson" in All Categories

Read by Juliet Stevenson and Simon Callow, A Literary Christmas is a seasonal anthology that collects together poems, short stories, and prose extracts by some of the greatest poets and writers in the English language. Like Charles Dickens’ ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, they are representative of times old and new - from John Donne’s Elizabethan hymn over the baby Jesus to Rudyard Kipling’s "Christmas in India", from Thomas Tusser counting the cost of a Tudor feast to Laurie Lee’s "Cider with Rosie".

Published in 1791, A Simple Story concerns Miss Milner, who announces her passion for her guardian, a Catholic priest, thereby breaking through the barriers of his religious vocation and society’s standards for proper female behaviour.

In Letters of Note: Fathers, Shaun Usher collects letters celebrating weird and wonderful dads.

One of Katherine Mansfield's finest short stories, "Bliss" introduces us to Bertha, who experiences a sense of rapture as she reflects on her life. On her walk home one day, she is overwhelmed by a sense of bliss and contentment. However, her joy later turns to disappointment as she discovers her husband is having an affair with her new friend Pearl.

Published in 1897, The Spoils of Poynton is one of the quintessential works of James's middle period. The "spoils" of the book's title refer to furniture and other objets d'art that the widow Adela Gereth moves to her cottage so that they are kept away from the clutches of her coarse future daughter-in-law, Mona Brigstock. However, events take an unexpected turn when her married son Owen is attracted to her friend, Fleda Vetch.

In this BBC radio full-cast dramatisation of Jane Austen's last fully completed novel, Anne Elliot gets a second chance at love. Anne was persuaded out of an engagement with the not-yet wealthy Captain Wentworth. The Elliot family are now close to financial ruin and are forced to rent out their family home, while Captain Wentworth has returned after making his fortune at sea. How the tables have turned. 

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of 'William and Mary', a brilliant gem of a short story from Roald Dahl, the master of the sting in the tail. Read by Juliet Stevenson and Adrian Scarborough. In William and Mary, Roald Dahl, one of the world’s favourite authors, tells a sinister story about the darker side of human nature. Here, a wronged woman takes revenge on her dead husband.

This is a story from the Bliss & Other Stories collection.

For Lucy, marriage to Mark provides an anchor after several years of drifting casually across countries, into jobs and out of relationships. Now 42, prickly and restless, her anchor is working loose. Bewildered by the demands of motherhood, bored by her work, she has grown resentful of her husband: Mark has difficulties of his own and whilst harsh self-reliance has kept him sane and earned him success, it has alienated his wife.

The summer of 1967, at a decaying house in the heart of Suffolk: an artist is painting a portrait of 13-year-old Maisie and her elder sisters, beautiful Julia and bookish Finn. Maisie embarks on a portrait of her own: she begins an account of her family and of her village friend Daniel Nunn, a young man she idolises, whom she watches over the chasm of a class divide. This is the summer when the three sisters' lives will irrevocably, and terribly, change.

The Gospel of Mark: Juliet Stevenson reads St Mark's account of the life and teachings of Jesus. Specially composed music is included. The readings were part of BBC Radio 4's series of 341 daily episodes of the Bible, broadcast in 1991 and 1992. Abridged by Michael Jones.

When her elderly mother, Pat, is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and admitted to a care-home, Margaret finds herself embarking on a soul-searching journey in which she and her mother come to terms with, their family's traumatic past, and explore Pat's sojourns into another world.

When Mary Lennox is sent from India to live with her uncle at gloomy Misselthwaite Manor, she is the most spoiled and contrary child you could ever meet. But she is also extremely lonely. Until one day, she discovers a walled garden that has been kept secret for years. With the help of a little robin, Mary unearths the key and unlocks the wonder that lies beyond the garden walls - and finds that making friends can be every bit life-changing as a magical garden.

In this sensitive children's adaptation, Beauty movingly describes the friends, people and places - good and bad - that he encounters in the course of his dramatic life as he is passed from master to master. Anna Sewell wrote her book in the late 19th century as an attempt to improve the conditions of the working horse. It remains a unique document of a time when horses were the main means of transport and a heartfelt message against cruelty to animals. 

Some of the most delightful poems ever written for children, brought evocatively to life in this wonderful new audio edition. Ted Hughes wrote an extraordinary body of work for children. This is a selection which includes original recordings made by the author himself as well as new readings by Juliet Stevenson and Michael Morpurgo.

During the summer of her GCSEs Kite's world falls apart when her best friend, Dawn, commits suicide. Kite senses Dawn's spirit around her and it's not until she meets local boy, Garth, that Kite begins to open up - talking to a stranger is easier somehow. Kite would do anything to speak to Dawn just once more, to understand why… Otherwise how can she ever say goodbye?

This is a story from the Bliss & Other Stories collection.

This is a story from the Bliss & Other Stories collection.

This is a story from the Bliss & Other Stories collection.

This is a story from the Bliss & Other Stories collection.