Audiobooks

Clever, self-satisfied and interfering, Emma Woodhouse is determined to arrange marriages for her friends, while avoiding one for herself; but the matchmaking finds both Emma and her protégé, poor Harriet, caught in a web of misunderstandings. Abridged.

Set in Yukon during the 1890s Gold Rush, Jack London’s short novel tells of Buck, a pet dog who is stolen and taken to Alaska to work as a sled dog. Read by William Roberts. Unabridged.

F Scott Fitzgerald’s story of the enigmatic Jay Gatsby, living in luxury in his Long Island mansion, captures the flamboyance, carelessness and cruelty of the wealthy during America's Jazz Age. Read by William Hope. Unabridged.

Zorro, the masked alter ego of Don Diego de la Vega, first rode out on his black stallion to avenge the oppressed of Spanish California in The Curse of Capistrano (1919). Zorro was so popular, his creator, Johnston McCulley (1883–1958), wrote three more books of adventures. The novellas are read here by Bill Homewood. Unabridged. The items included in this set are:Sign of Zorro (Read more...) Further Adventures of Zorro (Read more...) Zorro Rides Again (Read more...)

This fifth book in the Clifton Chronicles series opens with an IRA bomb exploding during MV Buckingham’s maiden voyage – with repercussions for Emma Clifton, chairman of Barrington Shipping. Meanwhile, Harry Clifton is campaigning to free a Russian dissident author. Jeffrey Archer’s cliffhanger is read here by Alex Jennings. Unabridged.

In Mary Shelley’s powerful Promethean fable, Dr Frankenstein’s experiment and its terrible outcome is told through the letters of an English explorer who met the doomed scientist as he pursued his monster into the Arctic wilderness. This abridged version is read by Daniel Philpott, Jonathan Oliver and Chris Larkin. Naxos Young Adult Classics. 2 CDs 2hrs 37mins, plus a bonus CD-ROM with a full text and study guide.

Considered a bridge between romanticism and modernism, Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) wrote verse that is simple and unadorned. This collection of 23 complete poems starts with the famous ‘Dover Beach’ and includes ‘The Scholar Gypsy’ and ‘Growing Old’.

Virginia Woolf’s first novel is a haunting account of a naive young woman’s sea voyage to South America – and her internal journey into adulthood. The lyrical intensity of Woolf’s mature prose is already in evidence, read here by one of Britain’s finest actresses.

One of the most popular Russian novels of the 20th century, The Master and Margarita blends surrealism and political satire with a dazzling cast that includes Satan, Pontius Pilate and a talking cat. This careful abridgement of a new translation is read by the charismatic Julian Rhind-Tutt.

Having made a wager at his gentlemen’s club in London, Phileas Fogg, along with his long-suffering manservant Passepartout, sets off on the race of a lifetime – to circumnavigate the globe in exactly 80 days. In pursuit is Detective Fix, convinced that Fogg is a bank robber. Read by Bill Homewood. Unabridged.

In Mary Shelley’s powerful Promethean fable, Dr Frankenstein’s experiment and its terrible outcome is told through the letters of an English explorer who met the doomed scientist as he pursued his monster into the Arctic wilderness. Read by Daniel Philpott, Roger May and Jonathan Oliver.

Written in Reading Gaol, De Profundis is Oscar Wilde's letter to Lord Alfred Douglas, whose relationship with Wilde had led to the writer’s trial and imprisonment for ‘gross indecency’. In the first part, Wilde reflects on Douglas’s vanity and his own weakness, but goes on to describe how his ordeal has brought a deeper wisdom. The work is read here by Simon Russell Beale.

The Lady Elizabeth is the daughter of Henry VIII, but disinherited and declared a bastard after the execution of her mother. How the young Elizabeth survives the savage world of Tudor politics, inherits the throne and becomes queen is the subject of Alison Weir's novel. It is read here by Emma Fielding. Abridged.

DH Lawrence's reflection on mankind's relation to nature, expressed through the story of Lady Chatterley's sexual involvement with her gamekeeper, is read by Maxine Peake.

Written as a Greek tragedy, with the Chorus commenting on the action, Milton's 'dramatic poem' tells the story of blind Samson's revenge on his captors, the Philistines. Performed by Iain Glen and cast, directed by John Tydeman.

This famous tale by Washington Irving (1783–1859) is set before and after the American Revolutionary War and tells of a Dutch villager who went wandering in the Catskill Mountains, fell asleep and awoke 20 years later – after the Revolution – to find the world much changed. Rip van Winkle and two more short stories are read here by Adam Sims. Unabridged.

Thomas De Quincey's powerful autobiographical study describes the psychological effects of his addiction to opium: childhood experience turning into dreams, at first euphoric, but becoming horrific as dependence on the drug deepened. Published in 1822, the book brought De Quincey literary fame and was an important influence on later writers. It is read here by Gunnar Cauthery. Unabridged.

Although stories such as The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Murders in the Rue Morgue have remained popular to this day, Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) felt that his vocation was poetry. This collection includes both stories and poems, plus a biography of Poe. The works are unabridged and read by Kerry Shale, William Roberts and John Chancer.

Set in London in the late 1950s, this novel by the Nobel laureate Doris Lessing (1919–2013) describes the challenges of life in the aftermath of war. It follows the psychological turmoil of Anna, a novelist and a single mother – as Lessing was – struggling to cope as her personal life and political certainties collapse around her. The Golden Notebook (1962) is read here by Juliet Stevenson. Unabridged.

Ian Holm narrates the famous tale of Dr Henry Jekyll and the elixir which he hoped would help him explore the hidden depths of his personality. Jekyll's experiments coincided with the appearance of Mr Edward Hyde on London's streets; but how are the two men related and how can the evil Hyde be stopped? 2 CDs, running time 2.5 hours.

Starring the theatrical Chance twins Dora and Nora, 75, with a past full of jaw-dropping secrets and surprises, Carter's last novel is packed with weird and wonderful characters, mysteries and literary allusions. Read by Eileen Atkins. Abridged. 4 CDs (5 hours)

Douglas Adams on Desert Island Discs, Ursula K LeGuin interviewed on Woman's Hour, Kurt Vonnegut talking on Third Ear in 1990.... Originally broadcast on BBC radio, these interviews feature ten of the really great science fiction writers talking about their art. The other seven writers are Isaac Asimov, Brian Aldiss, Doris Lessing, Michael Moorcock, JG Ballard, Arthur C Clarke (another Desert Islander) and Ray Bradbury. One CD: duration 73 minutes.

Jane Austen's first novel, Lady Susan is written in epistolary style and tells the story of the recently widowed Lady Susan Vernon, an intelligent and highly manipulative woman intent on procuring financially secure matches for herself and her daughter. The novel is read here by a full cast led by Harriet Walter.