Showing results by narrator "John Rowe" in All Categories

Swann's Way is Marcel Proust's literary masterpiece and the first part of the multivolume audiobook Remembrance of Things Past. In the opening volume, the narrator travels back in time to recall his childhood and to introduce the listener to Charles Swann, a wealthy friend of the family and celebrity in the Parisian social scene. He again travels back, this time to the youth of Charles Swann in the French town of Combray, to tell the story of the love affair that took place before his own birth.

In the second volume of Proust's great novel, the narrator emerges as an actor in the drama of his own life. Swann has now dwindled into a husband for his former mistress, Odette, and their daughter, Gilberte, becomes the adolescent narrator's playmate and tantalising love object. We move from Paris to the seaside town of Balbec, from ritualised social performances to midsummer spontaneity and from Gilberte to her successor Albertine.

Inspector Purbright is a thoroughly English policeman: affable, polite, dogged and decent. Created by award-winning crime writer Colin Watson, he appeared in 12 Flaxborough mysteries, four of which were adapted for BBC TV under the title Murder Most English. These five radio dramatisations star Peter Jeffrey, John Pullen and John Rowe as Purbright.

Trevor Peacock (The Vicar of Dibley) stars as inspired chef Warwick Hedges in this comedy drama set in an idiosyncratic restaurant in the Cambridgeshire Fens. Warwick’s son, Jack, works alongside his father, which makes him permanently anxious. They are assisted by Samuel, an earthy odd-job man 'who crawled out of the slime with the eels', and Zofia the Polish waitress. Whether hosting unusual guests, dealing with flooding, fuelling father-son rivalry or moving strange stones from the edge of the Fen to his restaurant 'at his own peril', Warwick certainly keeps Mardle Fen on its toes.

Marjorie Steel and Bryce Simpson have finally declared their love for each other, but their chance for happiness is once again yanked out from under them. As Marjorie is forced to confront her demons and find an inner strength to save herself and another, Bryce rushes to solve the puzzles his dead father left behind. An ominous lawyer, twins with a secret, and a premature birth present new obstacles as the two lovers scramble to escape the conundrum and leave their families in peace, all while their desire for each other becomes more and more insatiable.

Keep Me is a collection of five full-length novels from best-selling authors. This collection includes: A Stone in the Sea by A. L. Jackson, Intention by Ava Harrison, On the Way to You by Kandi Steiner, Hero by Lauren Rowe, and The Secret to Dating Your Best Friend's Sister by Meghan Quinn.

Tempt Me is a collection of five full-length novels from best-selling authors. This collection includes: Yours to Bare by Jessica Hawkins - A stand-alone contemporary romance, Show Me the Way by A.L. Jackson - A stand-alone single dad romance, Make Me Yours by Tia Louise - A stand-alone nanny/single dad romance, Breaker by Harloe Rae - A stand-alone brother's best friend romance, and Captain by Lauren Rowe - A stand-alone romantic comedy.

Bryce Simpson did the only thing he could. He spurned Marjorie Steel. Even though he’ll be living on her ranch, he is determined to stay away from her. She’s worthy of more than he can even think about giving, especially now that long-buried memories are surfacing and he’s learning that his father’s sins may go even deeper than he imagined. Bryce’s rejection destroys Marjorie, and she descends to a dark place she thought she’d abandoned forever. She emerges stronger, though, and is determined not to let heartbreak rule her life.

1939, and naïve young newlywed Harriet Pringle arrives in Bucharest with her husband, Guy - just as Europe is about to rip itself apart. She believes she knows everything about the man she has married, but soon realises she knows nothing. Guy is oblivious to her needs and desires, seeming only to care about his job as a university lecturer, his friends and the beautiful, voluptuous Sophie. Struggling to build a life in a strange city, in the face of imminent invasion, Harriet feels bereft - and increasingly isolated.

One of the finest storytellers of her time, Joan Aiken wrote over 100 books for both adults and children. Among her best-known works are the 'Wolves Chronicles', a sequence of novels set in an alternate 19th-century England ruled by Stuart kings. Included here are three tales from that magical, wolf-infested world - The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Black Hearts in Battersea and The Story of Is.

One of the most prolific playwrights of the Jacobean era, Thomas Middleton achieved great success with his cynically satirical comedies and bloodthirsty tragedies. Considered the only true rival to Shakespeare, Middleton is widely believed to have collaborated with the Bard on several plays, including Timon of Athens. This dazzling collection comprises dramatisations of his most famous works, including his two masterpieces, The Changeling and Women Beware Women.

A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of a classic Agatha Christie mystery, starring Lyndsey Marshal, Geoffrey Whitehead and John Rowe. Ten guests travel to an island at the invitation of someone named U. N. Owen. All are strangers, but they have two things in common: they have all been responsible for someone's death, and none will leave the island alive.

Four more delightful tales from one of the most entertaining storytellers of all time. Though writing in the thirteenth century, Chaucer’s wit and observation comes down undiminished through the ages, especially in this accessible modern verse translation. The stories vary considerably from the uproarious Wife of Bath’s Tale, promoting the power of women to the sober account of patient Griselda in the Clerk’s Tale.

Acclaimed author JG Farrell came to fame with his Empire Trilogy, exploring the collapse of British colonialism and its repercussions in three different countries. The first book in the series, Troubles, won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and the Lost Man Booker Prize, while the second, The Siege of Krishnapur, was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction. Included here are three BBC Radio adaptations of the trilogy, plus an edition of Witness History exploring Farrell's tragic accidental death.

Marjorie Steel is still healing from the events of the past year, and she’s happy to put her plans to study culinary arts on hold to help her best friend deal with a difficult pregnancy and two recently adopted troubled boys. The fact that Bryce Simpson spends a lot of time at the Steel Ranch is a benefit, and she’s ready to see if her attraction to him might be something more.

Poet, novelist, critic and campaigner Walter Scott invented the historical novel and shaped the world’s image of Scotland. His tales of heroism, romance and adventure were hugely successful, outselling Jane Austen and Lord Byron, and are still popular today. Included here are adaptations of five of the best-loved books in his ‘Waverley’ series, as well as two bonus programmes.

This illuminating serial charts the transformation of the young Victoria from spirited teenager to shy young bride to celebrated ruler of Britain and ‘Mother of Europe’. But while her roles changed, her essential nature remained the same: vibrant, passionate, principled and fiercely independent. Through extracts from Victoria’s own diaries and letters, and dramatised episodes featuring the characters closest to her, we are given thrilling insight into the thoughts and feelings of the woman behind the crown - and the secrets of her mind and heart.

BBC Radio adaptations of Nick Payne's finest works, brought together on audio for the first time—plus bonus features. Nick Payne is a world-renowned playwright and screenwriter. He won the George Devine Award for his first major play If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet, and Constellations won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play. This collection contains Constellations and Elegy, his two acclaimed plays exploring science, time and love, with new introductions by Nick Payne himself. Also included are three dramas specially written for BBC Radio.

Two boys out sledging in their local park find the body of an old woman in the snow. Who is she? How did she come to be there? Over 10 episodes, we meet people she has encountered, members of her family and her friends, all of whom give us clues about what has led the woman to this place. On our journey to understanding the woman's story, we encounter a series of relationships which combine to form a moving account of modern life and loves.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. A descendant of judge John Hathorne, who oversaw the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, he wrote several works inspired by Puritan New England, with themes of guilt, sin and retribution. This collection contains his classic novel, The Scarlet Letter, as well as four other stories.