“Zarr and Dupuis’ production for the Canada-based Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre was notable for its lack of sentimentality: despite the happy ending, they emphasized the significance of Christmas as the time of year when individuals should take a long hard look at themselves and consider whether they need to reform. Would that everyone could follow Scrooge’s example.” —Laurence Raw, Radio Drama Reviews Online, on A Christmas Carol
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- The Ultimate Classic Collection for Children
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Stories by L. M. Montgomery, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, Hans Christian Andersen, The Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, Frances Hodgson Burnett, George Zarr, and L. Frank Baum
Performed by a full cast
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Release Date: 6/21/22
Formats: Digital Audy
This delightful collection of thirteen children’s classic stories features Alice in Wonderland*, The Bell, A Christmas Carol, Cinderella*, Emily of New Moon, The Little Match Girl, The Little Mermaid, Little Red Riding Hood, Scourge of the Desert**, The Secret Garden, Sleeping Beauty*, Snow White*, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
*Awarded Gold (full-cast dramatization) – HEAR Now: The Audio Fiction and Arts Festival
** International Radio Festival Winner- The Ultimate Classic Collection for Children
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Stories by L. M. Montgomery, Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, Hans Christian Andersen, The Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, Frances Hodgson Burnett, George Zarr, and L. Frank Baum
Performed by a full cast
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Release Date: 6/21/22
Formats: Digital Audy
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- The Essential Dickens Christmas: A Christmas Carol and Eight Festive Tales
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Music arranged and performed by Kelvin Towse
Read by various narrators
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Release Date: 10/06/20
Formats: Digital Audy
Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol—A Ghost Story of Christmas in Five Staves when he was 31; the first edition was published on 19th December 1843 and had sold out just four days later and by the end of 1844, there were already 13 reprints. Now with numerous adaptations for film, television, radio, stage, and indeed, audiobooks, A Christmas Carol has, for many, become an essential part of Christmas!
Raconteurs Audio has created this audio anthology to include Dickens’ two Christmas novellas, The Chimes and The Cricket on the Hearth, as well as a collection of his lesser known short stories with a Christmas theme.
A Christmas Carol
Stave 1 - Marley’s Ghost read by Liam Gerrard
Stave 2 - The First of Three Spirits read by Tim Bruce
Stave 3 - The Second of Three Spirits read by James Gillies
Stave 4 - The Last of the Spirits read by Greg Wagland
Stave 5 - The End of It read by Malk WilliamsMusic
Stave 1 - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - English Traditional
Stave 2 - The Three Kings - Peter Cornelius
Stave 3 - Gabriel’s Message - Basque Noel
Stave 4 - A Coventry Carol - English Traditional
Stave 5 - This Is the Truth - English Traditional
Finale - In Dulci Jubilo - German TraditionalOriginal music arranged and produced by Kelvin Towse for this audiobook production.
Festive Tales
The Haunted House read by Greg Wagland
A Christmas Tree read by Nigel Patterson
The Chimes read by James Gillies
The Christmas Goblin read by Liam Gerrard
The Cricket on the Hearth read by Helen Lloyd
Nobody’s Story read by Malk Williams
A Child’s Dream of a Star read by Tim Bruce
What Christmas Is as We Grow Older read by James GilliesThese stories originally published between 1843 and 1871 are in the public domain. The traditional music is also in the public domain.
- The Essential Dickens Christmas: A Christmas Carol and Eight Festive Tales
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Music arranged and performed by Kelvin Towse
Read by various narrators
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Release Date: 10/06/20
Formats: Digital Audy
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- The Children’s Classic Collection
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By Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Hans Christian Andersen, and Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm
Produced by Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre
Performed by a full cast
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Release Date: 11/22/16
Formats: Digital Audy
This delightful collection of children’s stories is perfect listening for the whole family. Featured are four beloved stories to entice your imagination, including A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, The Bell by Hans Christian Andersen, and Snow White by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
Each story is performed by a full cast of voice actors with sound effects and music.
- The Children’s Classic Collection
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By Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Hans Christian Andersen, and Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm
Produced by Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre
Performed by a full cast
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Release Date: 11/22/16
Formats: Digital Audy
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- A Special Holiday Collection
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By Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre
Stories by George Zarr, Charles Dickens, and Lewis Carroll
Performed by a full cast
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Release Date: 11/03/15
Formats: Digital Audy
This is the perfect stocking stuffer for the audiobook lovers on your list. This special holiday collection features three entertaining and delightful stories for the entire family to enjoy.
The Spirit of Christmas Day (The First Noelle Productions) by George Zarr is an uplifting and humorous story filled with an inspirational message of hope. John, a stressed-out working father, embarks on a journey of reconnection with the true meaning of today’s Christmas. This is a new holiday tradition featuring a full cast of characters, music, and sound effects. Also includes The Week After It’s Christmas Day.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens tells the classic tale of a miserly man who comes to realize the true spirit of Christmas. This recording features virtuoso performances from the entire cast, riveting sound effects, and original music.
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll comes to life again in this dramatized version of the timeless classic, with stellar performances by Georgia Lee Schultz as Alice, and multi-award-winning Barbara Rosenblat as the Mouse, Duchess, Cheshire Cat, and the Queen. This version features a full cast of characters, music, and sound effects.
Credits:
The Spirit of Christmas Day / The Week After It’s Christmas Day
FEATURING KEITH BURNETT AS THE DAD
Cast: Denise Benoit, Sarah Buchanan, Keith Burnett, Bill Craven, Georgia Craven, Sam Craven, Will Craven, Celeste Dupuis, Noelle Dupuis, Emma McDonald, Georgia Lee Schultz, and Laura Van Veen
Written, directed, and music composed by George Zarr
Executive producer: Noelle Dupuis
Recording engineer: David Farquhar
A Christmas Carol
FEATURING MICHAEL DICK AS EBENEZER SCROOGE
MICHAEL DICK: Ebenezer Scrooge BOB TELFER: Narrator, Fezziwig and Businessman BILL TYE: Marley’s Ghost and Businessman NORM MCLEOD: First Spirit JAN HOLT: Second Spirit, Charwomen and Party Guest OLIVER GEORGIOU: Young Scrooge and Nephew Fred NOELLE DUPUIS: Mrs. Cratchit KEITH BURNETT: Bob Cratchit and Old Joe ALEX TOMASZEWSKI: Charity Seeker Poole and Peter Cratchit LAURA VAN VEEN: Martha, Belle and Third Spirit ALEXANDRAPOOLE: Kate PAT GOUGH: Mrs. Dilber HOPE O’BRIEN: Fan and Party Guest SHANESSA HARRIS: Peggy, Buck and Street Kid BURKE BECHARD: Belinda and Boy Caroler CELESTE DUPUIS: Tiny Tim DAVID FARQUHAR: Party Guest GEORGE ZARR: Businessman
Directed by George Zarr and Noelle Dupuis
Executive Producer/Recording Engineer/Post Production: David Farquhar
Recording/Mastering: Brett Sansom
Alice in Wonderland
FEATURING GEORGIA LEE SCHULTZ AS ALICE
AND
BARBARA ROSENBLAT AS THE MOUSE, DUCHESS, CHESHIRE CAT, AND THE QUEEN
Along with
ALEXANDRA POOLE: Sister, MICHAEL DICK: Rabbit and March Hare, BOB TELFER: Dodo, Pat, Fish and Mad Hatter, BRADY VAN VAERENBERGH: Parrot and Caterpillar, ALAINA WALKER: Duck and Two, BILL TYE: Bill, Mock Turtle and Five, KEITH BURNETT: Dormouse, NORM MCLEOD: Seven, DAVID FARQUHAR: Knave, GREG SHEEN: King
Adapted for Audio by Diane Vanden Hoven
Codirected by Pat Gough and Laura Van Veen
Executive producer: David Farquhar
Recording engineer/sound design/mixing: David Farquhar
‘My Garden Back Home’ music and lyrics by George Zarr, performed by Georgia Lee Schultz, used by permission
- A Special Holiday Collection
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By Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre
Stories by George Zarr, Charles Dickens, and Lewis Carroll
Performed by a full cast
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Release Date: 11/03/15
Formats: Digital Audy
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- A Christmas Carol
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Adapted by George Zarr
A Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre production
Performed by a full cast
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Release Date: 1/13/15
Formats: Digital Audy
Based on the classic story by Charles Dickens
In this fully dramatized adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Michael Dick (Ebenezer Scrooge) and cast take you on an incredible journey into the supernatural as a miserly man comes to realize the true spirit of Christmas.
Featuring virtuoso performances from the entire cast, riveting sound effects, and original music, Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol is an adventure in sound and imagination.
- A Christmas Carol
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Adapted by George Zarr
A Voices in the Wind Audio Theatre production
Performed by a full cast
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Release Date: 1/13/15
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Macabre Mansion Presents … A Christmas Carol
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Adapted by Kevin Herren
Performed by a full cast
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Release Date: 12/02/14
Formats: Digital Audy
This highly entertaining audio dramatization of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol features a star-studded cast that includes John de Lancie, Daniel Roebuck, Jim O’Rear, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Tiffany LaBarbera, Virginia Hey, Kyle Hebert, and Reggie Bannister. It’s eighty minutes of fun for the whole family!
- Macabre Mansion Presents … A Christmas Carol
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Adapted by Kevin Herren
Performed by a full cast
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Release Date: 12/02/14
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Classic Christmas Tales by Famous Authors, Vol. 1
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Stories by Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, and others
Read by Bobbie Frohman and David Thorn
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Release Date: 1/01/13
Formats: Digital Audy
Enjoy a timeless collection of classic Christmas tales, all available in one audiobook! Classic Christmas Tales by Famous Authors, Volume 1 includes:
- "The Royal Truffle Hunt" by Anthony Thorn
- "A Christmas Dream and How it Came True" by Louisa May Alcott
- "The Sabots of Little Wolff" by Fran├ºois Copp├®e
- "A Christmas Guest" by Selma Lagerlöf
- "Christmas Goblins" by Charles Dickens
- "At Christmas Time" by Anton Chekhov
- "The Heavenly Christmas Tree" by Fydor Dostoevsky
- Classic Christmas Tales by Famous Authors, Vol. 1
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Stories by Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, and others
Read by Bobbie Frohman and David Thorn
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Release Date: 1/01/13
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Great Classic Holiday Stories
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By Charles Dickens, O. Henry, and others
Read by various narrators
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Release Date: 10/16/12
Formats: Digital Audy
Enjoy the traditions of holidays past with this classic collection of fun and touching stories.
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, read by John Mawson
- Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus by Francis Pharcellus Church, read by Paul Boehmer
- The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, read by Paul Boehmer
- ’Twas the Night before Christmas by Clement C. Moore, read by Gregory Itzin
- Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Dogs by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott, read by Dana Green
- The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter, read by Jane Carr
- Old Christmas by Washington Irving, read by Gregory Itzin
- Christmas at Red Butte by L. M. Montgomery, read by Dana Green
- The Christmas Surprise at Enderly Road by L. M. Montgomery, read by Paul Boehmer
- Great Classic Holiday Stories
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By Charles Dickens, O. Henry, and others
Read by various narrators
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Release Date: 10/16/12
Formats: Digital Audy
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- David Copperfield
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Read by Ralph Cosham
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Release Date: 4/19/12
Formats: Digital Audy
David Copperfieldis the timeless tale of a thoughtful orphan discovering how to live and love in a cutthroat, indifferent adult world. It firmly embraces all the eternal freshness, the comic delights, the tender warmth, and the ghastly horrors of childhood.
Of all Charles Dickens' novels, this is perhaps the most revealing, both of Dickens himself and of the society of his time. Certainly Copperfield's experiences—his early rejection, child labor in a warehouse, experience as a journalist, and final success as a novelist—are strikingly similar to Dickens' own. It is little wonder that Dickens said of it, "Of all my books I like this the best…Like many fond parents I have in my heart of hearts a favorite child. And his name isDavid Copperfield."
- David Copperfield
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Read by Ralph Cosham
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Release Date: 4/19/12
Formats: Digital Audy
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- A Christmas Carol
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Read by Peter Baker
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Release Date: 1/01/12
Formats: Digital Audy
Ebenezer Scrooge refuses to accept that Christmas is a time for peace and goodwill to all men. While those less fortunate than him are charitable, Scrooge remains set in his curmudgeonly ways. One Christmas Eve, however, his outlook begins to change with a visit from the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. Marley’s ghost forewarns Scrooge of three other spirits who will come to haunt him that night—the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come. Accompanied by these, Scrooge is granted first a glimpse of his own past and then an insight into the home life of his poor yet loyal clerk, Bob Cratchit. Scrooge looks on with something approaching pity as the Cratchits gather around a paltry table to celebrate the festive season. Is the sight of others’ hardships, coupled with a dark vision of what the future may hold, enough to make Scrooge see the folly of his ways?
- A Christmas Carol
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Read by Peter Baker
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Release Date: 1/01/12
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Great Expectations
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Read by Simon Prebble
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Release Date: 10/18/11
Formats: Digital Audy
One of the most revered works in English literature, Great Expectations traces the coming-of-age of a young orphan, Pip, from a boy of shallow aspirations into a man of maturity. From the chilling opening confrontation with an escaped convict to the grand but eerily disheveled estate of bitter old Miss Havisham, all is not what it seems in Dickens’ dark tale of false illusions and thwarted desire.
Raised by a humble blacksmith, Pip is recruited by the wealthy Miss Havisham to be a companion to her ward, the cold but beautiful Estella. There, Pip learns to despise his rough origins as Estella torments him about his low prospects. When Pip is informed that an unknown benefactor expects to make him his heir, he sets off to London to realize his “great expectations.” But true gentleman stature, he will find, is a matter of character, not fortune.
- Great Expectations
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Read by Simon Prebble
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Release Date: 10/18/11
Formats: Digital Audy
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- A Tale of Two Cities
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Read by Simon Prebble
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Release Date: 3/14/11
Formats: Digital Audy
Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities is a sprawling tale of London and revolutionary Paris with a complex plot portraying the results of terror and treason, love and supreme sacrifice.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”—opening line of A Tale of Two Cities
It was the time of the French Revolution, a time of great change and great danger. It was a time when injustice was met by a lust for vengeance, and rarely was a distinction made between the innocent and the guilty. Against this tumultuous historical backdrop, Dickens’ dramatic story of adventure and courage unfolds.
Unjustly imprisoned for eighteen years in the Bastille, Dr. Alexandre Manette is reunited with his daughter, the gentle Lucie Manette, and safely transported from France to England. It would seem that they could now take up the threads of their lives in peace. As fate would have it, however, the two are summoned to the Old Bailey to testify against a young Frenchman, Charles Darnay, falsely accused of treason. Strangely enough, Darnay bears an uncanny resemblance to another man in the courtroom: Sydney Carton, a dissolute barrister. It is a coincidence that saves Darnay from certain doom more than once, as the two men’s fates become intertwined with that of the Revolution.
And there is Madame Defarge, a female revolutionary who has an implacable grudge against the aristocratic Evrémonde dynasty and who knits as she watches the beheadings.
The storming of the Bastille, the death carts with their doomed human cargo, the swift drop of the blade of La Guillotine—this is the French Revolution that Charles Dickens vividly captures. Brilliantly plotted, the novel is rich in drama, romance, and heroics that culminate in a daring prison escape in the shadow of the guillotine.
- A Tale of Two Cities
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Read by Simon Prebble
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Release Date: 3/14/11
Formats: Digital Audy
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- The Pickwick Papers
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Read by Simon Prebble
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Release Date: 12/14/09
Formats: Digital Audy
When a twenty-four-year-old writer named Charles Dickens was asked to write a serialized story about English country life, no one anticipated that he was about to become one of the most famous authors of all time. The Pickwick Papers, as it came to be called, enchanted readers with its lively humor and delightfully drawn characters. The members of the Pickwick Club, presided over by the kindly old Mr. Samuel Pickwick, Esquire, agree to make a series of separate journeys into the English countryside and report back to the other club members on their adventures and observations, resulting in an abundance of entertaining anecdotes. When The Pickwick Papers was finally released as a complete novel, it became the first real publishing phenomenon, inspiring bootleg copies, theatrical performances, and merchandise based on the popular characters.
- The Pickwick Papers
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Read by Simon Prebble
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Release Date: 12/14/09
Formats: Digital Audy
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- A Tale of Two Cities
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Read by Martin Jarvis
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Release Date: 1/01/09
Formats: Digital Audy
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” It was the French Revolution. Unjustly imprisoned for years in the Bastille, Dr. Manette is reunited with his daughter, Lucie, and safely transported from France to England where they hope to return to their quiet lives. However, they are summoned to the Old Bailey in the trial of Charles Darnay, a young Frenchman falsely accused of treason. Strangely enough, Darnay bears an uncanny resemblance to another man in the courtroom: Sydney Carton, a dissolute barrister. It is a coincidence that saves Darnay from certain doom more than once.
The storming of the Bastille, the death carts with their doomed human cargo, and Madame Defarge, who knits beside the guillotine, are portrayed with drama, romance, and heroics that culminate in a daring prison escape in the shadow of the guillotine.
- A Tale of Two Cities
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Read by Martin Jarvis
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Release Date: 1/01/09
Formats: Digital Audy
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- A Christmas Carol
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Read by Simon Prebble
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Release Date: 12/01/07
Formats: Digital Audy
“Every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding,” says Scrooge. Mean old Scrooge despises Christmas, until Christmas Eve, when a haunted voice from the past changes his life––overnight!
Many know the story, but few have experienced the marvel of the book. If you are one who has never read this family classic, this is the time to do so. Listen to our unabridged recording and make this a truly Charles Dickens Christmas. And, “God bless us, everyone!”
- A Christmas Carol
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Read by Simon Prebble
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Release Date: 12/01/07
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Oliver Twist
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Read by Martin Jarvis
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Release Date: 2/16/07
Formats: Digital Audy
One of Dickens’ most popular novels, Oliver Twist tells the story of a young workhouse orphan who escapes into the mean backstreets of Victorian London. There, he is thrust into a den of thieves where some of Dickens’ most depraved villains preside: the incorrigible Artful Dodger, the barbarous bully Bill Sikes, and the terrible Fagin, whose knavery threatens to send them all to the gallows. A novel with autobiographical overtones, this was the first of Dickens’ works to realistically portray London’s impoverished underworld and to illustrate his belief that poverty leads to crime. At the heart of the drama, however, is Oliver, the orphan whose unsullied goodness leads him to salvation, and who represents Dickens’ belief in the principle of good triumphing at last.
- Oliver Twist
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Read by Martin Jarvis
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Release Date: 2/16/07
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Great Expectations
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Read by Martin Jarvis
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Release Date: 1/07/07
Formats: Digital Audy
Great Expectations, recognized as Charles Dickens' finest novel, is told by Pip, an orphan who lives with his sister and her husband, the village blacksmith. The young boy's life is changed forever when he meets and aids an escaped convict who wanders into his yard. Years later, Pip is sent to live with the decaying, bitter Miss Havisham and falls in love with her ward, the elegant and elusive Estella. A young man of modest means, Pip nevertheless aims to become a gentleman in order to win Estella's heart and an endowment from an anonymous benefactor suddenly places his intentions within reach. But capricious fate will lead him through further adversity and unexpected revelations in the pursuit of his dreams.
- Great Expectations
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Read by Martin Jarvis
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Release Date: 1/07/07
Formats: Digital Audy
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- The Christmas Stories
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Read by Simon Vance
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Release Date: 12/01/01
Formats: Digital Audy
No writer is more identified with the modern idea of Christmas than Charles Dickens. In some ways, Dickens helped define the holiday that we now celebrate by immortalizing it as a time of warmth and sharing, with an emphasis on family and friends.
Dickens wrote all the stories presented here during the 1850s as contributions to the special Christmas issues of Household Words, the weekly magazine he founded and edited. Included are fictional sketches verging on the autobiographical, recollections of childhood, reflections on past holidays and old friends, as well as tales of misunderstandings and lost opportunities. They reaffirm the virtue of nurturing our traditions and offer a master storyteller's vision of the real meaning of Christmas.
- The Christmas Stories
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Read by Simon Vance
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Release Date: 12/01/01
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Nicholas Nickleby
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Read by Robert Whitfield
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Release Date: 12/01/00
Formats: Digital Audy
The most gorgeously theatrical of all Dickens’ novels, Nicholas Nickleby follows the delightful adventures of a hearty young hero in nineteenth-century England. Nicholas, a gentleman’s son fallen upon hard times, must set out to make his way in the world. His journey is accompanied by some of the most swaggering scoundrels and unforgettable eccentrics in Dickens’ pantheon.
From the dungeon-like Yorkshire boys’ boarding school run by the cruel Wackford Squeers to the high-spirited stage of Vincent Crummles’ extraordinary acting troupe, Nicholas Nickleby is a triumph of the imagination, bursting with color, humor, and poignant social commentary.
- Nicholas Nickleby
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Read by Robert Whitfield
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Release Date: 12/01/00
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Our Mutual Friend
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Read by Simon Vance
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Release Date: 12/01/99
Formats: Digital Audy
This sinister masterpiece was Dickens’ last completed novel and perhaps his ultimate vision of a dark, macabre London and the corrupting power of money. Opening with a father and daughter scavenging for corpses on the Thames, this chilling tale unfolds around drownings, disguises and doubles, violence, murder, and triumphant love.
Young John Harmon, presumed killed on his return home to England, is very much alive. The heir to a dust merchant’s fortune, he goes to work under an assumed name for his father’s current heirs, the amiable, elderly Boffins—who are about to be blackmailed by the unscrupulous one-legged Wegg.
So begins the intrigue in a novel that is quintessentially Dickensian in flavor—in its grotesque caricatures, its rich symbolism, and in the astonishing realism of its heroine, Bella Wilfer, one of Dickens’ most splendid female characters.
- Our Mutual Friend
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Read by Simon Vance
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Release Date: 12/01/99
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Little Dorrit
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Read by Simon Vance
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Release Date: 8/01/99
Formats: Digital Audy
Little Amy Dorrit was born in debtor’s prison, where her father, an aristocrat by birth, has been an inmate for the past twenty years.
Though her father is too proud to acknowledge their reduced status, Amy secretly works as a seamstress to support her family. In this way she meets and befriends Arthur, her employer’s son, who wants to help.
When Arthur uncovers an unknown inheritance due to Mr. Dorrit, the family is finally freed from prison. Newly wealthy, they travel to Italy, where Mr. Dorrit instructs his children to sever old connections and learn the ways of the upper class. But leaving their past behind proves not to be so easy.
Meanwhile, their benefactor, Arthur, falls on hard times himself when he becomes the victim of a gigantic financial fraud. When he next meets Little Dorrit, their places are reversed: Arthur is imprisoned in the Marshalsea, too ashamed of his reduced status to declare his love. But to Little Dorrit, love has always transcended class.
A masterly evocation of the state and psychology of imprisonment, Little Dorrit is one of the supreme works of Dickens’ maturity.
- Little Dorrit
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Read by Simon Vance
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Release Date: 8/01/99
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Bleak House
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Read by Simon Vance
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Release Date: 1/01/99
Formats: Digital Audy
Bleak House opens in a London shrouded by fog—a fog that swirls most densely about the Court of Chancery, where the obscure case of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce lies lost in endless litigation, slowly devouring an inheritance in legal costs.
Against this ominous background, Dickens’ rich tapestry of a novel weaves together the fortunes and desires of several characters whose fates are tied to the case: Ada and Richard, two young orphans who stand to inherit and wish to marry when they do; the worthy John Jarndyce, their voluntary guardian while the case is pending; and Esther Summerson, Jarndyce’s protégée, whose romance is complicated by torn loyalties and whose heritage is shrouded in mystery and scandal. This darkly comic portrait of London society is often regarded as Dickens’ best.
- Bleak House
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Read by Simon Vance
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Release Date: 1/01/99
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Oliver Twist
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Read by Nadia May
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Release Date: 12/01/98
Formats: Digital Audy
One of Dickens’ most popular novels, Oliver Twist tells the story of a young workhouse orphan who escapes into the mean backstreets of Victorian London. There, he is thrust into a den of thieves where some of Dickens’ most depraved villains preside: the incorrigible Artful Dodger, the barbarous bully Bill Sikes, and the terrible Fagin, whose knavery threatens to send them all to the gallows. A novel with autobiographical overtones, this was the first of Dickens’ works to realistically portray London’s impoverished underworld and to illustrate his belief that poverty leads to crime. At the heart of the drama, however, is Oliver, the orphan whose unsullied goodness leads him to salvation, and who represents Dickens’ belief in the principle of good triumphing at last.
- Oliver Twist
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Read by Nadia May
-
Release Date: 12/01/98
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Barnaby Rudge
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Read by Simon Vance
-
Release Date: 12/01/98
Formats: Digital Audy
Dickens' first historical novel is set in 1780s England at the time of the Gordon Riots. In a case of mistaken identity, Barnaby Rudge—a pale half-wit with long red hair who dresses all in green and carries a large raven on his back—is arrested as the leader of a mob of anti-Catholic rioters. He is condemned to death on the gallows, but an upright locksmith named Gabriel Varden comes to his aid.
Set beneath the cloud of an unsolved murder, this classic tale of treachery and forbidden love is often overlooked by present-day readers. Nevertheless, Dickens provides another memorable cast of characters, including the dull-witted, tyrannical John Willet, Dennis the Hangman, and Hugh the savage ostler.
- Barnaby Rudge
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Read by Simon Vance
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Release Date: 12/01/98
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Dombey and Son
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Read by Frederick Davidson
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Release Date: 8/01/96
Formats: Digital Audy
Paul Dombey is a wealthy shipping merchant and formidable patriarch who runs his family with the same cold calculation he applies to his business.
Evaluating his children's worth by what he thinks they can add to his bottom line, he dotes on the son he hopes to make his heir, while neglecting his affectionate elder daughter. But through his pride and selfishness, Dombey is sowing the seeds of his own destruction. Once his heart is broken, can it finally be redeemed?
A sensitive family drama infused with social and moral commentary, Dombey and Son combines grim psychological realism with Dickens' faith in the redemptive power of love.
- Dombey and Son
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Read by Frederick Davidson
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Release Date: 8/01/96
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Martin Chuzzlewit
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Read by Frederick Davidson
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Release Date: 6/01/95
Formats: Digital Audy
Wealthy and old, Martin Chuzzlewit Sr. is surrounded by greedy relatives hoping to obtain a portion of his estate upon his death. His two descendants, Martin Jr. and Jonas, have been born and bred in the same heritage of selfishness, the Chuzzlewit tradition.
Set partly in America, of which Dickens offers a searing satire, this novel follows and contrasts the opposing fates of Martin and Jonas. While one achieves worldly success and, eventually, moral redemption, the other sinks deeper into the darkness—and pays the ultimate price.
This powerful black comedy is a tale of hypocrisy, greed, and blackmail, and it introduces the most famous of Dickens' grotesques: Mrs. Gamp.
- Martin Chuzzlewit
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Read by Frederick Davidson
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Release Date: 6/01/95
Formats: Digital Audy
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- Hard Times
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Read by Frederick Davidson
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Release Date: 1/01/94
Formats: Digital Audy
Originally written for Dickens’ weekly magazine, Household Words, this short novel follows the fate of Sissy Jupe, a warm-hearted circus child, and the family that adopts her. Deserted by her ailing father, Sissy is taken into the cold household of the Gradgrind family, which operates a school. The “eminently practical” Thomas Gradgrind believes only in facts and figures and has raised his children accordingly, thoroughly suppressing the imaginative sides of their nature. They grow up in ignorance of love and affection, of beauty and culture, or of empathy for others, and the consequences are devastating. Only after numerous crises does Thomas realize that his principles have corrupted their lives.
Dickens’ satirical exposé of the Industrial Revolution condemns the utilitarianism that exploited the bodies, minds, and souls of the vulnerable labor class.
- Hard Times
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Read by Frederick Davidson
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Release Date: 1/01/94
Formats: Digital Audy