The Darlings of the Asylum
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Narrated by:
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Madeleine Leslay
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By:
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Noel O’Reilly
About this listen
To escape is impossible.
‘The Darlings of the Asylum by Noel O’Reilly grips like a vice’ Nicola Cornick
In 1886, a respectable young woman must acquire a husband. But Violet Pring longs to be a professional artist and live on her own terms.
When she turns down a desirable marriage proposal from an eligible Brighton gentleman, her family have had enough of her independent streak. Against her wishes, they lock her away in Hillwood Grange Lunatic Asylum.
Now at the mercy of the sinister Dr Rastrick, she must keep her wits about her if she has any hope of escaping.
This tantalizing Gothic novel from Noel O’Reilly tells a thrilling story of duty and desire, madness and sanity, truth and delusion from within a Victorian asylum.
Praise for The Darlings of the Asylum:
‘Always engaging and readable’ Sunday Times
‘The narrative rattles along irresistibly all the way to its suitably gothic climax’ Readers’ Digest
‘This darkly atmospheric psychological thriller oozes menace’ Women’s Own
‘Wow! I have been on the edge of my seat with this one! The Darlings of the Asylum… grips like a vice’ Nicola Cornick, author of The Winter Garden
‘Gripping’ Alison Stockham, author of The Cuckoo Sister
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Captivating clean romance with a mystery to be solved
- By Fleur-de-lis on 10-06-20
By: Sian Ann Bessey
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The Bermondsey Bookshop
- By: Mary Gibson
- Narrated by: Anne Dover
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in 1920s London, this is the inspiring story of Kate Goss' struggle against poverty, hunger and cruel family secrets. Her mother died in a fall, her father has vanished without trace, and now her aunt and cousins treat her viciously. In a freezing, vermin-infested garret, factory girl Kate has only her own brave spirit and dreams of finding her father to keep her going. She has barely enough money to feed herself, or to pay the rent. The factory where she works begins to lay off people and it isn't long before she has fallen into the hands of the violent local money-lender.
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A glimpse into the past
- By Luci-Lu on 10-27-21
By: Mary Gibson
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Bel Ami
- By: Guy de Maupassant
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Guy de Maupassant is revered for his naturalistic fiction, which brilliantly captures flesh-and-blood characters as it evokes the most telling details of everyday life. Considered one of the finest French novels ever written, Bel Ami follows journalist Georges Duroy and his increasing stature among the Paris elite. With an immense thirst for power, Georges is not above an almost gleeful use of wealthy mistresses to achieve his ends.
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Bel Ami or how to socially climb in 1885 Paris
- By Neil Chisholm on 12-03-13
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A Few Right Thinking Men
- The Rowland Sinclair Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Sulari Gentill
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Rowland Sinclair is an artist and a gentleman. In Australia's 1930s, the Sinclair name is respectable and influential, yet Rowland has a talent for scandal. He relies on the Sinclair fortune to indulge his artistic passions and friends: a poet, a painter and a brazen sculptress. Mounting tensions fuelled by the Great Depression take Australia to the brink of revolution, but Rowland Sinclair is indifferent to the politics...until a brutal murder exposes an extraordinary and treasonous conspiracy.
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Too much history, not enough story
- By Kathryn G. on 11-30-16
By: Sulari Gentill
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Sentimental Education
- By: Gustave Flaubert
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Frederic Moreau is a law student returning home to Normandy from Paris when he first notices Mme Arnoux, a slender, dark woman several years older than himself. It is the beginning of an infatuation that will last a lifetime. He befriends her husband, an influential businessman, and their paths cross and re-cross over the years. Through financial upheaval, political turmoil, and countless affairs, Mme Arnoux remains the constant, unattainable love of Moreau’s life.
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When Crimes of Passion Were All the Fashion
- By W Perry Hall on 03-12-17
By: Gustave Flaubert
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Death in Venice
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: Peter Batchelor
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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A stunningly beautiful youth and the city of Venice set the stage for Thomas Mann’s introspective examination of erotic love and philosophical wisdom.
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A problem with the narration
- By Erez on 03-19-12
By: Thomas Mann
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That Scandalous Evening
- The Governess Brides, Book 1
- By: Christina Dodd
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd spins the captivating tale of a nobleman whose path crosses again with the one woman he absolutely cannot resist....
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Heroine's a pathetic doormat
- By karen on 03-26-21
By: Christina Dodd
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Refining the Debutante
- By: Anneka R. Walker
- Narrated by: Noah Wall
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Miss Miranda Bartley is in love with the Honorable Ethan Roderick, their engagement all but official. But as she basks in the success of her London Season, her joy is cut short when Ethan ends their courtship, claiming she is too insensitive. In the wake of her heartbreak, Miranda is dealt yet another blow, one that changes everything. In a harsh twist of fate, she quickly falls from Society darling to servant in her uncle’s home.
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A near miss
- By Kindle Customer on 09-09-23
By: Anneka R. Walker
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The Recognitions
- By: William Gaddis
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 47 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Wyatt Gwyon's desire to forge is not driven by larceny but from love. Exactingly faithful to the spirit and letter of the Flemish masters, he produces uncannily accurate "originals" - pictures the painters themselves might have envied. In an age of counterfeit emotion and taste, the real and fake have become indistinguishable; yet Gwyon's forgeries reflect a truth that others cannot touch - cannot even recognize.
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Breathtaking, Dizzying, Stimulating, Funny
- By andrew on 11-17-10
By: William Gaddis
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Spellbreaker
- Spellbreaker, Book 1
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden, Joel Froomkin
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The orphaned Elsie Camden learned as a girl that there were two kinds of wizards in the world: those who pay for the power to cast spells and those, like her, born with the ability to break them. But as an unlicensed magic user, her gift is a crime. Commissioned by an underground group known as the Cowls, Elsie uses her spellbreaking to push back against the aristocrats and help the common man. Elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey is one elusive spell away from his mastership when he catches Elsie breaking an enchantment. To protect her secret, Elsie strikes a bargain.
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Interesting read/listen
- By Roderica Ruddle on 12-21-20
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The Heiress
- The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh
- By: Molly Greeley
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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As a fussy baby, Anne de Bourgh was prescribed laudanum to quiet her, and now the young woman must take the opium-heavy tincture every day. Growing up sheltered and confined, removed from sunshine and fresh air, the pale and overly slender Anne grew up with few companions except her cousins, including Fitzwilliam Darcy. Throughout their childhoods, it was understood that Darcy and Anne would marry and combine their vast estates of Pemberley and Rosings. But Darcy does not love Anne or want her.
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A beautiful work of historical fiction
- By Alex M on 02-21-21
By: Molly Greeley
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The Age of Innocence
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: David Horovitch
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Countess Ellen Olenska, separated from her European husband, returns to old New York society. She bears with her an independence and an awareness of life which stirs the educated sensitivity of the charming Newland Archer, engaged to be married to her cousin, May Welland. Though he accepts the society's standards and rules he is acutely aware of their limitations. He knows May will assure him a conventional future but Ellen, scandalously separated from her husband, forces Archer to question his values and beliefs.
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Narrated to Perfection
- By Ilana on 09-18-12
By: Edith Wharton