The Sea, the Sea
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The Sea, the Sea
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Narrated by:
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Simon Vance
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Kimberly Farr
About this listen
Winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction
Charles Arrowby, leading light of England's theatrical set, retires from glittering London to an isolated home by the sea. He plans to write a memoir about his great love affair with Clement Makin, his mentor, both professionally and personally, and amuse himself with Lizzie, an actress he has strung along for many years. None of his plans work out, and his memoir evolves into a riveting chronicle of the strange events and unexpected visitors—some real, some spectral—that disrupt his world and shake his oversized ego to its very core.
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Critic reviews
"Profound and delicious for many reasons . . . a multilayered working out of her feelings about the intensity of romantic experience. . . [it] also happens to be intelligently and sympathetically concerned with four of my favorite things: swimming, eating, drinking and talking . . . it is an ideal beach book—especially if you enjoy the cooler and pebblier and spookier northern sort of beach."—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
"A joy to read: a rollicking story that seems endlessly to be building towards some awful, hilarious, frightening conclusion."—Harper’s Bazaar
"Sublime [and] profound . . . She takes great care to imbue the house, the sea, the surroundings—everything—with depth and significance . . . exhilarating."—Sam Jordison, The Guardian, "Booker club"
Featured Article: It Was the Best of Scribes—The Best British Authors
With its esteemed history and bold contemporary scene, Britain lays claim to some of the most exciting literature in audio. With the hundreds of incredible British writers throughout the centuries, a person could devote their whole literary life solely to British authors and still never run out of amazing things to listen to. Whether you're an avid Anglophile or just want to discover the best English novelists for yourself, here’s a list of the best for you to choose from!
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4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,764
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In the summer of 1959 Stella Raphael joins her psychiatrist husband, Max, at his new posting - a maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane. Stella soon falls under the spell of Edgar Stark, a brilliant sculptor who has been confined to the hospital for murdering his wife in a psychotic rage. But Stella's knowledge of Edgar's crime is no hindrance to the volcanic attraction that ensues -a passion that will consume Stella's sanity and destroy her and the lives of those around her.
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5 out of 5 stars
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So enjoyed this book!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 67
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4 out of 5 stars 36
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 99
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Mary Jago had donated her own bone marrow to save the life of someone she didn’t know. And this generous act led directly to the bitter break-up of her affair with Alistair. For him, it was as though her beauty had been plundered. But the man whose life she had saved would change Mary’s life in a way she could never have imagined.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Mystery with humor and insight
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By: Ruth Rendell
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The Charioteer
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 253
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 238
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After surviving the Dunkirk retreat, Laurie Odell, a young homosexual, critically examines his unorthodox lifestyle and personal relationships, as he falls in love with a young conscientious objector and becomes involved with a circle of world-weary gay men.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Gay Classic!
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The Good Apprentice
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4 out of 5 stars 57
Stuart Cuno has decided to become good. Not believing in God, he invents his own methods, which include celibacy, chastity, and the abandonment of a promising academic career. Interfering friends and relations question his sincerity, his sanity, and his motives.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 916
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 807
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,757
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5 out of 5 stars
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So enjoyed this book!
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 36
For Gideon Mack, faithless minister, unfaithful husband, and troubled soul, the existence of God, let alone the Devil, is no more credible than that of ghosts or fairies - until the day he falls into a gorge and is rescued by someone who might just be Satan.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic
- By Christopher on 07-06-08
By: James Robertson
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The Keys to the Street
- By: Ruth Rendell
- Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 99
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Story4 out of 5 stars 79
Mary Jago had donated her own bone marrow to save the life of someone she didn’t know. And this generous act led directly to the bitter break-up of her affair with Alistair. For him, it was as though her beauty had been plundered. But the man whose life she had saved would change Mary’s life in a way she could never have imagined.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Mystery with humor and insight
- By Ida Hagman on 10-02-12
By: Ruth Rendell
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The Charioteer
- By: Mary Renault
- Narrated by: Joe Jameson
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 253
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 238
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 236
After surviving the Dunkirk retreat, Laurie Odell, a young homosexual, critically examines his unorthodox lifestyle and personal relationships, as he falls in love with a young conscientious objector and becomes involved with a circle of world-weary gay men.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Gay Classic!
- By Christopher on 02-05-16
By: Mary Renault
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The Young Clementina
- By: D. E. Stevenson
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 95
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
Charlotte Dean enjoys nothing more than the solitude of her London flat and the monotonous days of her work at a travel bookshop. But when her younger sister unceremoniously bursts into her quiet life one afternoon, Charlotte's world turns topsy-turvy. Beloved author D. E. Stevenson captures the intricacies of post-World War I England with a light, comic touch that perfectly embodies the spirit of the time. Alternatively heartbreaking and witty, The Young Clementina is a touching tale of love, loss and redemption through friendship.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Miss Dean's Dilemma
- By Jerri C on 05-02-18
By: D. E. Stevenson
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I Capture the Castle
- By: Dodie Smith
- Narrated by: Jenny Agutter
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,870
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,671
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,671
In this coming of age story, Dodie Smith introduces the visionary and eccentric character of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain. The youngest daughter in a family of impoverished artists, it is her imagination and writing that takes us away from the ramshackle old English castle where they live, and towards an intriguing tale of husband-hunting and light-hearted sibling rivalry.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Well, that was a surprise
- By Matthew on 12-16-13
By: Dodie Smith
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Rebecca
- By: Daphne du Maurier
- Narrated by: Anna Massey
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,971
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,924
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,898
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.... The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives - presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Easily the best audiobook I have ever heard!
- By Kid at Heart on 11-10-18
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The Muse
- A Novel
- By: Jessie Burton
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Maria Elena Infantino
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 400
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 370
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 365
England, 1967. Odelle Bastien is a Caribbean émigré trying to make her way in London. When she starts working at the prestigious Skelton Institute of Art, she discovers a painting rumored to be the work of Isaac Robles, a young artist of immense talent and vision whose mysterious death has confounded the art world for decades. The excitement over the painting is matched by the intrigue around the conflicting stories of its discovery.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Mixed narration
- By Amy Fleury on 08-05-16
By: Jessie Burton
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Galilee
- By: Clive Barker
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 23 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 280
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 250
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Story4 out of 5 stars 253
The Barbarossa family’s roots are far more ancient and ethereal, but they are bound to the Gearys by a shared history of murder, insanity, and adultery. When Rachel Geary and Galilee, the seductive prince of the Barbarossa clan, fall in love, they unleash powerful enmities that could destroy both dynasties. Shorter and more conventional than some of Barker’s other work, this novel is especially rich with complex, passionate, three-dimensional characters, lush settings, and elegant language.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An Audiophile's Dream
- By Joseph on 09-01-11
By: Clive Barker
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The Golden Notebook
- By: Doris Lessing
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 27 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 526
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 436
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Story4 out of 5 stars 433
Author Anna Wulf attempts to overcome writer’s block by writing a comprehensive "golden notebook" that draws together the preoccupations of her life, each of which is examined in a different notebook. Anna’s struggle to unify the various strands of her life – emotional, political, and professional – amasses into a fascinating encyclopaedia of female experience in the ‘50s.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Transcendent narration of a masterpiece.
- By @vmarinelli on 07-03-12
By: Doris Lessing
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The Heart of the Matter
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Michael Kitchen
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 553
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 466
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 459
Scobie, a police officer in a West African colony, is a good and honest man. But when he falls in love, he is forced into a betrayal of everything that he has ever believed in, and his struggle to maintain the happiness of two women destroys him.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Starts Very Slowly then Boom!
- By Michael on 05-21-17
By: Graham Greene
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Cold Hand in Mine
- By: Robert Aickman
- Narrated by: Reece Shearsmith
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 75
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 76
Cold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full. The listener is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul. There is also a nod to the conventional vampire story ("Pages from a Young Girl's Journal") but all the stories remain unconventional and inconclusive, which perhaps makes them all the more startling and intriguing.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Aickman is unique
- By Stark on 08-19-23
By: Robert Aickman
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Secrets of the Lighthouse
- By: Santa Montefiore
- Narrated by: Susan Riddell
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 233
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 219
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 214
Ellen Trawton is running away from it all. She hates her job, she doesn't love the aristocratic man to whom she is engaged, and her relationship with her controlling mother is becoming increasingly strained. So Ellen leaves London, fleeing to her aunt's cottage in Connemara. Cutting ties with London society, Ellen gives in to Ireland's charm and warmth, thinking her future may lie where so much of her past has been hidden.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Secrets of the Lighthouse-not so secret
- By brandiejean on 10-15-15
By: Santa Montefiore
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The Stranger House
- By: Reginald Hill
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 155
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story4 out of 5 stars 100
For years, the Stranger House has stood in the village of Illthwaite, offering refuge to travellers. People like Sam, a brilliant young mathematician, who believes that anything that can't be explained by maths isn't worth explaining. And Miguel, a historian running from a priests' seminary, who sees ghosts. Sam is an experienced young woman, Miguel a 26-year-old virgin.
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3 out of 5 stars
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an OK read
- By Jen Terry on 01-18-08
By: Reginald Hill
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The Unsettled Dust
- By: Robert Aickman
- Narrated by: Reece Shearsmith
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story4 out of 5 stars 38
Robert Aickman, the supreme master of the supernatural, brings together eight stories in which strange things happen that the reader is unable to predict. His characters are often lonely and middle-aged, but all have the same thing in common: they are brought to the brink of an abyss that shows how terrifyingly fragile our piece of mind actually is. 'The Unsettled Dust', 'The House of the Russians', 'No Stronger Than a Flower', 'The Cicerones' and 'Ravissante' first appeared in the Sub Rosa collection in 1968, but the stories were published together as The Unsettled Dust in 1990.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Perfectly read, sheds new light on this work
- By James Townsend on 04-10-17
By: Robert Aickman
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The Woman from Paris
- By: Santa Montefiore
- Narrated by: Tara Ward
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 88
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
When Lord Frampton dies in a skiing accident, a beautiful young woman named Phaedra appears at his funeral - claiming to be the Lord’s illegitimate daughter. In his will, Lord Frampton has left the priceless Frampton suite of sapphires to this interloper, confirming her claim and outraging his three adult sons and widow. Eventually, however, Phaedra’s sweet nature thaws the frosty relationships. She becomes the daughter that Antoinette Frampton never had and a wise and compassionate granddaughter to the formidable Dowager Lady Frampton.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Worth the time...
- By Esther Cunningham on 09-28-16
By: Santa Montefiore
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Iris Murdoch: The Sea, the Sea, a Severed Head & Something Special
- A BBC Radio Collection
- By: Iris Murdoch
- Narrated by: Catherine Cusack, Full Cast, John Wood, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 3
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 3
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Story4 out of 5 stars 3
Booker Prize-winning author Iris Murdoch is renowned for her sublime fiction, exploring themes such as art, passion, morality and human freedom. Included in this collection are adaptations of two of her finest novels and a reading of her only published short story, as well as an edition of Writers Revealed in which Murdoch discusses her ideas and beliefs.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Feels very dated
- By Uriel Dana on 11-07-24
By: Iris Murdoch
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The Sovereignty of Good
- By: Iris Murdoch
- Narrated by: Daisy-May Parsons
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall1 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance1 out of 5 stars 1
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1
Iris Murdoch once observed: 'philosophy is often a matter of finding occasions on which to say the obvious'. What was obvious to Murdoch, and to all those who read her work, is that Good transcends everything—even God. Throughout her distinguished and prolific writing career, she explored questions of Good and Bad, myth and morality. The framework for Murdoch's questions—and her own conclusions—can be found here.