Wilkie Collins
A Brief Life
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Wilkie Collins
Buy for $13.22
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Gildart Jackson
-
By:
-
Peter Ackroyd
About this listen
A gripping, short biography of the extraordinary Wilkie Collins, author of The Moonstone and The Woman in White, two early masterpieces of mystery and detection.
Short and oddly built, with a head too big for his body, extremely near-sighted, unable to stay still, dressed in colorful clothes - Wilkie Collins looked distinctly strange. But he was nonetheless a charmer, befriended by the great, loved by children, irresistibly attractive to women, and avidly read by generations of readers.
Peter Ackroyd follows his hero, "the sweetest-tempered of all the Victorian novelists", from his childhood as the son of a well-known artist to his struggling beginnings as a writer, his years of fame, and his lifelong friendship with the other great London chronicler, Charles Dickens. In addition to his enduring masterpieces, The Moonstone - often called the first true detective novel - and the sensational The Woman in White, Collins produced an intriguing array of lesser-known works.
Told with Ackroyd's inimitable verve, this is a ravishingly entertaining life of a great storyteller, full of surprises, rich in humor and sympathetic understanding.
©2012 Peter Ackroyd (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Greater Journey
- Americans in Paris
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,409
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,820
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,819
The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
McCullough takes it to the next level
- By gregory m loyd on 07-12-11
By: David McCullough
-
Charles Dickens
- A Life
- By: Claire Tomalin
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
- Length: 16 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 234
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 207
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 207
Charles Dickens: A Life gives full measure to Dickens's heroic stature - his huge virtues both as a writer and as a human being - while observing his failings in both respects with an unblinking eye. Renowned literary biographer Claire Tomalin crafts a story worthy of Dickens's own pen, a comedy that turns to tragedy as the very qualities that made him great - his indomitable energy, boldness, imagination, and showmanship - finally destroyed him.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A great biography brilliantly read
- By C. Randall Curb on 11-04-13
By: Claire Tomalin
-
Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World
- By: Simon Callow
- Narrated by: Simon Callow
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Dickens was one of the first true celebrity authors. Thousands of fans in Britain and America eagerly awaited each new installment of his stories, and flocked to see him on his legendary speaking tours. Not only did he create an incredible cast of characters on the page, but he was also a dazzling mimic and storyteller, and he wrote, stage-managed, and acted in plays for the public. Throughout his life, from his childhood performances to his legendarily powerful reading tours, Dickens was fanatical about the stage.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it!
- By Tad Davis on 08-20-12
By: Simon Callow
-
The Invisible Woman
- The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens
- By: Claire Tomalin
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 87
Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan met in 1857; she was 18, a hard-working actress performing in his production of The Frozen Deep, and he was 45, the most lionized writer in England. Out of their meeting came a love affair that lasted 13 years and destroyed Dickens's marriage while effacing Nelly Ternan from the public record.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting
- By Jean on 01-21-13
By: Claire Tomalin
-
Thomas Hardy
- By: Claire Tomalin
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
Hardy's work challenged sexual and religious conventions in a way that few other authors of the time dared. Though his modesty and kindness allowed some to underestimate him, or even to pity him, they did not prevent him from taking on the central themes of human experience: time, memory, loss, love, fear, grief, anger, death. This engrossing biography identifies the inner demons and the outer mores that drove Hardy and presents a complex portrait of one of the greatest figures in English literature.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Sensitive Portrait
- By peter on 04-10-07
By: Claire Tomalin
-
The Real Jane Austen
- A Life in Small Things
- By: Paula Byrne
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 120
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things offers a startlingly original look at the revered writer through a variety of key moments, scenes, and objects in her life and work. Going beyond previous traditional biographies which have traced Austen's daily life from Steventon to Bath to Chawton to Winchester, Paula Byrne's portrait - organized thematically and drawn from the most up-to-date scholarship and unexplored sources - explores the lives of Austen's extended family, friends, and acquaintances.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I keep re-listening to it!
- By Frances K. Harville on 06-10-20
By: Paula Byrne
-
The Greater Journey
- Americans in Paris
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,409
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,820
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,819
The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
McCullough takes it to the next level
- By gregory m loyd on 07-12-11
By: David McCullough
-
Charles Dickens
- A Life
- By: Claire Tomalin
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
- Length: 16 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 234
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 207
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 207
Charles Dickens: A Life gives full measure to Dickens's heroic stature - his huge virtues both as a writer and as a human being - while observing his failings in both respects with an unblinking eye. Renowned literary biographer Claire Tomalin crafts a story worthy of Dickens's own pen, a comedy that turns to tragedy as the very qualities that made him great - his indomitable energy, boldness, imagination, and showmanship - finally destroyed him.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A great biography brilliantly read
- By C. Randall Curb on 11-04-13
By: Claire Tomalin
-
Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World
- By: Simon Callow
- Narrated by: Simon Callow
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Dickens was one of the first true celebrity authors. Thousands of fans in Britain and America eagerly awaited each new installment of his stories, and flocked to see him on his legendary speaking tours. Not only did he create an incredible cast of characters on the page, but he was also a dazzling mimic and storyteller, and he wrote, stage-managed, and acted in plays for the public. Throughout his life, from his childhood performances to his legendarily powerful reading tours, Dickens was fanatical about the stage.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it!
- By Tad Davis on 08-20-12
By: Simon Callow
-
The Invisible Woman
- The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens
- By: Claire Tomalin
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 87
Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan met in 1857; she was 18, a hard-working actress performing in his production of The Frozen Deep, and he was 45, the most lionized writer in England. Out of their meeting came a love affair that lasted 13 years and destroyed Dickens's marriage while effacing Nelly Ternan from the public record.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting
- By Jean on 01-21-13
By: Claire Tomalin
-
Thomas Hardy
- By: Claire Tomalin
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
Hardy's work challenged sexual and religious conventions in a way that few other authors of the time dared. Though his modesty and kindness allowed some to underestimate him, or even to pity him, they did not prevent him from taking on the central themes of human experience: time, memory, loss, love, fear, grief, anger, death. This engrossing biography identifies the inner demons and the outer mores that drove Hardy and presents a complex portrait of one of the greatest figures in English literature.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Sensitive Portrait
- By peter on 04-10-07
By: Claire Tomalin
-
The Real Jane Austen
- A Life in Small Things
- By: Paula Byrne
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 120
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things offers a startlingly original look at the revered writer through a variety of key moments, scenes, and objects in her life and work. Going beyond previous traditional biographies which have traced Austen's daily life from Steventon to Bath to Chawton to Winchester, Paula Byrne's portrait - organized thematically and drawn from the most up-to-date scholarship and unexplored sources - explores the lives of Austen's extended family, friends, and acquaintances.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I keep re-listening to it!
- By Frances K. Harville on 06-10-20
By: Paula Byrne
-
Charlotte Brontë
- A Fiery Heart
- By: Claire Harman
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
Charlotte Brontë's life contained all the drama and tragedy of the great Gothic novels it inspired. Like Jane Eyre, she was raised motherless on remote Yorkshire moors and sent away to a brutally strict boarding school at a young age. Charlotte grew up and watched helplessly as, one by one, her five beloved siblings sickened and died; by the end of her short life, she was the only child of the Brontë clan remaining.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Clear-Eyed Bio of Literature's Most Elusive Figure
- By wally on 09-02-16
By: Claire Harman
-
Edith Wharton
- By: Hermione Lee
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 45
With profound empathy and insight, Hermione Lee brilliantly interweaves Wharton's life with the evolution of her writing, the full scope of which shows her to be far more daring than her stereotype as lapidarian chronicler of the Gilded Age. In its revelation of both the woman and the writer, Edith Wharton is a landmark biography.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Gardens Over Great Novels
- By Aaron Elliott on 04-26-07
By: Hermione Lee
-
Teller of Tales
- The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle
- By: Daniel Stashower
- Narrated by: Richard Matthews
- Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 36
This compelling biography examines the extraordinary life and strange contrasts of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the struggling provincial doctor who became the most popular storyteller of his age when he created Sherlock Holmes. From his youthful exploits aboard a whaling ship to his often stormy friendships with such figures as Harry Houdini and George Bernard Shaw, Conan Doyle lived a life as gripping as any of his adventures.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A lively, enjoyable look at Conan Doyle
- By GoryDetails on 03-09-06
By: Daniel Stashower
-
Something in the Blood
- The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote Dracula
- By: David J. Skal
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 21 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 38
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 36
Bram Stoker, despite having a name nearly as famous as his legendary undead count, has remained a puzzling enigma. Now, in this psychological and cultural portrait, David J. Skal exhumes the inner world and strange genius of the writer who conjured an undying cultural icon.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating portrait of author and his world
- By Neil Sarver on 10-31-16
By: David J. Skal
-
The Club
- Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 372
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 308
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 303
In 1763, the painter Joshua Reynolds proposed to his friend Samuel Johnson that they invite a few friends to join them every Friday at the Turk's Head Tavern in London to dine, drink, and talk until midnight. Eventually, the group came to include among its members Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, and James Boswell. It was known simply as "the Club". In this captivating audiobook, Leo Damrosch brings alive a brilliant, competitive, and eccentric cast of characters.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful survey
- By Tad Davis on 05-10-19
By: Leo Damrosch
-
Jane Austen at Home
- A Biography
- By: Lucy Worsley
- Narrated by: Ruth Redman
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 595
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 524
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 521
Take a trip back to Jane Austen's world and the many places she lived as historian Lucy Worsley visits Austen's childhood home, her schools, her holiday accommodations, the houses - both grand and small - of the relations upon whom she was dependent, and the home she shared with her mother and sister towards the end of her life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
As a Devoted Janeite - I loved this book!
- By Dorothy on 07-17-17
By: Lucy Worsley
-
Secrets of the Flesh
- A Life of Colette
- By: Judith Thurman
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 25 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
A scandalously talented stage performer, a practiced seductress of both men and women, and the flamboyant author of some of the greatest works of 20th-century literature, Colette was our first true superstar. Now, in Judith Thurman's Secrets of the Flesh, Colette at last has a biography worthy of her dazzling reputation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
More than just a biography
- By Phip Herrick on 04-22-21
By: Judith Thurman
-
Romantic Outlaws
- The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley
- By: Charlotte Gordon
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 306
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 270
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 270
Charlotte Gordon's new work is a fresh look at the lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, who together comprise one of the most illustrious and inspiring mother-daughter pairs in history.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Tons of info, poor format choice.
- By Gotta Tellya on 02-06-17
By: Charlotte Gordon
-
The World Broke in Two
- Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, E. M. Forster and the Year That Changed Literature
- By: Bill Goldstein
- Narrated by: Bill Goldstein
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 90
A revelatory narrative of the intersecting lives and works of revered authors Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, E. M. Forster, and D. H. Lawrence during 1922, the birth year of modernism.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The best non-fiction Audible book I've heard
- By Brian on 09-20-17
By: Bill Goldstein
-
Marcel Proust
- By: Edmund White
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
Considered one of the greatest, and most influential, writers of the 20th century, Marcel Proust was also one of its most fascinating figures. A strange, reclusive genius who often lay in bed for days at a time obsessively rewriting his masterpiece, Remembrance of Things Past, Proust was at other times a tireless socialite, attending the grandest parties and dazzling guests with his vivacity and wit.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Read Proust himself instead.
- By Jack on 01-16-06
By: Edmund White
-
Zelda Fitzgerald
- The Tragic, Meticulously Researched Biography of the Jazz Age's High Priestess
- By: Sally Cline
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 74
Zelda Fitzgerald was the mythical American Dream Girl of the Roaring Twenties who became, in the words of her husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, "the first American flapper." Their romance transformed a symbol of glamour and spectacle of the Jazz Age. When Zelda cracked up, not long after the stock market crash of 1929, Scott remained loyal to her through a nightmare of later breakdowns and final madness.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
The Beautiful and the Bungled
- By Silverthorne on 12-08-17
By: Sally Cline
-
Melville in Love
- The Secret Life of Herman Melville and the Muse of Moby-Dick
- By: Michael Shelden
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Herman Melville's epic novel, Moby-Dick, was a spectacular failure when it was published in 1851, effectively ending its author's rise to literary fame. Because he was neglected by academics for so long, and because he made little effort to preserve his legacy, we know very little about Melville, and even less about what he called his "wicked book". Scholars still puzzle over what drove Melville to invent Captain Ahab's mad pursuit of the great white whale.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
intriguing
- By Jean on 06-18-16
By: Michael Shelden
Related to this topic
-
Charlotte Brontë
- A Fiery Heart
- By: Claire Harman
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
Charlotte Brontë's life contained all the drama and tragedy of the great Gothic novels it inspired. Like Jane Eyre, she was raised motherless on remote Yorkshire moors and sent away to a brutally strict boarding school at a young age. Charlotte grew up and watched helplessly as, one by one, her five beloved siblings sickened and died; by the end of her short life, she was the only child of the Brontë clan remaining.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Clear-Eyed Bio of Literature's Most Elusive Figure
- By wally on 09-02-16
By: Claire Harman
-
The Club
- Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 372
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 308
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 303
In 1763, the painter Joshua Reynolds proposed to his friend Samuel Johnson that they invite a few friends to join them every Friday at the Turk's Head Tavern in London to dine, drink, and talk until midnight. Eventually, the group came to include among its members Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, and James Boswell. It was known simply as "the Club". In this captivating audiobook, Leo Damrosch brings alive a brilliant, competitive, and eccentric cast of characters.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful survey
- By Tad Davis on 05-10-19
By: Leo Damrosch
-
Romantic Outlaws
- The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley
- By: Charlotte Gordon
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 306
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 270
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 270
Charlotte Gordon's new work is a fresh look at the lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, who together comprise one of the most illustrious and inspiring mother-daughter pairs in history.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Tons of info, poor format choice.
- By Gotta Tellya on 02-06-17
By: Charlotte Gordon
-
Dombey and Son
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 36 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
In this carefully crafted novel, Dickens reveals the complexity of London society in the enterprising 1840s as he takes the listener into the business firm and home of one of its most representative patriarchs, Paul Dombey.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect pair
- By Philip on 03-25-08
By: Charles Dickens
-
Zelda Fitzgerald
- The Tragic, Meticulously Researched Biography of the Jazz Age's High Priestess
- By: Sally Cline
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 74
Zelda Fitzgerald was the mythical American Dream Girl of the Roaring Twenties who became, in the words of her husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, "the first American flapper." Their romance transformed a symbol of glamour and spectacle of the Jazz Age. When Zelda cracked up, not long after the stock market crash of 1929, Scott remained loyal to her through a nightmare of later breakdowns and final madness.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
The Beautiful and the Bungled
- By Silverthorne on 12-08-17
By: Sally Cline
-
Melville in Love
- The Secret Life of Herman Melville and the Muse of Moby-Dick
- By: Michael Shelden
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Herman Melville's epic novel, Moby-Dick, was a spectacular failure when it was published in 1851, effectively ending its author's rise to literary fame. Because he was neglected by academics for so long, and because he made little effort to preserve his legacy, we know very little about Melville, and even less about what he called his "wicked book". Scholars still puzzle over what drove Melville to invent Captain Ahab's mad pursuit of the great white whale.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
intriguing
- By Jean on 06-18-16
By: Michael Shelden
-
Charlotte Brontë
- A Fiery Heart
- By: Claire Harman
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
Charlotte Brontë's life contained all the drama and tragedy of the great Gothic novels it inspired. Like Jane Eyre, she was raised motherless on remote Yorkshire moors and sent away to a brutally strict boarding school at a young age. Charlotte grew up and watched helplessly as, one by one, her five beloved siblings sickened and died; by the end of her short life, she was the only child of the Brontë clan remaining.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Clear-Eyed Bio of Literature's Most Elusive Figure
- By wally on 09-02-16
By: Claire Harman
-
The Club
- Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age
- By: Leo Damrosch
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 372
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 308
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 303
In 1763, the painter Joshua Reynolds proposed to his friend Samuel Johnson that they invite a few friends to join them every Friday at the Turk's Head Tavern in London to dine, drink, and talk until midnight. Eventually, the group came to include among its members Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, and James Boswell. It was known simply as "the Club". In this captivating audiobook, Leo Damrosch brings alive a brilliant, competitive, and eccentric cast of characters.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful survey
- By Tad Davis on 05-10-19
By: Leo Damrosch
-
Romantic Outlaws
- The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley
- By: Charlotte Gordon
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 306
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 270
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 270
Charlotte Gordon's new work is a fresh look at the lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley, who together comprise one of the most illustrious and inspiring mother-daughter pairs in history.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Tons of info, poor format choice.
- By Gotta Tellya on 02-06-17
By: Charlotte Gordon
-
Dombey and Son
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 36 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
In this carefully crafted novel, Dickens reveals the complexity of London society in the enterprising 1840s as he takes the listener into the business firm and home of one of its most representative patriarchs, Paul Dombey.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect pair
- By Philip on 03-25-08
By: Charles Dickens
-
Zelda Fitzgerald
- The Tragic, Meticulously Researched Biography of the Jazz Age's High Priestess
- By: Sally Cline
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 83
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 74
Zelda Fitzgerald was the mythical American Dream Girl of the Roaring Twenties who became, in the words of her husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, "the first American flapper." Their romance transformed a symbol of glamour and spectacle of the Jazz Age. When Zelda cracked up, not long after the stock market crash of 1929, Scott remained loyal to her through a nightmare of later breakdowns and final madness.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
The Beautiful and the Bungled
- By Silverthorne on 12-08-17
By: Sally Cline
-
Melville in Love
- The Secret Life of Herman Melville and the Muse of Moby-Dick
- By: Michael Shelden
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Herman Melville's epic novel, Moby-Dick, was a spectacular failure when it was published in 1851, effectively ending its author's rise to literary fame. Because he was neglected by academics for so long, and because he made little effort to preserve his legacy, we know very little about Melville, and even less about what he called his "wicked book". Scholars still puzzle over what drove Melville to invent Captain Ahab's mad pursuit of the great white whale.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
intriguing
- By Jean on 06-18-16
By: Michael Shelden
-
Georgette Heyer
- Biography of a Bestseller
- By: Jennifer Kloester
- Narrated by: Phyllida Nash
- Length: 14 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
Georgette Heyer remains an enduring international best seller, read and loved by four generations of readers and extolled by today's best-selling authors. Despite her enormous popularity, she never gave an interview or appeared in public. Georgette Heyer wrote her first novel, The Black Moth, when she was 17 in order to amuse her convalescent brother. It was published in 1921 to instant success, and 90 years later it has never been out of print.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Heyer as a person
- By Jerri C on 06-15-15
-
Mark Twain
- A Life
- By: Ron Powers
- Narrated by: Ron Powers
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 122
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
Mark Twain founded the American voice. His works are a living national treasury: taught, quoted, and reprinted more than those of any writer except Shakespeare. His awestruck contemporaries saw him as the representative figure of his times, and his influence has deeply flavored the 20th and 21st centuries.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Buy the Book
- By W.Denis on 10-22-05
By: Ron Powers
-
The Art of the English Murder
- From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock
- By: Lucy Worsley
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 214
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 191
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 190
In The Art of the English Murder, Lucy Worsley explores this phenomenon in forensic detail, revisiting notorious crimes like the Ratcliff Highway Murders, which caused a nationwide panic in the early 19th century, and the case of Frederick and Maria Manning, the suburban couple who were hanged after killing Maria's lover and burying him under their kitchen floor. Our fascination with crimes like these became a form of national entertainment, inspiring novels and plays, prose and paintings, poetry and true-crime journalism.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Should Come With a Spoiler Alert
- By Jessica on 04-15-16
By: Lucy Worsley
-
Fryderyk Chopin
- A Life and Times
- By: Dr. Alan Walker
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 75
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 76
Based on 10 years of research and a vast cache of primary sources located in archives in Warsaw, Paris, London, New York, and Washington, D.C., Alan Walker's monumental Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times is the most comprehensive biography of the great Polish composer to appear in English in more than a century. Walker's work is a corrective biography, intended to dispel the many myths and legends that continue to surround Chopin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This book is a masterpiece
- By Carpe Diem on 02-09-19
By: Dr. Alan Walker
-
I Am Dynamite!
- A Life of Nietzsche
- By: Sue Prideaux
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 339
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 296
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 294
Nietzsche wrote that all philosophy is autobiographical, and in this vividly compelling, myth-shattering biography, Sue Prideaux brings listeners into the world of this brilliant, eccentric, and deeply troubled man, illuminating the events and people that shaped his life and work. I Am Dynamite! is the essential biography for anyone seeking to understand history's most misunderstood philosopher.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating; tragic
- By Cineaste21 on 12-30-18
By: Sue Prideaux
-
Mark Twain: Man in White
- The Grand Adventure of His Final Years
- By: Michael Shelden
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Pulitzer Prize finalist Michael Shelden illuminates Mark Twain’s twilight years in this brilliant account of the legendary author’s life. Drawing heavily on Twain’s own letters and journals, Mark Twain: Man in White recounts both Twain’s private family experiences and his larger-than-life public image.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fantastic book
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-10
By: Michael Shelden
-
Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know
- By: Colm Toibin
- Narrated by: Colm Toibin
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 40
Elegant, profound, and riveting, Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know illuminates not only the complex relationships between three of the greatest writers in the English language and their fathers, but also illustrates the surprising ways these men surface in their work. Through these stories of fathers and sons, Tóibín recounts the resistance to English cultural domination, the birth of modern Irish cultural identity, and the extraordinary contributions of these complex and masterful authors.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Eminently re-readable
- By Ellen-A on 01-02-19
By: Colm Toibin
-
Labyrinths
- Emma Jung, Her Marriage to Carl, and the Early Years of Psychoanalysis
- By: Catrine Clay
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 33
Clever and ambitious, Emma Jung yearned to study the natural sciences at the University of Zurich. But the strict rules of proper Swiss society at the beginning of the 20th century dictated that a woman of Emma's stature - one of the richest heiresses in Switzerland - travel to Paris to "finish" her education, to prepare for marriage to a suitable man. Engaged to the son of one of her father's wealthy business colleagues, Emma's conventional and predictable life was upended when she met Carl Jung.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Carl plays center stage
- By Sparrowhawk on 12-23-16
By: Catrine Clay
-
The Greater Journey
- Americans in Paris
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,409
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,820
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,819
The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
McCullough takes it to the next level
- By gregory m loyd on 07-12-11
By: David McCullough
-
Effie
- The Passionate Lives of Effie Gray, John Ruskin and John Everett Millais
- By: Suzanne Fagence Cooper
- Narrated by: Sophie Ward
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 174
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 175
Effie Gray, a beautiful and intelligent young socialite, rattled the foundations of England's Victorian age. Married at 19 to John Ruskin, the leading art critic of the time, she found herself trapped in a loveless, union after Ruskin rejected her on their wedding night. She met John Everett Millais, Ruskin's protege, and fell passionately in love with him. Suzanne Fagence Cooper has gained exclusive access to Effie's previously unseen letters and diaries to tell the complete story of this scandalous love triangle.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating Story--Victoriana
- By Cariola on 06-29-12
-
Ted Hughes
- The Unauthorized Life
- By: Jonathan Bate
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 25 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
Ted Hughes, poet laureate, was one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. With an equal gift for poetry and prose, and with a soul as capacious as any poet in history, he was also a prolific children's writer and has been hailed as the greatest English letter writer since John Keats. His magnetic personality and insatiable appetite for friendship, love, and life also attracted more scandal than any poet since Lord Byron.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Phenomenal thanks to narrator!
- By equinox14 on 06-26-16
By: Jonathan Bate
-
The Golden Age of Murder
- By: Martin Edwards
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 38
A real-life detective story, investigating how Agatha Christie and colleagues in a mysterious literary club transformed crime fiction, writing books casting new light on unsolved murders whilst hiding clues to their authors' darkest secrets. This is the first book about the Detection Club, the world's most famous and most mysterious social network of crime writers. Drawing on years of in-depth research, it reveals the astonishing story of how members such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers reinvented detective fiction.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Doesn't work as an audiobook
- By Pat on 08-02-15
By: Martin Edwards
What listeners say about Wilkie Collins
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Kelli Ryan
- 11-30-16
If you enjoy Wilkie Collins, this is a must read.
This lovely account of Wilkie Collins' storied life a real clue to his writing. He was certainly a man before his time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful