Showing results by narrator "Sara Nichols" in All Categories

"The Secret Garden" is Frances Hodgson Burnett's most beloved and popular book, a childre's classic that has been adapted dozens of times for the stage and screen. When Mary Lennox — an ill-tempered and lonely orphan — is sent to live with her gloomy uncle in England, her future prospects appear dim. Her only companions are her cousin Colin, who is wheelchair bound, and the local boy Dickon Sowerby...and none of the children seem to have anything in common.

Perhaps the most famous labor activist and union organizer in history, Mary Harris Jones was an Irish emigre, who watched her husband and four children die of yellow fever, saw her modest dressmaking shop go up in flames in the Great Chicago Fire, and, as a lonely, poor widow in the late 19th century, was facing a bleak future.

Few families in history can boast of the incredible literary achievements of the Brontë sisters - Anne, Emily and Charlotte - who penned three of the most beloved novels ever written: Anne's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," Emily's "Wuthering Heights" and Charlotte's "Jane Eyre." Collected here are all three of these classic novels, plus a pair of essays penned by Charlotte fiercely defending her sister's books and drawing attention to the literary misogyny of the time, which forced the sisters to publish their novels under male pseudonyms.

"A Room of One's Own" began life as a pair of lectures delivered by Virginia Woolf in October 1928 at Newnham College and Girton College, women's colleges at the University of Cambridge and was published as a stand-alone book in 1929. In this brilliant examination of literature, history and gender discrimination, Woolf posits that the dearth of female writers in literature did not result from a lack of talent; it was the lack of opportunity.

Presented here are three of the six novels written by the legendary British author Jane Austen, each a beloved and cherished masterpiece of Regency-era literature. In Volume I, we present Austen's timeless classics "Pride and Prejudice," "Mansfield Park" and "Persuasion." Though the books only received modest attention and few reviews at the time of their first release ("Persuasion" was, in fact, published posthumously), all of these books have gone on to become best-sellers are now considered to be among the finest examples of 19th century literature.

My Ántonia relates the story of two young arrivals in Nebraska in the 1880s: Jim Burden and Ántonia Shimerda. Jim is an orphan, traveling to Nebraska to live with his grandparents, while Ántonia is emigrating to Nebraska with her Bohemian parents and siblings. The novel follows the pair as they become fast friends and experience life (and great challenges) on the Western prairie.

"Emma" is the fourth book by celebrated British author Jane Austen and the final book to be published during her lifetime. The story concerns Emma Woodhouse, a precocious young lady who fancies herself a matchmaker and thus intrudes upon the love lives of her friends and relations to find them suitable mates. When she attempts to cement the romance between her cousin Harriet (a girl of modest means) and a wealthy suitor, Emma is admonished by her brother-in-law, Mr. Knightley, for her meddling and a series of romantic entanglements soon ensues.

The Prairie Trilogy is a series of three novels centered around life in the Midwest during the late 19th/early 20th centuries by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather. First, in "O Pioneers!," we meet Alexandra Bergson, who inherits the family farm after her father dies and leaves her to care for her three siblings. While many immigrant families are giving up their farms and moving back to the city (or to their home countries), Alexandra decides to try to tough it out on the prairie.

Viewed from an historical perspective, Jane Austen's novels should not exist. She was born during a period where female writers (if they dared to write at all) were dismissed, ignored, and dissuaded from writing altogether. The fact that Ms. Austen went ahead and created the novels contained in this collection—which have gone on to become some of the most treasured books in literary history—is nothing short of a miracle.

A powerful and disturbing adventure story set in the wilds of Mexico after the First World War, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" is B. Traven's much-beloved and thrilling tale of three desperate men who set out to make their fortune in the gold-filled Sierra Madre Mountains...and wind up confronting their own greed and paranoia along the way.

Pooh and all of his friends are here: Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, Roo, and Christopher Robin. As they explore the Hundred Acre Wood, they have all sorts of adventures: tracking the Heffalump, visiting with Rabbit (and getting stuck in a very tight place), dressing up as a little black rain cloud to get honey from the bees, and even going on an "expotition" to the North Pole!

A.A. Milne's first collection of stories about his son's endearing and not-very-bright toy bear and his friends, Winnie-the-Pooh, is the original source material for one of children's literature's most enduring and beloved characters. We follow Pooh Bear as he tries to extract honey from a beehive, overstays his welcome at Rabbit's house, attempts to find Eeyore's missing tail, and hunts for the elusive Heffalump. The stories are presented here, in their original and unabridged form.

In Volume II, we present Austen's timeless classics "Sense and Sensibility," "Northanger Abbey" and "Emma." Though the books only received modest attention and few reviews at the time of their first release ("Northanger Abbey" was, in fact, published posthumously), all of these books have gone on to become best-sellers are now considered to be among the finest examples of 19th century literature.

"The Valley of Fear" is the fourth and final full novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that featured his greatest creation: the world's first consulting detective, the brilliant and legendary Sherlock Holmes.

Presented here are four of Edith Wharton's best known works: "The Age of Innocence," "The House of Mirth," "Ethan Frome" and "Summer," each considered a classic of the early 20th century. The first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction (for "Age of Innocence"), Wharton enjoyed an astonishing career as a short story writer and novelist, blazing a trail for the female writers who followed her.

When the New Mexico territory is annexed by the United States in the mid-1800's, the Catholic Church decides it is time to re-assert its authority in the region which, due to centuries of neglect, is now a haven for corrupt priests. The Vatican chooses Father Jean Marie Latour, a French Jesuit living in Ohio, to accomplish this task, and soon after elevating him to bishop, sends him on his journey into the Wild West.

This is a SoundCraft Audiobooks production - enhanced with music and sound effects - of two of Lewis Carroll's classic tales of nonsense and imagination. Here, brought together in a single volume, are the complete tales of young Alice, a girl who dreams of fantastical lands full of talking rabbits, grinning cats, mad hatters, and vengeful queens.

The immersive audio experience presented here - complete with sound effects, music, and atmospherics - allows the listener to feel as if they were in attendance when these speeches were first delivered. The orations are performed by a select group of amazing actors who uniquely capture the essence, power, and complexity of these magnificent addresses, universally acknowledged as some of the greatest speeches in world history.

This is a SoundCraft Audiobooks production - enhanced with music and sound effects - of a book long hailed as one of the great classics of children's literature. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz tells the story of a young orphan girl, Dorothy, who is caught up in a cyclone and transported to the magical kingdom of Oz. In order to return home, Dorothy is instructed to travel to the City of Emeralds and ask the Wonderful Wizard of Oz for his help in getting her back to Kansas.

"The House of Mirth" was the breakthrough novel for Edith Wharton and its immediate commercial and critical success put her on the American literary map. Based on Wharton's own experiences among the elite of the New York City social set in the late 1890's, "The House of Mirth" is both a fascinating glimpse into the upper-reaches of high society and a searing satire of the cruelties, frivolities and hypocrisy of the city's ultra-rich.