Showing results by narrator "Alison Larkin" in All Categories

Evelyn and Dorothy - the twins - are seven when the Forrests move from New York City, the hub of the world, to Westmere, New Zealand. The Forrest Trust Fund now cut out of their lives, the family live under a cloudless sky, in the dust and the heat, outdoors and running wild. Their father - who they would only call Frank - works for a cab company over the weekends but is really an actor. Michael, the eldest, has a friend called Daniel whose father lives in a half-way house. He starts to live with them, punches Dorothy to stop her crying, and becomes family.

After a busy day, what could be more soothing than getting into bed and listening to some of the world's most beloved classic bedtime stories exquisitely read by award-winning narrator Alison Larkin and iconic British actress Virginia McKenna, OBE? Exclusively for Audible, this delightful audiobook ends with The Tale of Peter Rabbit, read by Alison Larkin.

After a duke's betrayal, the resilient Sarah Forrester reinvents herself as the Golden Lady: Society's leading light, the beautiful and witty life of the party. It's all a facade of course - one that protects her from another intimate disloyalty. When her old friend, Lieutenant Jackson Fletcher, returns to London, he is determined to rediscover the true and trusting Sarah he once knew. It'll take more than a kiss and a promise. It might even call for an innocent and necessary deception.

Life changes once again for British spy Miss Mary Bennet when Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from the Isle of Elba. Mary quickly departs England for Brussels, the city where the Allied forces prepare for war against the French. But shortly after her arrival, one of the Duke of Wellington’s best officers is murdered, an event that threatens to break the delicate alliance between the Allies. Mary will need to unmask the murderer before more people are killed, but can she do so and remain hidden in the background?

At the heart of each of these great classic stories is an adoptee with an indomitable spirit who becomes the heroine (or hero) of her own life. "The bravery it takes for an unwanted orphan to forge their own path in life was as great when these stories were written as it is today," says narrator Alison Larkin, who draws on her own adoption experience to bring these stories to authentic new life.

When 15-year-old Jane Austen’s shy cousin Jenny comes to stay, their evenings are a blur of beautiful dresses, balls, gossip, and romance; their days are spend writing about them - Jenny in her diary, Jane in her witty first attempts at fiction. When Jenny falls utterly in love with a handsome naval officer, who better to help her than Jane herself, already an expert in love and relationships?

Orphaned and raised by her uncle, the feisty sixteen-year-old Chelynne resolves to show her gratitude by marrying the man of her uncle's choice. Bracing herself for a graying, sickly noble, the last man she expects for a husband is the dashing future Earl of Bryant, Chadwick Hawthorne - suddenly, being a loving wife doesn't seem too hard a task. But he spurns her affection and remains her husband only in name, never in deed. Tormented by unfinished business from his past and an uprising threatening his land, Chad resolves to keep his distance from everyone....

The book about Le Fanu’s tortured, powerful female vampire, Carmilla, has been terrifying generations with its themes of lesbian attraction and forbidden, dangerous desires. Carmilla inspired Bram Stoker to create his own vampire classic 26 years later. Now, these two blood-chilling tales are brought together in this brilliant recording followed by a fascinating interview in which Hayward and Larkin talk about their process and reactions to the stories, straight from the London recording studio.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde grew out of a horrifying nightmare Robert Louis Stevenson had one night in Bournemouth, England, in 1886. "The Yellow Wallpaper" sprang from a catastrophic nervous breakdown Charlotte Perkins Gilman had six years later on the other side of the Atlantic following the birth of her daughter. Now these two haunting, iconic tales are brought together for the first time in this powerful classic audio exploration of madness and the duality of the human soul.

A personal indictment of the institute of slavery in the Southern United States, as witnessed directly by Fanny Kemble, a British actress in 1838 and 1839. In a very personal way, she relates her many varied experiences, efforts to make life easier for the slaves despite her husband's stubborn resistance. As an English citizen, she had seen the total end of slavery throughout the British Empire in 1833, just a few years before her journey to Georgia. She ends her account with a stirring defense of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Anxious to secure his own success at the glittering court of Henry VIII, heiress Tamsin Lodge’s ambitious guardian obtains her a position as maid of honor to young Princess Mary Tudor. Tamsin soon comes to love the neglected child, but in the Tudor court, not even a princess is secure. Mary’s father is besotted with the lovely Anne Boleyn, and the girl’s future has grown perilous. Plotting to be Mary’s eyes and ears, Tamsin joins Anne’s service, but the handsome silk worker who is her co-conspirator may be her undoing.

When Miss Mary Bennet is assigned to London for the Season, extravagant balls and eligible men are the least of her worries. A government messenger has been murdered and suspicion falls on the Radicals, who may be destabilizing the government in order to compel England down the bloody path of the French Revolution.

Who better to interpret the version of the Bible read in Shakespeare’s day than four Shakespearean actors? The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John sparkle with new light. Timely and important, the four acclaimed narrators boldly showcase the historic text, making the powerful King James Version of the Gospels truly accessible to the modern ear.

When famed psychic Perspicacious Peg foresees a murder at England’s Belief and Beyond conference, her science-minded colleagues recruit 26-year-old Emily Castle's to report on the event as a "future-crimes investigator". The likely victim: Edmund Zenon, the celebrated and outspoken magician planning a daring conference stunt - and offering 50,000 pounds to anyone who can prove that the paranormal exists.

Amory and Milo plan to quietly winter in Italy. But Amory receives an urgent summons to the English countryside. There, Amory and Milo are surprised to discover a group of guests have been invited, led by socialite Isobel Van Allen. Isobel has returned to England after years of social exile to write a sequel to her scandalous first book. Her second incriminating volume, she warns the house's occupants - all of whom were present when one of their companions was killed years ago - will tell everything that really happened that fateful night.

In this timely and important new recording, The Gospel According to Matthew sparkles with new light in the hands of award-winning narrator Alison Larkin. Matthew is the first of the four gospels in the New Testament. Held in high esteem by the church, no other text was so frequently quoted in the noncanonical literature of earliest Christianity.

This whirlwind murder-mystery of intrigue, betrayal, and stolen treasure is a whodunit of epic proportions.

Multi award-winning writer/narrator Alison Larkin brings the teenage writings of Jane Austen together in this delightful collection. Listeners will enjoy identifying where Jane Austen’s later comic creations came from as they listen to young Jane Austen gleefully lampooning the popular literature and culture of her time.

Twenty-six-year-old Emily Castles is out of work…again. So when famous romance author Morgana Blakely offers her a job helping out at a conference in London, Emily accepts. Just as eagerly, American blogger Winnie Kraster accepts an invitation from Morgana to attend as a guest, not realizing she has, in effect, accepted an invitation to die. As a cast of oddball characters assembles at the conference hotel, grievances, differences, and secrets begin to emerge. When Winnie goes missing, and then is found murdered nearby, Emily begins to suspect that someone involved with the conference is responsible.

Alice in Wonderland and Jabberwocky come alive in a fresh new and highly accessible way in this in this brilliant recording by acclaimed comedienne Alison Larkin and Audie-award-winning narrator Derek Perkins. The recordings are followed by a short excerpt from The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll, by Carroll's nephew, Stuart Dodgson Collingwood.