Audio - Fiction 2002

File Updated: 13/09/2004

Tangled Web UK: New Audio - Fiction Titles 2002

Monica Ali Brick Lane Published May 2004 by HarperCollins Audio at Ł13.99 ISBN: 0-00-717121 8
Read by Ayesha Dharker
Nazneen’s inauspicious entry to the world, an apparent stillbirth on the hard mud floor of a Bangladeshi village hut, imbues in her a sense of fatalism that she carries across continents when she is married off to Chanu. Her life in London’s Tower Hamlets is, on the surface, calm. For years, keeping house and rearing children, she does what is expected of her. Yet Nazneen walks a tightrope stretched between her daughters’ embarrassment and her husband’s resentments.
Into that fragile peace walks Karim. He sets questions before her, of longing and belonging; he sparks in her a turmoil that reflects the community’s own; he opens her eyes and directs her gaze - but what she sees, in the end, comes as a surprise to them both.
Back in Bangladesh, her sister Hasina, rushes headlong at her life, first making a `love marriage’, then fleeing her violent husband. Woven through the novel, Hasina’s letters recount a world of overwhelming adversity. Shaped - yet ultimately not bound - by their landscapes and memories, both sisters struggle to dream themselves out of the rules prescribed for them.
Beautifully rendered and, by turns, both comic and deeply moving, Brick Lane establishes Monica Ali as one of the most exciting new voices in fiction.
4 Cassettes Running Time: 6 hrs Abridged by Kati Nicholl

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by Monica Ali at Amazon.co.uk

Jane Austen Mansfield Park Published March 2004 by Hodder Headline Audio at Ł7.99 ISBN: 1-84032-787 1
Read by Justine Waddell
Mansfield Park is the story of Fanny Price: the earnest, gentle girl of humble origins sent to live with Sir Thomas Bertram and his family in Mansfield Park. There she discovers a world of flirtation, betrayal and prejudice; her quiet, serious nature hides a loyal and loving heart, and her patient devotion is ultimately rewarded.
Born in Johannesburg and educated at Cambridge University, Justine Waddell’s extensive screen career has included Great Expectations, the title role in Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Wives and Daughters and, more recently, Wes Craven’s Dracula 2000.
2 Cassettes Running Time: approx. 3 hrs Abridged by Peter Mackie Produced by Heavy Entertainment

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by Jane Austen at Amazon.co.uk

Anthony Capella The Food of Love Published August 2004 by timewarner Audio at Ł13.99 ISBN: 1 4055 0074 3
Read by Kerry Shale
CD Version
Laura Patterson, a twenty-four-year-old student, is spending a year studying art history in Rome. She’s decided that from now on she’ll only go out with a man who can cook.
Tommaso Massi, handsome and silver tongued, tells Laura that he’s a chef at one of Italy’s best restaurants. In reality, he’s just a humble waiter.
His best friend, Bruno, who really is a chef - a brilliant one - is called upon to help. But when he also falls for Laura, the sparks begin to fly …
‘A delicious book - funny, foodie and romantic’ Richard Curtis
Kerry Shale is an award-winning reader whose credits include such films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Labyrinth, as well as a range of Audiobooks and a number of documentary voice-overs for the BBC, Granada and the Discovery Channel.
5 Cassettes Running Time: approx. 6 hrs Abridged by Kati Nicholl Produced by Peter Rinne

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by Anthony Capella at Amazon.co.uk

Jung Chang Wild Swans Published June 2004 by HarperCollins Audio at Ł13.99 ISBN: 0-00-104728 0
Read by Anna Massey
Combining the intimacy of memoir with the epic sweep of a great novel, Wild Swans tells the story of the three women -Jung Chang, her mother and her grandmother - whose fortunes mirror the tumultuous history of twentieth century China. As the years pass in this beautifully detailed family tapestry, we see three lives unfolding one from the other, through love, tragedy and renewal.
The story takes us further inside China than we have ever been; from palaces to prison cells, from grand public scenes of insurrection and turmoil to quiet chambers where confidences of women are passed from mother to daughter Breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its descriptions of China’s long nightmare, it is both an important work of contemporary history and an extraordinary testimony to the human spirit.
‘It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of this book’ Mary Wesley
2 Cassettes Running Time: 6 hrs Abridged by Kati Nicholl

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by Jung Chang at Amazon.co.uk

Charles Dickens Nicholas Nickleby Published March 2004 by Hodder Headline Audio at Ł7.99 ISBN: 1-84032-786 3
Read by Martin Jarvis

‘If the young man comes to be a teacher here, let him understand at once that we don’t want any foolery about the boys ...’

Nicholas Nickleby defies his grasping Uncle Ralph’s evil machinations to make his own way in the world. From the reluctant schoolmaster at Wackford Squeers’ brutal Dotheboys Hall to a temporary member of Vincent Crummles’ theatrical troupe, Nicholas finds true love and makes his fortune with the help of some of Dickens’ most unforgettable creations.
Martin Jarvis's distinguished career ranges from acclaimed productions of Ayckbourn, Pinter, Wilde and Shakespeare in London to Murder, She Wrote and James Cameron's Titanic in Hollywood. His BBC Just William recordings are international bestsellers and, in 1995, he received the British Talkies Award. In 1999 he received an OBE.
2 Cassettes Running Time: approx. 3 hrs Abridged by Penny Leicester
About The Author
CHARLES DICKENS was born in Portsmouth in 1812. At twelve he was sent to work after his father was sent to debtors' prison; the experiences from this time always haunted him. After a spell as a parliamentary reporter Dickens began writing novels. Published in serial form, his work grew rapidly in popularity, beginning with The Pickwick Papers. After finishing Barnaby Rtldge (1841), Dickens visited America. He returned disillusioned, and his work became more serious and radical. His last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, was never completed, and he died in 1870.

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by Charles Dickens at Amazon.co.uk

Charles Dickens Our Mutual Friend Published March 2004 by Hodder Headline Audio at Ł7.99 ISBN: 1-84032-785 5
Read by Alex Jennings

‘Pa, mark my words! Between Mr Rokesmith and me there is a natural antipathy and a deep distrust; and something will come of it!’

A body is found in the River Thames and is identified as John Harmon. He was due to inherit a great fortune on the condition that he marry a young woman called Bella Wilfer. And so th story begins and unravels and we are introduced ot the mysterious John Rokesmith – Our Mutual Friend.
Alex Jennings has had a successful career in theatre, television, film and sound medium. His credits include Richard II and Hamlet with the RSC and television credits include Ashenden and Smiley’s People. He has appeared in the films The Wings of a Dove, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Bad Blood.
2 Cassettes Running Time: approx. 3 hrs Abridged by Peter Evans
About The Author
CHARLES DICKENS was born in Portsmouth in 1812. At twelve he was sent to work after his father was sent to debtors' prison; the experiences from this time always haunted him. After a spell as a parliamentary reporter Dickens began writing novels. Published in serial form, his work grew rapidly in popularity, beginning with The Pickwick Papers. After finishing Barnaby Rtldge (1841), Dickens visited America. He returned disillusioned, and his work became more serious and radical. His last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, was never completed, and he died in 1870.

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by Charles Dickens at Amazon.co.uk

Micheal Dobbs Never Surrender Published June 2004 by HarperCollins Audio at Ł13.99 ISBN: 0-00-719276 2
Read by Tim Pigott-Smith
This extraordinary novel from the bestselling author of Winston’s War finds Churchill at his lowest ebb - pitted in personal confrontation with Adolf Hitler, and with ghosts from his tormented past.
Friday 10th May 1940. Hitler launches a devastating attack that in days will overrun France, Holland and Belgium, and bring Britain to its knees at Dunkirk. It is also the day Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister. He is the one man capable of standing in Hitler’s way - yet Churchill is still deeply mistrusted within his own Cabinet and haunted by the memory of his tortured father.
Never Surrender is a novel about the courage and defiance that were displayed in abundance - not just by Churchill, but by ordinary men and women over three of the most momentous weeks in British history.
Tim Pigott-Smith is one of Britain's best-known actors who has worked widely on both stage and screen. Television credits include Jewel in The Crown and The Chief. He has performed with the RSC and has also read a number of audiobooks.
4 Cassettes Running Time: approx. 6 hrs Abridged by John Nicholl

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by Micheal Dobbs at Amazon.co.uk

Daphne du Maurier Frenchman's Creek Published March 2004 by Hodder Headline Audio at Ł7.99 ISBN: 1-84032-784 7
Read by John Nettles
Exciting and tender, with magical descriptions of the Cornish coast and marvelously drawn portraits of Dora, her Frenchman and the Cornish gentry, Frenchman’s Creek is one of Daphne du Maurier’s most popular novels
Before Midsomer Murders, John Nettles was best known for his role as Sergeant Jim Bergerac in the television series Bergerac. Other TV appearances include A Family at War, Black Beauty, The Liver Birds, Dickens of London and The Merchant of Venice. Stage work ranges from the Royal Shakespeare Company to pantomime. Orion Audio invited him to read Stalin because of his magnificent audiobook reading of George Orwell’s 1984.
2 Cassettes Running Time: approx. 2 hrs 30 mins Abridged by Peter Mackie Produced by David Roper

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by Daphne du Maurier at Amazon.co.uk

Daphne du Maurier Jamaica Inn Published March 2004 by Hodder Headline Audio at Ł7.99 ISBN: 1-84032-783 9
Read by Samantha Bond
Mary Yellan, recently orphaned, goes to live with her aunt at Jamaica Inn – stark and forbidding and standing alone on Bodmin Moor, its very walls tainted with corruption. This is a classic and enthralling story of smuggling and Cornish secrets and Mary who must observe it all alone.
Samantha Bond's latest film is The World Is Not Enough in which she plays Moneypenny. Her television credits include The Ginger Tree, Rumpole of the Bailey and Inspector Morse.
2 Cassettes Running Time: approx. 2 hrs 30 mins Abridged by Peter Mackie Produced by David Roper

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by Daphne du Maurier at Amazon.co.uk

Julian Fellowes Snobs Published May 2004 by Orion Audio at Ł12.99 ISBN: 0-75286 794 6
Read by Julian Fellowes
Snobs is narrated by a journeyman actor who moves comfortably among the upper classes, while chronicling their foibles. And what a tale he has to tell.
Edith Lavery, the attractive only child of a moderately successful accountant and his social-climbing wife, earns a living answering the telephone in a fashionable Chelsea estate agent. While visiting his parents’ house as a member of the public, she meets Charles Broughton, Earl Broughton and heir to the Marquess of Uckfield, who runs the family estates in East Sussex and Norfolk. To the gossip columns he is one of the most eligible young aristocrats around.
When he proposes Edith accepts. But is she really in love with Charles? Or with his title, his position and all that she thinks goes with it?
Partaking in events and never shy of commenting is Charles Broughton’s mother, the shrewd Lady Uckfield, known to her friends as ’Googie’. Edith, she decides, is a young woman on the make. And when a television company descends on Broughton Hall to make a period drama, ‘Googie’s’ worst fears are fully justified.
This story contains occasional strong or sexually explicit language.
‘A delicious thoroughbred delight, a guilty treat that is awake to every maddening and appallingly attractive nuance of English social life.’ - Stephen Fry
Julian Fellowes was educated at Cambridge and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. He trained in repertory theatre at Northampton and Harrogate before making his West End debut in A Touch of Spring. As an actor he is probably best-known for his portrayal of Lord Kilwillie in BBC Television’s series Monarch of the Glen. In the cinema he was seen in Shadowlands, Damage and Tomorrow Never Dies.
His film screenplay debut was Gosford Park, which won the Oscar for the Best Original Screenplay. Since then, among other projects, he has worked on Vanity Fair, and made his debut as a director with his own version of Nigel Balchin’s A Way Through the Wood.
As well as Snobs he has a children’s story being published later this year.
He and his wife Emma have a son, Peregrine, and a dachshund, Fudge.
4 Cassettes Running Time: 5 hrs 20 mins Abridged by Kati Nicholl Produced by Nicholas Jones

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by Julian Fellowes at Amazon.co.uk

Gustave Flaubert Madame Bovary Published February 2004 by Hodder Headline Audio at Ł7.99 ISBN: 1-84032-788 X
Read by Emilia Fox
Emma Bovary is the beautiful, frustrated wife of a provincial doctor. Torn between fantasy and reality, Emma, mesmerizing to the opposite sex, embarks upon love affairs which belie her class aspirations, but are true to her soul. Madame Bovary is a compelling portrayal of the intensity of human passion, a characteristic which is Emma’s greatest attribute, yet one which ultimately leads to tragedy.
Emilia Fox has appeared in a variety of theatre, film and television productions. Her television appearances include Pride and Prejudice, Stephen Poliakoff's Shooting the Past, and a starring role in Rebecca.
Emilia Fox has "one of the sexiest recording voices in the world" according to The Independent
2 Cassettes Running Time: approx. 3 hrs Abridged by Peter Mackie

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by Gustave Flaubert at Amazon.co.uk

Valerie Martin Italian Fever Published July 2004 by timewarner Audio at Ł16.99 ISBN: 0-75286 712 1
Read by Francine Brody
Winner of the 2003 Orange Prize
With Exclusive Author Interview
Thirty-something New Yorker Lucy Stark leads a quiet, solitary life working for a bestselling - but remarkably untalented - writer. When he dies at a villa in Tuscany, Lucy flies to Italy to settle his affairs. What begins as a grim chore soon threatens her self-reliance and her very sense of reality. In Italian Fever, Valerie Martin evokes a modern woman’s headlong tumble into a world where mystery, love and art are inextricably - and dangerously - entwined. The villa harbours secrets: a missing manuscript, neighbours whose Byzantine arrogance veils a dark past, a phantom whose nocturnal visits tear a gaping hole in Lucy’s well-honed scepticism. And to complicate matters: Massimo, a married man whose tender attentions render Lucy breathless. Here is a narrativie that ventures where E.M. Forster’s angels feared to tread. Smart and sophisticated, this novel takes us on a journey from which, we return, like Lucy, utterly changed.
Francine Brody trained at RADA, where she won the Flora Robson Prize. She has performed in theatres all over the United Kingdom in plays such as The Soldier’s Tale, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Death of a Salesman, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Glass Menagerie. Film and television work includes l Dreamed of Africa, Maigret and The Hotel Majestic and Lost and Found. She has also done voiceovers and has recorded a number of audio books including the RNIB unabridged version of Bridget Jones’s Diary.
5 Cassettes Running Time: 6 hrs 30 mins Abridged by Elspeth McPherson Produced by Elspeth McPherson

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by Valerie Martin at Amazon.co.uk

Valerie Martin Property Published February 2004 by Orion Audio at Ł9.99 ISBN: 0-75286 170 0
Read by Liza Ross
Property is a powerful, startling novel set in America’s Deep South in the early nineteenth century: a story of freedom, both political and personal.
Manon Gaudet is unhappily married to the owner of a Louisiana sugar plantation. She misses her family and longs for the vibrant lifestyle of her native New Orleans, but most of all she longs to be free of her suffocating domestic situation. The tension revolves around Sarah, a slave girl given to Manon as a wedding present from her aunt, whose young son Walter is living proof of where her husband’s inclinations lie. This private drama is played out against a brooding atmosphere of slave unrest and bloody uprisings. And if the attacks reach Marion’s house, no one can be sure which way Sarah will turn ...
Beautifully written, and winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction 2003, Property is an intricately told tale of both individual stories and a country in a time of change where ownership is at once everything and nothing and where belonging, by contrast, is all.
Liza Ross has worked extensively in theatre, television and radio. She has twice appeared with the National Theatre Company in The Front Page and Wings. Other theatre credits include The Entertainer, Arms and the Man and Dangerous Corner. Her TV appearances include After the War, Poor Little Rich Girl, The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt, Chandler's Smart-Alex Kill andOppenheimer.
She also works frequently in radio, working in plays including The Age of Innocence and Superman.
Her many film credits include Batman. She is frequently heard on BBC Radio and has read many audio books.
2 Cassettes Running Time: approx. 3 hrs 55 Mins Abridged by Kati Nicholl Produced by Elspeth Santa Clara

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by Valerie Martin at Amazon.co.uk

Peter Mayle A Good Year Published April 2004 by timewarner Audio at Ł14.99 ISBN: 1 4055 0018 2
Read by Tim Pigott-Smith
CD VERSION
Max Skinner is a man at the heart of London’s financial universe until his employers embark on a little asset-stripping of their own. Himself. Amid the grey London drizzle, there is one potential ray of sunshine: Max’s Uncle Henry has left him his estate in his will - an eighteenth-century chateau and vineyard an hour’s drive from Avignon. Out of a job, and encouraged by his friend Charlie’s talk of the money in modern wine, he heads for France.
What Max discovers is a beautiful house, wonderful weather and a bustling village. The downside is the quality of the wine in his vineyard, but when Max suggests calling in an expert, Roussel, a former employee of his uncle, is resistant. Help is at hand, however, when a beautiful blonde Californian woman arrives unexpectedly at the chateau.
Tim Pigott-Smith is one of Britain's best-known actors who has worked widely on both stage and screen. Television credits include Jewel in The Crown and The Chief. He has performed with the RSC and has also read a number of audiobooks.
6 Cassettes Running Time: 7 hrs Produced by Anne Rosenfeld

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by Peter Mayle at Amazon.co.uk

Mark Mills Amagansett Published June 2004 by HarperCollins Audio at Ł13.99 ISBN: 0-00-718475 1
Read by Kerry Shale
In the small town of Amagansett, perched on Long Island’s windswept coast, generations have followed the same calling as their forefathers, fishing the dangerous Atlantic waters. Little has changed in the three centuries since white settlers drove the Montaukett Indians from the land. But for Conrad Labarde, a second-generation Basque immigrant recently returned from World War II, and his fellow fisherman Rollo Kemp, this stability is shattered when a beautiful New York socialite turns up dead in their nets.
On the face of it, her death was accidental, but deputy police chief Tom Hollis - an incomer from New York - is convinced the truth lies in the intricate histories and family secrets of Amagansett’s inhabitants. Meanwhile the enigmatic Labarde is pursuing his own investigation.
In unravelling the mystery, this haunting and evocative novel captures a community whose way of life is disappearing, its demise hastened by war in Europe and the incursions of city dwellers in search of a playground.
Kerry Shale is an award-winning reader whose credits include such films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Labyrinth, as well as a range of Audiobooks and a number of documentary voice-overs for the BBC, Granada and the Discovery Channel.
4 Cassettes Running Time: approx. 6 hrs Abridged by Kati Nicholl

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by Mark Mills at Amazon.co.uk

Nicholas Sparks The Wedding Published June 2004 by timewarner Audio at Ł0.00 ISBN: 1 4055 0035 2
Read by Tom Wopat
The long-awaited follow-up to his classic The Notebook.
After thirty years, Wilson Lewis is forced to face a painful truth: the romance has gone out of his marriage. His wife, Jane, has fallen out of love with him, and it is entirely his fault. Despite the shining example of his inlaws, Noah and Allie Calhoun, and their fifty-year love affair, Wilson himself is a man unable to express his true feelings. He has spent too little time at home and too much at the office, leaving the responsibility of raising their children to Jane. Now his daughter is about to marry, and his wife is thinking of leaving him. But if Wilson is sure of anything, it is this: his love for Jane has only grown over the years, and he will do everything he can to save his marriage.
Tom Wopat is perhaps best known for his seven year run in the hit television series The Dukes of Hazzard. His many theatre credits include 42nd Street, Guys and Dolls, City of Angels and a Tony-nominated performance in Annie Get Your Gun.
2 Cassettes Running Time: approx. 6 hrs Abridged by Kati Nicholl Produced by John Wager

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by Nicholas Sparks at Amazon.co.uk