Showing results by narrator "Alice Johnson" in All Categories

Light-skinned black woman Irene Redfield meets an old childhood friend - Claire - who is now "passing" as a white woman... Claire is married to a racist white man, who doesn't know she has African American blood. Despite the danger of being found out by her husband and society at large she finds herself helplessly drawn to Irene's world. An absolutely fascinating listening experience on many levels simultaneously.

In The Love That Dares, queer love speaks its name through the words of lovers from years gone by. Alongside the more famous names coexist beautifully written letters by lesser-known lovers, giving us an insight into queer love outside of the spotlight of fame or fortune. These letters give us a glimpse into the passion and courage it took to continue a gay relationship in times when it was at best improper and at worst illegal. Enlightening introductions to each set of letters give readers an idea of the historical context in which they were written.

A short novel by a woman first published as early as in 1688! On that merit alone it is interesting. But there is more. This is a fictional work purporting to be the story of an African prince who eventually ends up in Surinam as a slave. It is also the very touching love story of the prince and his one and only love - despite the common practice of polygamy. Tragedy and revenge, or tragic revenge, if you will, is also another strong element of the story.

The atrocious but true story of slavery in the United States until the Civil War. It is the personal history of Harriet Jacobs and her enslavement and subsequent escape to the North, after spending seven years hidden in a crawlspace. The stunned listener also gets to know of the mistreatment of the other slaves. We hear how slavery as practiced by the South was degrading to both blacks and whites.

"The Portrait of a Lady" is the title of this masterpiece. Isabel Archer - beautiful, young and spirited - visits her wealthy relatives in England, rejects marriage proposals by two more or less worthy suitors, inherits a fortune and then is manipulated into marriage to one of the most cruel creatures imaginable: Gilbert Osmond... This is just scratching the surface of this colossal, monumental work, so rich in both its prose, its characters and its many, many themes.

This fascinating work centers around the encounter between a visitor from the nineteenth century, William Guest, and a decentralized and humane socialist future without class segregation and with direct democracy without government al empowerment. Inspired by the work of John Ruskin and Karl Marx; this novel is not only a statement of egalitarian convictions but a great early contribution to the utopian genre! This work could be seen as a kind of utopian counterpart to George Orwell's famous and deeply pessimistic, dystopian novel 1984.

Orphaned into the authority of her Aunt Reed and subjected to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre still manages to hold on to her integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield and falls in love with the brooding and mysterious Mr. Rochester; but there will be quite a few complications in the way of their happiness. This is a classic and enduring masterpiece, multilayered in meaning and showing the listener many of the challenges facing women during the Victorian era.

"Howards End" is a novel by English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist E. M. Forster. It was first published in 1910. "Howards End" is considered by some to be Forster's masterpiece. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked "Howards End" 38th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It's about social conventions, codes of conduct, and personal relationships in turn-of-the-century England. This is also a story of difference between the middle class and the poor.

An iconic early feminist utopian novel. This work was one element in the major wave of utopian and dystopian literature that marked the later nineteenth and early twentieth century. A man previously lost to the world is found by his sister and tries to re-enter society. He had amnesia so he is now 55 in body, but 25 in his own mind. The book delves into how the man accommodates to the progress in industry and society; but most of all - and most importantly - it is a fascinating study of how he reacts to and deals with the significant changes and progress regarding the position of women in the society.

A beautiful young woman hides away, wanting nothing to do with men; and founds a women's university, where no man can enter. But as the master Tennyson writes, "Life is brief but love is long"; love will find a way, and the prince to whom the young woman was betrothed in infancy disguises himself into a woman and enters the premises... This classic narrative poem continues to enchant generation after generation of listeners and it is no wonder why: "Better not be at all than not be noble."

"A Little Princess" is a beloved classic of English children's literature. Captain Crewe, a wealthy young English widower, enrolls his seven-year-old daughter Sara, who has been living in India, at Miss Minchin's boarding school for girls in London, in order to prepare her for a future life in society. Crewe dotes on his daughter, ordering and paying for her special treatment at the school, such as her own room fitted with extra luxuries, her own maid, and her own carriage for rides.

"The House of Mirth" (1905), by Edith Wharton, is the story of Lily Bart, a well-born, but penniless woman of the high society of New York City, who was raised and educated to become wife to a rich man, a hothouse flower for conspicuous consumption. As an unmarried woman with gambling debts and an uncertain future, Lily is destroyed by the society who created her.

This work is a full blooded Victorian, sensationalistic melodrama! Murder, arson, blackmail, bigamy; not many ingredients are missing in this entertaining piece. The story is fast-paced and the main character, Lady Audley, is a refreshingly manipulative and resourceful villainess filled with passion and desires that threatened the male dominated Victorian era.

This early novel is often called Jane Austen's Gothic parody. Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers are quintessential gothic ingredients; but the listener is also rewarded with Austen's typical and wonderful sense of satirical humor! Our heroine is Catherine Morland, a seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey.

An absolutely fascinating, trailblazing and early work of feminism and social realism! This novel reflects the important sexual and cultural issues of the late nineteenth century. Here, women are portrayed as "odd" and marginal in relation to an ideal. Set in a smoggy London, our heroines range from the idealistic, financially autonomous Mary Barfoot; to the Madden sisters who struggle to get by in low paying jobs.

Our heroine Kate is madly in love with her fiancé. She is planning their wedding and future life together... Unfortunately, she discovers a secret that he has that will forever change what she thinks of him. With this new insight, she toils with her desire to be morally accountable, and for him to "do the right thing". Much later in life, she finds herself in a very similar situation, only this time with her own son... A gripping and fascinating novella about the so called "Gilded Age", by one of the true masters of the genre.

A turn of the century British masterpiece. The satirical story of Lucy Honeychurch, a young English girl traveling to Italy for the first time. In Florence, she meets the unconventional George Emerson, with whom she shares a single passionate kiss, to the horror of her chaperone, her uptight cousin Charlotte. Back in England, Lucy has to choose between George and her uptight fiancé Cecil Vyse.

"The Glimpses of the Moon" is written by Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer Edith Wharton (1862-1937). It was published in 1920. Set in the early 1920s, this novel continues Edith Wharton's examination of New York society. Nick Lansing and Susy Branch are both barely getting by in the wealthy social circles they move in and they can't afford to get married. They make a deal. They will get married and stay together as long as they can but when they run out of money, they can divorce each other.

Jane Austen's first published novel and much loved masterpiece. Two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood - the former sensible, the latter impulsive - both fall in love with men whose affections are otherwise engaged or, as in one case, are simply unreliable. The great pleasure for the listener is reveling in the author's wonderful prose and hearing all of this tangled mess (with many great supporting characters) become untangled in both very funny and deeply moving ways.

This is a powerful and tragic work by the masterful author about a girl's sexual awakening. Of course, there are consequences involved; she is a poor girl in a small western New England town. This book deals with both sexuality and class distinction and touches on incest as well. While these topics are more or less openly debated today, they were considered scandalous at the time of publication.