Effi Briest ist die Titelfigur des gleichnamigen Romans von Theodor Fontane, der in Buchform erstmals 1895 erschienen ist. Als Erscheinungsjahr wurde auf dem Titelblatt 1896 angegeben. Der Gesellschaftsroman wird dem bürgerlichen Realismus zugeordnet und spielt vor dem Hintergrund des durch strenge Normen festgelegten Lebens im Kaiserreich unter Reichskanzler Otto von Bismarck. Der Roman beruht auf einer wahren Begebenheit, der Ehebruchgeschichte der Freifrau Elisabeth von Ardenne, geboren 1853. (Zusammenfassung aus Wikipedia)
36 episodes
The premise of the book is that everyone who has ever died (up until the time in which the book is set, which seems to be about the time of its publication) has gone to Styx. This does not appear to be the conventional Hell described by Dante in The Inferno, but rather the Hades described in Greek myth (both of which had Styxes): a universal collecting pot for dead souls, regardless of their deeds in life.The book begins with Charon, ferryman of the Styx (in The Inferno, he was the ferryman of the river Acheron) being startled—and annoyed—by the arrival of a house boat on the Styx. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business, he later finds out that he is actually to be appointed the boat's janitor.What follows are eleven more stories (for a total of twelve) which are set on the house boat. There is no central theme, and the purpose of the book appears to be as a literary thought experiment to see what would happen if various famous dead people were put in the same room with each other. Each chapter is a short story featuring various souls from history and mythology. (Wikipedia)
12 episodes
Hvad nu om man kunne gøre sit liv om - eller i det mindste bare gennemleve sin ungdom en gang til? Måske kræver dette hverken mirakler, opstandelse eller genfødsel, men blot at man beslutter at gøre det - at man beslutter sig for at gå tilbage til hvor den svundne tid to sin begyndelse og starter forfra. Det er i hvert fald hvad romanens hovedperson Niels Faber sætter sig for. Millionærens Pilegrimsfærd er en roman, der til trods for at den blev skrevet for mere end hundrede år siden, stadig er aktuel for ethvert menneske som på et tidspunkt i tilværelsen har skuet tilbage og tænkt den tanke at livet kunne have formet sig anderledes. Romanen er forfatterens sidste. Otto M. Møller døde i en alder af otteogtredive år. Forfatteren skrev den mens han var døende og han havde formentlig en forudanelse af hvad der ventede ham. Måske derfor rummer dele af fortællingen nogen bitterhed. Romanen rummer dog også en hyldest til verdens skønhed, den dejlige natur og til det ærlige jævne menneske. I dag, i det enogtyvende århundrede, kan vi derudover glæde os over at bogen giver et sjældent godt øjebliksbillede af det almindelige menneskes hverdagsliv i Danmark omkring 1890'erne. (Summary by Kristoffer Hunsdahl)
18 episodes
Set in Victorian England, North and South is the story of Margaret Hale, a young woman whose life is turned upside down when her family relocates to northern England. As an outsider from the agricultural south, Margaret is initially shocked by the aggressive northerners of the dirty, smoky industrial town of Milton. But as she adapts to her new home, she defies social conventions with her ready sympathy and defense of the working poor. Her passionate advocacy leads her to repeatedly clash with charismatic mill owner John Thornton over his treatment of his workers. While Margaret denies her growing attraction to him, Thornton agonizes over his foolish passion for her, in spite of their heated disagreements. As tensions mount between them, a violent unionization strike explodes in Milton, leaving everyone to deal with the aftermath in the town and in their personal lives.Elizabeth Gaskell serialized North and South between September 1854 and January 1855 in Charles Dickens’s magazine Household Words. Upon its publication, Gaskell established herself as a novelist capable of serious discourse on social responsibility and advocacy for change in defiance of established authority. (Summary by Dani)
52 episodes
‘The Forsyte Saga’ is the story of a wealthy London family stretching from the eighteen-eighties until the nineteen-twenties.To Let is the third and final book in the saga (although Galsworthy later published two further trilogies which extend the story). We are now in 1920, about twenty years since Irene married Young Jolyon and gave birth to John and since Soames married Annette, who gave him a daughter, Fleur. The two sides of the family have not met since those times and John and Fleur do not even know of each other’s existence.All the old Forsytes are dead except for Timothy. Val and Holly have returned from South Africa and Val is training racehorses in Sussex. June has opened her gallery near Cork Street.Soames arranges to meet Fleur at June’s gallery and while there, and again later in a patisserie, they see Irene and Jon. Soames ignores them but Fleur and Jon are attracted to one another at a distance.
As they leave, Fleur drops her handkerchief... (Summary by Andy Minter)
35 episodes
Fanny Herself is the story of Fanny Brandeis, a young girl coming of age in the Midwest at the turn of the 20th century. It is generally considered to have been based on Ferber’s own experiences growing up in Appleton, Wisconsin. Regarded by many as the “greatest American woman novelist of her day,” Ferber would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize in a 1925 for her book So Big, and is also the author of Showboat and Cimarron, which along with other of her later works were successfully adapted for stage and screen. (summary by J. M. Smallheer)
23 episodes
In writing her 'Drama of Exile', Barrett's subject was 'the new and strange experience of the fallen humanity, as it went forth from Paradise into the wilderness'. The bizarre, lyrical scenes that follow powerfully describe the grief and guilt of Eve, the sorrowful pride of Lucifer, and the redeeming power of love. (summary by Patrick Beverley, quotation from the preface)Cast of Characters:
Lucifer – Patrick Beverley
Gabriel – Jay Saunders
Adam – David Kleparek
Christ – David Muncaster
Eve – JemmaBlythe
Narrator, Revel Voices, Aged Voices – Barry Eads
Chorus of Eden Spirits, Earth Spirits – Margaret Espaillat
Spirits of Trees – Andrea Lee
River Spirits, Second Spirit – Miriam Esther Goldman
Bird Spirits – vanrose
Flower Spirits – Chrystal Layton
Angel Chorus, First Semichorus, Second Semichorus, Morning Star, Youthful Voices – Neeru Iyer
First Spirit, Love Voices – Rissa Byrne
Infant Voices – Mia Saunders
Poet Voices – Aaron Elliott
Philosophic Voices – Simon Larois
Audio edited by Barry Eads
5 episodes
Sarah Orne Jewett is best known for her clean and clear descriptive powers that at once elevate common-place daily events to something remarkable, and lend dignity and grace to the most humble and homely human character.In Deephaven, go with her on vacation to an unforgettable sea side village where time runs slower and small pleasures are intensified. Much space is given to outdoor rambles and sights and events of daily living that draw you into another era. Jewett's loving and gentle descriptions of the people and life of Deephaven will make you sorry when the book is over, and long to be able to find that village for yourself. (Summary by Brenda Price)
13 episodes
Daisy Miller is an 1878 novella by Henry James. It portrays the confused courtship of the eponymous American girl by Winterbourne, a compatriot of hers with much more sophistication. His pursuit of her is hampered by her own flirtatiousness, which is frowned upon by the other expatriates they meet in Switzerland and Italy. Her lack of understanding of the social mores of the society she so desperately wishes to enter ultimately leads to tragedy. (Summary from Wikipedia)
6 episodes
At 5 years old Leo Vincey is left in the care of a Cambridge professor by the name of Horace Holly. His father leaves him a strange casket which he is to open on his 25th Birthday. On opening the Casket Leo and Horace discover the strange history of Leo's ancestors. Leo and his adoptive father Horace must travel all the way to Africa in order to uncover the solve his family's strange history. - Written by Lizzie Driver
29 episodes
The Portrait of a Lady is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan's Magazine in 1880-1881 and then as a book in 1881. It is the story of a spirited young American woman, Isabel Archer, who "affronts her destiny" and finds it overwhelming. She inherits a large amount of money and subsequently becomes the victim of Machiavellian scheming by two American expatriates. Like many of James's novels, it is set mostly in Europe, notably England and Italy.Generally regarded as the masterpiece of his early phase of writing, this novel reflects James's absorbing interest in the differences between the New World and the Old. It also treats in a profound way the themes of personal freedom, responsibility, betrayal, and sexuality.
(Summary from Wikipedia)
28 episodes
Don Quijote de la Mancha (ortografía y título original —1605—, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha) es una de las obras cumbre de la literatura española y la literatura universal, el libro más traducido después de la Biblia, escrito por Miguel de Cervantes.La novela consta de dos partes: la primera, El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, fue publicada en 1605; la segunda, El ingenioso caballero don Quijote de la Mancha, en 1615.
La primera parte se imprimió en Madrid, en casa de Juan de la Cuesta, a fines de 1604. Salió a la venta en enero de 1605 con numerosas erratas, a causa de la celeridad que imponía el contrato de edición. Esta edición se reimprimió en el mismo año y en el mismo taller, de forma que hay en realidad dos ediciones de 1605 ligeramente distintas. Se sospecha, sin embargo, que existió una novela más corta, que sería una de sus futuras Novelas ejemplares. (Resumen de Wikipedia)
42 episodes
This book tells further stories from the period of Rebecca's sojourn in Riverboro.
11 episodes
Eve Edgarton is not who she seems she is. A short encounter with Mr. Barton show that first impressions are not always right or indicative of one's seemingly obvious preference or one's proclivity. (Summary by Kehinde)
7 episodes
The poems and stories in this collection were selected with the reader’s grandchildren in mind. “The Raggedy Man” and “Little Orphant Annie,” both by James Whitcomb Riley, the Hoosier Poet were favorites of the reader when she was a child on a farm in Indiana. Other favorites were picked up along the way as she read to her own daughter and to her students, while other gems were discovered while looking for poems and stories to include in this collection. It is hoped that this collection will bless the hearts of many children and parents alike as they listen together.
23 episodes
Yosef Haim Brenner (murdered by Arab terrorists in 1921 at the age of 40) presented in his book "From Here and There" a piercing, soul searching portrayal of the "second aliyah," the dominant immigration into Palestine at the beginning of the twentieth century. The following words have influenced many at the time, and are still thought to represent Brenner's literary "will": "Life is bad, but always secret ... Death is bad. The world is conflicted, but also diverse, and sometimes beautiful. The world is miserable, but can also be wonderful. The nation of Israel, by the rules of logic, has no future. One must, nonetheless, work. So long as you have a soul, there are sublime acts and uplifting moments. Long live Hebrew human labor!" (Summary by Omri Lernau)
19 episodes
The House of Mirth (1905), by Edith Wharton, is a novel about New York socialite Lily Bart attempting to secure a husband and a place in rich society. It is one of the first novels of manners in American literature, and one of the first to openly explore how American Victorian society offered little social mobility for women. (Summary from Wikipedia).
29 episodes
Carl Stanton is an invalid suffering from an unusual bout of rheumatism. His fiancee is gone for the winter and though he begs her to write to help ease his boredom and pain she is stingy with her letters. She sends him what she calls a 'ridiculous circular' which she states is very apropos of his sentimental passion for letters. In a sudden fit of mischief, malice and rheumatism, Carl decides to respond to the circular which results in bringing about the necessary distraction in a flurry of letters that do ease Carl's boredom and pain but also bring him something else that he never quite expected. (summary by Kehinde)
11 episodes
A collection of LibriVox volunteers’ favourite chapters. Some were chosen for being the key chapter in a great novel, others for the wonderful clarity with which great ideas are expressed, and still others because the reader did a wonderful job. Whatever the reason they were chosen, we hope they will give you as much pleasure as they did us. (Summary by David Barnes).
11 episodes
Pride and Prejudice is the most famous of Jane Austen’s novels, and its opening is one of the most famous lines in English literature - “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Its manuscript was first written between 1796 and 1797, and was initially called First Impressions, but was never published under that title. Following revisions it was published on 28 January 1813 by the same Mr. Egerton of the Military Library, Whitehall, who had brought out Sense and Sensibility. Like both its predecessor and Northanger Abbey, it was written at Steventon Rectory. (Summary from Wikipedia)
61 episodes
Imagine a strange, tropical place that is almost inaccessible. Time appears to have stood still there. Species of animal and plant life not seen elsewhere on Earth, except in the fossil record, inhabit the place. The lakes heave with the shapes of huge grey bulks moving under the surface. The woods are places where chittering cries move about above your head, as powerful apes move swiftly in the canopy of leaves. Then, a tree splinters nearby, and a dinosaur steps out from his hiding place... and he's eyeing YOU.
Jurassic Park? Not quite. The Lost World was an inspiration for Jurassic Park; in fact, a character in J.P. has the same name as one of the chief characters in The Lost World. It also inspired King Kong. But this is the original! Four adventurers go off to find the place shown in a dead man's sketch book - they find a war between apes and Indians, prowling dinosaurs, a sparkly treasure hidden in the blue clay - they find the Lost World. And because of the treachery of a native guide, their means of escape is destroyed!
16 episodes
This novel tells the story of Anthony Patch, a 1920s socialite and presumptive heir to a tycoon's fortune; the relationship with his wife Gloria, his service in the army, and alcoholism. (Summary from Wikipedia)
19 episodes
Richard Hunter, formerly Ragged Dick, continues to advance in the world through luck and excellent morals. He, along with his friend Henry, moves into a better boarding house and then finds a promising job. He is framed for theft by a jealous co-worker and ends up in jail. He is exonerated, given his job back, and then is promoted. He eventually works his way up the ladder and becomes quite successful. (Written by Alys Attewater and Barry Eads)
23 episodes
Pomona and Jone of Rudder Grange fame travel to England and Scotland. Along the way, Pomona tangles with wild pigs, haymaking, hotels great and small, Pullman cars, comparison-makers, and a Duchess. She makes two matches and - in her usual, unorthodox way - stag hunts and attends a knighting. Pomona is as hilarious as ever, if a bit more rounded off on the edges.
28 episodes
This book presents a number of short, comedic sketches of a country life in middle America in the late 1800s. The hilarious twists and turns endear our adorable, naive married couple to the reader; and the orphan servant Pomona - dear, odd, funny Pomona! - is the focus of several of the stories. Imagine a honeymoon in a lunatic asylum, and you’ve got Rudder Grange!
40 episodes
Seitsemän veljestä on tarina seitsemän nuoren suomalaisen miehen elämästä, unelmista, juopottelusta, tappeluista, ankarasta työnteosta, katumuksesta ja kasvamisesta vastuulliseen miehuuteen 1800-luvun yhteiskunnassa. --(summary from Wikipedia)
28 episodes
Malgré l'avis de son père, Juliette épouse l'homme dont elle est follement amoureuse, un colonel de Napoléon à l'avenir prometteur. Les années passant, elle réalise que son père avait bien raison... Un gentilhomme anglais, qui s'est épris d'elle, parvient à gagner son coeur. Elle restera malgré tout vertueuse, causant ainsi, sans le vouloir, sa mort. Une nouvelle rencontre, M. de Vandenesse, changera drastiquement le cours de sa vie. Cela aura des conséquences bien funestes sur le bonheur de sa famille. In spite of her father's opinion that the man is unworthy of her, Juliette marries her first love, a promising colonel of Napoleon. As the years go by, she finds out her father was right... Her love is unexpectedly taken away by an Englishman who adores her. But, she will remain virtuous, causing his death. A new acquaintance, M. de Vandenesse, will drastically change her life. This will have dreadful consequences on her family's happiness. (Summary by Ezwa)
15 episodes
This is a story of an adventure involving a young man, his dog, and two friends. Together they wander through the Western prairies on a mission to make peace between the "pale-faces" and the "Red men". They face many perils and become heroes many times over. This wonderful story takes the characters (and the reader) on an action-packed journey through the Western prairies during the times when relations between the white man and the Natives were not always peaceful. (Summary by Allyson Hester)
27 episodes
The Quest of the Silver Fleece is a story of romance, race, economics and politics set around the 1900s. Here, a traditionally educated boy and an unschooled “swamp girl” each begin a journey toward love, ambition and redemption in the “Old South.” (Summary by AJai Hilton)
38 episodes
This is volume 1 of 3. Originally published as a penny dreadful from 1845 until 1847, when it first appeared in book form, Varney the Vampyre is a forerunner to vampire stories such as Dracula, which it heavily influenced.Flora Bannersworth is attacked in her own room in the middle of the night, and although her attacker is seemingly shot dead, the body is nowhere to be found. The discovery of two small bite marks on Flora's neck leads Mr Marchdale, an old friend of the family, to the conclusion that she was bitten by a vampire. While Flora recovers, her brother Henry and Mr Marchdale begin their hunt for the vampire. Their suspicions soon fall on the mysterious Sir Francis Varney, who has just bought an old abbey near Bannersworth Hall, and who bears an uncanny resemblance to Marmaduke Bannersworth, a long-dead ancestor of the family. (Summary by Annika Feilbach)
Note that the original text does not have chapters labeled 41-43. The chapters have been renumbered to be consecutive in this project.
63 episodes
Edith Wharton was a novelist of manners of late 19th Century New York "Society", who spent much of her life in France. In this novel she tells the story of Undine Sprague, the thrice- (or more) married, upwardly mobile beauty from "Apex City", transplanted to New York, and finally to France, leaving the dead and wounded in the wake of her "experiments in happiness". (Summary by Karen Merline)
46 episodes
The House of the Seven Gables is a gloomy New England mansion, haunted from its foundation by fraudulent dealings, accusations of witchcraft, and sudden death. The current resident, the dignified but desperately poor Hepzibah Pyncheon, opens a shop in a side room to support her brother Clifford, who is about to leave prison after serving twenty-five years for murder. She refuses all assistance from her unpleasant wealthy cousin Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon. A distant relative, the pretty young Phoebe, turns up and quickly becomes invaluable, charming customers and rousing Clifford from depression. A delicate romance grows between Phoebe and the mysterious lodger Holgrave, who is writing a history of the Pyncheon family. (Summary from Wikipedia)
22 episodes
Maria Chapdelaine is one of the most famous French Canadian novels. It is the love story of Maria Chapdelaine, daughter of a peasant family in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec, in the 1900s. It is often seen as an allegory of the French Canadian people, describing simple joys and great tragedies, the bonds of family, the importance of faith, and the strength of body and spirit needed to endure the harshness of life in Canada's northern wilderness. (Summary by Kim S and Sarah Jennings)
16 episodes
"The Wings of the Dove," published in 1902, represents to my memory a very old--if I shouldn't perhaps rather say a very young--motive; I can scarce remember the time when the situation on which this long-drawn fiction mainly rests was not vividly present to me. The idea, reduced to its essence, is that of a young person conscious of a great
capacity for life, but early stricken and doomed, condemned to die under short respite, while also enamoured of the world; aware moreover of the condemnation and passionately desiring to "put in" before extinction as many of the finer vibrations as possible, and so achieve, however briefly and brokenly, the sense of having lived. (summary taken from the Preface by Henry James)
39 episodes
In 1894, Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) published two collections of aphorisms: A Few Maxims For The Instruction Of The Over-Educated, in the Saturday Review newspaper, and Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young, in the Oxford student magazine The Chameleon. By turns witty, intellectual, counter-intuitive and obtruse, the collections came to be seen by many as emblematic of Wilde's style, and countless collections of Wildean aphorisms have since been published. (Summary by Carl Manchester)
2 episodes
First Published in 1908, The Elusive Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy is the 4th book in the classic adventure series about the Scarlet Pimpernel. (Summary from Wikipedia)
35 episodes
Reuben Sachs is a London lawyer whose political aspirations do not include marriage to Judith Quixano, the daughter of a respectable but unexeptional family. But without Reuben, a woman like Judith might have a bleak future in mid-19th century England: a loveless marriage or lifelong dependancy are apparently her only options...A feminist, a Jew, and a lesbian, Amy Levy wrote about Anglo-Jewish cultural mores and the lives of would-be independent women in Victorian society. Levy was as repelled by contemporary literature's occasional paragon (e.g., Daniel Deronda) as by its more frequent anti-Semitic stereotypes. REUBEN SACHS was her attempt at an honest, warts-and-all account of middle class Jewish life in late-19th century London. While many of Levy's contemporaries condemned the book as a shanda fur die goyim (an embarassment), Oscar Wilde wrote: "Its directness, its uncompromising truths, its depth of feeling, and above all, its absence of any single superfluous word, make REUBEN SACHS, in some sort, a classic." Amy Levy (1861-1889) was born in London and educated in Brighton and at Newnham College, Cambridge. Her social set included Beatrix Potter and Eleanor Marx, with whom she studied in the British Museum Reading Room, and lover Vernon Lee (Violet Padget). (Summary by Adrian Praetzellis)
10 episodes
The first significant published short story of French author Guy de Maupassant, and generally acknowledged as his greatest work, "Ball-of-Fat" (French title: Boule de Suif) is the touching story of an interrupted coach ride from Rouen to Le Havre during which occurs the corruption of a principled prostitute by immoral and hypocritical members of the upper class. The story is set during the occupation of Rouen at the time of the Franco-Prussian War. (Summary by Michael Thomas Robinson)
3 episodes
An den Ufern der Havel lebte, um die Mitte des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts, ein Roßhändler, namens Michael Kohlhaas, Sohn eines Schulmeisters, einer der rechtschaffensten zugleich und entsetzlichsten Menschen seiner Zeit. - Dieser außerordentliche Mann würde, bis in sein dreißigstes Jahr für das Muster eines guten Staatsbürgers haben gelten können. Er besaß in einem Dorfe, das noch von ihm den Namen führt, einen Meierhof, auf welchem er sich durch sein Gewerbe ruhig ernährte; die Kinder, die ihm sein Weib schenkte, erzog er, in der Furcht Gottes, zur Arbeitsamkeit und Treue; nicht einer war unter seinen Nachbarn, der sich nicht seiner Wohltätigkeit, oder seiner Gerechtigkeit erfreut hätte; kurz, die Welt würde sein Andenken haben segnen müssen, wenn er in einer Tugend nicht ausgeschweift hätte. Das Rechtgefühl aber machte ihn zum Räuber und Mörder. (1. Absatz des Buchs)
26 episodes
Frederick Elliot is a student at early 20th century Cambridge, a university that seems like paradise to him, amongst bright if cynical companions, when he receives a visit from two friends, an engaged young woman, Agnes Pembroke, and her older brother, Herbert. The Pembrokes are Rickie’s only friends from home. An orphan who grew up living with cousins, he was sent to a public (boarding) school where he was shunned and bullied because of his lame foot, an inherited weakness, and frail body. Agnes, as it happens, is engaged to Gerald, now in the army, who was one of the sturdy youths who bullied Rickie at school. Rickie is not brilliant at argument, but he is intensely responsive to poetry and art, and is accepted within a circle of philosophical and intellectual fellow-students led by a brilliant but especially cynical aspiring philosopher, Stuart Ansell, who refuses, when he is introduced to her, even to acknowledge that Agnes exists. (from Wikipedia)
35 episodes
We have had many novels about alternate histories, often of the 'What would have happened if Hitler had won the war' type and this is another - except that this one is set in 1913 and the 'William' of the title is that old bogeyman 'Kaiser Bill'. For some reason, at the height of Britain's power, the fear of invasion was common at that time. (See The Riddle of the Sands, The Battle of Dorking, Spies of the Kaiser or even The War of the Worlds)WARNING: Contains mild anti-semitism and jingoism typical of the period. (Summary by Andy Minter)
19 episodes
The second part in the story of Anne Shirley, covering her years of teaching at Avonlea School, before she heads off to college.
Other books in this series by this reader:
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of the Island
Anne's House of Dreams
Rainbow Valley
Rilla of Ingleside
30 episodes
Ayesha, the return of She, is set 16 years after the previous novel She. Horace Holly and Leo Vincey have spent the years travelling the world looking for Ayesha, along the way they experience many adventures, including avalanches, glaciers and even death-hounds before finally arriving in the court of Kaloon. At the court, they hear tell of a woman who Leo suspects to be Ayesha, however things are never simple and conflict soon follows them to Ayesha’s court. (Summarised from Wikipedia)
25 episodes
Eric Marshall is all that a well brought-up young man should be. Handsome, steadfast, and full of ambition, he is expected to expand the Marshall & Company empire -- and to marry a woman suitable to replace his mother in Nova Scotia's finest circles. When a sick friend asks for a favour, becoming a substitute schoolmaster in the Prince Edward Island countryside seems the perfect post-graduation lark. But when Eric wanders into an old orchard at twilight, his life will be changed forever... (Summary by Sarah Jennings)
19 episodes
Lilith, written by the father of fantasy literature, George MacDonald, was first published in 1895. Its importance was recognized in its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fifth volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in September, 1969. Lilith is considered among the darkest of MacDonald's works, and among the most profound. It is a story concerning the nature of life, death and salvation. Many believe MacDonald is arguing for Christian universalism, or the idea that all will eventually be saved. (Summary from Wikipedia)
48 episodes
Northanger Abbey follows Catherine Morland and family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen as they visit Bath, England. Seventeen year-old Catherine spends her time visiting newly-made friends, such as Isabella Thorpe, and going to balls. Catherine finds herself pursued by Isabella's brother John Thorpe (Catherine's brother James's friend from university), and by Henry Tilney. She also becomes friends with Eleanor Tilney, Henry's younger sister. Henry captivates her with his view on novels and his knowledge of history and the world. General Tilney (Henry and Eleanor's father) invites Catherine to visit their estate, Northanger Abbey, which, because she has been reading Ann Radcliffe's gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho, Catherine expects to be dark, ancient and full of fantastical mystery. (Summary by Wikipedia)
31 episodes
Dawn O’Hara, the Girl Who Laughed was Edna Ferber’s first novel. Dawn, a newspaperwoman working in New York, finds herself back home in Michigan on doctor’s orders. Years of living in boarding-houses and working to pay for the care of her brilliant but mentally ill husband, Peter Orme, have taken their toll. At twenty-eight, Dawn feels like an old woman with no future. But, the loving care of her sister Norah and her family along with the attentions of the handsome German doctor, Ernst Von Gerhard, slowly bring Dawn back to life. With Dr. Von Gerhard’s help, she obtains a newspaper job in Milwaukee and begins a year of new adventures among new people. However, the specter of her husband living in a mental hospital is always present and Dawn fears she may never be free to love again. (Summary by Lee Ann Howlett)
21 episodes
Un savant, Samuel Ferguson, accompagné de son domestique Joe et de son ami Dick Kennedy entreprend de traverser le continent africain — alors incomplètement exploré — à l'aide d'un ballon gonflé à l'hydrogène. Il a en effet inventé un dispositif qui, en lui évitant de perdre du gaz ou de devoir jeter du lest pour régler son altitude, autorise les plus longs voyages. Ce voyage est supposé relier les explorations faites par Burton et Speke en Afrique orientale à celles de Heinrich Barth dans les régions du Sahara et du Tchad. Partis de Zanzibar, les trois aéronautes réalisent effectivement la traversée, au prix de mille aventures au terme desquelles ils parviennent au Sénégal avant de retourner en Angleterre où ils reçoivent un accueil enthousiaste. (Résumé par Wikipédia)
An English version is available / Une version anglaise est disponible : Five Weeks in a Balloon.
Findes på dansk / Une version danoise est disponible: Fem uger i ballon.
44 episodes
The transitioning years between girlhood and womanhood are an exciting time for a girl, as well as tumultuous and confusing. Beautiful Girlhood by Mabel Hale is a lovely guide that will help the young girl understand the changes she is going through emotionally and physically and also guide her in the proper behavior befitting a young woman. (Summary by Laura Caldwell)
35 episodes
An American Robinson Crusoe is a short version of the original story. An indolent, rebellious teen goes on a marine voyage against his parents' wishes. The ship (and all of its crew) is lost in a storm, but Robinson makes it to a deserted island. He has no tools, no weapons, but he lives for over 28 years on the island. He befriends many animals on the island and after over 20 years living solo, he is joined by a young "savage" who becomes his constant companion. The transformation from the young, lazy teen to a self-sustaining, incredibly knowledgeable adult is one of the major themes in the story. (Summary by: Allyson Hester)
10 episodes
