Mrs. Mooney, separated from her husband, a butcher who descended into alcoholism, runs a boarding house for working men. Her daughter Polly entertains the boarders by singing and flirts with them. When Mrs. Mooney learns that her daughter is having an affair with one of the men, she starts to wonder how she may manipulate the situation. An interest...

Another top-notch selection of Irish stories, once again superbly read by that master story-teller, T.P. McKenna. Stories: Grace - James Joyce, Home Sickness - George Moore, The Ghost & The Bone-setter - Sheridan Le Fanu, Two Or Three Witnesses - C.E.Montague, The Stolen Sheep - John Banim

Imagine a killer who thinks. "What is the worst thing anyone has ever done?"-and then goes far beyond it! Four women who come to call themselves the Women's Murder Club-a police detective, an assistant D.A., a reporter, and a medical examiner-have the mettle to follow the leads to an impossibly heart-stopping conclusion, tracking and confronting th...

Taken from the collection 'Further Fables For Our Time', this tale from James Thurber will delight cat lovers and loathers alike. William the cat lives his life believing that he is the centre of the world. Although other cats take against his egotism and pompous nature, William trots through life unawares, until one day peril aboard a ship changes...

Jane Austen makes two appearances on this brilliant collection that also includes such revered writers as Mary Shelly and Virginia Woolf. With stories ranging from tear-jerkers to passionate tales of love and jealousy, this collection has something for everyone, young or old, male or female.

A shepherd nears his final hours in this bleak yet insightful and evocative picture of dying. Encompassing many of the stages of grief, the man experiences fear, resignation and resolution in this lonely tale which also examines religion and the possible solace of companionship.

Some great and varied short stories written by The 39 Steps thriller writer, John Buchan. Perhaps best remembered for 'The 39 Steps', John Buchan also wrote several collections of short stories. In this selection, tales about war-time code-breaking (echoing Buchan's own experience as an Intelligence Officer in WW1), cannibalism, and swashbuckling a...

Phileas Fogg sets out on his epic adventure - will he make it back to London in time for tea? Steve Coogan, Jackie Chan and Cecile de France star in a new film version of the book. Here former Manuel actor Andrew Sachs gives full range to hs versatility using his many voices along with brilliant narration.

A BBC Radio 3 drama that was developed with a community group in Byker, Newcastle which takes a journey into the reality of neglect as one child's life spirals out of control. Originally broadcast as part of the 'Drama on 3' collection on 25 October 2009. In a fractured society lives a fractured family, in their fractured home lies a fractured body...

Gunder Jomann, a quiet, middle-aged man from a peaceful Norwegian community, thinks his life has been made complete when he returns from a trip to India a married man. But on the day his Indian bride is due to join him, he is called to the hospital to his sister's bedside. The local taxi driver sent instead to meet the bride at the airport returns...

A sensual and evocative story about a married woman whose desires are enflamed by another woman, the distant and non-committal Pearl. A study of the urges of women and men alike, ideas of fidelity and hidden longing, this story is both melancholy and hopeful, with a female protagonist that doesn't quite fit the mould and is empathetically and inter...

For William 'Billy' Fisher, an energetic imagination makes life tolerable, but well-nigh intolerable for all around him. He lies his way into and out of every situation, making any promise to get him out of trouble, thereby creating ever more tortuous entanglements to be wriggled out of in the future. Billy dreams of escaping the dull drudgery of h...

Jill is 14, overweight and obsessed with food. Her mum is glamorous, disappointed in Jill and about to embark on a new relationship with Billy, whilst Dad watches silently from a chair.

Matti is the 14-year-old son of a traditional Sami family living in Lapland, living 250 miles inside the Arctic Circle. Matti is a modern boy, who loves messing about with computers and hates pollution, drugs and Ginger Spice.

Drama about extraordinary children presenting the thoughts and opinions of British children about children in other parts of the world.

Anna Karenina risks her lifestyle and wealth when she falls for the wrong man in this dramatic and romantic tale of choices and consequences. Married to a man of importance in 19th century St.Petersburg, Anna 's world crumbles when she falls passionately in love with the handsome Count Vronsky, and is forced to choose between her lover and her you...

Alice is so bored of listening to her sister read that she gazes around the garden and sights a curious white rabbit, who seems to be wearing a coat and a pocket watch. Following the rabbit, she reaches the rabbit hole and tumbles down it-and the very strange adventure starts. One of the most famous and a pioneering example of 'Literary Nonsense',...

The master of surreal and wonderful fiction presents a story about one of his most famous characters - the perpetually grinning and ever-riddling Cheshire Cat. Alice's friend/tormentor in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat has been immortalized in art, film, cartoon, television and now on audio.

Emily and Charles, an English couple, take the car from Dover to Calais in France. Following a rather average lunch of soggy chips ("I thought you said the French make the best chips" - Emily) they motor South until they arrive at a beautiful old hotel, a former Royal palace in the middle of champagne country. While Emily is changing for dinner Cha...

Melvyn Bragg examines new coinages, puns and wordplay; how accents and social class are entwined; swear words; attempts to stop the evolution of language in its tracks; and, finally, the many varieties of English that are spoken around the world today.

This thirteenth collection of the antidote to panel games finds Jack Dee giving regular panellists Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden silly things to do-along with special guests Jeremy Hardy, Sandi Toksvig, Rob Brydon and David Mitchell. Highlights include Uxbridge English Dictionary, One Song to the Tune of Another, Sound Charades,...