Audiobooks narrated by Charlotte Davey

Lucy Carmichael: A Classic Coming-of-Age Tale of Love, Loss, and Self-Discovery. Introduced by Lucy Mangan

"Brought to you by Penguin. The Mermaid Collection Originally published in 1951 from the author of beloved holiday classic The Feast comes a glorious coming-of-age tale about a heroine whose wedding day does not go entirely to plan . . . With a foreword by Lucy Mangan ‘People seem to get over things, don’t they? I don’t know how, but they do – ordinary people. I’m very ordinary, so I expect I shall do what they do.’ Lucy Carmichael is jilted at the altar. But no matter. Her loving and kind family never liked her explorer fiancé anyway. Instead of moping or falling into her supportive family’s arms, however, Lucy abandons their suburban home. Heading for the country, she takes up a teaching position in the industrial town of Ravonsbridge. There, she finds solace in her work, in her new (rather gossipy) colleagues – and rediscovers her sensible young self. But if Lucy has, despite everything, kept her head – where lies her heart? Praise for Margaret Kennedy: 'She is not only a romantic but an anarchist, and she knows the ways of men and women very well indeed' Anita Brookner 'Kennedy was immensely popular in her heyday' Washington Post 'Margaret Kennedy's poised style, cool wit and skilful characterization kept her novels welcome for three decades' Cambridge Guide to Literature in English © Margaret Kennedy 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Margaret Kennedy (Author), Annabel Scholey, Charlotte Davey (Narrator)

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Down Among the Women: A Bold Feminist Classic of Friendship, Motherhood, and Liberation in 1950s London. Introduced by Jenny Colgan

"Brought to you by Penguin. The Mermaid Collection A classic from beloved national treasure Fay Weldon sees four women break the shackles of patriarchy and domesticity in 1950s London, from the author of The Lives and Loves of a She-Devil With a foreword by Jenny Colgan ‘Down among the women. What a place to be!’ So says Wanda, a former radical who left her husband and raised her daughter Scarlet to be as liberated as she. But twenty-year-old Scarlet, with an abortion already behind her, is about to discover real liberation – as a single mother in Fifties’ London. Yet Scarlet’s not alone. Meet her friends: Sylvia, the born victim; respectable Jocelyn, willingly trapped in a dull, bourgeois marriage; Audrey, bristling to break free of her conventional life; and Helen, beautiful, vibrant – and very doomed. Over the course of twenty years, from the Fifties to the Seventies, Scarlet, Wanda and their friends will wonder if they can ever become the women they always dreamed of being. Praise for Fay Weldon: 'A national treasure' Literary Review 'Wickedly stylish. Bursting with intelligence and fire' Daily Telegraph 'Prolific and provocative, Weldon shines brightest in the league table of British women novelists' Time Out 'A queen of words' Caitlin Moran © Fay Weldon 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Fay Weldon (Author), Charlotte Davey, Tamaryn Payne (Narrator)

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Fenny: A Classic Coming-of-Age Novel of Love and Loss in 1930s Tuscany. Introduced by Jennie Godfrey

"Brought to you by Penguin. The Mermaid Collection A gorgeously rich coming of age novel that sees young English governess Ellen fall head over heels for Tuscany after taking a job as a governess in 1933, even in the face of unrequited love and political tension. With a foreword by Jennie Godfrey ‘The strange city through which they drove was the scenery of a dream . . .’ Yorkshire teacher Ellen Fenwick has never been abroad. But when her mother dies, this young woman finds herself taking a position as governess to an English girl in Florence in the summer of 1933. Little does Ellen realise how this girl, Juliet, and her family will claim her. For as the summer passes, Ellen falls so in love with Italy and her new home that she cannot bear to leave – even when her own hopes of love are cruelly thwarted. Even when the shadow of war falls across the country, she doesn’t flee but clings on – for her friends, for those she loves more than herself. Ellen – selfless, big-hearted, accepting – cannot know what is coming. Yet, she will not face it alone . . . Praise for Lettice Cooper: ‘A writer of quiet but strong, deep and varied gifts’ Sunday Telegraph ‘A storyteller of adventures of the heart’ Jilly Cooper © Lettice Cooper 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Lettice Cooper (Author), Charlotte Davey, Natalie Simpson (Narrator)

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Through A Glass, Darkly: A Classic Crime Novel of Murder, Mystery, and Hidden Truths Behind School Walls. Introduced by Gillian McAllister

"Brought to you by Penguin. The Mermaid Collection The jewel in the crown of the beloved Dr Basil Willing mysteries - when unassuming art teacher Faustina Crayle loses her second job in quick succession, only Basil can help, and it goes from bad to worse for Faustina when a body is found . . . With a foreword by Gillian McAllister ‘They watch me all the time. In and out of the classroom, their eyes are always following me . . .’ Quiet, gentle, young Faustina Crayle is dismissed from her teaching position at Brereton School for Girls after just a few weeks. She is given no explanation, but it’s clear certain staff and pupils fear her. Her friend and fellow teacher Gisela contacts psychologist and sleuth Dr Basil Willing who offers to investigate these outlandish claims. But this only confirms two damning facts – first, that this happened at a previous school and, second, people believe there are two sides to enigmatic Faustina. When a body is found at the school and Faustina is implicated in the death, it is clear that darkness swirls around this young woman. But is she the perpetrator or victim? Praise for Helen McCloy: 'McCloy has always resembled the best writers of the Sayers-Blake-Allingham school' New York Times ‘In the very top rank’ Sunday Times © Helen McCloy 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Helen McCloy (Author), Charlotte Davey, Jill Winternitz (Narrator)

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Prophet: The must-read sci-fi thriller

"Brought to you by Penguin. Daring, surprising and superbly plotted, this is a fresh, thrilling page-turner from a dynamic new duo in genre fiction Your happiest memory is their deadliest weapon. THIS IS PROPHET. It knows when you were happiest. It gives life to your fondest memories and uses them to destroy you. But who has created it? And what do they want? An all-American diner appears overnight in a remote British field. It's brightly lit, warm and inviting but it has no power, no water, no connection to the real world. It's like a memory made flesh - a nostalgic flight of fancy. More and more objects materialise: toys, fairground rides, pets and other treasured mementos of the past. And the deaths quickly follow. Something is bringing these memories to life, then stifling innocent people with their own joy. This is a weapon like no other. But nobody knows who created it, or why. Sunil Rao seems a surprising choice of investigator. Chaotic and unpredictable, the former agent is the antithesis of his partner Colonel Adam Rubenstein, the model of a military man. But Sunil has the unique ability to distinguish truth from lies: in objects, words and people, in the past and in real time. And Adam is the only one who truly knows him, after a troubled past together. Now, as they battle this strange new reality, they are drawn closer than ever to defend what they both hold most dear. For Prophet can weaponise the past. But only love will protect the future. ©2023 Helen Macdonald & Sin Blaché (P)2023 Penguin Audio"

Helen MacDonald, Sin Blaché (Author), Charlotte Davey, Jake Fairbrother, Ryan Forde Iosco (Narrator)

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The Witch in the Well: A deliciously disturbing Gothic tale of a revenge reaching out across the years

"Brought to you by Penguin. Over a hundred years ago, the citizens of F- did something rather bad. And local school teacher Catherine Evans has made writing the definitive account of what happened when Ilsbeth Clark drowned in the well her life's work. The town's people may not want their past raked up, but Catherine is determined to shine a light upon that shameful event. For Ilsbeth was an innocent, after all. She was shunned and ostracised by rumour-mongers and ill-wishers and someone has to speak up for her. And who better than Catherine, who has herself felt the sting and hurt of such whisperings? But then a childhood friend returns to F -. Elena is a successful author whose book, The Whispers Inside: A Reawakening of the Soul, has earned her a certain celebrity. In search of a new subject, she takes an interest in the story of Ilsbeth Clark and announces her intention to write a book about the long-dead woman, focusing on the natural magic she believes she possessed. And Elena has everything Catherine has not, like a platform and connections and no one seems to care that Elena's book will be pure speculation, tainting Ilsbeth's memory rather than preserving it. Catherine is determined that something must be done and plots to blunt her rival's pen. However she had not allowed for the fact that the past might not be so dead after all - that something is reaching out from the well, disturbing her reality. Before summer's over, one woman will be dead, the other accused of murder . . . but is she really guilty, or are there other forces at work? And who was Ilsbeth Clark, really? An innocent? A witch? Or something else entirely? © Camilla Bruce 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022"

Camilla Bruce (Author), Charlotte Davey, Christina Cole, Emily Barber (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Charlotte Davey

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