Audiobooks Narrated by Claire Goose

Émile Zola: A BBC Radio Drama Collection: Nine Full-Cast Dramatisations

"BBC radio adaptations of novels and short stories by Émile Zola, plus a fascinating short documentary and an original drama Novelist, journalist and literature’s greatest whistleblower, Émile Zola was one of the 19th century’s pre-eminent authors. He is renowned for his philosophy of naturalism, which informed his 20-volume Rougon-Macquart cycle, an epic family saga set during France’s Second Empire, and for his controversial intervention in the Dreyfus affair through his infamous protest letter, J’Accuse. Here are some of his superlative works, adapted for radio with stellar casts and beginning with his breakthrough novel, Thérèse Raquin. A cautionary tale of lust, murder and madness, it stars Charlotte Riley, Andrew Buchan and Toby Hadoke. It is followed by five of the most famous novels in the Rougon-Macquart series – L’Assommoir, The Ladies’ Delight, Germinal, His Masterpiece and La Bête Humaine. With settings ranging from Paris to the far north of France, they portray 1860s French society at its most brutal, corrupt and duplicitous. Featuring a host of unforgettable characters, from slum laundress Gervaise to idealistic miner Etienne, impoverished painter Claude and tortured train driver Jacques, these poignant, powerful and provocative dramas star David Bradley, Claire Goose, Georgia King, Joe Absalom, Rob Edwards, Michael Maloney and Imogen Stubbs. Based on short stories by Zola, Kelvin Segger’s Dead Men Tell No Tales and Trooping with Crows introduce us to a dead man observing his funeral preparations, another killed by advertising, a dreamer who delays for too long and a devious entrepreneur with an extraordinary marketing idea. Michael Maloney, Norman Bird, Struan Rodger, Terry Molloy and Trevor Peacock star in these dark, inventive plays. To conclude, two captivating bonus programmes explore Zola’s involvement in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus. Zola and the Dreyfus Affair charts the course of the scandal that rocked a nation; while Hattie Naylor’s original drama J’Accuse looks at events through the eyes of the right-wing, nationalistic Louis Grigori, who comes to believe that the persecution of the guiltless Dreyfus was the correct and only action. Contents Thérèse Raquin L’Assommoir The Ladies’ Delight Germinal His Masterpiece La Bête Humaine Dead Men Tell No Tales Trooping with Crows Zola and the Dreyfus Affair J’Accuse First published 1867 (Thérèse Raquin), 1876 (L’Assommoir), 1882-83 (Au Bonheur du Dames), 1884-85 (Germinal), 1885-86 (L’Œuvre), 1890 (La Bête Humaine) Copyright © Kelvin Segger 1999 (Dead Men Tell No Tales), 2000 (Trooping with Crows) J’Accuse copyright © Hattie Naylor 2009 © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Emile Zola (Author), Charlotte Riley, Claire Goose, David Bradley, Full Cast, Imogen Stubbs, Michael Maloney, Struan Rodger, Trevor Peacock (Narrator)

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Winifred Holtby: A BBC Radio Collection: South Riding, Anderby Wold, The Crowded Street and more

"Full-cast adaptations of three of Winifred Holtby’s best-known novels, plus short stories and bonus programmes about the author Winifred Holtby was an acclaimed novelist, journalist, feminist and social reformer. Her work encompasses six novels, two short story collections, a play and the first critical study of Virginia Woolf, but she is best known for her posthumously published masterpiece South Riding, which won the James Tait Black Memorial Award. She died in 1935, aged just 37. Born into a Yorkshire farming family, Holtby set much of her fiction in the landscape of her youth, including the three novels in this collection. Adapted as a 15-part radio drama, South Riding follows the lives and loves of fiery young headmistress Sarah Burton, landowner and school governor Robert Carne, and alderwoman Mrs Beddowes. Sarah Lancashire, Philip Glenister and Carole Boyd star in this rich, memorable evocation of a community in flux. Anderby Wold tells the tale of a farmer’s wife, a radical young writer and a village rocked by social change. Dramatised from Holtby’s 1923 debut novel, it stars Joanna Mackie, Derek Smith and Joseph Peters. The Crowded Street, set in the years leading up to World War I, centres around a woman's journey from introspective teenager to self-fulfilled adult. Claire Goose stars as heroine Muriel Hammond in this poignant coming-of-age drama. Wry, witty and irreverent, Holtby’s short stories reflect the diversity of her writing. 'The Celebrity Who Failed', read by Alice Arnold, features a girl who learns to walk on water – but is unprepared for the public attention that follows. 'Why Herbert Killed His Mother' is the story of a beautiful baby who turns out to be very different as an adult. A searing condemnation of ‘mother love’, it is read by Anna Massey. And in 'The Voice of God', read by Hugh Dickson, a radio-like machine enables people to listen in on the conversations of historical figures – but what will happen once the newspapers get to hear of it? Finally, Holtby’s life, legacy and significance are explored in a Woman’s Hour biographical segment and in a revealing radio portrait, The Divided State, written by Valerie Windsor and featuring Alison Fiske as Winifred Holtby. Text copyright © Winifred Holtby 1923 (Anderby Wold), 1924 (The Crowded Street), 1934 (‘The Celebrity Who Failed’, ‘Why Herbert Killed His Mother’, ‘The Voice of God’), 1936 (South Riding) Contents South Riding Anderby Wold The Crowded Street ‘The Celebrity Who Failed’ ‘Why Herbert Killed His Mother’ ‘The Voice of God’ Woman’s Hour extract The Divided State © 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Winifred Holtby (Author), Alice Arnold, Alison Fiske, Anna Massey, Carole Boyd, Claire Goose, Derek Smith, Full Cast, Hugh Dickson, Joanna Mackie, Joseph Peters, Philip Glenister, Sarah Lancashire (Narrator)

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