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Audiobooks Narrated by Elliot Chapman
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"Beloved naturalist and author Gerald Durrell introduces an eccentric cast of characters in this entertaining collection of stories, first published in 1991.
Which of these stories is true and which is semi-true I have, of course, not the slightest intention of telling you, but I hope this will not detract from your enjoyment . . .
In the title story, part of the inspiration behind the ITV drama The Durrells, we join his family in Corfu, where Gerry joins forces with Larry and Margo in encouraging Mother to consider finding a new husband, only to rue the consequences. Highlights from the other tales in this collection are the acquisition of a strongly perfumed pig named Esmerelda, a foul-mouthed parrot called Moses, and a compulsive gambler who inspires a miracle.
Written with Durrell's usual sharp eye for observing humour in any situation, Marrying Off Mother will delight fans both old and new and is the perfect celebration of Durrell's centenary.
'A renegade who was right . . . He was truly a man before his time' - Sir David Attenborough"
"Written with Gerald Durrell's usual sharp eye for observing humour in any situation, Rosy Is My Relative will delight fans both old and new.
At the age of thirty, Adrian Rookwhistle's life hasn't quite turned out the way he'd have hoped. Working an unfulfilling job as a clerk in the city and living under the tyranny of his fearsome landlady, he can't help but think that there is more to life.
However, all of this suddenly changes when he receives a curious letter from his dying uncle who has bequeathed him £500 and an elephant by the name of Rosy who has a seemingly unquenchable thirst for liquor. At a loss of what to do with his unexpectedly gargantuan - and rarely sober - inheritance, Adrian sets forth on a journey believing to have the answer to his dilemma; he'll give her away to the circus.
Together Adrian and Rosy carve a trail of destruction through the peaceful countryside of southern England, meeting a curious cast of misfits along the way. Drunk or sober, Rosy spreads chaos in her wake, until the full weight of the law finally catches up with her . . ."
"The Fermi have departed from the rocky worlds, but they still haunt the gas giants. Hurled into the past by a time-slip, John Grant and his onboard AI navigate the long way back. They return to the present in a distant system, where they find Terre Nouveau, a human settlement already two hundred years old. Grant's ship takes this astounding news to the far-roving Station, where Nayak has found new problems and a new lover. As the Station explores Terre Nouveau's system, they encounter intelligent species far older than humanity, who are just as perplexed about the origins and intentions of the Fermi as they are.
On Apis, rogue agent Marcus Owen rallies the native intelligent life against the human settlers, and passes on a warning from the Fermi: the humans must stop encroaching—or else. Other settlers are not convinced, and conflict erupts.
Owen is sent on a new mission, to Terre Nouveau's colorful and verdant sister planet, where he finds that his arrival, and humanity's, has been awaited longer than he expects.
But no one is prepared for how far the Fermi are willing to go—or for the unfolding of an audacious plan, millennia in the making, that reaches beyond the light horizon."
"South Africa, 1899 - the smouldering hostility between the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State and the British colonies of the Cape and Natal is about to burst into flame. War is coming and no one can prevent it. Colonel Penrod Ballantyne, hero of Abu Klea and Omdurman, is sent to Mafeking to recruit and train men for the fighting ahead. Amber, his wife, the successful novelist, accompanies him - eager to see more of the country her husband is about to risk his life for. But when war is declared, Amber must flee with their baby son and pray for her husband's survival against impossible odds.
Eight hundred miles to the south, in Cape Town, Ryder Courtney is using his wealth and connections to bankroll the British war effort. His artist wife Saffron, frustrated by stuffy Cairo society, has joined him with their three children. There is peace in the Courtney household until their eldest son, Leon, stows away on a train to the front line, determined to join his distinguished uncle, Penrod Ballantyne, in changing the course of history. Saffron and Ryder have no choice but to leave the safety of the Cape Colony and follow. Leon is convinced that his parents are without honour and courage. Little does he realise that he has no chance of escaping the people they used to be.
Two families torn apart, caught up in a battle for the heart of a country at war with itself."
"‘Monumental and eye-opening’ Reza Aslan
'A revelation […and…] an intellectual triumph' Irish Independent
'[A] massive achievement' Spectator
‘Refreshingly readable' Guardian
For the past two thousand years, Christian tradition, scholarship, and pop culture has credited the authorship of the New Testament to a select group of men: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul. But the truth is that these individuals did not write alone. In some meaningful ways they did not write at all.
Hidden behind these named and sainted individuals are a cluster of enslaved coauthors and collaborators, almost all of whom go uncredited. They were responsible for producing the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament. They took dictation, sometimes editorialising in the process, and polished and refined the final manuscripts. When the Christian message began to move independently from the first apostles it was enslaved missionaries who undertook the dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean and along dusty Roman roads to move Christianity from Jerusalem and the Levant to Rome, Spain, North Africa and Egypt. Finally, when these texts were read aloud to new audiences of curious potential converts, it was educated and trained enslaved workers who performed them – deciding whether a statement was sincere or sarcastic; a throwaway remark or something central to be emphasised. Their influence in the spread of Christianity and making of the Bible was enormous, yet their role has been almost entirely overlooked until now.
Filled with profound revelations for reading and understanding the gospels themselves, God’s Ghostwriters is a groundbreaking and rigorously researched book about how enslaved people shaped the Bible, and with it all of Christianity. It’s also an intimate portrait of lives not often considered by history, and a reckoning with the motives and methods of the early Christians as they spread their message across the ancient world."
"‘Moving and vital’ i NEWS
‘A beautiful book’ EVENING STANDARD
‘Deserves to be read by as wide an audience as possible’ DAILY MIRROR
How do we give a voice to those who so often remain unheard? Will You Read This, Please? is a frank and impactful collection of twelve stories written in conjunction with our best British writers, including Tracy Chevalier and Clare Mackintosh, based on the lived experience of people who have faced mental illness in the UK.
Edited by Sunday Times bestselling author Joanna Cannon, the stories told here are powerful, resonant and heart-breaking. This is a ground-breaking and unforgettable collection, shining a light on the stigma and isolation of living with mental illness, while also showing the strength and resilience of the human spirit."
"Third high-octane instalment in the bestselling author's compelling Jack Courtney Adventures for readers 10+, following CLOUDBURST and THUNDERBOLT.
On the pretext of making a film for his mother's environmental protection work, Jack wangles an expedition to the Arctic with his friends Amelia and Xander and cousin Caleb. But Xander's investigations into the mysterious backers funding their adventure raises Jack's suspicions. Is the renewable energy investment company really as environmentally responsible as it claims to be? While sledding with dogs, ice fishing, driving snowmobiles and sleeping in a self-made igloo, accidents beset them. Then disaster strikes when Caleb takes on a pack of wolves. Can Jack really trust his mother's friend Jonny Armfield to come to their help, or is he part of the problem?"
"Second in a brand new action adventure series starring 14-year-old Jack Courtney - a hero to rival Alex Rider - from worldwide bestselling author Wilbur Smith.
Jack and his friends Amelia and Xander are in Zanzibar diving for lost treasure to support Jack's mother's coral protection project. Going further than usual on their last day, their dive boat is lured into a trap and captured by Somali pirates. Determined that his mother shouldn't pay a ransom for their release, Jack won't give up his attempts to escape.
Transferred to a militia training camp for boy soldiers, the trio's only hope is the resourceful Somali boy Mo who befriends them. Can they outwit the ruthless General Sir and his merciless troops in the second gripping adventure from the authors of Cloudburst?
Praise for Cloudburst:
Unputdownable conservation themed action and adventure.' - LoveReading4kids
'An exciting and realistic story, full of bandits, poachers and amazing wildlife...It keeps you turning the pages to the end.' - i Paper"
"Seventeen-year-old schoolboy Kim is an idle drifter at one of Britain's most extraordinary institutions, Eton College—crammed with over a thousand boys and not a girl in sight. His head is full of the Falklands War and a possible army career—until the day he hears his new piano teacher, the beautiful but pained India, playing Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. Kim's life is destined never to be the same again. An intensely passionate affair develops, and he wallows in the wild and unaccustomed thrill of first love. Twenty-five years on, Kim recalls that heady summer and how their fledgling relationship was so brutally snuffed out—finished off by his enemies, by the constraints of Eton, and by his own withering jealousy."
