Audiobooks narrated by James Wilby

"Brought to you by Penguin. Drover, a Communist bus driver, is in prison, sentenced to death for killing a policeman during a riot at Hyde Park Corner. A battle for a reprieve with many participants ensues: the Assistant Commissioner, high-principled and over-worked; Conrad, a paranoid clerk; Mr Surrogate, a rich Fabian; Condor, a pathetic journalist feeding on fantasies; pretty, promiscuous Kay - all have a part to play in his fate. © Graham Greene 1934 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Graham Greene (Author), James Wilby (Narrator)

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The Man Within

"Brought to you by Penguin. This is the story of Francis Andrews, a young man whose betrayal of his fellow smugglers has left a man dead. Fearing vengeance, he flees and takes refuge in the house of a young, isolated woman who persuades him to give evidence against his accomplices in court. But neither she nor Andrews is aware that to both criminals and authority, treachery is as great a crime as smuggling. © Graham Greene 1929 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Graham Greene (Author), James Wilby (Narrator)

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The Egoist & The Adventures of Harry Richmond: Two Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramatisations

"BBC Radio 4 adaptations of George Meredith’s classic tragicomic novel and his picaresque romantic comedy Novelist and poet George Meredith is widely regarded as the last great Victorian author. He influenced writers including Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson and Henry James, and was nominated for the Nobel Prize seven times. This BBC collection features dramatisations of his most famous novel, The Egoist, and his witty bildungsroman The Adventures of Harry Richmond. The Egoist – Self-absorbed aristocrat Sir Willoughby Patterne wants a wife – and naturally assumes that whoever he chooses will want him. But when his chosen fiancée, Constantia, elopes, he is forced to look for another potential bride. Torn between the sentimental Laetitia and the strong-willed Clara, he finally pins one down to an engagement – only to find that she, too, has doubts… James Wilby stars as Sir Willoughby, with Keeley Hawes as Clara, in this satirical look at the Victorian marriage market. The Adventures of Harry Richmond – On a cold morning in February 1846, Richmond Roy arrives at Riversley Grange to claim his infant son, Harry, from the child’s grandfather, Squire Beltham. It is the beginning of a journey of self-discovery for the young boy, as he is rescued and abandoned by his charismatic father, escapes from a London boarding school, embarks on a Grand Tour of Europe and succumbs to the charms of a German princess… This lively coming-of-age tale stars James Aubrey, Anthony Newlands, Sebastian Shaw, Gina Bellman, Joanna David and Maev Alexander. First published 1871 (The Adventures of Harry Richmond), 1879 (The Egoist) Production credits Written by George Meredith The Egoist Sir Willoughby – James Wilby Clara Middleton – Keeley Hawes Mrs Mountstuart-Jenkinson – Hannah Gordon Laetitia Dale – Nickie Rainsford Vernon Witford – Simon Ludders Horace de Craye – Robert Patterson Dr Middleton – Bill Wallis Crossjay – Leo Brightmore Lady Busshe – Lawmary Champion Lady Culmer – Christine Pritchard Constantia – Anna North Dr Corney – Giles Thomas Lady Patterne – June Barrie Mr Dale – Paul Nicholson Crossjay – Leo Brightmore Dramatised by Jane Dauncey Directed by Alison Hindell First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 April-3 May 1998 The Adventures of Harry Richmond Harry Richmond – James Aubrey Sewis – Brian Carroll Richmond Roy – Anthony Newlands Squire Beltham – Sebastian Shaw Harry, as a boy – Howard Taylor Aunt Dorothy – Gwen Watford Janet, as a girl – Katherines Hughes Temple, as a boy – David Wilson Flo – Jacqui Burin Amy – Jo Manning Wilson Joe Double – Ronald Baddiley Capt Welsh – Haydn Jones Clara Goodwin – Roberta Symes Colonel Goodwin – Garard Green Ottilia, as a girl – Gina Bellman The Margravine von Rippau – Brenda Bruce Burgomeister – Milo Sperber Miss Sibley/Frau von Dittmarsch – Elaine Mitchell Princess Ottilia – Joanna David Mrs Waddy – Margot Boyd Captain de Witt – Michael Deacon Lady Wilts – Petra Davies Anna Penrhys – Liza Flanagan Janet Ilchester – Maev Alexander Mr Burgin – James Thomason Mr Peterborough – Jonathan Scott Baroness Turckems – Hilda Kriseman Prince Ernest – George Pravda Professor von Karsteg – Steve Plytas Prince Otto – Philip Sully Lieschen – Tammy Ustinov Countess Czezedy – Eva Stuart Kiomi/Lady Sampleman – Josie Kidd Augustus Temple – John Bull Marquis of Edbury – David McAlister Yachtsman – Gregory de Polnay Adapted by D.G. Bridson Directed by John Cardy First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 3 June-15 July 1979 © 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

George Meredith (Author), Anthony Newlands, Bill Wallis, Brenda Bruce, Full Cast, George Meredith, Gwen Watford, Hannah Gordon, Howard Taylor, James Aubrey, James Wilby, June Barrie, Keeley Hawes, Paul Nicholson, Sebastian Shaw (Narrator)

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The Fatal Englishman: Three Short Lives

"Brought to you by Penguin. Christopher Wood, a beautiful young Englishman, decided to be the greatest painter the world had seen. He went to Paris in 1921. By day he studied, by night he attended the parties of the beau monde. He knew Picasso, worked for Diaghilev and was a friend of Cocteau. In the last months of his 29-year life, he fought a ravening opium addiction to succeed in claiming a place in history of English painting. Richard Hilary, confident, handsome and unprincipled, flew Spitfires in the Battle of Britain before being shot down and horribly burned. He underwent several operations by the legendary plastic surgeon, A H McIndoe. His account of his experiences, The Last Enemy, made him famous, but not happy. He begged to be allowed to return to flying, and died mysteriously in a night training operation, aged 23. Jeremy Wolfenden was born in 1936, the son of Jack, later Lord Wolfenden. Charming, generous and witty, he was the cleverest Englishman of his generation, but left All Souls to become a hack reporter. At the height of the Cold War, he was sent to Moscow where his louche private life made him the plaything of the intelligence services. A terrifying sequence of events ended in Washington where he died at the age of 31. © Sebastian Faulks 1996 (P) Penguin Audio 2021"

Sebastian Faulks (Author), James Wilby (Narrator)

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The House of Special Purpose

"Brought to you by Penguin. Russia, 1915: At the age of 16, Georgy Jachmenev steps in front of an assassin's bullet intended for the heart of a senior member of the Russian Imperial Family. He is instantly proclaimed a hero. Before the week is out, his life as the son of a peasant farmer is changed forever when he is escorted to St Petersburg to take up his new position - as bodyguard to Alexei Romanov, the only son of Tsar Nicholas II. Sixty five years later, visiting his wife Zoya as she lies dying in a London hospital, memories of the life they have lived together flood his mind. Their marriage, while tender, has been marked by tragedy, the loss of loved ones, and experiences of exile that neither can forget. THE HOUSE OF SPECIAL PURPOSEis a novel about a young man ripped from a loving home and thrust into the heart of a dying empire. Privy to the secrets of Nicholas and Alexandra, the machinations of Rasputin and the events which led to the final collapse of the autocracy, Georgy is a witness and participant in a drama which will echo down the century. His is also a story of a marriage in which a husband finds it impossible to live in the present and a wife unable to reconcile herself with the past. Part love story, part historical epic, part tragedy, the novel moves from revolutionary St Petersburg to Paris after the First World War, and from London during the Blitz to the eastern coast of Finland during the 1980s, before returning to a quiet hospital bed where Georgy and Zoya's story must finally be resolved. ©John Boyne 2009 (P) Penguin Audio 2020"

John Boyne (Author), James Wilby (Narrator)

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The Professor

"This story of William Crimsworth, who goes to Brussels to seek his fortune and falls in love with Frances, a schoolteacher and lace-maker while he is himself pursued by Madamoiselle Reuter, is a subtle portrayal of a self-made man and his relationships in a society that worships property and propriety."

Charlotte Brontë (Author), James Wilby (Narrator)

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The Prisoner of Zenda

"This swashbuckling romance transports a droll young English gentleman from his comfortable life in London to a fast-moving adventure in a mythical country steeped in political intrigue. Rudolf Rassendyll, pondering his life’s purpose, sets out on a journey to the tiny European kingdom of Ruritania, where he discovers that he bears a marked physical resemblance to the king. Perils and adventures ensue when he decides to impersonate the king in order to defeat a plot to dethrone him, and falls deeply in love with the king’s betrothed, Princess Flavia. With its witty hero and shrewd villains, The Prisoner of Zenda became an instant classic when it appeared in 1894 and has been made into a film five times since."

Anthony Hope (Author), James Wilby (Narrator)

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Saturday

"Saturday, February 15, 2003. Henry Perowne is a contented man - a successful neurosurgeon, the devoted husband of Rosalind and proud father of two grown-up children. Unusually, he wakes before dawn, drawn to the window of his bedroom and filled with a growing unease. What troubles him as he looks out at the night sky is the state of the world - the impending war against Iraq, a gathering pessimism since 9/11, and a fear that his city and his happy family life are under threat. Later, Perowne makes his way to his weekly squash game through London streets filled with hundreds of thousands of anti-war protestors. A minor car accident brings him into a confrontation with Baxter, a fidgety, aggressive, young man, on the edge of violence. To Perowne's professional eye, there appears to be something profoundly wrong with him. Towards the end of a day rich in incident and filled with Perowne's celebrations of life's pleasures, his family gathers for a reunion. But with the sudden appearance of Baxter, Perowne's earlier fears seem about to be realised."

Ian McEwan (Author), James Wilby (Narrator)

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Girl At The Lion d'Or

"A beautifully controlled and powerful story of love and conscience, will and desire which begins when a mysterious young girl arrives to take up a post at the seedy H-tel du Lion d'Or in a small French town in the mid-1930s. The Girl at the Lion d'Or is the first book in Sebastian Faulks' French trilogy of novel. Birdsong and Charlotte Gray are also available from Random House Audio Books, read by Samuel West."

Sebastian Faulks (Author), James Wilby (Narrator)

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In Search Of Lost Time

"A BBC Radio six-part dramatisation of Marcel Proust’s groundbreaking series of novels, tracing the extraordinary story of the author’s own life. Starring James Wilby and Jonathan Firth, and with a distinguished cast including Harriet Walter, Imogen Stubbs and Corin Redgrave, this rich, multi-layered adaptation brings out all the variety and subtlety of Proust’s magnificent masterpiece. Featuring a fictional version of himself - ‘Marcel’ - and a host of friends, acquaintances and lovers, 'In Search of Lost Time' is Proust’s search for the key to the mysteries of memory, time and consciousness. As he recalls his childhood days, the sad affair of Charles Swann and Odette de Crecy, his transition to manhood, the tortures of love and the ravages of war, he realises that the simplest of discoveries can lead to astonishing possibilities. ‘Delectable and memorable’ - Guardian ‘The kind of radio you shoo people out of the room for’ - Independent on Sunday"

Marcel Proust (Author), Corin Redgrave, Harriet Walters, Imogen Stubbs, James Wilby, Jonathan Firth (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by James Wilby

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