Audiobooks narrated by Kate Harper

"A new collection of stories by the acclaimed Ludmila Ulitskaya, masterfully translated into English “[A] magnificent collection . . . [by] a writer of boundless tenderness.”—Geneviève Brisac, Le Monde While we can feel, know, and study the body, the soul refuses definition. Where does it begin and end? What does the soul have to do with love? Does it exist at all, and if so, does it outlast the body? Or are the soul and body really one and the same? These are questions posed by the characters who inhabit this book of stories by the award-winning Russian writer Ludmila Ulitskaya. A woman believes that the best way to control her life is to control her death. A landscape photographer wonders if the beauty he has witnessed can triumph over decay. A coroner dedicated to science is confronted by a startling physical anomaly, a lonely widow experiences an extraordinary transformation, a woman whose life is devoted to language finds words slipping away from her. In these eleven stories, artfully rendered into English by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Ulitskaya maps the edges of our lives, tracing a delicate geography of the soul."

Ludmilla Ulitskaya (Author), Kate Harper (Narrator)

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Jack London: A BBC Radio Collection: Including The Call of the Wild & The Sea Wolf

"Jack London was the epitome of the hard-drinking, hard-living novelist. His extraordinary career included spells as an oyster pirate, sailor, hobo, prospector in the Klondike Gold Rush, reporter in the Russo-Japanese war and round-the-world yachtsman. A chronic alcoholic, he died aged just 40, having written some of the best-loved adventure stories in American literature. Included here are three of his most famous works, together with a thrilling original drama about the man himself and a fascinating documentary exploring his turbulent life. The Call of the Wild - Kidnapped from a wealthy Californian household, domestic pet Buck is sold to become a sled dog in the harsh landscape of the Yukon. To survive, he must shed the veneer of civilization and rediscover his primordial instincts... Robert Jack and Finn den Hertog star in this atmospheric dramatisation of London's epic novella. The Sea Wolf - Shipwrecked literary critic Humphrey Van Weyden is rescued by Wolf Larsen, the ruthless, demonic captain of the seal-hunting schooner, Ghost. But when the ship picks up another castaway, Maud Brewster, the real danger on the voyage begins... Jack Klaff, Kerry Shale and Shelley Thompson star in this gripping tale of heroism, survival and love on the high seas. To Build a Fire - In this classic short story, a man walks the frozen Yukon back to base camp, his only companion a wild husky dog. As conditions steadily worsen, it becomes a fight for survival in the unforgiving wilderness. How far, then, is base camp? Read by Stuart Milligan. Jack - In 1906, Jack London set out to circumnavigate the world in a small boat, accompanied by his wife, Charmian. Through the couple's revealing letters, author Steve May tells the ultimately tragic story of this most quintessentially 'macho ' of American writers. Starring Keith Alexander and Kate Harper. Content warning: The characters in this story express racist views from the era in which the story is set. London Calling - Aminatta Forna explains how the vivid descriptions of the wilderness in the works of Jack London had a crucial influence over her. Talking to authors including Tobias Wolff and George Monbiot, she finds out about his remarkable life and the enduring popularity of his work. First published 1903 (The Call of the Wild), 1904 (The Sea-Wolf), 1908 (To Build a Fire) © 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Jack London (Author), Aminatta Forna, Finn Den Hertog, Full Cast, Jack Klaff, Kate Harper, Keith Alexander, Kerry Shale, Robert Jack, Stuart Milligan (Narrator)

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And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes

"A classic book now available on audio With narration by Kate Harper, who recounts the scandal of the dispossession of native land by American settlers And Still the Waters Run tells the tragic story of the liquidation of the independent Indian republics of the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles, known as the Five Civilized Tribes. At the turn of the twentieth century, the tribes owned the eastern half of what is now Oklahoma, a territory immensely wealthy in farmland, forests, coal, and oil. Their political and economic status was guaranteed by the federal government—until American settlers arrived. Congress abrogated treaties that it had promised would last 'as long as the waters run,' and within a generation, the tribes were systematically stripped of their holdings, and were rescued from starvation only through public charity. Called a 'work of art' by writer Oliver La Farge, And Still the Waters Run was so controversial when it was first published that Angie Debo was banned from teaching in Oklahoma for many years. Now with an incisive foreword by Amanda Cobb-Greetham, here is the acclaimed book that first documented the scandalous founding of Oklahoma on native land."

Angie Debo (Author), Kate Harper (Narrator)

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The Sky Is for Everyone: Women Astronomers in Their Own Words

"This inspiring audiobook shares the stories of trailblazing women astronomers from around the globe Features a prelude, chapter introductions, and postlude read by Kaliswa Brewster With additional narration by Marnie Chesterton, Katherine Fenton, Pooneh Ghoddoosi, and Kate Harper The Sky Is for Everyone is an internationally diverse collection of autobiographical narratives by women who broke down barriers and changed the face of modern astronomy. This audiobook vividly describes how, before 1900, a woman who wanted to study the stars had to have a father, brother, or husband to provide entry, and how the considerable intellectual skills of women astronomers were still not enough to enable them to pry open doors of opportunity for much of the twentieth century. After decades of difficult struggles, women are closer to equality in astronomy than ever before. Here are the stories of the tough and determined women who flung the doors wide open. Taking readers from 1960 to today, this triumphant anthology serves as an inspiration to current and future generations of women scientists while giving voice to the history of a transformative era in astronomy. With contributions by Neta Bahcall, Beatriz Barbuy, Ann Merchant Boesgaard, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Catherine Cesarsky, Poonam Chandra, Xuefei Chen, Yilen Gómez Maqueo Chew, Cathie Clarke, Judith Gamora Cohen, France Anne Córdova, Anne Pyne Cowley, Bożena Czerny, Wendy L. Freedman, Gabriela González, Saeko S. Hayashi, Martha Patricia Haynes, Roberta Humphreys, Vicky Kalogera, Gillian Knapp, Shazrene S. Mohamed, Carole Mundell, Priyamvada Natarajan, Dara Norman, Hiranya Peiris, Judith Lynn Pipher, Dina Prialnik, Anneila I. Sargent, Sara Seager, Gražina Tautvaišienė, Silvia Torres-Peimbert, Virginia Trimble, Meg Urry, Ewine F. van Dishoeck, Patricia Ann Whitelock, Sidney Wolff, and Rosemary F. G. Wyse."

David A. Weintraub, Virginia Trimble (Author), Kaliswa Brewster, Kate Harper, Katherine Fenton, Marnie Chesterton, Pooneh Ghoddoosi (Narrator)

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Now Comes Good Sailing: Writers Reflect on Henry David Thoreau

"This audiobook brings together original pieces on Thoreau by twenty-seven of today's leading writers With narration by William Hope, Barbara Barnes, Kaliswa Brewster, Kate Harper, Peter Marinker, and Ako Mitchell Features essays by Jennifer Finney Boylan • Kristen Case • George Howe Colt • Gerald Early • Paul Elie • Will Eno • Adam Gopnik • Lauren Groff • Celeste Headlee • Pico Iyer • Alan Lightman • James Marcus • Megan Marshall • Michelle Nijhuis • Zoë Pollak • Jordan Salama • Tatiana Schlossberg • A. O. Scott • Mona Simpson • Stacey Vanek Smith • Wen Stephenson • Robert Sullivan • Amor Towles • Sherry Turkle • Geoff Wisner • Rafia Zakaria • and a cartoon by Sandra Boynton The world is never done catching up with Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), the author of Walden, 'Civil Disobedience,' and other classics. A prophet of environmentalism and vegetarianism, an abolitionist, and a critic of materialism and technology, Thoreau even seems to have anticipated a world of social distancing in his famous experiment at Walden Pond. In Now Comes Good Sailing, twenty-seven of today's leading writers offer wide-ranging original pieces exploring how Thoreau has influenced and inspired them—and why he matters more than ever in an age of climate, racial, and technological reckoning. Here, Lauren Groff retreats from the COVID-19 pandemic to a rural house and writing hut, where, unable to write, she rereads Walden; Pico Iyer describes how Thoreau provided him with an unlikely guidebook to Japan; Gerald Early examines Walden and the Black quest for nature; Rafia Zakaria reflects on solitude, from Thoreau's Concord to her native Pakistan; Mona Simpson follows in Thoreau's footsteps at Maine's Mount Katahdin; Jennifer Finney Boylan reads Thoreau in relation to her experience of coming out as a trans woman; Adam Gopnik traces Thoreau's influence on the New Yorker editor E. B. White and his book Charlotte's Web; and there's much more. The result is a lively and compelling collection that richly demonstrates the countless ways Thoreau continues to move, challenge, and provoke readers today."

Andrew Blauner (Author), Ako Mitchell, Barbara Barnes, Kaliswa Brewster, Kate Harper, Peter Marinker, William Hope (Narrator)

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Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism

"A New York Times Bestseller A Wall Street Journal Bestseller A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Shortlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year A New Statesman Book to Read This audiobook narrated by Kate Harper reveals how the flaws in capitalism are fatal for America's working class, and includes an introduction and preface read by the authors themselves—economist Anne Case and Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton Life expectancy in the United States has recently fallen for three years in a row—a reversal not seen since 1918 or in any other wealthy nation in modern times. In the past two decades, deaths of despair from suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholism have risen dramatically, and now claim hundreds of thousands of American lives each year—and they're still rising. Anne Case and Angus Deaton, known for first sounding the alarm about deaths of despair, explain the overwhelming surge in these deaths and shed light on the social and economic forces that are making life harder for the working class. They demonstrate why, for those who used to prosper in America, capitalism is no longer delivering. Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism paints a troubling portrait of the American dream in decline. For the white working class, today's America has become a land of broken families and few prospects. As the college educated become healthier and wealthier, adults without a degree are literally dying from pain and despair. In this critically important book, Case and Deaton tie the crisis to the weakening position of labor, the growing power of corporations, and, above all, to a rapacious health-care sector that redistributes working-class wages into the pockets of the wealthy. Capitalism, which over two centuries lifted countless people out of poverty, is now destroying the lives of blue-collar America. This book charts a way forward, providing solutions that can rein in capitalism's excesses and make it work for everyone."

Angus Deaton, Anne Case (Author), Kate Harper (Narrator)

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Female Husbands: A Trans History

"Long before people identified as transgender or lesbian, there were female husbands and the women who loved them. Female husbands - people assigned female who transed gender, lived as men, and married women - were true queer pioneers. Moving deftly from the colonial era to just before the First World War, Jen Manion uncovers the riveting and very personal stories of ordinary people who lived as men despite tremendous risk, danger, violence, and threat of punishment. Female Husbands weaves the story of their lives in relation to broader social, economic, and political developments in the United States and the United Kingdom while also exploring how attitudes towards female husbands shifted in relation to transformations in gender politics and women’s rights, ultimately leading to the demise of the category of ‘female husband’ in the early twentieth century. Groundbreaking and influential, Female Husbands offers a dynamic, varied, and complex history of the LGBTQ past."

Jen Manion (Author), Kate Harper (Narrator)

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Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost

"This audiobook narrated by Kate Harper examines how the financial pressures of paying for college affect the lives and well-being of middle-class families The struggle to pay for college is one of the defining features of middle-class life in America today. At kitchen tables all across the country, parents agonize over whether to burden their children with loans or to sacrifice their own financial security by taking out a second mortgage or draining their retirement savings. Indebted takes readers into the homes of middle-class families throughout the nation to reveal the hidden consequences of student debt and the ways that financing college has transformed family life. Caitlin Zaloom gained the confidence of numerous parents and their college-age children, who talked candidly with her about stressful and intensely personal financial matters that are usually kept private. In this remarkable book, Zaloom describes the profound moral conflicts for parents as they try to honor what they see as their highest parental duty—providing their children with opportunity—and shows how parents and students alike are forced to take on enormous debts and gamble on an investment that might not pay off. What emerges is a troubling portrait of an American middle class fettered by the 'student finance complex'—the bewildering labyrinth of government-sponsored institutions, profit-seeking firms, and university offices that collect information on household earnings and assets, assess family needs, and decide who is eligible for aid and who is not. Superbly written and unflinchingly honest, Indebted breaks through the culture of silence surrounding the student debt crisis, revealing the unspoken costs of sending our kids to college."

Caitlin Zaloom (Author), Kate Harper (Narrator)

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Dark Commerce: How a New Illicit Economy Is Threatening Our Future

"This audiobook narrated by Kate Harper takes a comprehensive look at the world of illicit trade Though mankind has traded tangible goods for millennia, recent technology has changed the fundamentals of trade, in both legitimate and illegal economies. In the past three decades, the most advanced forms of illicit trade have broken with all historical precedents and, as Dark Commerce shows, now operate as if on steroids, tied to computers and social media. In this new world of illicit commerce, which benefits states and diverse participants, trade is impersonal and anonymized, and vast profits are made in short periods with limited accountability to sellers, intermediaries, and purchasers. Louise Shelley examines how new technology, communications, and globalization fuel the exponential growth of dangerous forms of illegal trade—the markets for narcotics and child pornography online, the escalation of sex trafficking through web advertisements, and the sale of endangered species for which revenues total in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The illicit economy exacerbates many of the world's destabilizing phenomena: the perpetuation of conflicts, the proliferation of arms and weapons of mass destruction, and environmental degradation and extinction. Shelley explores illicit trade in tangible goods—drugs, human beings, arms, wildlife and timber, fish, antiquities, and ubiquitous counterfeits—and contrasts this with the damaging trade in cyberspace, where intangible commodities cost consumers and organizations billions as they lose identities, bank accounts, access to computer data, and intellectual property. Demonstrating that illicit trade is a business the global community cannot afford to ignore and must work together to address, Dark Commerce considers diverse ways of responding to this increasing challenge."

Louise I. Shelley (Author), Kate Harper (Narrator)

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Tales of the City: Series 1 and 2: Two BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations

"Lydia Wilson and Kate Harper star in these BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations of the first and second novels in Armistead Maupin's acclaimed 'Tales of the City' series. Set against the 1970s San Fransisco skyline, Maupin's Tales of the City introduces the unconventional tenants of 28 Barbary Lane, the domain of the eccentric, marijuana-growing landlady Anna Madrigal. Mary Ann Singleton, a naive young woman newly-arrived from Cleveland, Ohio, moves into an apartment there and soon becomes friends with other tenants of the building: the hippyish bisexual Mona Ramsey; the strange Norman Neal Williams; and Michael Tolliver, a sweet and personable gay man known to his friends as Mouse. Beyond the house, lovers and friends guide Mary Ann through her San Franciscan adventures... In More Tales of the City, landlady Anna Madrigal reveals her secrets to her tenants, but they are preparing to flee their cosy nest for adventures further afield. Dramatised by Barbara Lavery, this is both a sparkling comedy of manners and a portrait of a free and easy era. Cast: Anna Madrigal..... Kate Harper Mary Ann..... Lydia Wilson DeDe..... Nancy Crane Mona..... Buffy Davis Edgar..... Lou Hirsch Frannie/Binkie/Mucca..... Bernice Stegers Beauchamp..... John Guerrasio Michael..... Jos Slovick Jon/Brian..... Simon Lee Phillips D’Or/Betty..... Valerie Cutko Siegel/Hampton-Giddes/Norman/Bruno..... Kerry Shale Burke..... Trevor White Produced and directed by Susan Roberts"

Armistead Maupin (Author), Full Cast, Kate Harper, Lydia Wilson (Narrator)

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The Scarlet Letter

"Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter is a dramatic story. The plot progresses through a series of theatrical set pieces, such as the three incidents on the scaffold, Hester Prynne's confrontation with the Governor and her liaison with Mr Dimmesdale in the forest glade. The author's vivid, descriptive writing creates strong images of his protagonists in the minds of his readers, and this powerful visual impact heightens the sense of conflict within, and between the characters. 1. ADULTERY PUNISHED. An American puritan community gather around the town prison waiting for Hester Prynne to be led out. She is wearing a scarlet letter `A' on her dress, to symbolize her adultery. Hester recognizes an elderly man in the crowd who, although a stranger to the town, is in reality Hester's learned English husband. He sent her ahead of him to Massachusetts, and in his absence she has borne a child by another man. As Hester stands on a scaffold, two clergymen, John Wilson and Arthur Dimmesdale, ask her to name the baby's father, but she refuses. 2. SECRETS ARE KEPT. After her public ordeal, Hester is in a state of nervous excitement and physician, Royer Chillingworth, who is deformed, is brought to her. He is, in fact, Hester's husband, and he gives her medicine which she fears is poison. He declares that he could desire no greater vengeance on her than the public humiliation of the scarlet letter she wears. Chillingworth declare that he means to find out who her lover is. He then makes her swear that she will keep his identity a secret from the community. Hester moves to a cottage on the outskirts of town, for she will not flee, considering that her fate lies in the place of her sin and close to her partner in crime. Her daughter, Pearl, a wilful, difficult child, lives with her. 3. FIGHT FOR JUSTICE. Hester insists on meeting Mr Bellingham, the town Governor, even though he is in a conference with three pillars of the community. She demands that the men give up their plans to take Pearl away from her. Reverend Wilson asks Pearl a few religious questions to test how devout her upbringing is, but perversely she gives a playful answer. In desperation, Hester asks Dimmesdale to speak on her behalf. He argues that the bond between mother and child is sacred and that Pearl is Hester's blessing and retribution. 4. A DREAFUL DISCOVERY. Dimmesdale's health begins to fail and Chillingworth determines to find the cause. The old man arranges to lodge with the afflicted clergymen in order to study his young host. He tells Dimmesdale that the minister's bodily illness is due to a spiritual sickness and Dimmesdale replies that he will turn to God for healing. Soon after, Chillingworth creeps up on Dimmesdale as he sleeps and undoes his shirt. What he sees brings him joy, for he now knows how best to torture his victim. Meanwhile, Dimmesdale suffers agonies of guilt. 5. NIGHT OF MADNESS. Late one evening, desperate for peace, Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold where Hester once stood. He is soon discovered by Hester and Pearl and he bids them join him. Pearl asks if he will repeat this act in daylight but he refuses. He then sees a red letter 'A' glowing in the sky. Chillingworth witnesses the whole scene. Hester, strengthened by her continuing ordeal and shocked by Dimmesdale's decline, tells her husband that she will reveal his identity. She understands what a fiend Chillingworth has become. 6. GUILTY SECRETS. Hester surprises Dimmesdale as he walks in the forest and he admits that he suffers from secret guilt. She then reveals that Chillingworth is her husband and demands that Dimmesdale forgive her for her deception. She promises to run away with him and urges him to leave the community and start anew in another country. She casts off her scarlet letter and lets down her hair, then calls Pearl to openly greet her father. However, the child will not come to her until she puts on her scarlet letter again. Dimmesdale greets Pearl with a kiss, but she rejects him. 7. PLANS TO FLEE. The couple plan to sail for Bristol and Hester secretly arranges for their passage. Dimmesdale is pleased that this will be after he has preached his sermon to mark the election of the new Governor, the pinnacle of his career. He is revitalized and filled with wicked humour, and informs Chillingworth that he no longer has need of his potions. Hester is horrified to learn that Chillingworth is also booked on their ship. 8. A GRAND REVELATION. Dimmesdale preaches an inspired sermon. As the Governor's procession crosses the square, Dimmesdale holds out his arms to Hester and Pearl. The three mount the scaffold together and Chillingworth follows, telling Dimmesdale that there is no way to escape from him. Knowing that he is a dying man, Dimmesdale confesses his sin to the community and bare his breast to reveal a scarlet letter 'A'. Hester assures him of her love, but he tells her to think only of their sin as he dies in her arms. There is much debate among the townspeople as to the nature of Dimmesdale's death, some still denying that he had any connection with Hester. Chillingworth, deprived of his victim, withers and dies, leaving his money to Pearl, Hester takes Pearl to England, but later, an old lady, she returns to Boston to live out her days wearing her scarlet letter."

Nathaniel Hawthorne (Author), Kate Harper (Narrator)

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God's War: Bel Dame Apocrypha Book 1

"Nyx is a bel dame, a bounty hunter paid to collect the heads of deserters – by almost any means necessary. ‘Almost’ proved to be the problem. Cast out and imprisoned for breaking one rule too many, Nyx and her crew of mercenaries are all about the money. But when a dubious government deal with an alien emissary goes awry, her name is at the top of the list for a covert recovery. While the centuries-long war rages on only one thing is certain: the world’s best chance for peace rests in the hands of its most ruthless killers. . . Set in a futuristic world dominated by war, religion and an insectile technology which borders on magic, Kameron Hurley’s debut is set to be the highlight of the year."

Kameron Hurley (Author), Kate Harper (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Kate Harper