Audiobooks Narrated by Lorcan Cranitch

Somerville and Ross: The Real Charlotte, The Silver Fox & The Experiences of an Irish RM: Three Full

"BBC productions of the best-known works of Somerville and Ross, plus a docudrama about their remarkable literary partnership Edith Œnone Somerville and 'Martin Ross' (the pen name of Violet Florence Martin) were cousins, born into the Irish landed gentry in the mid-19th century. They began writing books together as a joke, but quickly developed into serious artists, producing several works now recognised as classics such as The Real Charlotte and Some Experiences of an Irish RM. This collection includes both those titles, alongside The Silver Fox, described as their ‘miniature masterpiece’, and a fascinating biographical drama telling the story of their writing partnership. The Real Charlotte – Reluctantly obliged to look after her penniless young cousin, respectable spinster Charlotte Mullen decides to marry her off to a rich man as soon as possible. But Francie is both beautiful and wilful, and Charlotte soon finds her carefully laid plans going terribly awry… Sorcha Cusack, Elaine Symons and Lorcan Cranitch star in this satire of genteel 19th-century Irish society. The Silver Fox – Captain French, recently returned from India, has reopened his ancestral pile in west Cork. But his restless new wife and a strangely elusive silver fox hint at troubled times ahead. John Dougall and Gillian Kearney star in this dark, politically astute tale of hunting, friendship, love and the national battle for freedom. The Experiences of an Irish RM – When the affable, if somewhat dim, ex-British Army officer Major Sinclair Yeates is appointed Resident Magistrate in west Cork, he finds himself among a people who seem dedicated to thwarting him. As the years go by, he gradually becomes accustomed to their eccentricities – with the notable exception of his nemesis, Flurry Knox... Alex Jennings stars in this adaptation of Somerville and Ross’s comic novels set in rural Ireland. Somerville and Ross – Written and narrated by Denys Hawthorne, this captivating tale explores the lives and fiction of the remarkable literary duo, whose works chronicled the twilight world of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy – a world of hunting, tennis parties, amateur theatricals and decaying country houses. Eithne Dunne stars as Somerville, with Kate Binchy as Ross. First published 1894 (The Real Charlotte), 1897 (The Silver Fox), 1899 (Some Experiences of an Irish RM) © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Edith Somerville, Martin Ross (Author), Alex Jennings, Doreen Keogh, Eithne Dunne, Full Cast, Gillian Kearney, John Dougall, Kate Binchy, Lorcan Cranitch, Sorcha Cusack (Narrator)

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Bullfighting

"The men in Bullfighting are each concerned with loss in different ways - of their place in their world, of power, virility, love - of the boom days and the Celtic Tiger. 'The stories, his memories, were wearing out' the narrator of the title story thinks, 'and there was nothing new replacing them.' The stories move from classrooms to graveyards, local pubs to bullrings; featuring an array of men at their working day and at rest, taking stock and reliving past glories. In the first, 'Recuperation', a man sets off for a prescribed walk around his neighbourhood, the sights triggering memories and recollections of his wife, his children, his younger days. In 'Animals', George remembers caring for his children's many pets, his efforts to spare them grief when they die or disappear, looking, in the eyes of his wife, like a hero, like 'your man from ER'. But now his kids are reared and he's unemployed, and he's slowly getting used to that. 'Suffer, your man Krugman said, when he was asked how Ireland should deal with the next ten years. Well, this is George, suffering.' Brilliantly observed, funny and moving, the stories in Bullfighting present a new vision of contemporary Ireland, of its woes and triumphs, and of the Irish middle-aged male confronting new realities. It is a masterful new collection from one of the country's greatest writers."

Roddy Doyle (Author), Lorcan Cranitch (Narrator)

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