Audiobooks narrated by Rachel Bavidge

A Dirty, Filthy Book: Sex, Scandal, and One Woman’s Fight in the Victorian Trial of the Century

Brought to you by Penguin. Sex and Scandal in the Victorian 'trial of the century' June, 1877: the petite 29-year-old Annie Besant stands motionless before the 75-year-old Judge towering over her in the Palace of Westminster. Lord Chief Justice Cockburn is presiding over the scandalous 'trial of the century' where Annie Besant and her confidante Charles Bradlaugh have been charged with the unforgiveable crime of publishing and selling a guide to birth control. Charged with obscenity, she argued -- controversially and outrageously, for the time -- that it was a woman's right to be able to choose to have children. The riveting trial over freedom of speech and the rights of women captivated the British public, caused outrage across the grey Victorian establishment and helped transform Annie Besant into one of the most famous women in the Empire. Drawing on unpublished archives, private papers and court-room transcripts, and an incredible cast of characters including Queen Victoria, George Bernard Shaw, Charles Darwin, and JS Mill, A Dirty, Filthy Book tells a gripping story of double standards that will horrify and delight in equal measure. At its heart is one of the most fascinating women of Victorian society, a little-known pioneer who single-handedly refused to accept the role that the establishment assigned her. Annie's trial lit the flame of social change, free speech and women's rights that is still burning around the world almost 150 years later. ©2024 Michael Meyer (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Michael Meyer (Author), Rachel Bavidge, TBD (Narrator)

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A Place for Everything

‘Painful, raw and with an honesty that rings clear as a bell’ Catherine Simpson, author of When I Had a Little Sister A searing account of a mother’s late-diagnosis of autism – and its reaching effects on a whole family. Anna grew up in a house that was loving, even if her mum was ‘a little eccentric’. They knew to keep things clean, to stay quiet, and to look the other way when things started to get ‘a bit much for your mum’. It’s only when her mother reaches her 70s, and Anna has a family of her own, that the cracks really start to appear. More manic. More irrational. More detached from the world. And when her father, the man who has calmed and cajoled her mother through her entire life becomes unwell, the whole world turns upside down. This is a story of a life lived with undiagnosed autism, about the person behind the disorder, those big unspoken family truths, and what it means to care for our parents in their final years.

Anna Wilson (Author), Rachel Bavidge (Narrator)

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Agnes Grey

From its opening sentences Agnes Grey introduces a heroine who is honest, perceptive and charming. Unfortunately, the Bloomfields, who engage her as a governess, are rather less appealing, and the incarnation of the suppressed cruelties and hypocrisies of the Victorian age. When Agnes moves to a marginally less alarming family, one of her charges sets out to disrupt her only romantic hope. Critical, satirical, direct, and honest, Agnes Grey is a fine reflection of its author.

Anne Bronte (Author), Rachel Bavidge (Narrator)

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Also Human: The Inner Lives of Doctors

Doctors are the people we turn to when we fall ill. They are the people we trust with our lives, and with the lives of those we love. Yet who can doctors turn to at moments of stress, or when their own working lives break down? What does it take to confront death, disease, distress and suffering every day? To work in a healthcare system that is stretched to breaking point? To carry the responsibility of making decisions that can irrevocably change someone's life - or possibly end it? And how do doctors cope with their own questions and fears, when they are expected to have all the answers? Caroline Elton is a psychologist who specialises in helping doctors. For over twenty years she has listened as doctors have unburdened themselves of the pressures of their jobs: the obstetrician whose own fertility treatment failed; the trainee oncologist who found herself unable to treat patients suffering from the disease that killed her father; the brilliant neurosurgeon struggling to progress her career in an environment that was hostile to women. Drawing on extraordinary case studies and decades of work supporting clinicians, Also Human presents a provocative, perceptive and deeply humane examination of the modern medical profession. Read more at https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1112126/also-human/#z5ByYAzELUG26jOw.99

Caroline Elton (Author), Rachel Bavidge (Narrator)

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Bad Moon Rising

A young woman walks home by herself, the tapping of her high heels the only sound. At two o' clock in the morning, it's cold, the streets are deserted and she thinks she's all alone. Waiting for her, sleeping soundly in his bed, is her baby son. When he wakes the next morning his mother still isn't back. She's never coming back. Because the streets weren't as deserted as she thought. Three women are dead and Detective Inspector Lorraine Hunt is searching for a serial killer. In Houghton-le-Spring it's Feast week, a time when all hell is let loose as the fair comes to town, and a frenzy of celebration and decadence provides a temporary distraction from the grim realities of everyday life. It's not a good time to be searching for a stranger. It's not a good time to be a woman alone...

Sheila Quigley (Author), Rachel Bavidge (Narrator)

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Best Wishes Sister B: Kindly nuns take on the 21st Century

Prayer and ingenuity have kept the remote English convent of St Winifreda in the Fen going for centuries, but now the roof leaks, the bell tower is crumbling and rats have moved in. The Bishop’s accountant wants to send the retired sisters to a home, disperse the working nuns, pull down the buildings and sell the land off as a car park. But he has reckoned without the unstoppable force that is Reverend Mother Elizabeth. With her team of ex-offenders, migrant workers and passing strangers, she plans not just to save, but also to renew, restore and revivify the sisterhood. The gentle, witty letters of Sister Boniface, who, as newly-appointed convent shopkeeper, has a big role to play in this challenge, chart a year of the sisters’ struggle as they get to grips with the harsh realities of the 21st century armed mainly with kindness and home baked biscuits.

Fran Smith (Author), Rachel Bavidge (Narrator)

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Bitter Fruits

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Bitter Fruits by Alice Clark-Pitt, read by Kristin Atherton, Rachel Bavidge, Stefan Booth, Roy McMillian and Tania Rodrigues. The murder of a first-year student at Durham University shocks the city. But the very last thing anyone expects is an instant confession... As Detective Inspector Erica Martin investigates Joyce College, a cradle for the country's future elite, she finds a close-knit community of secrets, jealousy and obsession. The picture of the victim, Emily Brabents, that begins to emerge is that of a girl wanted by everyone, but not truly known by anyone. Anyone, that is, except Daniel Shepherd. Her fellow student, ever-faithful friend and the only one who cares. The only one who would do anything for her ... Praise for Bitter Fruits: 'There is a gripping, economic precision in this highly charged thriller.' Ralph Fiennes 'Grabbed me from the first page and wouldn't let go. A compelling read, beautifully written ... A tense, captivating tale, brilliantly told' Rachel Abbott 'Once I started reading it I couldn't stop. A brilliantly plotted and utterly gripping thriller.' Emma Kavanagh 'Superbly gripping ... A very assured page-turning storm I read in one sitting.' Stav Sherez 'A psychological police procedural ... An intelligent and thrilling debut.' Peter Guttridge, author and former Observer crime critic 'Intriguing and sinister with masterful plotting and tension. A bittersweet read by a new crime author I can't wait to read again.' Mel Sherratt 'A thought-provoking, atmospheric and emotional page turning thriller - brimming with mystery and suspense. I absolutely loved this novel, and devoured it from cover to cover.' Paul Pilkington

Alice Clark-Platts (Author), Kristin Atherton, Rachel Bavidge, Roy Mcmillan, Stefan Booth, Tania Rodrigues (Narrator)

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Bitter Orange

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller, read by Rachel Bavidge. From the attic of a dilapidated English country house, she sees them - Cara first: dark and beautiful, clinging to a marble fountain of Cupid, and Peter, an Apollo. It is 1969 and they are spending the summer in the rooms below hers while Frances writes a report on the follies in the garden for the absent American owner. But she is distracted. Beneath a floorboard in her bathroom, she discovers a peephole which gives her access to her neighbours' private lives. To Frances' surprise, Cara and Peter are keen to spend time with her. It is the first occasion that she has had anybody to call a friend, and before long they are spending every day together: eating lavish dinners, drinking bottle after bottle of wine, and smoking cigarettes till the ash piles up on the crumbling furniture. Frances is dazzled. But as the hot summer rolls lazily on, it becomes clear that not everything is right between Cara and Peter. The stories that Cara tells don't quite add up - and as Frances becomes increasingly entangled in the lives of the glamorous, hedonistic couple, the boundaries between truth and lies, right and wrong, begin to blur. Amid the decadence of that summer, a small crime brings on a bigger one: a crime so terrible that it will brand all their lives forever. 'A twisty, thorny, darkly atmospheric page turner about loneliness and belonging' Gabriel Tallent, author of My Absolute Darling 'Incredibly atmospheric, vivid and intriguing. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't reading a forgotten classic' Emma Healey

Claire Fuller (Author), Rachel Bavidge (Narrator)

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Christmas at Butterfly Cove

A perfect Christmas read!' When talented artist Nee Sutherland returns to Butterfly Cove for her sister's wedding, it's only a matter of time before she has to face her bridegroom - Luke Spenser - the man she impulsively married, then left in the middle of the night.Nee hasn't picked up her paintbrushes in months, a part of her is broken. She knows Luke might never forgive her, leaving him was the biggest mistake of her life - but could coming home for Christmas be the best decision she's ever made? Don't miss , the enchanting first book in Sarah Bennet's new series, 'Lavender Bay', available February 2018!'I think Sarah has topped my author discovery of 2017 list with this final book in the Butterfly Cove series!' 'A delight to read...Sarah Bennett has leapt onto my auto-buy list!' 'I loved, loved, loved this book!' 'An excellent feel-good festive read.' 'An excellent feel-good festive read!' 'A delightful and engaging read. An emotional journey I'll never forget.' 'A sweet, feel-good contemporary romance...definitely sigh-worthy!' 'I am already looking forward to my next trip to Butterfly Cove!'

Sarah Bennett (Author), Rachel Bavidge (Narrator)

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Every Breath You Take

He watches them from afar. He knows who they are and where they are. He is waiting in the dark... A stranger stalks the streets of Houghton le Spring and he is getting too close for comfort for Detective Inspector Lorraine Hunt. Selina, the daughter of Lorraine's partner, DS Luke Daniels, is a beautiful and wilful sixteen year-old with a dark past. Just as it seems she's finally getting back on her feet, she's attacked. Is Selina's past catching up with her? Or is there an even more sinister motive to the assault? Before long, Lorraine and Luke's worst fears are realised, and a body is found. A young woman, brutally murdered, her heart cut out, and in its place - a single white rose. Soon the White Rose Killer steps up his campaign. Is DI Hunt imagining it, or does he have a message specially for her? As he circles ever closer, nobody escapes suspicion and Lorraine faces her toughest case yet. The closer the killer gets, the more elusive he becomes. Lorraine is tested to the limit by a killer with no conscience, no remorse. Just a pitiless hatred for the girls who inspire desire within him...

Sheila Quigley (Author), Rachel Bavidge (Narrator)

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Favourite Poems for Children

Dance with a lobster, telephone an elephant or knock on a moonlit door - this collection includes magical, macabre, dramatic, funny, bizarre, absurd, delightful, moving and charming poems by Lewis Carroll, A.A. Milne, Edward Lear, Hilaire Belloc, Kenneth Grahame and many others. Readers such as Anton Lesser, Simon Russell-Beale and Timothy West bring the lines beautifully to life and make this an ideal introduction to some of the best-loved children's poetry.

Various Authors (Author), Anton Lesser, Rachel Bavidge, Roy McMillan (Narrator)

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Free: Coming of Age at the End of History

Brought to you by Penguin. Shortlisted for the 2021 Baillie Gifford prize. Lea Ypi grew up in one of the most isolated countries on earth, a place where communist ideals had officially replaced religion. Albania, the last Stalinist outpost in Europe, was almost impossible to visit, almost impossible to leave. It was a place of queuing and scarcity, of political executions and secret police. To Lea, it was home. People were equal, neighbours helped each other, and children were expected to build a better world. There was community and hope. Then, in December 1990, a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, everything changed. The statues of Stalin and Hoxha were toppled. Almost overnight, people could vote freely, wear what they liked and worship as they wished. There was no longer anything to fear from prying ears. But factories shut, jobs disappeared and thousands fled to Italy on crowded ships, only to be sent back. Predatory pyramid schemes eventually bankrupted the country, leading to violent conflict. As one generation's aspirations became another's disillusionment, and as her own family's secrets were revealed, Lea found herself questioning what freedom really meant. Free is an engrossing memoir of coming of age amid political upheaval. With acute insight and wit, Lea Ypi traces the limits of progress and the burden of the past, illuminating the spaces between ideals and reality, and the hopes and fears of people pulled up by the sweep of history. 'Funny, moving but also deadly serious, this book will be read for years to come. . . Beautifully brings together the personal and the political to create an unforgettable account of oppression, freedom and what it means to acquire knowledge about the world' David Runciman © Lea Ypi 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Lea Ypi (Author), Lea Ypi, Rachel Bavidge (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Rachel Bavidge