Audiobooks narrated by Sophie Ward

"Brought to you by Penguin. With her beautiful flat in London, Alice appears to have it all. But beneath the surface, everything is unravelling: she needs money, and fast. Her boss Mina, the wife of a powerful MP, lives a life dripping with luxury – one Alice can only dream of. And she’s about to make Alice an offer she can’t refuse. When Alice agrees to loan Mina her flat for the night – she couldn’t possibly imagine what Mina is planning to use it for. And when she discovers the shocking truth, what starts as a simple favour spirals into a web of desire, secrets and deadly lies that could destroy them both. Where will it end? And who will survive? © Lily Samson 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025"

Lily Samson (Author), Sarah Slimani, Sophie Ward (Narrator)

Audiobook

Viper in the Nest

"London's streets are sinister. But what if the real danger lies closer to home? London, June 1759. When a charmless civil servant takes his own life, few are interested in his death. But Lizzie Hardwicke, who plies her trade in the brothels of London whilst also working as an undercover sleuth for the magistrate, can see no reason why a man who had everything to look forward to would wish to end his life. Lizzie's search for answers takes her from the smoke-filled rooms of fashionable gambling houses, where politicians mix ambition with pleasure, to the violent streets of Soho, ready to erupt with riots in the sultry summer heat. All the while, she is navigating her complicated feelings for the magistrate's trusted assistant, Will Davenport, and a disturbing situation at home. Then a gambling house owner is brutally murdered, and Lizzie finds herself tangled in a chaos that she cannot control. The darkest of secrets threatens to turn Davenport against her forever; its exposure will send her to the gallows. The third instalment of the gripping and vividly imagined historical mystery series set in 18th century London."

Georgina Clarke (Author), Sophie Ward (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Well of Loneliness

"I have put my pen at the service of some of the most persecuted and misunderstood people in the world… So far as I know nothing of the kind has ever been attempted before in fiction. —Radclyffe Hall Originally published in 1928, The Well of Loneliness follows the life of Stephen Gordon, a girl born to parents who wished for a boy in late Victorian England. Through Stephen, Hall explores love, lonelieness, and the struggle for self-acceptance in the face of rejection. With its frank portrayal of lesbianism and queer identity, The Well of Loneliness was the subject of several obscenity trials and subjected to bans in multiple countries upon its publication. A watershed moment in LGBTQ+ literary history, its cultural impact endures to this day."

Radclyffe Hall (Author), Sophie Ward (Narrator)

Audiobook

Seven Deadly Psychologies: A BBC Radio Series

"A fascinating exploration of the psychology behind the seven deadly sins Why have we evolved these ugly emotions? What’s going on in the brain and the body when we feel them? And how best can we live alongside them - in ourselves and with others? Becky Ripley and Sophie Ward take a humorous and compelling look at the psychology behind each of the seven deadly sins. Rolling with the order established by Pope Gregory the Great, first up is pride, followed by greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and (finally) lazy old sloth. With contributions from leading experts in the field, including geneticist, writer and presenter Dr Adam Rutherford, Dr Anna Machin from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford and sexologist Dr Anand Patel, this is a fascinating, funny and revelatory series that explores what makes us who we are and busts some myths along the way. Pride - How can we have confidence without veering into arrogance? Pride can be motivating and self-affirming. But then there’s the ugly side: thinking you’re better than others. How can we have one without the other? Greed - Why do we want money, land, material things – and ultimately control, status, dominance, power? And can we be greedy for the good? Lust - Lust is crucial to the continuation of our species, but it's also a form of neurochemical madness that can lead us astray. How can we best live alongside our drives and desires? Envy - Is the grass always greener? Can we want what others have without being riddled with resentment? Gluttony - Why do we crave what we crave? The odd bit of indulgence isn't such a bad thing - but sometimes we overdo it. We short circuit our dopamine reward systems, and before we know it, we can't stop. Can we control our cravings? And when does a little bit of binging become too much? Wrath - Things can get pretty ugly when our blood starts to boil. Some of us are quick to flip, some of us brood, and some of us push down our anger. Anger is a motivator, a driver for change in the face of a perceived injustice. The question is, how are you going to act on it? Sloth - Is there a place for rest in today’s hyper-productive world? Our brains and bodies need rest in order to recharge. But too much sloth, and you can get stuck in a downward spiral of apathy or depression. How can we get the balance right? Join Becky Ripley and Sophie Ward on a fascinating journey through what it means to be human in today’s modern world. Written and presented by Becky Ripley and Sophie Ward Produced by Becky Ripley First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 21 November 2023 – 2 January 2024 ©2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Becky Ripley, Sophie Ward (Author), Becky Ripley, Sophie Ward, Various (Narrator)

Audiobook

All of You Every Single One

"'I know,' he says, 'too much. You'll learn to be too much, too.' Then, gently, 'I think it might help.' When Julia flees her unhappy marriage for the handsome tailor Eve Perret, she expects her life from now on will be a challenge, not least because the year is 1911. They leave everything behind to settle in Vienna, but their happiness is increasingly diminished by Julia's longing for a child. Ada Bauer's wealthy industrialist family have sent her to Dr Freud in the hope that he can fix her mutism and do so without a scandal. But help will soon come for Ada from an unexpected quarter and change many lives irrevocably. All of You Every Single One is an epic novel about family, freedom and how true love might survive impossible odds."

Beatrice Hitchman (Author), Lara King, Sophie Ward (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Clergyman's Daughter

"What happens when faith has been forgotten? In A Clergyman's Daughter, George Orwell, author of the dystopian classics Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, turns his attention to 1930s England and the life of the much put-upon daughter of a country rector. Dorothy Hare lives in genteel poverty, sacrificing herself to the whims of her spendthrift father and the demands of her community and church. She is sustained only by her strong, Christian faith as she spends her days dodging debt collectors, ministering to the poor, and avoiding the attentions of the local lothario, Mr. Warburton. But her world is turned upside down when she finds herself on the streets of London, destitute, with no memory of who she is, how she got there, or where she has come from.' In this state, Dorothy scrabbles for survival: sleeping rough with down and outs in London, doing back-breaking work in the hop fields of Kent, and teaching at an unlicensed private school in the suburbs for meagre wages. As her memory gradually returns, Dorothy's faith is challenged by all that she has experienced in this new life, and she is forced to confront and re-evaluate her beliefs. When she finally returns to the rectory and all that was once familiar, she has matured spiritually and acknowledges that even when faith has vanished, the need for faith is still there. Her life may carry on as before, but she sees new meaning in that mundane life. "How can anything dismay you," she says, "if only there is some purpose in the world which you can serve... Your whole life is illumined by that sense of purpose." A Clergyman's Daughter is acknowledged as Orwell's most structurally experimental novel (an entire chapter is written in play format) and it provides a piercing insight into what happens to faith when it is confronted by the stark reality of poverty, struggle, and the social divide."

George Orwell (Author), Sophie Ward (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome

"In Ancient Rome all the best stories have one thing in common murder. Romulus killed Remus to found the city; Caesar was assassinated to save the Republic. Caligula was butchered in the theatre, Claudius was poisoned at dinner and Galba was beheaded in the forum. In one fifty-year period, twenty-six emperors were murdered. But what did killing mean in a city where gladiators fought to the death to sate a crowd? Emma Southon examines real-life homicides from Roman history to explore how perpetrator, victim and the act itself were regarded by ordinary people. Inside Ancient Rome s unique culture of crime and punishment, we see how the Romans viewed life, death, and what it means to be human. Praise for the author: “Her lively and intermittently potty-mouthed biography of Nero s remarkable mother contains fascinating vignettes of Roman life (what to expect on your wedding day) and explores why Roman authors wrote about women in the way that they did.” NEW STATESMAN"

Emma Southon (Author), Sophie Ward (Narrator)

Audiobook

Petite Mort

"'Sumptuous ... part Moulin Rouge, part Alfred Hitchcock' Grazia Scandal, intoxication and lies flourish in the silent film studios of Paris. A silent film, destroyed in a fire in 1914 at the Pathé studio, before it was seen even by its director. A lowly seamstress, who makes the costumes she should be wearing, but believes her talent - and the secret she keeps too - will soon get her a dressing room of her own. A famous - and dashing - creator of spectacular cinematic illusions, husband to a beautiful, volatile actress, the most adored icon of the Parisian studios. All fit together, like scenes in a movie. And as you will see, this plot has a twist we beg you not to disclose ... 'Striking' Independent Beatrice Hitchman was born in London in 1980. She read English and French at Edinburgh University and then studied for an MA in Comparative Literature. After a year living in Paris, she moved back to the UK, trained and worked as a documentary film editor. She has written and directed short films which have toured festivals worldwide."

Beatrice Hitchman (Author), Sophie Ward (Narrator)

Audiobook

The House of Sleep

"Brought to you by Penguin. Sarah is a narcoleptic who has dreams so vivid she mistakes them for real events; Robert has had his life changed for ever by the misunderstandings arising from her condition; Terry, the insomniac, spends his wakeful nights fuelling his obsession with movies; and the increasingly unstable Dr Gregory Dudden sees sleep as a life-shortening disease which must be eradicated . A group of students sharing a house. They fall in and out of love, they drift apart. Yet a decade later they are drawn back together by a series of coincidences involving their obsession with sleep - and each other ... © Jonathan Coe 2008 (P) Penguin Audio 2019"

Jonathan Coe (Author), Sophie Ward (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Accidental Woman

"Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Accidental Woman by Jonathan Coe, read by Sophie Ward. For Maria, nothing is certain. Her life is a chain of accidents. Friendship passes her by, and she's unimpressed by the devoted Ronny and his endless proposals of marriage. Maria lives in a world of her own - yet not of her own making. Stumbling through university, work, marriage and motherhood, she finds it hard to see what all the fuss is about. Will she ever be able to control the direction of her life? Or will it end, as it began, by accident? What does chance have in store for the accidental woman?"

Jonathan Coe (Author), Sophie Ward (Narrator)

Audiobook

Skin Deep

"Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Skin Deep by Liz Nugent, read by Annette Flynn, Sophie Ward, Declan Rodgers , Anna Maria Everett, Daniel Betts, Trev Fleming and Michael Gould. 'Perfect summer read for those who like their escapism on the darker side' Ian Rankin The deliciously sinister new novel from the No 1 bestselling author of Richard and Judy Book Club pick, Lying in Wait 'I could probably have been an actress. It is not difficult to pretend to be somebody else. Isn't that what I've been doing for most of my life?' Cordelia Russell has been living on the French Riviera for twenty-five years, passing herself off as an English socialite. But her luck, and the kindness of strangers, have run out. The arrival of a visitor from her distant past shocks Cordelia. She reacts violently to the intrusion and flees her flat to spend a drunken night at a glittering party. As dawn breaks she stumbles home through the back streets. Even before she opens her door she can hear the flies buzzing. She did not expect the corpse inside to start decomposing quite so quickly . . . 'Bloody brilliant!' Denise Mina 'An extraordinary writer - Liz Nugent maps the human mind as a cartographer charts new worlds: She's boundlessly curious and totally unflinching' A.J. Finn 'A tour de force ... a genuinely memorable, at times terrifying central character ... will appeal to readers who enjoy an exciting, fast-paced journey of psychological extremes, which delivers a shocking final twist' Crime Club, Killer Women Book of the Month 'The finest psychological thriller writer currently at work - no one gets under the skin of monstrous characters like she does' Tammy Cohen 'A wonderful feat of imagination, totally gripping, with a fascinating character at its heart' Sabine Durrant 'Dark, brutal and brilliant' Colette McBeth 'A triumph, from first page to last!' Sarah Hilary 'Monumentally good. Liz Nugent is a beautiful writer and among the very best storytellers in the world' Donal Ryan 'I loved, loved, loved Skin Deep - the compassion of it, the beauty of the language, how glamour and horror intersect, how the tension twists tighter and tighter and is brilliantly done' Marian Keyes 'Dazzling ... chilling, mesmerising and, ultimately, devastating. Pure storytelling genius' Mark Edwards 'Her darkest book yet - a compelling one-sitting read' Sinéad Crowley 'Utterly gripping, fast paced, and featuring my favourite sociopathic female character since Lady Macbeth' Louise O'Neill 'Incredibly dark, twisting and utterly mesmerising - you will not be able to put this down' Sinéad Moriarty 'Pitch dark and thrillingly original' Jane Casey"

Liz Nugent (Author), Anna Maria Everett, Annette Flynn, Daniel Betts, Declan Rodgers, Michael Gould, Sophie Ward, Trev Fleming (Narrator)

Audiobook

Swimming Home

"Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Swimming Home by Deborah Levy, read by Sophie Ward. A poet, his wife, her daughter and their friends arrive at the French Riviera. The prospect of a long hot summer stretches ahead of them. At their villa, they find a body in the swimming pool. But this body is very much alive. It is Kitty Finch: self-proclaimed botanist with lurid green fingernails, avid poetry fan, walking naked out of the water and straight into the centre of their holiday. Why is she there? What does she want from them? And why does the poet's wife invite this beautiful young woman to remain?"

Deborah Levy (Author), Sophie Ward (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Sophie Ward