THE COMMON READER VOLUME 2By Virginia Woolf
Read by Georgina Sutton
9 hours 28 minutes
Do not think, because this collection of essays is titled Volume 2, that there is anything lesser or additional to it. Here is Virginia Woolf at her most entertaining and informative, relishing the portraits and insights she presents as she surveys a varied collection of individuals in English society and English literature. Continue Reading →
THE PILLOW BOOK of SEI SHŌNAGONTranslated by Ivan Morris
Read by Georgina Sutton
11 hours 09 minutes
The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon is a fascinating, detailed account of Japanese court life in the closing years of the 10th century. Written by a lady of the court at the height of Heian culture, this book enthralls with its lively gossip, witty observations, and subtle impressions. Continue Reading →
THE LAYS OF MARIE DE FRANCETranslated by Edward J. Gallagher
Read by Georgina Sutton, David Rintoul
5 hours and 6 minutes
The 12 Lays of Marie de France offer one of the most striking collections of short narrative poems of the 12th century – two centuries before Chaucer. Written in Anglo-French, they contain beguiling and entertaining stories of love and romance, of chivalry and adventure with, sometimes, even a magical twist. They are especially unique in early literature by being ascribed to a female poet, Marie de France: in the very first Lay – Guigemar – is the introductory line: ‘Hear my Lords, what Marie says, who does not wish to be forgotten in her time.’ Continue Reading →
By Virginia Woolf
Read by Georgina Sutton
5 hours 42 minutes
Between The Acts, Virginia Woolf’s last novel, was finished in November 1940 and shortly afterwards delivered to her publisher Hogarth Press. The following March she committed suicide. Between the Acts is often an overlooked work in her oeuvre because she did express her intention to revise it before publication, though in the event this never happened. So it comes as a surprise to find that, while it probably would have benefitted from revision, it is something of an unpolished gem, at times sparkling and actually very engaging. Continue Reading →
By E. M. Delafield
Read by Georgina Sutton
8 hours 5 minutes
The Provincial Lady in Wartime, though the last of the Provincial Lady series, is one of the finest. No further ‘Diaries’ had appeared since The Provincial Lady in America (published in 1934) when, in 1939, Harold Macmillan, then chairman of Macmillan publishers and a fan, made a personal request to E. M. Delafield for a new book. The onset of the war with Germany was serious but, he said, Britain, was in need of the entertaining but pertinent observations from The Provincial Lady! Continue Reading →
Georgina Sutton is a busy actress based in London, with leading roles in Shakespeare, Ibsen, Wilde, Coward, and many others. Recently she has established a reputation for her acute but sympathetic audiobook readings of classics such as Vanity Fair, Adam Bede and The Virgin and the Gypsy for Naxos AudioBooks, and titles for Penguin.
By E. M. Delafield
Read by Georgina Sutton
4 hours 55 minutes
No one could have been more surprised than our Provincial Lady to receive an invitation from her American agent to travel transatlantic and embark upon a programme of lectures and signings. She was PARTICULARLY amazed because, having received an overture sometime before and feeling that she would rather stay in the English countryside, she requested that they meet quite a few ‘requirements’ before she would agree to go. Continue Reading →
DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADYBy E. M. Delafield
Read by Georgina Sutton
5 hours 22 minutes
‘Lady B. stays to tea. (Mem.: Bread-and-butter too thick. Speak to Ethel.) We talk some more about bulbs, the Dutch School of Painting, our Vicar’s wife, sciatica, and All Quiet on the Western Front. (Query: Is it possible to cultivate the art of conversation when living in the country all the year round?)’ If the question suggests a qualified answer, there is no doubt that the art of diary writing is alive and well and very, very funny in Devonshire in the 1920s. Continue Reading →
By E. M. Delafield
Read by Georgina Sutton
5 hours 55 minutes
The Provincial Lady Goes Further is the immediate sequel to Diary of a Provincial Lady – and life mirrors art. Our Provincial Lady has found herself, unexpectedly, with a literary success on her hands! She is, suddenly, ‘Somebody,’ both in her Devonshire environs and in London where she establishes a bolthole – ostensibly so she could concentrate on the much-awaited sequel, but also so that she can enjoy the fruits of being a best-selling author! Continue Reading →
THE PRAISE OF FOLLY / AGAINST WARBy Desiderius Erasmus
Read by Georgina Sutton, Leighton Pugh
6 hours
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536) was known as Prince of the Humanists – though a theologian, a Catholic priest and the leading European scholar of his time. A close friend of Sir Thomas More, Erasmus’s writings had a strong influence on the growing movement for change in Christian Europe, both Lutheran and the Counter-Reformation. Continue Reading →
