The Oaken Heart
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The Oaken Heart
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Narrated by:
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Georgina Sutton
About this listen
Margery Allingham, already a successful crime writer, was living quietly in the Essex village of Tolleshunt D’Arcy ("Auburn") when the Second World War broke out. Her house became an Air Raid Wardens’ post and a First Aid centre, and Allingham herself became responsible for 275 East London evacuees in a rural community of just over 600. Commissioned by American publishing friends to recount what life was like, she began The Oaken Heart in the autumn of 1940, when the Battle of Britain gave way to the London Blitz. Bombs fell, even on the Essex countryside, and a German invasion was fully expected. She conceived her work as an honest letter to America. Places were given fictional names but otherwise she told it like it was, whether funny or painful.
Unsentimental yet personal and rich in detail, this is an evocative first-hand account of day-to-day realities in a small community upended and terrified of the future – like so many villages of the time.
Download the accompanying reference guide.©1941 Rights Ltd (P)2021 Naxos AudioBooks UK Ltd.Listeners also enjoyed...
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The Pursuit of Love
- Radlett and Montdore Trilogy Series, Book 1
- By: Nancy Mitford
- Narrated by: Bessie Carter
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 110
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
Mitford's most enduringly popular novel, The Pursuit of Love, is a classic comedy about growing up and falling in love among the privileged and eccentric. Mitford modeled her characters on her own famously unconventional family. We are introduced to the Radletts through the eyes of their cousin, Fanny, who stays with them at Alconleigh, their Gloucestershire estate. Uncle Matthew is the blustering patriarch; Aunt Sadie is the vague but doting mother; and the seven Radlett children, despite the delights of their unusual childhood, are recklessly eager to grow up.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Unlistenable
- By Michael on 10-17-21
By: Nancy Mitford
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The Road to Wigan Pier
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,677
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,421
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,414
When Orwell went to England in the 30's to find out how industrial workers lived, he not only observed but shared in their experiences. He stayed in cramped, dreary lodgings and subsisted on the scant, cheerless diet of the poor. He went down into the coal mines and walked crouching, as the miners did, through a one- to three-mile passage too low to stand up in. He watched the back-breaking, dangerous labor of men whose net pay then averaged $575 a year.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Frederick Davidson's a Great Reader
- By Debali on 01-11-09
By: George Orwell
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Spring Magic
- By: D. E. Stevenson
- Narrated by: Lesley Mackie
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Young Frances Field arrives in a scenic coastal village in Scotland, having escaped her dreary life as an orphan, treated as little more than a servant by an uncle and aunt. Once there, she encounters an array of eccentric locals, the occasional roar of enemy planes overhead and three army wives - Elise, Tommy and Tillie - who become fast friends. Elise warns Frances of the discomforts of military life, but she’s inclined to disregard the advice when she meets the dashing and charming Captain Guy Tarlatan.
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5 out of 5 stars
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WWII Home Front
- By Jerri C on 06-05-19
By: D. E. Stevenson
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Letters
- By: C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 196
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 173
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 172
This volume of short essays and other pieces by C. S. Lewis is part of a larger collection, C. S. Lewis: Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces. In addition to his many books, letters, and poems, C. S. Lewis wrote a great number of essays and shorter pieces on various subjects. He wrote extensively on Christian theology and the defense of faith but also on ethical issues and the nature of literature and storytelling. Within this audiobook is a treasure trove of Lewis' reflections on diverse topics.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Just Lewis
- By William on 02-07-21
By: C. S. Lewis
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These Names Make Clues
- By: E. C.R. Lorac
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 120
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story4 out of 5 stars 100
Chief Inspector Macdonald has been invited to a treasure hunt party at the house of the Graham Coombe, the celebrated publisher of Murder by Mesmerism. The clues of the hunt have been devised by Coombe's thriller-writer friends, disguised on the night under literary pseudonyms. The fun comes to an abrupt end, however, when 'Samuel Pepys' is found murdered in the telephone room in bizarre circumstances.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fun story.
- By peter on 03-12-22
By: E. C.R. Lorac
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The Crime at Black Dudley
- An Albert Campion Mystery
- By: Margery Allingham
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 647
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 575
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 578
When George Abbershaw is invited to Black Dudley Manor for the weekend, he has only one thing on his mind - proposing to Meggie Oliphant. Unfortunately for George, things don't quite go according to plan. A harmless game turns decidedly deadly and suspicions of murder take precedence over matrimony. Trapped in a remote country house with a murderer, George can see no way out. But Albert Campion can.
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4 out of 5 stars
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I LIKE this narrator quite a lot!!!!
- By Meep on 11-16-13
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Oil!
- By: Upton Sinclair
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 876
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 662
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Story4 out of 5 stars 669
As he did so masterfully in The Jungle, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Upton Sinclair interweaves social criticism with human tragedy to create an unforgettable portrait of Southern California's early oil industry. Enraged by the oil scandals of the Harding administration in the 1920s, Sinclair tells a gripping tale of avarice, corruption, and class warfare, featuring a cavalcade of characters, including senators, oil magnates, Hollywood film starlets, and a crusading evangelist.
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5 out of 5 stars
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an outstanding book
- By Gregory on 05-18-08
By: Upton Sinclair
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Three Men in a Boat (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Jerome K. Jerome
- Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4 out of 5 stars 34
In 1889, satirist Jerome K. Jerome fully intended to write a serious travel guide when he and his two best friends embarked on a boating trip up the river Thames to Oxford. But his musings on landmarks and local history were soon hijacked by his own digressive, waggish voice. And so, what began as a peaceful and edifying two-week exploration soon floated upriver into farce - aided, quite naturally, by a portly ration of cheese, some very bad weather, and a dog named Montmorency.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Hilarious and lovable!!
- By Erika C. on 03-23-21
By: Jerome K. Jerome
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Upstairs & Downstairs
- My Life In Service as a Lady's Maid
- By: Hilda Newman, Tim Tate
- Narrated by: Helen Lloyd
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 846
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 774
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 767
The year was 1935: the twilight of the English aristocracy. It was a time of wealth and glamour; of lavish balls and evening gowns; of tiaras and a coronation. As personal maid to Lady Coventry, Hilda Newman had a unique insight into the leisured life of one of Britain's most noble families. In her fascinating memoir of life upstairs and down, Hilda takes us back to this period between the wars; a gilded era which would soon be dramatically changed by the Second World War.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful listen!!
- By J.T. on 09-25-19
By: Hilda Newman, and others
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King's Counsellor
- Abdication and War: The Diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles
- By: Sir Alan Lascelles, Duff Hart-Davis
- Narrated by: Pip Torrens
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 108
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 89
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Story5 out of 5 stars 88
As Assistant Private Secretary to four monarchs, 'Tommy' Lascelles had a ringside seat from which to observe the workings of the royal household and Downing Street during the first half of the 20th century. These fascinating diaries begin with Edward VIII's abdication and end with George VI's death and his daughter Elizabeth's Coronation. In between we see George VI at work and play, a portrait more intimate than any other previously published.
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5 out of 5 stars
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One of the most enjoyable audiobooks I've heard.
- By Elizabeth on 04-14-21
By: Sir Alan Lascelles, and others
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Father
- By: Elizabeth Von Arnim
- Narrated by: Penelope Freeman
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
Since her mother's death, Jennifer has devoted years of her life to her father, managing the family home. After the sudden announcement that he has taken a new wife, Jennifer, at 33, seizes the opportunity to lead an independent life. Quickly she secures the lease of Rose Cottage and turns her attention to her own interests. While Jennifer is desperate to experience life on her own terms within her reduced financial means, her neighbour, Alice, is pre-occupied with ensuring her position as head of her brother's household is never challenged.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Worse Audio Book I Have Ever Heard
- By Phyllis Woodford on 11-05-21
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A Bend in the River
- By: V. S. Naipaul
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 574
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 380
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Story4 out of 5 stars 388
In this incandescent novel, V.S. Naipaul takes us deeply into the life of one man, an Indian who, uprooted by the bloody tides of Third World history, has come to live in an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation. Naipaul gives us the most convincing and disturbing vision yet of what happens in a place caught between the dangerously alluring modern world and its own tenacious past and traditions.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful, insightful, troubling
- By Lawrence on 01-15-05
By: V. S. Naipaul
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The Gilded Age
- By: Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 88
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 77
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Story4 out of 5 stars 77
The Gilded Age is the collaborative work of Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that satirized the era that followed the Civil War. This period is often referred to as the “Gilded Age” because of this book. The corruption and greed that was typical of the time is exemplified through two fictional narratives: one, of the Hawkins, a poor family from Tennessee that tries to persuade the government to purchase their seventy-five thousand acres of unimproved land.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An American classic, beautifully narrated
- By TX lilbit on 03-31-12
By: Mark Twain, and others
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William - The Pirate
- By: Richmal Crompton
- Narrated by: Martin Jarvis
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story5 out of 5 stars 28
William Brown, the loveable rogue created by Richmal Crompton in the 1930s, is as well-received and enjoyed today as he was almost 80 years ago. Martin Jarvis has long been the voice of William, and brings a youthful sense of joy and a childlike excitement to the reading.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best William Book
- By RNS on 12-24-13
By: Richmal Crompton
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The Yellow Wallpaper
- By: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Narrated by: Jo Myddleton
- Length: 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,119
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 957
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 951
Instructed to abandon her intellectual life and avoid stimulating company, she sinks into a still-deeper depression invisible to her husband, who believes he knows what is best for her. Alone in the yellow-wallpapered nursery of a rented house, she descends into madness.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Visceral Reaction
- By Em on 05-02-12