Condition: New. CHECK your CD manual BEFORE ordering. Your player must be able to play MP3 files on CD or these CDs will not play. Thank you. Audio Source : Public Domain, Librivox The Age of Innocence (Dramatic Reading) Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937) The Age of Innocence centers on an upper-class couple's impending marriage, and the introduction of a woman plagued by scandal whose presence threatens their happiness. Though the novel questions the assumptions and morals of 1870s' New York society, it never devolves into an outright condemnation of the institution. In fact, Wharton considered this novel an "apology" for her earlier, more brutal and critical novel, The House of Mirth. Not to be overlooked is Wharton's attention to detailing the charms and customs of the upper caste. The novel is lauded for its accurate portrayal of how the 19th-century East Coast American upper class lived, and this, combined with the social tragedy, earned Wharton a Pulitzer Prize ? the first Pulitzer awarded to a woman. Edith Wharton was 58 years old at publication; she lived in that world, and saw it change dramatically by the end of World War I. The title is an ironic comment on the polished outward manners of New York society, when compared to its inward machinations. (Summary by Wikipedia) Cast list: Newland Archer: Winston Tharp Lawrence Lefferts: Ernst Pattynama and: Algy Pug Christine Nillson : Elizabeth Klett and: Jenn Broda Sillerton Jackson: Bill Mosley Young Man/Thorley/Waiter/Mr. Merry: John Trevithick Mrs. Manson Mingott: Elizabeth Klett May Welland: CaprishaPage Mrs. Welland: Beth Thomas and: TJ Burns Ellen Olenska: Amanda Friday and: Lydia Mrs. Archer: Arielle Lipshaw Julius Beaufort: Jason Mills Janey Archer: Libby Gohn Henry van der Lyden: Ron Altman Louisa van der Lyden: Maryanka Gertrude Lefferts/Maid: Charlotte Duckett Nastasia : Diana Majlinger Duke of St. Austrey: Alan Mapstone Mrs. Struthers: Stefanie Heinrichs Butler: Oxenhandler Mr. Letterblair: tovarisch Ned Winsett: ToddHW Mr. Welland: Alan Mapstone Marchioness Medora Manson: Libby Gohn Dr. Carver: Alan Mapstone and Bob Neufeld Reggie Chivers: Drpage The Rector/Gov. of New York: tovarisch M. Riviere: ToddHW Miss Blenker/Young Lady: Naomi Park Miss Sophy Jackson: Elizabeth Klett Regina Beaufort: Charlotte Duckett Mrs. Lovell Mingott: Astrid Fingerhut Dallas: Chuck Williamson Narration: CaprishaPage and: Kathrine Engan and: ambsweet13 and: Pari Editing: CaprishaPage and: ToddHW Genre(s): Dramatic Readings, General Fiction, Historical Fiction Language: English Ethan Frome Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937) Edith Wharton's 1911 novel Ethan Frome tells the story of a tragic love triangle. Set in the highly symbolic wintry landscape of Starkfield, Massachusetts, the narrative centers on the title character's fraught relationships with his "sickly, cantankerous" wife Zeena and his young, beautiful cousin Mattie Silver. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett) Genre(s): General Fiction, Romance Language: English The House of Mirth Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937) The House of Mirth tells the story of Lily Bart, a woman who is torn between her desire for luxurious living and a relationship based on mutual respect and love. She sabotages all her possible opportunities for a wealthy marriage, loses the esteem of her social circle, and dies young, poor, and alone. - Summary by Wikipedia Genre(s): Literary Fiction Tales of Men and Ghosts Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937) Tales of Men and Ghosts was published as a collection in 1910, though the first eight of the stories had earlier appeared in Scribner's and the last two in the Century Magazine. Despite the title, the men outnumber the ghosts, since only "The Eyes" and "Afterward" actually call on the supernatural. In only two of the stories are women the central characters, though elsewhere they play important roles. Wharton enjoys subjecting her subjects -- all of them American gentlemen and gentlewomen, in the conventional senses of the word -- to various moral tests and sometimes ironic tests. Some of the stories deal with the intellectual fashions of the day -- "The Blond Beast" basing itself, to some degree, on Nietzsche, and "The Debt" on variants of Darwinism. Though "Afterward" is set in England, and "The Letters" in France, the rest of the stories are squarely in Wharton's own New York city, rather than (say) in what she calls "the soul-deadening ugliness of the Middle West," thus avoiding the need to come to terms with what fashion-conscious New Yorkers still today call "fly-over country" for everything that lies between the west bank of the Hudson River and San Francisco Bay. (Summary by Nicholas Clifford) Genre(s): Single Author Collections Language: English Genre(s): Science Fiction The Custom of the Country Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937) Edith Wharton's 1913 novel is a devastating critique of American upward mobility, told through the journey of Undine Spragg from fictional Midwestern Apex City to New York to Paris. Undine is determined to acquire money and position through marriage, even if it means multiple divorces. - Summary by Elizabeth Klett Genre(s): Culture Heritage Fiction, Literary Fiction Language: English Summer Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937) Wharton's 1917 novella Summer, like her more famous work Ethan Frome, is set in a very small rural New England town. Charity Royall longs to escape the claustrophobic confines of North Dormer and the inappropriate advances of her guardian Mr. Royall, who adopted her as a child from the nearby Mountain community. Hope arrives in the form of city boy Lucius Harney, who has come to research the architecture of the region; but will his presence in Charity's life mean her salvation - or her undoing? (Introduction by Elizabeth Klett) Genre(s): General Fiction Language: English Bunner Sisters Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937) ?Bunner Sisters,? like ?The Age of Innocence? is set in 1870s New York, however the lives of Ann Eliza and Evelina Bunner reflect impoverished New York. The sisters run a "very small shop, in a shabby basement, in a side street already doomed to decline." Shabby as it is, the sisters are happy in their small orderly community of supportive women. The story tells of the destruction of this life, and how the once content sisters are thrown into the realistic world outside of their little shop. (Summary by Margaret) Genre(s): Literary Fiction Language: English The Reef Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937) George Darrow, Anna Leath?s first love, is finally coming from London to propose to her. However, he drifts to an affair with Sophy Viner, Anna?s daughter?s naïve and young governess. Sophy?s relationship with Darrow and Anna?s family can threaten his success. In this novel, as in many of Wharton?s other well known novels, we see the eternal love triangle. With her sly and lovely writing style, Wharton delivers to us in this wonderful novel a cast of unforgettable characters and many unforgettable scenes which we can vividly imagine. What would Darrow choose: success or love? Would Anna marry him despite his affair with Sophy? (Summary by Stav Nisser.) Genre(s): Romance Language: English Short Stories