Short Stories & Anthologies

75 SHORT MASTERPIECES: STORIES FROM THE WORLD'S LITERATURE

by Roger B Goodman (editor)

read by Patricia Knight-Webb

running time 14hrs

A collection of very short stories by a variety of renowned authors including Ray Bradbury, Chekov, De la Mare, Dostoyevsky, Aldous Huxley, Poe, Steinbeck and Tolstoy

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

by Arthur Conan Doyle

read by John Hunter

running time 11hrs 30mins

Some of the most famous of the Sherlock Holmes stories in which Dr. Watson assists in the solution of crime.

BARCELONA PLATES (X Rated)

by Alexei Sayle

read by Richard Worland

running time 5hrs

In this collection of dark, funny and bizarre short stories, Alexei Sayle's characters are vividly, wryly - and occasionally disturbingly - portrayed. Their voices, and the stories they have to tell will remain in the mind for a long, long time. X rated, contains offensive language and explicit sex.

CAN'T AND WON'T

by Lydia Davis

read by Yvonne Clemenson

running time 7hrs

With titles like 'A Story of Stolen Salamis', 'Letters to a Frozen Pea Manufacturer', 'A Small Story About a Small Box of Chocolates', and 'Can't and Won't', the stories in this new collection illuminate particular moments in ordinary lives and find in them the humorous, the ironic and the surprising. Above all the stories revel in and grapple with the joys and constraints of language - achieving always the extraordinary, unmatched precision which makes Lydia Davis one of the greatest contemporary writers on the international stage.

DANNY WALLACE AND THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE

by Danny Wallace

read by James Murphy

running time 2hrs

Danny Wallace heard about a manhole cover, on a small street, in a small town, tucked away in a remote part of Idaho. The manhole cover had been declared the Centre of the Universe. And the name of the town? Wallace. It was a cosmic coincidence Danny couldn't resist... Quick Reads.

THE EARTH THY GREAT EXCHEQUER READY LIES

by Jo Lloyd

read by Clare Francis

running time 6hrs

A lyrical and compassionate collection of short stories in which the characters are united by a quest for lasting value, as they ask how we should treat our world, our work, our selves, and each other. A vainglorious mine owner dreams of harnessing all of nature to the machinery of commerce. Two ladies of a certain age hunt rare butterflies in a pre-First World War Europe already experiencing the first bites of biodiversity loss. A climate campaigner must choose between personal happiness and political action. A rural Welsh community is fascinated and angered by glimpses of its invisible, wealthy neighbours.

A FAMILY CHRISTMAS

by Miscellaneous authors

read by Miscellaneous

running time 2hrs 35mins

A collection of beloved Christmas tales that every family will cherish, including classic stories such as "The Little Match Girl" and "The Nutcracker".

THE GARDEN PARTY AND OTHER STORIES

by Katherine Mansfield

read by Maggie Stokes

running time 7hrs 30mins

Katherine Mansfield is known for her tender humanity, her clarity, her wit and her courageous gaiety. Of this collection of stories, many are set in the author's native New Zealand, others in England and the French Riviera. All are revelations of the unspoken, half-understood emotions that make up everyday experience.

HAPPY PRINCE, THE: AND OTHER TALES

by Oscar Wilde

read by Paul Connell

running time 2hrs 15mins

Includes 'The Nightingale and the Rose', The Selfish Giant', 'The Devoted Friend', and 'The Remarkable Rocket'.

ILLUMINATIONS

by Alan Moore

read by Miscellaneous

running time 17hrs 23mins

In his first-ever short story collection, which spans forty years of work and features many never-before-published pieces, international bestselling author and legendary creator of From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and other modern classics, Alan Moore, presents nine stories full of wonder and strangeness, each taking us deeper into the fantastical underside of reality. From ghosts and otherworldly creatures to theoretical Boltzmann brains fashioning the universe at the big bang, Illuminations is exactly that - a series of bright, startling tales from a contemporary legend that reveal the full power of imagination and magic.

JACK AND JILL

by Lucy Cavendish

read by Molly Hanson

running time 2hrs

Jill's little brother, Jack, won't speak. There are plenty of things Jill doesn't understand, she doesn't know why her aunt and uncle give her and Jack strange looks, or why they're being talked about in the village. Jill decides to find out what's going on and uncovers the appalling truth behind brother Jack's silence. Quick Reads.

LABELS AND OTHER STORIES

by Louis de Bernières

read by Russell Bentley

running time 8hrs

Louis de Bernieres is one of our most treasured writers and these stories show his imaginative range and unique storytelling power. This collection features tales that transport us around the globe, from the London Underground to Turkish ruins to the banks of the Amazon.

THE MABINOGION

by Sioned Davies (Translator)

read by David Hobbs

running time 9hrs 20mins

Celtic mythology, Arthurian romance, and an intriguing interpretation of British history - these are just some of the themes embraced by the anonymous authors of the eleven tales that make up the Welsh medieval masterpiece known as the Mabinogion.

NESS

by Stanley Donwood & Robert Macfarlane

read by Stephen Dillane

running time 1hr

Somewhere on a salt-and-shingle island, inside a ruined concrete structure known as The Green Chapel, a figure called The Armourer is leading a ritual with terrible intent. But something is coming to stop him. Five more-than-human forms are traversing land, sea and time towards The Green Chapel, moving to the point where they will converge and become Ness. Ness has lichen skin and willow-bones. Ness is made of tidal drift, green moss and deep time. Ness has hagstones for eyes and speaks only in birds. And Ness has come to take this island back.

OFFSHORE: A SHORT STORY COLLECTION

by Ann Cleeves

read by Ann Stutz

running time 2hrs 30mins

A striking collection of eight short stories, by bestselling crime writer Ann Cleeves. They are all set on islands off the coast of the UK, and feature cases for both DI Jimmy Perez on Shetland, and DI Willow Reeves on Uist in the Outer Hebrides.

PARIS FOR ONE

by Jojo Moyes

read by Charlie Sanderson

running time 2hrs

Everyone knows Nell is not the adventurous type. But, when her boyfriend doesn't turn up for their romantic mini-break, Nell has the chance to prove everyone wrong. Alone in Paris, Nell meets the mysterious Fabien. Could this turn out to be the most adventurous weekend of her life? Quick Reads.

QUANTUM OF TWEED

by Conn Iggulden

read by Conn Iggulden

running time 1hr 30mins

When gentlemen's tailor Albert Rossi hits an unsuspecting pedestrian in his Nissan Micra, he is amazed to escape the inevitable knock on the door from the police. Instead he receives a mysterious phone call from a man who tells him that his money will be left in the 'usual' place. At that very moment, Albert Rossi's life is about to get a whole lot more interesting... Quick Reads.

READER, I MARRIED HIM

by Tracy Chevalier (editor)

read by Laura Kirman

running time 7hrs 20mins

A collection of short stories celebrating Charlotte Brontë, stemming from the now immortal words from her great work Jane Eyre (7377). The stories bring together some of the finest and most creative voices in fiction today to celebrate and salute the strength and lasting relevance of Charlotte Brontë's game-changing novel and its beloved narrator.

THE SALT OF THE EARTH AND OTHER STORIES

by Margaret Bacon

read by Pat Steadman

running time 5hrs 30mins

A varied collection of short stories; some are funny, some more serious but they are all about real people in real situations, so the reader can identify with them. In some a cheat or a bully gets their comeuppance which is always very satisfactory for both writer and reader.

TALES FROM A VILLAGE SCHOOL

by Miss Read

read by June Clements

running time 5hrs

Forty delightful stories about life as a village school teacher.

UNACCUSTOMED EARTH

by Jhumpa Lahiri

read by Ann Clark

running time 13hrs 20mins

Eight luminous stories exploring the heart of family life and the immigrant experience, that take us from America to Europe, India and Thailand as they follow new lives forged in the wake of loss.

A VERY DISTANT SHORE

by Jenny Colgan

read by Ann Stutz

running time 2hrs 15mins

Lorna lives on the tiny Scottish island of Mure. The local GP is retiring, and nobody wants his job, Mure is too small and too remote. Saif, a refugee from across the sea is appointed and quickly settles into seaside life. But there is much more to him than meets the eye. Quick Reads.

WALK THE BLUE FIELDS

by Claire Keegan

read by Pat Steadman

running time 6hrs 50mins

A collection of eight short stories in which the author observes an Ireland wrestling with its past.