Classic Audiobook Collection

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The Greater Inclination by Edith Wharton ~ Full Audiobook [drama] Dec 21, 2022

Show notes

The Greater Inclination by Edith Wharton audiobook.

Genre: drama

First published in 1899, The Greater Inclination introduces Edith Wharton at the start of her career with a collection of short stories that cut through the polite surface of late-19th-century society. Across drawing rooms, country estates, and chance encounters abroad, Wharton follows men and women who discover that a single choice can tilt an entire life: a young person torn between comfort and integrity, an artist or dreamer forced to bargain with convention, a marriage strained by unspoken expectations, a friendship tested by money and reputation. With crisp dialogue and an unsparing eye for social rules, Wharton turns small gestures - a letter withheld, a visit delayed, a glance misread - into high-stakes moral drama. The stories share a quiet intensity, asking what it costs to pursue love, freedom, or self-respect when everyone around you is keeping score. Elegant, ironic, and emotionally precise, this collection is both a portrait of a world obsessed with appearances and a timeless study of desire, duty, and the private rebellions people risk when they dare to want more.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 1

(00:31:41) Chapter 2

(00:56:43) Chapter 3

(01:37:35) Chapter 4

(02:36:38) Chapter 5

(03:09:44) Chapter 6

(03:35:44) Chapter 7

(04:32:15) Chapter 8

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The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton ~ Full Audiobook [drama] Dec 21, 2022

Show notes

The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton audiobook.

Genre: drama

Edith Wharton's The Glimpses of the Moon follows Susy Branch and Nick Lansing, two charming, cash-strapped members of New York's glittering social orbit who decide to marry for love while trying to outmaneuver the realities of money. Their plan is to live lightly, borrowing the luxuries of their wealthy friends and drifting from one borrowed house party, yacht trip, and country weekend to the next. But the thin line between freedom and dependence quickly tightens. As invitations come with expectations, and kindness carries hidden costs, Susy and Nick discover how easily a marriage can be strained by envy, pride, and the quiet humiliations of always needing something. When tempting alternatives appear in the form of richer companions and more stable futures, the couple must confront what they truly owe each other - and what they are willing to sacrifice to keep love from turning into a transaction. With Wharton's sharp eye for social performance and emotional truth, the novel explores devotion, ambition, and the price of belonging in a world where comfort is never free.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:17:16) Chapter 02

(00:31:26) Chapter 03

(00:42:33) Chapter 04

(00:57:32) Chapter 05

(01:11:02) Chapter 06

(01:23:44) Chapter 07

(01:40:46) Chapter 08

(01:54:07) Chapter 09

(02:12:17) Chapter 10

(02:28:25) Chapter 11

(02:42:30) Chapter 12

(03:02:46) Chapter 13

(03:21:36) Chapter 14

(03:35:11) Chapter 15

(03:53:33) Chapter 16

(04:08:59) Chapter 17

(04:26:53) Chapter 18

(04:41:24) Chapter 19

(05:00:30) Chapter 20

(05:19:32) Chapter 21

(05:35:04) Chapter 22

(05:50:29) Chapter 23

(06:06:35) Chapter 24

(06:20:02) Chapter 25

(06:40:34) Chapter 26

(06:56:32) Chapter 27

(07:06:05) Chapter 28

(07:18:42) Chapter 29

(07:37:46) Chapter 30

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The Fruit of the Tree by Edith Wharton ~ Full Audiobook [drama] Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

The Fruit of the Tree by Edith Wharton audiobook.

Genre: drama

In early 20th-century New England, young social worker Justine Brent arrives in the hill town of Hanaford determined to make herself useful, only to find that good intentions can collide with privilege, tradition, and the messy realities of care. Drawn into the orbit of the wealthy Amherst family, Justine becomes companion and confidante to the restless, idealistic John Amherst and his ailing wife, Bessy, whose chronic pain and fragile nerves dominate the household. As Justine and John throw themselves into reforming a local mill town and improving workers' lives, private crises begin to threaten their public mission. When an accident and a long convalescence push the family to the edge, Justine is forced to weigh duty against compassion and ask what mercy truly means, especially when law, medicine, and social judgment offer no clear answers. Edith Wharton crafts a tense, morally complex story about conscience and consequence, love and loyalty, and the price of acting on principle in a world that rarely forgives difficult choices.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:06:44) Chapter 02

(00:38:46) Chapter 03

(01:04:38) Chapter 04

(01:38:16) Chapter 05

(02:09:23) Chapter 06

(02:36:42) Chapter 07

(03:05:47) Chapter 08

(03:26:02) Chapter 09

(03:46:36) Chapter 10

(04:10:52) Chapter 11

(04:34:21) Chapter 12

(05:03:49) Chapter 13

(05:21:23) Chapter 14

(05:45:43) Chapter 15

(06:03:50) Chapter 16

(06:22:06) Chapter 17

(06:52:57) Chapter 18

(07:12:22) Chapter 19

(07:32:33) Chapter 20

(07:46:22) Chapter 21

(08:09:31) Chapter 22

(08:30:58) Chapter 23

(08:46:08) Chapter 24

(09:12:00) Chapter 25

(09:33:59) Chapter 26

(09:50:11) Chapter 27

(10:07:55) Chapter 28

(10:30:23) Chapter 29

(10:48:25) Chapter 30

(11:13:44) Chapter 31

(11:32:00) Chapter 32

(11:48:53) Chapter 33

(12:05:31) Chapter 34

(12:33:16) Chapter 35

(12:44:37) Chapter 36

(13:09:08) Chapter 37

(13:25:52) Chapter 38

(13:45:10) Chapter 39

(14:15:47) Chapter 40

(14:39:29) Chapter 41

(14:59:47) Chapter 42

(15:16:40) Chapter 43

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Tales of Men and Ghosts by Edith Wharton ~ Full Audiobook [horror] Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

Tales of Men and Ghosts by Edith Wharton audiobook.

Genre: horror

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.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:56:02) Chapter 02

(01:34:57) Chapter 03

(02:13:30) Chapter 04

(02:43:21) Chapter 05

(03:16:18) Chapter 06

(04:07:45) Chapter 07

(05:09:40) Chapter 08

(05:55:08) Chapter 09

(06:54:57) Chapter 10

(08:05:11) Chapter 11

(08:44:56) Chapter 12

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Summer by Edith Wharton ~ Full Audiobook [drama] Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

Summer by Edith Wharton audiobook.

Genre: drama

In a secluded New England village called North Dormer, Charity Royall has grown up feeling both restless and trapped, raised by the stern, older lawyer who rescued her from the impoverished Mountain community nearby. When Lucius Harney, a young architect from the city, arrives to study local houses, his curiosity about the town and his easy confidence awaken Charity's longing for a larger life and a different future. Drawn into a summer of walks, talks, and secret meetings, Charity begins to test the boundaries of what her small world permits, even as gossip, class prejudice, and her own uncertain origins tighten around her. As the season turns, she faces hard choices about love, belonging, and the price of independence in a place that measures a woman's worth by her reputation. Edith Wharton crafts a tense, intimate portrait of desire colliding with duty, and of a young woman struggling to claim her identity in a community that refuses to forget where she came from.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:16:40) Chapter 02

(00:34:45) Chapter 03

(00:45:58) Chapter 04

(00:53:49) Chapter 05

(01:11:10) Chapter 06

(01:36:42) Chapter 07

(02:00:11) Chapter 08

(02:19:18) Chapter 09

(02:40:02) Chapter 10

(02:55:57) Chapter 11

(03:14:51) Chapter 12

(03:38:27) Chapter 13

(03:51:27) Chapter 14

(04:05:31) Chapter 15

(04:35:56) Chapter 16

(05:01:44) Chapter 17

(05:19:26) Chapter 18

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Sanctuary by Edith Wharton ~ Full Audiobook [drama] Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

Sanctuary by Edith Wharton audiobook.

Genre: drama

In Edith Wharton's psychological novel Sanctuary, young Kate Orme believes she has found perfect happiness in her engagement to Denis Peyton, a charming man of wealth and position. But just as wedding plans settle into place, Kate discovers that Denis has been hiding a devastating truth about his past, and the revelation forces her to weigh love against conscience in a world where reputation and family honor carry enormous weight. After marriage and the birth of their son, Kate's private fears deepen into an obsession: she becomes convinced that moral weakness can be inherited, and that Denis' flaws may live on in their child. Determined to build a refuge of character and restraint, she devotes herself to shaping her son's future, even as the pressures of society and the ambiguities of human motive erode any simple sense of right and wrong. Years later, when her now-adult son comes to her with a crisis that tests everything she has tried to protect, Kate must confront the cost of her own idea of sanctuary, and the uneasy boundary between guidance and control.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:18:43) Chapter 02

(00:26:31) Chapter 03

(00:40:22) Chapter 04

(01:08:19) Chapter 05

(01:28:57) Chapter 06

(01:43:03) Chapter 07

(01:53:10) Chapter 08

(02:06:45) Chapter 09

(02:29:09) Chapter 10

(02:40:18) Chapter 11

(02:50:22) Chapter 12

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Old New York by Edith Wharton ~ Full Audiobook [drama] Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

Old New York by Edith Wharton audiobook.

Genre: drama

In Old New York, Edith Wharton turns her sharp, compassionate eye on the drawing rooms, parlor staircases, and carefully guarded reputations of nineteenth-century Manhattan. This quartet of novellas follows four separate circles of family and friends as they navigate the rigid codes of 'Old New York' society, where taste is policed, marriages are negotiated like treaties, and a single indiscretion can echo for decades. In one story, a well-meaning idealist tries to bring European art and modern ideas home to a city determined to stay comfortable and conservative. In another, two women are bound together by an unspoken bargain that tests the limits of duty, loyalty, and love. Elsewhere, ambition and vanity collide at the edge of the fashionable world, where the right invitation can make a life and the wrong rumor can end it. And in a final tale, a marriage marked by secrecy forces a woman to measure freedom against the price of respectability. With wit, moral tension, and exquisite social detail, Wharton reveals how power, class, and gender shape private lives behind public manners.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:24:07) Chapter 02

(00:34:55) Chapter 03

(00:52:27) Chapter 04

(01:05:14) Chapter 05

(01:16:42) Chapter 06

(01:31:35) Chapter 07

(01:43:50) Chapter 08

(01:54:41) Chapter 09

(02:06:06) Chapter 10

(02:33:46) Chapter 11

(02:44:42) Chapter 12

(02:53:10) Chapter 13

(03:11:31) Chapter 14

(03:16:48) Chapter 15

(03:26:38) Chapter 16

(03:36:43) Chapter 17

(03:54:26) Chapter 18

(04:07:55) Chapter 19

(04:21:43) Chapter 20

(04:54:21) Chapter 21

(05:08:15) Chapter 22

(05:29:17) Chapter 23

(05:53:24) Chapter 24

(06:08:18) Chapter 25

(06:32:41) Chapter 26

(06:50:21) Chapter 27

(07:01:32) Chapter 28

(07:14:29) Chapter 29

(07:39:04) Chapter 30

(07:58:56) Chapter 31

(08:32:04) Chapter 32

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Bunner Sisters by Edith Wharton ~ Full Audiobook [drama] Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

Bunner Sisters by Edith Wharton audiobook.

Genre: drama

In a quiet, down-at-the-heels corner of turn-of-the-century New York, sisters Ann Eliza and Evelina Bunner scrape together a living by running a tiny notions shop. Their days are measured in pennies, thread spools, and careful routines, and their world feels small but safe - until a seemingly simple decision pulls them into the broader city and the risky hopes it offers. When they befriend the gentle, struggling clock repairman Herman Ramy, the sisters find their hard-won stability tested by desire, loyalty, and the ache of wanting more than survival. Edith Wharton turns this modest setting into a sharp, compassionate study of the costs of kindness and the quiet violence of poverty, where every gift carries a weight and every choice can reshape a life. As aspirations rise and misunderstandings multiply, Ann Eliza must navigate the tender bond she shares with Evelina and the painful question of what love requires - for a sister, for a friend, and for oneself.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:16:32) Chapter 02

(00:37:08) Chapter 03

(00:45:12) Chapter 04

(00:55:03) Chapter 05

(01:07:58) Chapter 06

(01:15:46) Chapter 07

(01:37:27) Chapter 08

(01:56:51) Chapter 09

(02:14:49) Chapter 10

(02:34:41) Chapter 11

(02:58:22) Chapter 12

(03:10:07) Chapter 13

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Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster ~ Full Audiobook [drama] Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster audiobook.

Genre: drama

In this sharply observed early novel by E. M. Forster, a well-meaning English family tries to manage a scandal that has carried one of their own far beyond the safe boundaries of Edwardian respectability. After the spirited young widow Lilia Herriton marries an Italian much younger than herself, the Herritons are determined to contain the embarrassment and restore control, sending emissaries abroad to retrieve her and repair the family's reputation. But in the sunlit Tuscan town of Monteriano, their assumptions about class, propriety, and morality begin to buckle against a culture they do not understand - and against Lilia's own hunger for life. As misunderstandings multiply, Forster contrasts English restraint with Italian immediacy, revealing how pride and condescension can masquerade as duty. Caught between loyalty and conscience, the visitors must decide whether they are rescuing a vulnerable woman or protecting themselves from the discomfort of change. Witty, unsettling, and deeply humane, Where Angels Fear to Tread explores love, hypocrisy, and the cost of imposing certainty on other people's lives.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:27:24) Chapter 02

(00:57:52) Chapter 03

(01:22:47) Chapter 04

(01:44:18) Chapter 05

(02:22:43) Chapter 06

(03:13:28) Chapter 07

(03:39:36) Chapter 08

(04:14:01) Chapter 09

(04:27:27) Chapter 10

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A Passage to India by E. M. Forster ~ Full Audiobook [drama] Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

A Passage to India by E. M. Forster audiobook.

Genre: drama

E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India (1924) is widely acclaimed as one of the hundred best literary works of 20th century. Time magazine rates it among the top 100 English-language novels of all time.

A Passage to India is set at the moment when the lasting supremacy of the British Raj could no longer be taken for granted. Imperial power had been effectively supported by old and deep-seated religious and cultural conflicts between India’s Hindu and Muslim populations, which divided and sapped the local powers ultimately needed to overthrew imperial rule in 1947. Forster illustrates how this rift begins to be overshadowed by the increasing resistance of all Indians to the extreme racism, oppression and socio-political mismanagement of British rule.

The work is perhaps best known for his brilliant development of the relationships between his characters, which are fraught by a wide range of precarious cultural, social, political and economic dualisms: e.g., Occident / Orient; imperialist / colonial; men / women. He carries the idea expressed in his famous words “only connect” (from Howards End) to its limits, examining the difficulties – often the inherent impossibility – of “connection” across racial, sexual, religious and social divides.

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Chapters (Approximate)

(00:00:00) Chapter 01

(00:07:00) Chapter 02

(00:42:03) Chapter 03

(01:09:20) Chapter 04

(01:17:15) Chapter 05

(01:52:51) Chapter 06

(02:15:03) Chapter 07

(03:05:25) Chapter 08

(03:55:54) Chapter 09

(04:30:45) Chapter 10

(04:35:04) Chapter 11

(04:55:03) Chapter 12

(05:04:39) Chapter 13

(05:21:44) Chapter 14

(06:15:21) Chapter 15

(06:24:20) Chapter 16

(06:47:46) Chapter 17

(06:57:59) Chapter 18

(07:13:06) Chapter 19

(07:34:07) Chapter 20

(08:07:47) Chapter 21

(08:11:03) Chapter 22

(08:44:42) Chapter 23

(08:54:18) Chapter 24

(09:46:01) Chapter 25

(10:03:51) Chapter 26

(10:32:35) Chapter 27

(10:46:57) Chapter 28

(10:53:57) Chapter 29

(11:15:36) Chapter 30

(11:29:00) Chapter 31

(11:54:45) Chapter 32

(11:58:09) Chapter 33

(12:19:56) Chapter 34

(12:32:14) Chapter 35

(12:51:50) Chapter 36

(13:25:44) Chapter 37

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