A Sicilian Romance
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Narrated by:
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Justine Eyre
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By:
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Ann Radcliffe
About this listen
The commission of one crime often requires the perpetration of another. When once we enter on the labyrinth of vice, we can seldom return, but are led on, through correspondent mazes, to destruction.
On the northern shore of Sicily, a tourist visiting the ruins of the once-magnificent castle of the house of Mazzini uncovers the noble family’s turbulent history.
The Marquis Mazzini’s daughters, Emilia and Julia, are beautiful and accomplished young ladies. Julia quickly falls in love with the young and handsome Italian Count Hippolitus de Vereza, but, to her dismay, her father decides that she should marry Duke de Luovo instead. On the night before her wedding, Julia flees to elope with Hippolitus, but the marquis ambushes them and seemingly kills Hippolitus, whose body is carried away by his servants. The marquis demands that Julia accepts the engagement with de Luovo, but she manages to escape again, this time alone.
In a tense game of cat and mouse, the marquis and the spurned Duke de Luovo set out to catch Julia, who adopts various hiding places as she narrowly avoids capture and eventually ends up, by way of a secret tunnel, in the abandoned and supposedly haunted southern apartments of the Mazzini castle. There Julia discovers that her mother, thought to be dead, has instead been imprisoned here for years by the marquis, who had grown to despise her. The newly reunited mother and daughter are determined to help each other. Meanwhile, the marquis faces his own marital troubles with his new wife, Maria de Vellorno, and boldly accuses her of infidelity...with fatal consequences.
First published anonymously in 1790, A Sicilian Romance is a haunting Gothic novel from Ann Radcliffe, whom Sir Walter Scott dubbed “the first poetess of romantic fiction”. She has influenced such notable authors as Sir Walter Scott, Victor Hugo, the Marquis de Sade, Alexandre Dumas, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft.
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Story
Rasselas and his companions escape the pleasures of the "happy valley" in order to make their "choice of life". By witnessing the misfortunes and miseries of others they come to understand the nature of happiness and value it more highly. Their travels and enquiries raise important practical and philosophical questions concerning many aspects of the human condition, including the business of a poet, the stability of reason, the immortality of the soul, and how to find contentment.
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1759 classic
- By Kindle Customer on 01-29-23
By: Samuel Johnson
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The Essential Poe According to Joe
- Poems & Stories
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: Joe Arden
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Beware the black cat. Good luck escaping the pit. Don’t go to that party without your masque. Delight in these and many more stories and poems from the master of dark prose, Edgar Allan Poe. This collection has been specially curated and performed by award-winning audiobook narrator Joe Arden. Dive in to the darkness.
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wow just wow ...worth the purchase so buy it 😁😁
- By Jodi lucas on 10-21-21
By: Edgar Allan Poe
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Camilla
- A Picture of Youth
- By: Fanny Burney
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 37 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Among Jane Austen's favorite novels, and a key work in the rise of Romanticism, Camilla follows the story of three young women, from childhood to young adulthood, and their pursuit of matrimony. Kind but naive Camilla is in love with Edgar Mandlebert, a handsome and noble young man. Intelligent Eugenia, destined to inherit her uncle's great wealth, is plagued with misfortune as she is left disfigured by smallpox and has men court her for financial gain only. Meanwhile their cousin, beautiful but selfish Indiana, never finds a fortune for her good looks.
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Perfection!
- By Jen42 on 11-19-20
By: Fanny Burney
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Edgar Allan Poe - The Complete Short Stories
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: Bob Thomley
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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All of Edgar Allan Poe’s great short stories in one 16-hour collection.
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NEVERMORE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-23-15
By: Edgar Allan Poe
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Waverley
- By: Sir Walter Scott
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 17 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Waverley by Sir Walter Scott is an enthralling tale of love, war and divided loyalties. Taking place during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, the novel tells the story of proud English officer Edward Waverley. After being posted to Dundee, Edward eventually befriends chieftain of the Highland Clan Mac-Ivor and falls in love with his beautiful sister Flora. He then renounces his former loyalties in order actively to support Scotland in open rebellion against the Union with England. The book depicts stunning, romantic panoramas of the Highlands.
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Loved it
- By Tad Davis on 04-12-18
By: Sir Walter Scott
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The Vampyre
- By: John Polidori
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Young, impressionable Aubrey is fascinated by the enigmatic Lord Ruthven, and accompanies him on a tour to Europe. But Aubrey develops a growing distaste for Lord Ruthven’s sinister and grotesque conduct - especially as it concerns human blood. This novella, penned during that tempestuous night in Switzerland amongst such notables as Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and Mary Shelley, served as the great inspiration for Bram Stoker to create Dracula.
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Kicking it oldschool
- By Rebecca on 08-13-12
By: John Polidori
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Scaramouche
- By: Rafael Sabatini
- Narrated by: Cate Barratt, Simon Paxton, Amy Soakes, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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“He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad … “So begins this historical tale of romantic adventure. Andre-Louis Moreau is an orphan and cousin of the beloved Aline. He is raised by his godfather, the Lord of Gavrillac, and matures into an educated lawyer—while Aline sets her mind on marrying the rich but dishonorable Marquis de la Tour d’Azyr. But when Moreau’s closest friend is killed by the Marquis in a duel, Moreau vows vengeance. After publicly denouncing the aristocracy and stirring up the crowds, Moreau is forced to go into hiding.
By: Rafael Sabatini
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El conde de Montecristo [The Count of Monte Cristo]
- By: Alejandro Dumas
- Narrated by: Joan M Martinez
- Length: 46 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Ésta es sin duda, la novela de aventuras más famosa de la historia de la literatura. El joven Edmundo Dantés llega al puerto de Marsella, feliz por poder ver a Mercedes, de la que está enamorado. Pero otros pretendientes de Mercedes, van a hacerle la vida imposible, consiguiendo que el mismo día de la boda sea detenido, acusado de traición al rey y enviado directamente a la terrible prisión del castillo de If.
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Qué bonita historia y que gran narración.
- By Luis Enrique Cuevas Hernández on 02-14-21
By: Alejandro Dumas
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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
- By: Anne Brontë
- Narrated by: Mary Sarah Agliotta
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Probably the most shocking of the Brontës' novels, this novel had an instant and phenomenal success and is widely considered to be one of the first sustained feminist novels. A mysterious widow, Mrs. Helen Graham, arrives at Wildfell Hall, a nearby old mansion. A source of curiosity for the small community, the reticent Helen and her young son Arthur are slowly drawn into the social circles of the village.
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A good story ruined by the narrator
- By i. Ski on 04-17-14
By: Anne Brontë
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Lady Windermere's Fan
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Samuel West, Michael Sheen, Derek Waring, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Oscar Wilde's first play confronts the hypocrisy of public "morality" compared with genuine, private kindness. The reasons for its continued popularity are not difficult to identify: the play's witty dialogue contains many of Wilde's most quoted aphorisms, its stylish setting provides opportunities for elegant presentation, and its cast of memorable characters play out a story which is genuinely moving. This new audio production brings together a full cast worthy of Wilde's creative genius.
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An exciting night at the
- By Karen on 11-28-04
By: Oscar Wilde