Short Stories audiobooks

The Ghost of the Engineers' Castle

By: Nikolai Leskov

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 32 minutes

Abridged: No

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (1831 - 1895) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, playwright, and journalist. He was a favourite of Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky among others. Leskov is praised for his innovative techniques and his ability to create a vivid picture of contemporary Russian society.

The Ghost of the Engineers'... Read more

The Pistol-Shot

By: Alexander Pushkin

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 32 minutes

Abridged: No

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799 – 1837) was a Russian author of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. He was notoriously sensitive about his own personal honour and is believed to have fought as many as twenty-nine duels... the last of which proved fatal for... Read more

The Long Exile

By: Leo Tolstoy

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 20 minutes

Abridged: No

Leo Tolstoy is widely recognized as one of the world's greatest novelists and short story writers and a master of realistic fiction. He is equally known for his complex and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, developed following a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became... Read more

A Candle

By: Leo Tolstoy

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 18 minutes

Abridged: No

Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer and philosopher who primarily wrote novels and short stories. He was a master of realistic fiction and is widely considered one of the world's greatest novelists.

Tolstoy's literal interpretation of the teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him in later life to become a fervent... Read more

The Honest Thief

By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 30 minutes

Abridged: No

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1822-1881) was Russia's greatest mystic who wrote of the contest between the rebellious uncertain human and the mystery of divine omnipresence which is revealed to the enlightened in the midst of life's bitterest wrongs and suffering. His work is defined by a pity and compassion that shines from all his writing. "The Honest... Read more

The Self-Sacrificing Rabbit

By: Nicolai Schedrin

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 14 minutes

Abridged: No

Nicolai Schedrin was the nom de plume of Michail Saltickov (1826-1889), who was one of the greatest Russian storytellers who dealt with the theme of social ideals and struggles. He was a satirist of great force and remarkable invention. He uses allegories and great wit to lash out at complacency, self-indulgence and the cruelty of administrative... Read more

The Bundle of Letters

By: Maurus Jokai

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 26 minutes

Abridged: No

Mór Jókai (1825-1904), also known as Maurus Jokai, was a Hungarian dramatist and novelist.

A celebrated doctor receives a visit from a new patient with a most peculiar ailment. He has an excruciatingly painful spot on his hand. But on examination, he can find nothing wrong with the patient at all. He assumes it is a psychosomatic illness, but the... Read more

The Encased Man

By: Anton Chekhov

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 33 minutes

Abridged: No

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) wrote of the Russian period of depression and pessimism and is the acknowledged leader of the realistic school of the Russian short story. He has been compared to Guy de Maupassant for the masterful way in which he creates an atmosphere and narrates his stories to a climax. No other writer has the same ability to reveal... Read more

Comrades

By: Maxim Gorky

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 36 minutes

Abridged: No

Maxim Gorky, whose real name was Alexey Maximovich Pyeshkov, is probably the best known late nineteenth century Russian fiction writer among the English speaking world. His pen-name translates as Maxim the Bitter, which attitude is reflected in many of his works.

Much of his writing reflects his own terrible life experiences and suffering. It is... Read more

Twenty-six Men and a Girl

By: Maxim Gorky

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 34 minutes

Abridged: No

"Twenty-Six Men and a Girl" is a short story written by the Russian writer Maxim Gorky in 1899, and is one of his most famous. It is a pioneering tale of social realism (the story predates Soviet socialist realism), and is a lament of lost ideals. Twenty-six men slave away in a cellar, making kringles, looked down on by all around them,... Read more

The Chorus Girl

By: Anton Chekhov

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 13 minutes

Abridged: No

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) is generally considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history.

The Chorus Girl tells the tale of a mistress who is confronted unexpectedly by her lover's wife. In the meantime the cheating husband is hiding in the next room. The dialogue between the two women is classic of Chekhov's genius... he... Read more

Problems with People

By: David Guterson

Narrated by: Mark Zeisler, T. Ryder Smith & George Guidall

Length: 4 hours 45 minutes

Abridged: No

The best-selling author of Snow Falling on Cedars returns to his Pacific Northwest settings-and moves beyond them-in ten sharply observed, funny, and wise new stories that explore the mysteries of love, and unravel our complex desires to connect with others. Ranging from teenage to middle-age, the voices that inhabit Problems with People offer... Read more

Chase Us

By: Sean Ennis

Length: 5 hours 54 minutes

Abridged: No

In this beautifully imaginative collection, young people attempt to negotiate the often surreal terrain of childhood and adolescence where family, friends, clergy, and teachers often pose a threat instead of providing safe harbor. At the heart of the collection is the relationship between the meek narrator, his best friend alpha-male Clip, and... Read more

A June Bride

By: Marybeth Whalen

Narrated by: Julie Lyles Carr

Length: 2 hours 4 minutes

Abridged: No

A year’s worth of novellas from twelve inspirational romance authors. Happily ever after guaranteed.The reality show ended with an engagement, so why doesn’t this feel like the fairy tale she thought it would be?The Rejection Connection hardly sounds like the place to fall in love, but Wynne Hardy walked off the reality-TV set with an engagement... Read more

Portrait of a Lady

By: Jerome K. Jerome

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 26 minutes

Abridged: No

An enchantingly sentimental tale of a traveller who finds a very beautiful miniature portrait of a young woman in his temporary lodgings.

Seeking to learn more about the beauty, he eventually comes across some personal papers which reveal the tragedy of her life. Now all he needs to do is find out her identity.... Read more

The Black Ferry

By: John Galt

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 28 minutes

Abridged: No

John Galt (1779-1839) was a Scottish novelist, entrepreneur, and political and social commentator.

One night, a traveller is waiting for the young ferryman to return, as he is unable to take himself over the river, owing to a broken arm. While he waits, a young military recruit and a heavily pregnant woman arrive, arguing. They set off together... Read more

My Black Mirror

By: Wilkie Collins

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 34 minutes

Abridged: No

Wilkie Collins describes a traveller who has a magic mirror in his possession which enables him to recall scenes from his travels. In a series of amusing sketches he relives various travels in the Tyrol and the Alps before taking a decision about his next holiday destination. Read more

The Saloon Passenger

By: E.W. Hornung

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 31 minutes

Abridged: No

Skrimshaw is the saloon passenger on board the Lochwinnoch, bound for Australia. He is relieved as the ship sets sail from England, because for the next three months at least, he is safe from the gallows. He has just committed a brutal murder and is fleeing justice. But within a month, news of the fugitive passenger is signalled to the captain... Read more

Six Short Stories

By: Wilkie Collins

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 4 hours 33 minutes

Abridged: No

Six of Wilkie Collins' best short stories: "The Dead Hand", "The Devil's Spectacles", "Major Namby", "Nine O'Clock", "A Terribly Strange Bed", and "My Black Mirror". Read more

The King is Dead, Long Live the King

By: Mary Coleridge

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 17 minutes

Abridged: No

The King is Dead, Long Live the King by Mary Coleridge (1861-1907) has the simple directness of a fairy tale, albeit one which is run through with cynical irony.

A king on his deathbed is granted one hour after death in which he may return to his kingdom. If during that hour, he finds three people who would wish him alive again, then he can... Read more

The Heaven of Animals

By: David James Poissant

Narrated by: Susan Bennett, Ken Marks, Scott Sowers, Richard...

Length: 9 hours 45 minutes

Abridged: No

In this masterful debut, an award-winning writer and first-rate storyteller explores the tenuous bonds of family-- fathers and sons, husbands and wives-- as they are tested by the sometimes brutal power of love. In each of the stories in this remarkable collection, David James Poissant delivers a moving portrayal of a relationship in turmoil.... Read more

The Judgment of Paris

By: Leonard Merrick

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 20 minutes

Abridged: No

The story of a bizarre love triangle. Two popular comedians, Robichon and Quinquart vie for the love of a pretty actress. She declares that she will marry the one who is a better actor... but how to decide? The pretty Suzanne's answer is that all Paris should decide. But how is this to be achieved?

The two agree that to test their acting skills... Read more

An Idyll of London

By: Beatrice Harraden

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 33 minutes

Abridged: No

Beatrice Harraden (1864–1936) was a British writer and suffragette. In An Idyll of London she describes the poignant friendship between two lonely individuals, both of them artists. One is an old man approaching the end of a miserable life, where he has nursed resentment and bitterness towards all around him. The other is a young woman who has... Read more

The Man who was Blind

By: Edwin Pugh

Narrated by: Cathy Dobson

Length: 32 minutes

Abridged: No

Ferdinand was born blind. Now aged 25, he hears of an Italian doctor who is rumoured to be able to cure cases like his own.

His family persuade the doctor to travel to England and attempt to heal his eyes. The cure is lengthy and arduous. Ferdinand must lie in a darkened room for weeks, his eyes bound up in an irritating plaster and wet bandages.... Read more