The White PeacockBy D. H. LawrenceNarrated by Patrick BarkerLawrence’s first novel tells the tale of a love triangle between Lettie Beardsall and her neighbours, George Saxton, son of a farmer, and Leslie Tempest, the local mine owners’ son. Lettie will marry Leslie, but remain sexually attracted George. George also marries but falls victim to alcohol. Inspired by Maurice Greiffenhagen’s painting ‘An Idyll’, ‘The White Peacock’ is both a romance and a novel about class...

The Adventures of Captain HatterasBy Jules VerneTranslated by William ButcherNarrated by Patrick BarkerFirst Mate Shandon receives a mysterious letter asking him to construct a reinforced steamship in Liverpool. As he heads out for Melville Bay and the Arctic labyrinth, a crewman reveals himself to be John Hatteras, and his obsession, the North Pole. The captain is later abandoned by his crew and remains without resources at the coldest spot on earth. How can he...

The TrespasserBy D. H. LawrenceNarrated by Patrick BarkerSiegmund deserts his family in the London suburbs for a five day holiday on the Isle of Wight with his lover and violin pupil Helena. Despairing of both his marriage and his future with Helena, Siegmund returns home and takes his own life. Made of stronger stuff, Helena and Beatrice, his wife, move on. In his second published novel, based on the journal of his friend Helen Corke, Lawrence skilfully interweaves ro...

Joyous Miseries of Three Travellers in ScandinaviaBy Jules VerneTranslated with an introduction, notes andappendices by William ButcherRead by Patrick BarkerIn 1861 a struggling playwright from Nantes travelled to the wildest parts of Norway with two friends. The experience transformed him, opening his eyes to exotic adventures – and to a new mode of writing. The sole surviving chapter of his autobiographical work, completed at about the same time as he m...

Vita Sackville-West’s book length poem celebrates the landscapes and produce of the Weald of Kent. Divided into four parts—Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn—it paints a vivid picture of the Kentish countryside across the year and the farming practices of the Kentish folk eking out a living on its unpredictable clayey soils. Published in 1926, the poem was a great success, winning the Hawthornden Prize for Literature and going through six print runs in three years.

D. H. Lawrence’s homage to his travels in Mexico and the American southwest. The first four essays are products of a short visit to Oaxaca in Mexico. The following three, which include Lawrence’s classic account of the Hopi snake dance, are set in New Mexico. In the last essay, Lawrence remembers Saint Catherine’s Day at the ranch in Taos from the vantage point of his new residence in Italy. All are written in an inimitable style which combines acute observation and sardonic humour with La...

The Escaped Cock is Lawrence’s take on resurrection, the life-force, and sexuality. The man who has been crucified wakes up in the garden wounded and weakened. Disillusioned with his old companions and inspired by the zest for life of the escaped cock of the title, he decides to live anew. Journeying to the sea, he stumbles on a temple of Isis, where its priestess, who mistakes him for the lost Egyptian god Osiris, introduces him to the pleasures of the flesh. Published in 1929, The Escape...