Showing results for "Society" in Literature & Fiction

Despite the title, Dickens's portrayal of early industrial society is less relentlessly grim than that in novels by contemporaries such as Elizabeth Gaskell or Charles Kingsley. Hard Times weaves the tale of Thomas Gradgrind, a hard-headed politician who raises his children Louisa and Tom without love and to have no empathy, their lives completely devoid of beauty, culture, or imagination. Only after a series of crises does their father realise that the manner in which he raised his children has ruined their lives.

This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice. After #MeToo and the growing global pressure triggered by countless sexual harassment scandals, society demands more than apologies. It demands change. In response, California launches the most controversial social experiment in modern history: a city...

Psmith and his friend Mike are sent by their fathers to work in the City. But work is the last thing on Psmith's mind; surely there are more interesting things to do with the day than spend it in a bank? Unfortunately the natives aren't conducive to his socialising within work hours, but all's fair in love and work as the monocled Old Etonian, with a little grudging help from Mike, begins to rope in allies in order to reform the bank manager and make him A Decent Member of Society.

Brought to you by Penguin. Nancy Mitford's first novel, a set of completely incompatible and hilariously eccentric characters collide in a Scottish castle, where bright young things play pranks on their stodgy elders until the frothy plot climaxes in ghost sightings and a dramatic fire. Inspired...

THURBER PRIZE FOR AMERICAN HUMOR FINALIST In this timely and witty combination of So You've Been Publicly Shamed and Where'd You Go, Bernadette? a viral photo of a politician's wife's “feminine hygiene malfunction” catapults her to unwanted fame in a story that's both a satire of social...

Two men with a passion for vinyl create a society for the appreciation of records. Their aim is simple: to elevate the art of listening by doing so in forensic detail. The society enjoys moderate success in the back room of their local pub, The Half Moon, with other enthusiasts drawn to the initial promise of the weekly gathering. However, as the club gains popularity, its founder's uncompromising dogma results in a schism within the movement, and soon a counter group forms.

In the complete series one to four of the multi-award-winning hit show from the people who brought you Cabin Pressure and Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive, stand-up comedian Marcus Brigstocke has been put in charge of a thing! In each episode, Marcus finds he's volunteered to be in charge of a big old thing - a hospital, a prison, the banking system.

Repackaged to tie-in with hardback publication of ‘The Reavers’ and to appeal to a new generation of George MacDonald Fraser fans, ‘Mr American’ is a swashbuckling romp of a novel. Mark Franklin came from the American West to Edwardian England with two long-barrelled .44s in his baggage...

It's the perfect season for coming out … *** It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. But Lord Christopher Eden is no ordinary man … Lord Eden has always preferred the comfortable company of his staff to the prying...

A little knowledge can be a very dangerous thing... Innocent in the ways of the world, an ingenue when it comes to pop and fashion, the Elect of God of a small but committed Stirlingshire religious cult: Isis Whit is no ordinary teenager. When her cousin Morag - Guest of Honour at the...

‘The writing glows with emotional intelligence. This atmospheric debut…had me sniffing copiously’ Daily Mail IN WARTIME, SURVIVAL IS AS MUCH ABOUT FRIENDSHIP AS IT IS ABOUT COURAGE… Kent, 1940. In the idyllic village of Chilbury change is afoot. Hearts are breaking as sons and husbands...

Read by actor Alex Jennings, Some Hope is the third of Edward St Aubyn's semi-autobiographical series, The Patrick Melrose Novels, filmed for Sky Atlantic and starring Benedict Cumberbatch as aristocratic addict, Patrick. Patrick Melrose, cleaned-up and world-weary, is a reluctant guest at a...

A gloriously witty novel from Sebastian Faulks using P.G. Wodehouse’s much-loved characters, Jeeves and Wooster, fully authorised by the Wodehouse estate. Bertie Wooster, recently returned from a very pleasurable soujourn in Cannes, finds himself at the stately home of Sir Henry Hackwood in...

A favorite recurring feature of the Burns and Allen radio program involved George's fruitless efforts to defend himself against the schemes of the Beverly Hills Uplift Society, "an organization of women…for women…by women. This gathering of gossipy females embark on ill-advised escapades - from matchmaking to hijacking the show - all to George's dismay. The society sweethearts are played by Bea Benaderet and Elvia Allman, with jocular gentlemen Mel Blanc, Hans Conried, Elliott Lewis and Gale Gordon as part of an ensemble that set a benchmark for character acting in radio comedy.