Radio 4


The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright read by Niamh Cusack here
Episodes 1 to 5 of 8
Mon to Fri at 22:45 (Book at Bedtime)

'The amazing thing is how much I got in that first glance: how much, in retrospect, I should have known. It is all there: the twitch of interest in Sean, the whole business with Evie; I remember this very clearly, as I remember the neat and indomitable politeness of his wife.'
In a snow blanketed Dublin, Gina reflects on the last decade, from the moment she first caught a glimpse of Sean Vallely, through a haze of cigarette smoke, through the happenstance and lust, the hotel rooms and the secrets, that have brought down two marriages, three mortgages and left her a reluctant inhabitant of her childhood home. Startling, honest, witty and wry, Enright's novel captures the nuances and the bliss of an overwhelming attraction that becomes an affair and charts the gradual encroachment of reality,damage and a love that can't be overstated.



The Pocket AA Milne read by by Ian McNeice here
Tue to Thu 15:30 (Afternoon Reading)
A hundred years ago, A.A. Milne was honing his writing skills as Assistant Editor of Punch with his regular humorous columns and essays. Perfect gems of the form, his stories not only delight in the spirit of the age, they also transcend the years with their insights.
Parodying the country-house weekend, with its uncomfortable joys of evening games such as "Definitions", "The Complete Kitchen" and "High Jinks at Happy-Thought Hall", Milne captures the absurdity and vacuousness of characters in transition from idle youth to the tedium of adulthood.
Of course, no country house weekend would have been complete without "the little play for amateurs", perfectly formed examples of which Milne supplies in read-aloud form.
He also shares his experience of being out of his depth in the company of those more suited to society gatherings, in the form of survival hints and tips. One such is to become "an Authority" on something, anything, even if you know nothing - it livens things up.
Milne's stories might have a frivolous veneer, but each one ends with his customary twinkle in the eye, having given us more to think about than we imagined: "...But if you mix in the right society, and only see the wrong people once, it is really quite easy to be an authority on birds --- or, I imagine, on anything else."
When he re-published this collection of his humorous stories much later in his career, he observed that for years his younger self was "a model to which I was failing to live up... in fact he became, as one's past is bound to become, both a rival and a millstone." His talent for comic observation that was to become evident in his tales of Winnie-the-Pooh is obvious in these essays.
As he wrote himself by way of introduction:
"This little book contains the best of what my rival was writing thirty years ago. I contemplate him now with detachment. I have grown to appreciate his quality. So impartial am I become, that I am torn between a desire to tell him how very, very good he is, and a desire to re-write his book for him. But I shall do neither, leaving him to speak for himself."



David Attenborough's Life Stories series 2 read by Attenborough Here
Episode 15/20 - Quetzalcoatlus
Fri 20:50 and Sun 08:50

As David Attenborough explains, ".the biggest animal to fly was not a bird, but a reptile." - it was a Quetzalcoatlus, a pterosaur with at least a forty foot wingspan. David Attenborough, a huge fan of palaeontology, is skilled in bringing the past natural histories to life through stories about the discovery of key fossils. What a creature this "terrible lizard" must have been - big enough to scavenge the bodies of dead Tyrannosaurus and yet able to fly, probably in large numbers. And with a twist so typical of Sir David's writing, he brings this pterosaur to life at the very end.



The A-Z of Dr Johnson: Johnson's Miscellany Introduced by Professor David Nokes and Read by Michael Pennington Here
Episode 3/3 Sun 00:30
Three readings featuring extracts from Samuel Johnson's major works.



A Glimpse of Stocking Here
Episode 2/3 Sun 19:45
Series of stories celebrating 70 years of nylon stockings
The Hostess with the Mostest byLaura Marney read by Gayanne Potter
If bus hostess Jill is to afford a summer holiday, she's got to win the monthly customer satisfaction bonus.
All that stands in her way are some curling sandwiches, a top-loading video cassette player and a pair of American Tan tights. Well, it is 1984...




Radio 4 extra



F Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby read by William Hope Here
Episodes 6 to 10 of 10
Mon to Fri 14:30
Generally considered to be F. Scott Fitzgerald's finest novel, The Great Gatsby is a consummate summary of the 'roaring twenties' and a devastating exposé of the 'Jazz Age'. Through the narration of Nick Carraway, the reader is taken into the superficially glittering world of the mansions which lined the Long Island shore of the American seaboard in the 1920s, to encounter Nick's cousin Daisy, Jay Gatsby and the dark mystery which surrounds him.



The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne read by David Warner Here
Episodes 1 to 5 of 10
Mon to Fri at 14:45
John Boyne's haunting novel travels to the heart of the Russian empire where young imperial family bodyguard Georgy Jachmenev is privy to the secrets of Tsar Nicholas and his wife Alexandra.



The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes read by Sylvestra Le Touzel Here
Poignant Second World War experiences of women in Britain.
1 - Fin de Siecle
Mon 14:15
Starting with a soldier's wife.
2 - Goodbye My Love
Mon 02:00, Tue 10:15 and Wed 03:15
A mother and a wife face a departure.
3 - Good Evening Mrs Craven
Mon 02:45 and Wed 14:15
A wife and a mistress await news.
4 - It's the Reaction
Fri 14:15, Sun 07:15 & 13:15 and Mon 30th 14:15
A spinster's life resumes in peacetime.



Craig Russell - Lennox read by Grant O'Rourke Here
Episode 2 of 5 Sat 23:00
Shady private investigator Lennox is a hard man in a hard city at a hard time: Glasgow, 1953, where the war may be over but the battle for the streets is just beginning. It's a place where only the toughest and most ruthless survive. The McGahern twins were on the way up until Tam, the brains of the outfit, opened his door to find two hitmen pointing shotguns at him. The Three Kings, the crime lords who run Glasgow's underworld, all deny ordering the hit, so Tam's brother Frankie turns to Lennox to find out who killed his twin. Lennox refuses. Later that night, Frankie's body is discovered on the road, his head mashed to pulp, and Lennox finds himself in the frame for murder. The only way of proving his innocence is to solve the crime - but he'll have to dodge men more deadly than Glasgow's crime bosses Elizabeth Kaybefore he gets any answers. Craig Russell combines atmosphere, action and a pitch-black sense of humour with an intelligent and complex character who is a product of the recent war he lived through.



Woman with Birthmark by Håkan Nesser read by Michael Maloney Here
Episode 4 of 5 Sat 23:30
A young woman shivers in the December cold as her mother’s body is laid to rest in a cemetery. The only thing that warms her is the thought of the revenge she will soon take . . .
Then a middle-aged man is killed at his home, shot twice in the chest and twice below the belt. He had recently received a series of bizarre phone calls where an old song is played down the line – evoking an eerie sense of both familiarity and unease. Before the police can find the culprit, a second man is killed in the same way.
Chief Inspector Van Veeteren and his team must dig far back into each man’s past – but with few clues at each crime scene, can they find the killer before anyone else dies?



Elizabeth Buchan - Archaeology read by Janet Maw Here
Sun 11:00, 19:00 and Mon 30th 02:00
An archaeologist is amazed by her nurse's likeness to an Egyptian painting discovered in a tomb.



Evelyn Waugh Short Stories read by Crawford Logan Here
Sun 11:45, 19:45 and Mon 30th 02:45
A showcase of the author's wit and irony - two tales of an unwanted guest and an outspoken hitch-hiker.



As usual please do mention any readings that you think i should have included as i'm sure i've missed something good, i usually do however hard i try not to.


Coffee time.

Gatsby is pretty good, not too crazy about the reader.

I've heard House of Special Purpose before and enjoyed it.

Wartime Stories I've heard a couple of times. I liked them, but not going to partake this time around.

I saw the Pocket AA Milne, and I'm going to check those out for sure.

Lennox and Woman With Birthmark I'm recording to hear them all in one go.

Haven't heard Forgotten Waltz yet, but I'm recording those, too.


Thanks Becki