I’ve recorded another free audiobook for Librivox, as a quick interlude, in about 5 weeks: The Crimson Circle by Edgar Wallace. A 1922 whodunit. A mysterious criminal gang, a touch of love & somewhat uneasy cooperation between a police inspector and a private detective. Easy listening for a summer’s evening or the journey to your holiday destination.

‘Back flap blurb’: The Crimson Circle gang spreads fear by extortion and murder. Its members range from rich, powerful bankers to petty criminals, and none of them know each other. A beautiful young woman named Thalia Drummond appears to be involved in the gang too. But who is the leader of the gang, known only as The Crimson Circle? Chief Inspector Parr is on the case, as well as private detective Derrick Yale.

P.S. Big thanks to Annise for the nice CD cover image!

I’ve just recorded another audiobook for Librivox, in English*: The position of Peggy Harper by Leonard Merrick. In this short novel, we follow the fortunes of a young man and a young woman, both trying to make a living in the British theater circa 1900. Enjoy!

Novel set in the shabby world of British (third-rate) theaters circa 1900. Christopher Tatham tries to survive by going from bit part to bit part, and by his uncle’s charity, while hoping for a leading-man role. He meets Peggy Harper, who is in a similar situation. We follow them in their attempts to carve out a life for themselves and to attain fame and success. Leonard Merrick had worked as actor and actor-manager in the theater himself, and used his experiences in this novel.

*Hoog tijd voor weer een luisterboek in het Nederlands, na al dat Engels? Ja! Ik ben nu bezig met “De wereld een dansfeest” van Arthur van Schendel. Komt eraan, nog even geduld.

I’ve completed a new audiobook for Librivox. “Dodo: A Detail of the Day” was an instant bestseller when it appeared in 1893, helped by the scandal and controversy it caused. Contrary to what is suggested by the cover, it has nothing to do with the extinct bird.

Dodo is a very outgoing young woman, who enjoys her prominent position in fashionable London “society”, and is eager to keep it. At the start of the book, she is about to make an advantageous marriage to a man with money and a title. Just what she needs. The novel follows Dodo and her loyal friend Jack in society.

This was E.F. Benson’s debut novel. He went on to write two sequels about Dodo and her circle, as well as the very popular “Mapp and Lucia” series.

This audiobook is freely available on LibriVox.org.

Link for more information on different ways you can listen to free LibriVox audiobooks.

Jeugdsentiment – brievenroman uit 1912 van Jean Webster, vooral bedoeld voor tiener-meisjes, denk ik. De 18-jarige Jerusha, ofwel Judy, is opgegroeid in een ‘vondelingengesticht’, maar wordt door een anonieme weldoener gesponsord om naar de universiteit te gaan, op voorwaarde dat ze hem elke maand een brief stuurt. Judy is nogal een flap-uit, die alles schrijft wat ze meemaakt en wat er in haar omgaat. Geleidelijk merk je dat er toch ook een doorlopende verhaallijn in het boek zit. Ik vond het een prachtig boek als kind, en het is nog steeds leuk om te lezen. Ik ben eigenlijk wel benieuwd hoeveel mensen dit boek al kenden. (Oorspronkelijke titel in het Engels: Daddy-Long-Legs, vertaler van deze versie onbekend).

Link naar het luisterboek op Librivox.

Dit luisterboek heb ik ingesproken in 1 week tijd, als onderdeel van de poging om een totaal van 10.000 luisterboeken te bereiken in de Librivox catalogus vóór de 11e verjaardag van Librivox. En dat is ons gelukt! Er zijn nu dus al meer dan 10.000 gratis luisterboeken te vinden bij Librivox.org.

My newest solo audiobook project is in English again, although it was written by a Dutchman.

Maarten Maartens was born in Amsterdam, but lived in London from age 6 till 12, and wrote all of his prose in English, to reach a larger audience. God’s fool, written in 1892, is his best known novel, and quite a bestseller when it appeared. Like most of his works, it is set in a fictitious city in the Netherlands. Maartens adds a lot of satirical comments to the narrative, and remarks directed straight to the reader, which gives a strange effect. Both the book and the writer are all but forgotten nowadays.

Listen to the book to get a taste of the circle of merchants and bureaucrats at the end of the 19th century – although I’m sure a murder was not a regular occurence…

About the book

At the age of nine, Elias Lossell becomes deaf and blind from an accident. Communication with him becomes difficult, and mentally, he never really grows up. Years later, circumstances make him the richest man in town as the heir of a wealthy firm of tea merchants, while his two younger twin half-brothers Hendrik and Hubert are left to do the actual work of management on his behalf. This causes a lot of resentment, especially with half-brother Hendrik, who loves money, and is also hampered by a headstrong, spendthrift wife. Hendrik tries to gain control of the firm and buy out Elias by any means, but things get out of hand.

The novel is set in the fictitious Dutch town of Koopstad (“Buying City”), where money, commercial success and social status are very important. It gives a satirical view of contemporary life at the end of the 19th century.