Classic Audiobook Collection

The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac audiobook.
Genre: drama
In Restoration Paris, where wealth and reputation can be traded as easily as gossip, the worldly dandy Henri de Marsay lives for conquest and control. But a single glimpse of a young woman with striking, golden eyes jolts him out of his practiced indifference. Determined to learn her name and claim her attention, de Marsay follows the faint trail of clues into a shadowed corner of the city, a place of barred windows, whispered appointments, and servants who seem trained to reveal nothing. The woman, Paquita Valdes, is kept behind layers of secrecy, and every step closer to her draws de Marsay deeper into a private world ruled by jealousy and fear. As desire turns into fixation, he must navigate coded messages, clandestine meetings, and the unsettling sense that he is not the only one watching. Balzac builds a feverish portrait of obsession, erotic power, and social theater, exposing how privilege can disguise cruelty and how longing can become a trap, for pursuer and pursued alike.

Chapters (Approximate)
(00:00:00) Chapter 01
(01:00:32) Chapter 02
(01:30:18) Chapter 03
(01:48:08) Chapter 04
(02:10:14) Chapter 05
(02:29:54) Chapter 06
(03:00:17) Chapter 07
(03:21:57) Chapter 08
(03:39:22) Chapter 09
(03:58:39) Chapter 10
(04:14:58) Chapter 11
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Farewell by Honore de Balzac audiobook.
Genre: tragedy
In Farewell, Honore de Balzac delivers a stark, intimate tale of love tested by history and the limits of the human mind. Years after the Napoleonic wars, the aristocratic Philippe de Sucy stumbles upon a mystery in the French countryside: a young woman living in near-silence, her thoughts fractured, her past seemingly erased. She is Stephanie de Vandières, once the center of a passionate attachment, now trapped in a childlike state after a catastrophe tied to the retreat from Russia. Philippe cannot accept that the woman he loved has vanished behind an unresponsive gaze. Driven by devotion and guilt, he throws himself into an all-consuming effort to bring her back, consulting doctors, courting powerful allies, and clinging to the idea that a single key - a word, a memory, a scene - might unlock what trauma has sealed away. Balzac blends psychological realism with the lingering violence of war, asking how much of a person can survive disaster, and what love becomes when it turns into a mission. The result is tense, haunting, and relentless in its emotional stakes.

Chapters (Approximate)
(00:00:00) Chapter 1
(00:17:05) Chapter 2
(00:37:43) Chapter 3
(00:58:23) Chapter 4
(01:18:52) Chapter 5
(01:38:26) Chapter 6
(01:57:58) Chapter 7
(02:11:35) Chapter 8
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Tales of a Wayside Inn by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow audiobook.
Genre: poetry
Set in the warm glow of a New England hearth, Tales of a Wayside Inn gathers a circle of travelers at the old Sudbury inn where stories are as essential as food and fire. As snow settles outside, a diverse company - including the thoughtful Student, a wandering Sicilian, a sober Theologian, a quick-witted Poet, and other passing guests - agrees to pass the evening in friendly contest, each telling a tale to entertain, provoke, and illuminate. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow frames their storytelling like a medieval story-cycle, then opens into a rich procession of narrative poems drawn from legend, history, and rumor: saints and sinners, kings and commoners, acts of courage and folly, moments of justice, mercy, and eerie wonder. With each new voice, the inn becomes a crossroads of cultures and centuries, where the past feels close enough to touch and every tale carries a quiet question about what people owe to one another. Lyrical, conversational, and often suspenseful, this book invites listeners to settle in, listen closely, and discover how a night of stories can change the way a life is understood.

Chapters (Approximate)
(00:00:00) Chapter 1
(00:22:57) Chapter 2
(00:45:44) Chapter 3
(00:59:30) Chapter 4
(01:18:33) Chapter 5
(01:35:53) Chapter 6
(01:50:11) Chapter 7
(02:04:33) Chapter 8
(02:19:04) Chapter 9
(02:33:48) Chapter 10
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The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow audiobook.
Genre: poetry
In this landmark narrative poem of 19th-century America, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow retells a cycle of tales inspired by Indigenous traditions of the Great Lakes region, shaping them into the life story of Hiawatha, a young man called to bring order and meaning to his people. Guided by powerful spiritual forces and the counsel of elders, Hiawatha grows from restless youth into a figure of leadership, learning to listen to the forest, the river, and the voices that move beneath the visible world. Along the way he faces trials of strength and faith, encounters rival powers, and seeks the wisdom needed to heal division. The poem also follows his love for Minnehaha, whose warmth and courage offer a tender counterpoint to the harshness of war and wilderness. Told in a driving, chant-like rhythm that echoes oral storytelling, The Song of Hiawatha blends adventure, romance, and mythic wonder, exploring themes of duty, community, the natural world, and the costs of change.

Chapters (Approximate)
(00:00:00) Chapter 00
(00:07:32) Chapter 01
(00:14:33) Chapter 02
(00:27:25) Chapter 03
(00:37:57) Chapter 04
(00:50:29) Chapter 05
(01:03:15) Chapter 06
(01:11:15) Chapter 07
(01:17:41) Chapter 08
(01:27:13) Chapter 09
(01:40:04) Chapter 10
(01:52:20) Chapter 11
(02:02:26) Chapter 12
(02:18:59) Chapter 13
(02:29:35) Chapter 14
(02:37:38) Chapter 15
(02:47:09) Chapter 16
(02:57:56) Chapter 17
(03:12:55) Chapter 18
(03:18:16) Chapter 19
(03:27:34) Chapter 20
(03:35:40) Chapter 21
(03:45:29) Chapter 22
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Making a Rock Garden by Henry Sherman Adams audiobook.
Genre: self help
Making a Rock Garden by Henry Sherman Adams (published as H. S. Adams) is a practical, early 20th century guide for home gardeners who want the drama of stone, slope, and alpine flowers without creating a stiff, artificial pile of rocks. Adams argues that a true rock garden should look as if nature made it, and he shows how to study natural outcrops and translate their shapes, layers, and plant communities into a convincing design for suburban or country grounds. Step by step, he walks the listener through choosing a site, planning the layout, and building with an eye to stability, drainage, and believable irregularity. Along the way, he explains soil preparation for alpines, the challenges of sun and shade exposures, and the ongoing culture and management that keep delicate plants thriving in tough, rocky conditions. The book also broadens beyond the classic rockery to related features such as miniature rock gardens, rock-studded banks, dry wall or wall gardens, and the special appeal of incorporating water. Clear, opinionated, and encouraging, it is both a design philosophy and a hands-on manual for turning awkward terrain and scattered stone into a living landscape.

Chapters (Approximate)
(00:00:00) Chapter 1
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