Upper-intermediate

'Please, Mr Murdstone! Don't beat me! I've tried to learn my lessons, really I have, sir!' sobs David. Although he is only eight years old, Mr Murdstone does beat him, and David is so frightened that he bites his cruel stepfather's hand. For that, he is kept locked in his room for five days and nights, and nobody is allowed to speak to him. As David grows up, he learns that life is full of trouble and misery and cruelty. But he also finds laughter and kindness, trust and friendship ...and love.

Classics

Into the narrow social world of New York in the 1870s comes Countess Ellen Olenska, surrounded by shocked whispers about her failed marriage to a rich Polish Count. A woman who leaves her husband can never be accepted in polite society. Newland Archer is engaged to young May Welland, but the beautiful and mysterious Countess needs his help. He becomes her friend and defender, but friendship with an unhappy, lonely woman is a dangerous path for a young man to follow - especially a young man who is soon to be married. Classics

American English Audio

Thackarey's classic story of Becky Sharp's rise from rags to riches in Vanity Fair.

Ishmael and his friend join the crew of the whaling ship the Pequod, unaware that its captain, the mysterious Ahab, is out for revenge. His plan is to pursue and kill the vicious white whale, Moby Dick, and no one can stop him.

When the young and beautiful Dorothea Brooke marries the aging scholar, Edward Casaubon, the people of Middlemarch believe that no good will come of it. Dorothea quickly grows unhappy and bored. Then she begins a sensitive friendship with Casaubon’s young cousin, Will Ladislaw. Meanwhile, the beautiful but spoilt Rosamond Vincey pursues the idealistic but poor Doctor Lydgate. Lydgate is determined not to get married, but Rosamond has other ideas… Recommended for older readers.

Dickens' sinister story of murder and intrigue set in London in the 1860s.

A story of mysticism and romance set in present-day California. Tilo owns a shop in Oakland, California, where she sells herbs and spices. But Tilo isn't just a shopkeeper, she is also The Mistress of Spices. With her knowledge of their secret powers this high priestess of wisdom and magic helps customers find answers to the questions of love, loss and loneliness. But when Tilo herself falls in love with a visitor to her shop, she has to choose between personal happiness and keeping her mystical gift.

Read the vivid story of the hardships endured by a young Zulu migrant worker. Xuma sees the brutality of the bosses of the mine and the squalor of the township where he lives. In the city, white people lead privileged lives. Xuma begins to question the racial injustices which surround him. Recommended for older readers.