Dodie Smith has 4 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 5 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.8★ across 23 ratings. The most-rated is I Capture the Castle.
I Capture the Castle
Summary
Exclusively from Audible In this coming of age story, Dodie Smith introduces the visionary and eccentric character of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain. The youngest daughter in a family of impoverished artists, it is her imagination and writing that takes us away from the ramshackle old English castle where they live, and towards an intriguing tale of husband-hunting and light-hearted sibling rivalry. With the arrival of their new landlords, the impossibly handsome and wealthy American brothers, Neil and Simon Cotton, the Mortmains are roused from their stupor and moved to action. Despite developing feelings for the younger of the two brothers, Cassandra's beautiful sister, Rose, plots to marry the eldest heir in a desperate attempt to escape the poverty which surrounds her. When Cassandra finds herself falling in love for the very first time with the same man as her sister, she explores her mixed emotions through her writing, making this a story which revels in irony and ambiguity. A deceptively complex and intelligent story, I Capture the Castle is Smith's first published work and one which will undoubtedly and simultaneously make listeners tut, laugh and reminisce. Narrator Biography Jenny Agutter is a celebrated English stage, film and TV actress who was first brought to the attention of British audiences as a child, starring in East of Sudan and The Railway Children. She made her Hollywood debut in the critically acclaimed film Walkabout, in 1971, followed by Logan's Run, An American Werewolf in London and Child's Play 2. Her TV career includes appearances on Spooks, Call the Midwife and The Man in the Iron Mask. Alongside this, Jenny is also considered one of the best classical actors of her generation and has performed with both the Royal Shakespeare Company and The National Theatre. She is an Emmy and BAFTA award winner and was awarded an OBE on the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours List for charitable services. Jenny's other Audible audiobook narrations include Jane Austen's Emma, Anne Brontë's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and E. Nesbit's The Railway Children.
©2000 Dodie Smith (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
The 101 Dalmatians
Summary
Puppies and more puppies! How will they escape the evil Cruella de Vil? When the Dearly's Dalmatians have their first litter of puppies (fifteen in all) everyone is delighted. But their joy is shattered when the pups are kidnapped! The humans don't have a clue as to who the culprit is, but the smartest dogs in London are on the case, and on the trail of fur-loving Cruella de Vil, who will stop at nothing to have a Dalmatian fur coat!
©1956, 1984 Dodie Smith (P)2002 Random House, Inc. and CSA Telltapes Ltd., Listening Library, An Imprint of Random House Audio Publishing Group
I Capture the Castle
Summary
Toby Jones and Holliday Grainger star in a new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Dodie Smith's enduringly popular coming-of-age novel.
In the 1930s, 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain lives in a crumbling ruin of a castle in the Suffolk countryside. Her father, an author wrestling with writer's block, spends his time reading detective stories; her bohemian stepmother, Topaz, is an artist's model; and her beautiful older sister, Rose, is determined to escape the poverty of their existence - ideally by marriage to a rich man.
Intelligent and observant, Cassandra chronicles the eccentricities of her relations in her journal in a bid to capture her family and their lives at the castle.
When two rich American brothers, Simon and Neil Cotton, arrive unexpectedly, the family's isolation is disrupted. Rose accepts a marriage proposal from Simon, and as she is whisked off to a world of wealth in London, Cassandra is left to deal with the increasingly bizarre behaviour of her father - as well as her own feelings for Simon....
Dodie Smith's charming, funny and poignant love story is a classic of 20th-century English literature, and this sparkling adaptation, starring Toby Jones and Holliday Grainger, will enchant and delight.
Duration: two hours.
©2016 BBC Worldwide Limited (P)2016 BBC Worldwide Limited
I Capture the Castle
Summary
The head of the Mortmain family is Cassandra Mortmain’s father, a writer suffering from writer's block who has not published anything since his first book, a hit entitled Jacob Wresstling. Ten years before the story begins, he took out a 40-year lease on a dilapidated but beautiful castle, hoping to find either inspiration or isolation there; now, his family is selling off the furniture to buy food. Mortmain's second wife, Topaz, is an exotically beautiful artist's model who enjoys communing with nature, sometimes wearing nothing but hip boots. Rose, the elder daughter, is a classic English beauty longing for a chance to meet some eligible (and preferably rich) young men. Cassandra, the younger daughter and the story's narrator, has literary ambitions and spends a lot of time developing her writing talent by "capturing" everything around her in her journal. Stephen, a handsome, loyal, live-in son of the Mortmain's late cook, and Thomas, the youngest Mortmain child, round off the cast of household characters. Stephen, a noble soul, is in love with Cassandra, which she finds touching, but a bit awkward; Thomas, a schoolboy, is, like Cassandra, considered "tolerably bright". Things begin to happen when the Cottons, a wealthy American family, inherit nearby Scoatney and become the Mortmains' new landlords. Cassandra and Rose soon become intrigued by the unmarried sons, Simon and Neil, and the inevitable relationships commence. As the journal advances, the relationships Cassandra depicts become subtler and more problematic, and she concludes her narrative on a bittersweet note. Cassandra, despite being saddened by her first disappointment in love, can still reflect with satisfaction on the Mortmain family's improved fortunes, and looks forward to the future. I Capture the Castle is a classic coming-of-age novel which stands the test of time and will endure for as long as boy-girl relationships endure.
©1949 CSA Word (P)2003 CSA Word