Marcella Riordan has narrated 12 audiobooks on Listento.it by 8 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.8★ across 21 ratings. The most-rated is Finnegans Wake.
Finnegans Wake
Summary
Finnegans Wake, the greatest avant-garde novel of all time, was first published 70 years ago - and people are still trying to work out what it is about. There is Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker - aka HCE (Here Comes Everyone) - and Anna Livia Plurabelle, but also Finnegan the hod carrier (or was he a giant?), whose wake is the subject of the book. This is a masterly reading of the abridged version, with copious notes aiding comprehension.
Public Domain (P)1998 Naxos AudioBooks
Murder in Hindsight
Summary
Chief Inspector Acton and Detective Sergeant Kathleen Doyle know firsthand how the administration of justice can often follow a labyrinthine path. As they pursue a self-appointed judge, jury, and executioner, Acton's own questionable methods may prove his undoing. The notoriety of being married to the enigmatically brilliant Lord Acton presents its own challenges as newly promoted Detective Sergeant Doyle contends with a series of homicides that seem to point to a vigilante killer. The victims are all criminals who eluded justice - until they ran afoul of an avenger whose modus operandi is a bullet to the back of the head. The key to the vigilante's identity lies in connecting the cold cases and searching for an event that may have triggered retribution after all these years - a daunting task. Meanwhile Doyle finds herself shadowed by a mysterious figure. After the man steps forward to rescue her from harm, she wonders why he is invested in protecting her. But when she learns he's in contact with Acton's nemesis, she fears she's being used in a plot against her husband, whose personal code of justice has the potential to put his reputation - and his life - at risk. For his own part, Acton must outmaneuver an unscrupulous reporter being fed information from someone within the ranks of Scotland Yard. The stakes are high, and both Doyle and Acton must work independently to outwit the players before their lives are brought crashing down like a house of cards.
©2015 Anne Cleeland (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
The Yorkshire Shepherdess
Summary
Amanda Owen has been seen by millions on ITV's The Dales, living a life that has almost gone in today's modern world, a life ruled by the seasons and her animals. She is a farmer's wife and shepherdess, living alongside her husband, Clive, and seven children at Ravenseat, a 2,000 acre sheep hill farm at the head of Swaledale in North Yorkshire. It's a challenging life but one she loves. In The Yorkshire Shepherdess, she describes how the rebellious girl from Huddersfield, who always wanted to be a shepherdess, achieved her dreams. Full of amusing anecdotes and unforgettable characters, the book takes us from fitting in with the locals to fitting in motherhood, from the demands of the livestock to the demands of raising a large family in such a rural backwater. Amanda also evokes the peace of winter, when they can be cut off by snow without electricity or running water, the happiness of spring and the lambing season, and the backbreaking tasks of summertime - haymaking and sheepshearing - inspiring us all to look at the countryside and those who work there with new appreciation.
©2017 Amanda Owen (P)2017 Macmillan Digital Audio
Murder in Thrall
Summary
From Anne Cleeland comes a captivating new mystery series following the perilous exploits of two Scotland Yard detectives as they track down London's most elusive killers. First-year detective Kathleen Doyle is a plucky Irish redhead of humble origins and modest means. Chief Inspector Michael Acton is her antithesis: a British lord turned cop. He's tall, handsome, and enigmatic - to a fault. He also has a knack for solving London's most high-profile crimes. Acton selects Doyle out of the newbie squad to partner with him on a series of investigations because she always knows when someone is lying - a trait that comes in handy when interviewing suspects and witnesses. Acton and Doyle are sent to investigate the murder of a trainer at a racetrack, and soon new killings related to the first start unfolding, dragging the two investigators into ever more perilous situations. But the real danger is the unlikely attachment that develops between the ultra-reserved, aristocratic chief inspector and his spirited, working-class sidekick... a relationship that will raise plenty of eyebrows - and hackles - among their colleagues at the Yard.
©2013 Anne Cleeland (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
How Does That Make You Feel? Series 1-10
Summary
Psychotherapist Martha is reasonably compassionate, but deep down she's losing patience. It seems all her clients want to be something they are not, and it's driving them (and her) out of their minds.
There's Richard Fallon MP, who's convinced that promotion to the front bench is being denied him because of his obese son and a wife who lost all patience with him 20 years ago.
Caroline, who is worried that instead of following the path of celebrity like her, her daughter may go on to study mere physics - thereby consigning her (and more importantly Caroline) to a life of unbearable ordinariness.
Philip, who insists he isn't facing a crisis since his demotion from Good Morning Norfolk to a shopping channel, but whose new girlfriend is 30 years his junior and clearly on the make.
Howard, a chef whose 33-year-old son Aaron is still trying to get a band off the ground whilst looming resentfully over his parents’ lives from the back bedroom.
And Tony, Howard's boss at the restaurant, whose wife thinks he needs therapy. He has no idea why. Mostly he wants to talk about why women are so weird and why he has absolutely no need of a therapist. However, he would like Martha to give him a certificate proving his sanity, if possible.
Across a series of 15-minute comedy vignettes, How Does that Make You Feel? offers a fly-on-the-wall view of Martha’s sessions, each one shedding more light on the lives of her entertaining clients.
Starring Frances Tomelty, Roger Allam, Marcella Riordan, Tim McInnerny, Cathy Belton and Rebecca Saire.
Produced and directed by Eoin O’Callaghan.
©2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd
Murder in Retribution
Summary
Despite their investigative prowess, Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Michael Sinclair, Lord Acton, and rookie detective Kathleen Doyle stir more than a few feathers at CID Headquarters when their relationship comes to light. But office politics quickly become trivial when a rash of underworld murders shatters London's normally austere façade. With a growing list of successfully solved cases to her name, the ever-dauntless Doyle shakes off the gossip and sets out to investigate the escalating turf war. As the body count climbs, Doyle uncovers a seedy world where fractious members of the Russian Mafia and an Irish terrorist group are fighting for control of a lucrative underground business. But their crooked deals and volleying acts of revenge are almost too much for Scotland Yard to keep up with, and when Doyle notices that Acton seems unusually troubled by the crimes, she begins to wonder what sparked the conflict in the first place. Perhaps there's nothing more to the murders than under-the-table business dealings gone awry. Or perhaps a single act of vigilante justice fanned the flames that ignited a vicious turf war. As Doyle and Acton fight to not become the next victims, they'll find that the truth may be best left unspoken and retribution may be best left to fate.
©2014 Anne Cleeland (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Eight Feet High and Rising
Summary
A BBC Radio 4 comedy drama starring James Alexandrou (Martin Fowler, EastEnders), originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 7 December 2010. Giant. Upstairs. Ten quid a look. A touchingly real and comically disingenuous story about the awkwardness of being misshapen, and the misery of not fitting in. Starring James Alexandrou as Liam, Candassaie Liburd as Ethel and Marcella Riordan as Pat. Also featured in the cast are Julia Deakin, Sophie Pemberton, Manjeet Mann and Inam Mirza. Written by Ali Taylor and directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
©2011 AudioGO Ltd (P)2011 AudioGo Ltd
Sleep Sister
Summary
Two childhoods destroyed. One story they will never tell. Until now. Beth ran away from her family when she was a teenager. She left behind a terrible evil that took her innocence. She also left behind her sister, Sara. When Beth returns home, she is shocked to discover her terrible secret is not just hers alone...she shares it with Sara. Under the shadow of a remote headland, the sisters make an oath they promise never to break. Eva's birth is a mystery that remains unsolved. Years later with her marriage in ruins, and her future uncertain, she realizes that to move forward with her life, she must first understand her past. But while Eva is drawing closer to the truth about her roots, Beth and Sara's lives are falling apart, crushed under the weight of the secret they carry. They must confront the past and face the darkness once more. But this time, their story will be heard. From the best-selling author of The Betrayal, Stolen Child and Fragile Lies, comes a breathtakingly tense and emotional story of the fierce bond between sisters, and a family destroyed by a disturbing secret. Note: Previously published as When the Bough Breaks. This is an extended version.
©2002 Laura Elliot (P)2016 StoryFire Ltd
The Transatlantic Book Club: A Novel
Summary
The beloved author of The Mistletoe Matchmaker returns with an enchanting new novel, perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Nina George, and Nancy Thayer, about residents of Ireland's Finfarran Peninsula who set up a Skype book club with the little US town of Resolve, where generations of Finfarran's emigrants have settled. Distance makes no difference to love.... Eager to cheer up her recently widowed gran, Cassie Fitzgerald, visiting from Canada, persuades Lissbeg Library to set up a Skype book club, linking readers on Ireland's Finfarran Peninsula with the US town of Resolve, home to generations of Finfarran emigrants. But when the club decides to read a detective novel, old conflicts on both sides of the ocean are exposed and hidden love affairs come to light. As secrets emerge, Cassie fears she may have done more harm than good. Will the truths she uncovers about her granny Pat's marriage affect her own hopes of finding love? Is Pat, who's still struggling with the death of her husband, about to fall out with her oldest friend, Mary? Or could the book club itself hold the key to a triumphant transatlantic happy ending? The Transatlantic Book Club continues the stories of the residents of the Finfarran Peninsula and introduces listeners to new characters who they will surely fall in love with.
©2020 Felicity Hayes-McCoy (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers
The Mistletoe Matchmaker
Summary
Beloved author Felicity Hayes-McCoy returns with an enchanting, cozy new novel, perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Nina George, and Nancy Thayer. It’s Christmas in Ireland, and when Cassie Fitzgerald arrives from Toronto to visit her grandparents, she learns that it’s never too late to come home. "The perfect winter heart-warmer." (Cathy Kelly, best-selling author of Between Sisters and Secrets of a Happy Marriage) The days are turning colder, preparations are under way for the Winter Fest, and everyone is hoping for a little holiday magic on the Finfarran peninsula. And as Cassie Fitzgerald, fresh from Toronto, is about to discover, there’s more to the holidays on the west coast of Ireland than mistletoe and mince pies. Enchanted by the small town where her dad was born, Cassie makes friends and joins local librarian Hanna Casey’s writing group in Lissbeg Library. But the more she’s drawn into the festivities leading up to her first Irish Christmas, the more questions she wants to ask. Why does her sweet-tempered grandmother Pat find it so hard to express her feelings? What’s going on between Pat and her miserly husband, Ger? What happened in the past between the Fitzgeralds and Hanna’s redoubtable mother, Mary Casey? And what about Shay: handsome, funny, smart, and intent on making Cassie’s stay as exciting as he can? Could he be the one for her? As Christmas Eve approaches, it’s Cassie, the outsider, who reminds Lissbeg’s locals that love, family, and friendship bring true magic to the season. But will her own fractured family rediscover the joys of coming home?
©2019 Felicity Hayes-McCoy (P)2019 HarperAudio
Summer at the Garden Cafe
Summary
The second in Felicity Hayes-McCoy's Finfarran Peninsula series and sequel to The Library at the Edge of the World - a heartwarming story about secrets between four generations of Irish women and the healing powers of books, love, and friendship. The Garden Café, next to Lissbeg Library, is a place where plans are formed and secrets shared, and where, even in high-tourist season, people are never too busy to stop for a sandwich and a cup of tea. But 21-year-old Jazz - daughter of the town’s librarian, Hanna Casey - has a secret she can’t share. Still recovering from a car accident and reeling from her father’s disclosures about his longtime affair, she’s taken a job at the Old Forge guesthouse and has begun to develop feelings for a man who’s strictly off-limits. Meanwhile, involved in her own new affair with architect Brian Morton, Hanna is unaware of the turmoil in Jazz’s life - until her manipulative ex-husband, Malcom, reappears trying to mend his relationship with their daughter. Rebuffed at every turn, Malcolm must return to London, but his mother, Louisa, is on the case. Unbeknownst to the rest of the family, she hatches a plan, finding an unlikely ally in Hanna’s mother, the opinionated Mary Casey. Watching Jazz unravel, Hanna begins to wonder if secrets that Malcolm has forced her to keep may have harmed their beloved daughter more than she’d realized. But then, the Casey women are no strangers to secrets, something Hanna realizes when she discovers a journal, long buried in land she inherited from her great-aunt Maggie. Ultimately, it’s the painful lessons of the past that offer a way to the future, but it will take the shared experiences of four generations of women to find a way forward for Hanna and her family.
©2017 Felicity Hayes-McCoy (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers
The White Horse Trick
Summary
Following on from The New Policeman and The Last of the High Kings, The White Horse Trick travels from the now to far distant futures: from world's end to world's beginning. From the Winner of the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Whitbread Children's Book Award.
©2009 Kate Thompson (P)2009 WF Howes Ltd