Rob Goll has narrated 13 audiobooks on Listento.it by 15 authors. The most-rated is Oliver Twist.
The Return of the Soldier
Summary
The Return of the Soldier is the debut novel of English novelist Rebecca West, first published in 1918. The novel recounts the return of the shell shocked Captain Chris Baldry from the trenches of the First World War from the perspective of his cousin Jenny. In 1916, Chris returns home from a French hospital to his country estate just outside London. The nature of his injuries at the front has caused him to suffer from amnesia. Awaiting him at home are his devoted wife, whom he does not remember, and his cousin, Jenny, whom he remembers only as a childhood friend. For Chris, the last 15 years have not happened and he believes himself still in love with a woman named Margaret, the poor innkeeper's daughter he courted many years before. These three women, who have helped to shape his life, must decide whether to leave him to languish in a safe, dreamy past, or to compel his recovery and, thus, a return to the trenches and the horrors of war. Cast: Jenny - Amanda Friday Kitty - Anna Grace Margaret - Lillian Rachel Chris - Rob Goll Frank - Ben Lindsey-Clark Parlor Maid - Amber Hegarty Audio edited by Rob Goll
Public Domain (P)2021 The Online Stage
Lara
Summary
"Lara" is a tragic narrative poem in two cantos. It was first published anonymously by Lord Byron in 1814 alongside the poem "Jacqueline" by Samuel Rogers. The poem is the fourth in the series of Byron's Oriental Romances or Heroic Tales - the other poems being "The Giaour", "The Bride of Abydos", "The Corsair", "The Siege of Corinth", and "Parisina". It is often considered to be a sequel to "The Corsair", although the characters of Lara and Conrad differ considerably. Count Lara returns home after a long absence abroad. He is accompanied by a single page, the faithful Kaled. In his youth, prior to his travels, Lara had led a dissolute life. On his return he is much changed - haughty, reserved, and world-weary. Nothing is known of his life in the interim. During an evening function given by the Count Otho, a local magnate, the host's cousin, Sir Ezzelin, angrily confronts Lara with accusations of unnamed crimes abroad. Otho intervenes and an appointment is made for the following day for the local nobles to hear and judge the accusations.
Public Domain (P)2021 Rob Goll
North and South
Summary
North and South follows the young Margaret Hale as she is caught in the middle of the brutal world between employers and local workers following the Industrial Revolution. She finds herself at odds from the very start with John Thornton, a local factory owner and self-made man, as she believes him to be unfeeling and callous about the poverty and suffering of the workers while John sees Margaret as haughty and entitled. Further conflicts arise when the workers strike and Margaret feels compelled to intervene with no regard for her own safety. Written in 1854, North and South is one of Gaskell's best-known novels and has been adapted for the screen three times. Cast: (selected roles) Trisha Rose - Narrator Amanda Friday - Margaret Hale Rob Goll - John Thornton David Stifel - Richard Hale Elizabeth Klett - Maria Hale Jeff Moon - Nicholas Higgins Shaina Summerville - Bessy Higgins Lillian Rachel - Dixon Sarah Mitchell - Hannah Thornton Mark Crowle-Groves - Frederick Hale Graham Scott - Mr Bell Tiffany Halla Colonna - Fanny Thornton Anna Grace - Edith Andy Harrington - Henry Lennox Craig Franklin - Captain Lennox Michelle Marie - Charlotte Ted Wenskus - Mr Colthurst Sara Morsey - Mrs Shaw Denis Daly - Mr Lowe Audio edited by Rob Goll Production copyright 2020 by The Online Stage.
©1954 Elizabeth Gaskell (P)2020 The Online Stage
Dragon Eaters
Summary
The art of dragon killing: Dragons have been eating humans for centuries. Now heroes throughout history stalk their legendary foe. Learn how to hunt, kill, and eat the wild dragon. Never before has revenge tasted so good. A literary feast for the bloody-minded. In Janet Morris' anthology on the art of dragon killing, 17 writers bring you so close to dragons, you can smell their fetid breath. Tales for the bold among you. Dragon Eaters, an anthology of heroic fiction edited by Janet Morris, features original stories by Janet Morris and Chris Morris, S.E. Lindberg, Jack William Finley, Travis Ludvigson, Tom Barczak, JP Wilder, Joe Bonadonna, Milton Davis, A.L. Butcher, William Hiles, M Harold Page, Walter Rhein, Cas Peace, Beth W. Patterson, Bruce Durham, Mark Finn.
©2015 Janet Morris (P)2015 Janet Morris
The Eve of St. Agnes
Summary
John Keats (1795-1821) was one of the foremost English Romantic poets. Despite his early death from tuberculosis at the age of 25 he had a considerable poetic output, the majority of his best known works being written in the year 1819. "The Eve of St. Agnes" was written in January 1819 and first published in 1820. It is a Romantic Narrative poem written in 42 Spenserian stanzas. Keats based his poem on the superstition that a girl could see her future husband in a dream if she performed certain rites on the eve of the feast of St. Agnes (the patron saint of virgins who died a martyr in 4th century Rome.) The eve falls on January 20th; the feast day on the 21st.
Public Domain (P)2018 Rob Goll
Rise of the Golden Heart
Summary
Stay strong, Haga, for the Golden Heart will rise in the west. At dawn, he will wear the guise of a lion hunter. At noon, he will march to the east as if to conquer the sun itself. At dusk, you will stand with him in the final battle, like an island in the storm. AD 1068: the armies of the Seljuk Sultanate tear at Byzantium's borders, poised to strike the death blow that will bring all Anatolia under their yoke. Alp Arslan's armies grow stronger with every passing season, while the beleaguered Byzantine soldiers defend for their lives, the hope in their hearts guttering its last. This war has been Apion's mistress for many years, casting a dark shadow across his soul. When the mysterious crone comes to him, she can offer him only a glimmer of light. But at the darkest of moments, the smallest chink of light can be blinding. It will sweep Apion into the heart of the empire, Constantinople, and then onto the arid plains of Syria. It will taunt him with trust, betrayal, intrigue, love and brutal conflict. But, above all, it will offer him hope.
©2013 Gordon Doherty (P)2016 Gordon Doherty
David Copperfield
Summary
In a comprehensive and beautifully crafted first person narrative, David Copperfield recalls key stages, memories, and incidents of his life from infancy to maturity. Scenes, adventures, and characters are summoned to the narrator's remembrance so vividly that they are rendered with the vitality of the present moment. In this dramatized reading of the unabridged novel, a cast of 15 narrators bring to life over 100 characters; among them the eccentric Betsey Trotwood; the stern, inflexible Murdstones; the fawning and treacherous Uriah Heep; the captivating Dora Spenlow; and the impecunious but ever optimistic Wilkins Micawber. David Copperfield is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a serial in 1849 – 1850, and then as a book in 1850. It has remained one of his most popular novels and was stated by the author to be his "favourite child." Cast: (with selected roles) Phil Benson - Mr Wickfield/Mr Omer Huw Brentnall - Uriah Heep/Ham Peggotty Danielle Cohen - Clara Peggotty/Martha Endell Amanda Friday - Dora Spenlow/Clara Copperfield Isabelle Friday - Little Minnie Rob Goll - David Copperfield/Daniel Peggotty Anna Grace - Agnes Wickfield/Little Em'ly Elizabeth Klett - Emma Micawber/Jane Murdstone Ben Lindsey-Clark - Edward Murdstone/James Steerforth Sarah Mitchell - Betsey Trotwood Jeff Moon - Wilkins Micawber/Doctor Strong P. J. Morgan - Rosa Dartle/Julia Mills Trisha Rose - Mrs Steerforth/Mrs Gummidge David Shears - Tommy Traddles/Mr Littimer David Stifel - Mr Dick/Mr Spenlow Audio edited by Rob Goll
Public Domain (P)2020 The Online Stage
Arms and the Man
Summary
Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw: Presented by The Online Stage. In Biography for Beginners, a collection of sarcastic quatrains about various celebrities, Edmund Clerihew Bentley wrote: Mr Bernard Shaw Was just setting out for the war, When he heard it was a dangerous trade And demonstrably underpaid. This rather unkind stanza is illustrative of Shaw's convenient pacifism, which forms the major theme of this play. For Shaw, war was an anachronistic form of barbarism - in his view, people ought to be able to resolve their differences through intelligent and spirited discourse. The action of the play, which occurs during a conflict on the Balkans, is initiated by the discovery by Raina, the daughter of an military officer, of a man who has taken refuge in her bedroom. Unfortunately, the man belongs to the opposing army. How will she deal with a notional enemy who behaves with such quixotic courtesy? Cast Narrator - Noel Badrian Captain Bluntschli - Rob Goll Major Petkoff - Peter Tucker Officer/ Major Sergius Saranoff - Jeff Moon Catherine Petkoff - Sarah Mitchell Nicola - Craig Franklin Raina Petkoff - Amanda Friday Louka - Anna Grace Audio edited by Denis Daly
Public Domain (P)2019 The Online Stage
Island in the Storm
Summary
The storm is upon us, Haga. The answers you seek dance within its wrath.... In 1071 AD, Emperor Romanus Diogenes has rekindled the guttering flame of Byzantium. Yet in the eastern borderlands, two vital strongholds hang in the balance. Manzikert and Chliat must be won to secure the empire's fragile frontiers and vanquish the would-be usurpers who covet the imperial throne. But Sultan Alp Arslan and his vast Seljuk armies look to those twin fortress-towns also, resolute on seizing them first. Apion rides by the emperor's side as they march east, marshalling Byzantium's armies for the conflict that is to come. He knows only too well that the threat posed by the Sultan's hordes is well-matched by malevolent forces within the Byzantine ranks. Thus, the road to war is a savage one, but one he cannot refuse. For at its end, Fate beckons, taunting him with a choice of two futures. On the plains of Manzikert, one great power will rise and another will fall. On the plains of Manzikert, Apion will face the storm.
©2013 Gordon Doherty (P)2017 Gordon Doherty
Frankenstein
Summary
Performed by The Online Stage Written by 18-year-old Mary Shelley, the novel follows scientist Victor Frankenstein as he recounts his story to Captain Walton, who found a gravely ill Victor adrift at sea. Victor tells of his creation of a being so horrible that he abandoned the Creature, much to his own shame. Not to be forgotten, the Creature's quest for revenge and understanding from its master leaves a trail of devastation in its wake. This production is from the 1831 version. Cast: Victor Frankenstein: Rob Goll The Creature: Jeff Moon Elizabeth Lavenza: Amanda Friday Robert Walton/M. Krempe/Mr. Kirwin: David Stifel Henry Clerval/Boy: Mark Crowle-Groves Alphonse Frankenstein/De Lacey: Graham Scott Felix/Master/Ernest Frankenstein/Irishman: Andy Harrington M. Walden/Officer/Lieutenant/Landlord/Magistrate: Russell Gold Justine Moritz: Anna Grace Caroline Frankenstein/Old Woman: Elizabeth Klett Audio edited by Rob Goll
Public Domain (P)2021 The Online Stage
The Law and the Lady
Summary
The Law and the Lady by Wilkie Collins A full-cast production by The Online Stage. Just days after the wedding of Valeria Brinton and Eustace Woodville, a series of strange incidents causes Valeria to believe her husband is hiding a dark secret. She discovers he has been living under a false name, and when questioned, Eustace refuses to discuss it. Upon further digging, Valeria finds Eustace had been on trial three years ago for the murder of his wife. However, the verdict had come down as the scotch verdict of not proven. This implied his guilt, but there was not enough evidence for a conviction nor did it exonerate him. Desperate to prove Eustace is innocent and to restore their newlywed bliss, Valeria stands strong in the face of adversity, meeting a very strange man named Miserrimus Dexter, who will be paramount in uncovering the truth. Cast: Valeria Macallan - Amanda Friday Eustace Macallan - Tyler Hyrchuk Old Benjamin - David Stifel Sara Macallan - Danielle Cohen Mrs. Macallan - Elizabeth Klett Miserrimus Dexter - Rob Goll Mr. Playmore - Graham Scott Major Fitz-David - Jeff Moon Ariel - Anna Grace Miss Hoighty - Leanne Yau Lady Brydehaven - Sarah Mitchell Christina Ormsay - P. J. Morgan Oliver - Alan Weyman Doctor - Marty Krz Mr. Gale - Andy Harrington Various other roles played by members of the company. Audio edited by Amanda Friday
Public Domain (P)2020 The Online Stage
The Woman in White (Dramatized)
Summary
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins Presented by The Online Stage Walter Hartright, a struggling art teacher, is stopped for directions while traveling on a dark road by a mysterious woman in white. Thus begins Walter's deep dive into the twists and turns of stolen identities, fraud, spies, conspiracy and death. Along the way, he meets the lovely Laura Fairlie and her emboldened half-sister, Marian Halcombe. Marian is brazen and assertive in her search for the truth, a strong female during a time when women were simply viewed as the weaker sex. She joins Walter on his journey to untangle the web of lies and deceit that has been spun so expertly around his new found friends. The Woman in White is often touted as being the first Victorian crime novel. Cast: Narrator: Maureen Boutilier Walter Hartright: Jeff Moon Marian Halcombe: Amanda Friday Count Fosco: Rob Goll Mr. Fairlie: David Stifel Laura Fairlie: Anna Grace Percival Glyde: Ben Lindsey-Clark Pesca: Russell Gold Anne Catherick: Arielle Lipshaw Mr. Gilmore: Ron Altman Mr. Merriman: Alan Weyman Mrs. Michelson: Elizabeth Klett Countess Fosco: Trisha Rose Maid: Leanne Yau Mr. Dempster: Andy Harringon Mrs. Clements: Sarah Mitchell Mr. Dawson: Denis Daly Hester Pinhorn: P J Morgan Goodricke: Craig Franklin Mr. Kyrle: Ben Stevens Mrs. Catherick: Sara Morsey Audio edited by Amanda Friday
Public Domain (P)2019 The Online Stage
Oliver Twist
Summary
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Presented by The Online Stage Oliver Twist is the well-loved tale of an orphan, who starts life in a workhouse and finds himself embroiled in London's criminal underworld, before being saved by a kind gentleman who knows something of his surprising family history. A satire and social commentary as well as a page-turning yarn, full of grit, wit, and some of the most memorable characters in English Literature. The second published serialised novel by Charles Dickens, The British Library remarks that "it has proven to be one of the best-loved novels in the history of literature". Cast: Narrator and Sikes - Ben Lindsey-Clark Oliver - Sarah Bacaller Fagin - Graham Scott Mr. Bumble - Rob Goll Dodger - Amber Hegarty Nancy - Anna Grace Rose Maylie - Amanda Friday Dr. Losberne - David Prickett Harry Maylie - Mark Crowle-Groves Mrs. Corney - Elizabeth Klett Mrs. Maylie - Lillian Rachel Monks - Jeff Moon Charlie Bates - P. J. Morgan Grimwig - Max Gallo Audio edited by Ben Lindsey-Clark
Public Domain (P)2021 The Online Stage