Family Life Classics

Here is the preface to 12 magnificent stories, originally part of The John Cheever Audio Collection, in which John Cheever celebrates - with unequaled grace and tenderness - the deepest feelings we have.

"A Desertion" is a short story published in 1900 about a young woman who is suspected by others in the neighborhood of indiscretion that might trouble her father.

It all started with the school rabbit. Snowflake is the school rabbit, and Snowflake is trouble. At least that's what Tommy thinks, and when Snowflake is unexpectedly left for him to look after and everything starts to go wrong, it looks like Tommy might be right. Even if he is getting more pocket money for feeding it and might be able to afford a new bike after all. And with a sick sister left in bed, a snobby actor left with suspiciously damp trousers, and no rabbit anywhere to be seen, Tommy can see his hopes of a new bike disappearing as fast as Snowflake.

In the beginning, Jane was a lonely child who wanted a friend and was blessed with a little sister who made those lonely days fade away. Jane's days became filled with happiness and wonder as she discovered that her little sister was also her best friend.

Ma mère et les bêtes, écrite en 1922, est l'une des nouvelles de La maison de Claudine. En 1947, Colette en fait une lecture, et c'est par cet enregistrement que commence le livre audio. Sa voix porte les couleurs de sa terre, aux "r" voluptueusement roulés. Les nouvelles du recueil racontent le temps où, petite fille, elle goûtait "la condition d'être une enfant de son village et d'avoir une mère au rire aigu de jeune fille".

"Out on the islands that poke their rocky shores above the waters of Penobscot Bay, you can watch the time of the world go by, from minute to minute, hour to hour, from day to day..." So begins this classic story of one summer on a Maine island from the author of One Morning in Maine and Blueberries for Sal. The spell of rain, the gulls and a foggy morning, the excitement of sailing, the quiet of the night, the sudden terror of a hurricane, and, in the end, the peace of the island as the family packs up to leave are shown in McClosky's poetic language brought to life.

When Mary Lennox was uprooted from her home in India and sent to live with her mysterious uncle, Mr. Craven, at gloomy Misselthwaite Manor, a very contrary Mary assumed the worst. But after exploring the grounds, she discovered that it just takes a little bit of magic to help gardens and friendships bloom.

En manos de la cocinera, Al correr de los años y El sencillo don Rafael, cazador y tresillista, cuentan la historia de unos personajes que llegan al amor tras un largo noviazgo - Al correr de los años - o por el azar: el destino actúa cuando Vicente, protagonista del primer cuento, se rompe una pierna y don Rafael, en el último cuento, encuentra el niño en la puerta de su casa.

In this classic Hawthorne short story set in the late 18th century, the ambitious young scientist Aylmer cannot bear the fact that his otherwise flawlessly beautiful wife Georgiana bears a tiny birthmark on her cheek, an imperfection that he believes his scientific methods can cure. Devoted wholeheartedly to her husband, Georgiana allows Aylmer to work his scientific wonders upon her, so that the blemish no may no longer torment him. But tampering with nature can prove a fearful business....

This short story might well have been called, "All I Even Needed to Know About Humanity I Learned From Chickens". At times humorous, at times sympathetic, the author reveals the inadequacies of chickens and then points to our own inadequacies. As much as we hate chickens we can despise the things we believe are lacking in our own lives. That’s the philosophy of the story, perhaps it is equally enjoyable as a story about a family that just can’t seem to move far enough away from demented fowl.

Although best known for such long novels as Our Mutual Friend and The Old Curiosity Shop, Charles Dickens also wrote many wonderful short stories with both a supernatural and a humorous twist. This is one of his best.

"Local color" author Frances Gilchrist Wood wrote this powerful tale of a young wife who proves better able to succeed on the homestead frontier than does her husband.

After receiving a rose covered sweater from Grandma, Harry is determined to lose it. He tries leaving it all over town, but it is always returned - until a bird catches sight of a loose thread and Harry's luck finally changes.

The Cut Glass Bowl is the story of the beautiful but ill-fated Evelyn Piper, who succumbs to the power of a cut glass bowl - a wedding gift from a spurned former beau. It is a unique and powerful portrait depicting how frivolous choices can lead to deterioration and loss of all that one loves. It was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1920 as a short story for Colliers magazine.

Read by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti, this short story written in 1850 by Charles Dickens is beautiful in its simplicity. A boy grows to a man with the memory of him and his now dead sister gazing upon the evening star, imagining it as a gate to heaven.

Willa Cather is considered to be one of the best chroniclers of pioneer life in the 20th century. She had a long and distinguished career writing essays, poems, short stories, and novels. This story is a powerful example of a frequent theme: the haunting, sometimes painful, contrast between city and country life.

A wonderful holiday excerpt from the classic Little Women features all of your favorite characters as they prepare to celebrate Christmas in their enthusiastic, optimistic, take-no-prisoners fashion.

An upper-middle class peasant inherits his father's farm, which he hopes to pass on to his children. When the twin boys are born, there is joy in the family until they realize that they are severely retarded - to use the term of the day, idiots. And then another son is born, also an idiot. In desperation, Jean Pierre joins the church, which he has no use for, and a daughter is born. Another idiot. Jean Pierre becomes even more angry and abusive to his wife, whom he blames for producing four idiots.

A timeless story of breathtaking enchantment and fairy-tale romance. To save her beloved father, a beautiful young girl agrees to become the companion of a brutish and very unhappy beast. But as time passes, love works a miraculous change on both their lives.Beautifully narrated by Mia Farrow, and accompanied by an original classical score with 12-piece orchestra.

On a dark and stormy night, three strangers seek shelter at a young girl's christening party. Thomas Hardy was an English poet, novelist, and short story writer. He is famous for his depictions of Wessex, an imaginary county. Many of his stories also reflected his sense of the tragedy in human life.