Wonder Book for Girls and Boys

Written by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Narrated by Clive Catterall

A Yankee student stays at a country house called Tanglewood during a golden New England fall. Also at the house are about a dozen children: younger cousins of the student and their friends of varying ages. The student, as much to amuse himself as to amuse the children, organises games and activities and tells stories. And the stories he tells are wild and fantastic. When his store of fairy tales and folk legends is exhausted he hits on the idea of retelling Greek Myths in his own style.

We visit Tanglewood six times during the course of a year and hear six of the student's beautifully told stories: The Gorgon's Head, The Golden Touch, A Paradise of Children, The Three Golden Apples, The Miraculous Pitcher and The Chimaera. (Summary by Clive Catterall)

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was an American writer whose work was aligned with the Romantic movement. Much of his output, primarily set in New England, was based on his anti-puritan views. He is a highly regarded writer of short stories, yet his best-known works are his novels, including The Scarlet Letter (1850), The House of Seven Gables (1851), and The Marble Faun (1860). Much of his work features complex and strong female characters and offers deep psychological insights into human morality and social constraints.