Pauline’s Passion and Punishment, and Other Escapades
About this audiobook
A fiery and passionate tale by the beloved author of Little Women
Writing under the pseudonym A. M. Barnard, Louisa May Alcott wrote a series of what she termed "blood and thunder" thrillers for a weekly pulp magazine. Pauline's Passion and Punishment, and Other Escapades brings together five of these wicked tales.
In "Pauline's Passion and Punishment," narrated by Emily Rankin, Alcott explores the unfair roles of men and women, as well as the societal expectations and forbidden desires in this story of love and vengeance.
Set in Victorian Britain, in "Behind a Mask; or, A Woman's Power," narrated by Gabrielle de Cuir, a new governess, Jean Muir, arrives to serve the wealthy Coventry family, but is she really who she says she is? As she works her way into the hearts and minds of the Coventrys, will her true intentions be revealed?
"Marion Earle; or, Only an Actress," narrated by Susan Hanfield, brings sexual betrayal and abandonment to center stage, following the life of an actress and her scandalous profession.
Virginie Varens is a femme fatale in "V. V.; or, Plots and Counterplots," narrated by Justine Eyre, which tells the tale of Alcott's most devious heroine caught up in misdirected passion and jealousy.
In "A Perilous Play," narrated by Janis Ian, a group of women have a picnic on the banks of a harbor island. What sounds like an idyllic and innocent activity becomes the center of drama, romance, and scandalous events involving hashish-laced sweets.
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About the author
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) was a prolific American author known for her novel, Little Women, and its sequels, Little Men and Jo's Boys. She received instruction from several famous authors, including Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and she is commonly considered to be the foremost female novelist of the Gilded Age.
Gabrielle de Cuir is a Grammy-nominated and Audie Award-winning producer whose narration credits include the voice of Valentine in Orson Scott Card’s Ender novels, Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Tombs of Atuan, and Natalie Angier’s Woman, for which she was awarded AudioFile magazine’s Golden Earphones Award. She lives in Los Angeles where she also directs theatre and presently has several projects in various stages of development for film.
Janis Ian is a singer, songwriter, and author. She is best known for her 1975 hit single, “At Seventeen,” which won a Grammy Award. She won a second Grammy in 2013 for the narration of her autobiography, Society’s Child.
Susan Hanfield was a 2017 Audie Award finalist in the Young Adult category for The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough. Her work has also been recognized with a Voice Arts Awards nomination in 2016 and as an Audie Award finalist in 2015 and 2014. She has recorded approximately seventy titles thus far, and comes from a strong classical theater background, bringing deep characterizations to all of her work. Her audiobook titles span many genres, including young adult, historical fiction, faith-based inspirational, fantasy, paranormal romance, science fiction, classics, and nonfiction. In addition to recording audiobooks, she can be seen in film, on stage, and in commercials.
Justine Eyre is an award-winning audiobook narrator who has recorded over three-hundred titles. Named a 2013 AudioFile Best Voice, she has won an Audie Award and multiple Earphones Awards. Classically trained and multilingual, she performs on stage, television, and film and has had roles in King Lear and The Crucible, on Two and a Half Men and Mad Men, and in multiple indie-circuit films.
