The Lady of the Barge

By: W. W. Jacobs

Narrated by: Walter Covell

Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

William Wymark Jacobs was an English author of short stories and novels. He is now best remembered for his macabre tales like "The Monkey's Paw" and "The Well" (both included in The Lady of the Barge). However the majority of his wonderful stories are humorous in tone. His favorite subjects were marine life: "men who go down to the sea in ships of moderate tonnage." His stories attracted the respect of such writers as P. G. Wodehouse, who mentioned Jacobs in his autobiographical work Bring on the Girls.

Stories in this audiobook include:

• "The Lady of the Barge"
• "The Monkey's Paw"
• "The Well"
• "Bill's Paper Chase"
• "Cupbard Love"
• "In the Library"
• "Captain Rogers"
• "A Tiger's Skin"
• "A Mixed Proposal"
• "An Adulteration Act"
• "The Golden Venture"
• "Three at Table"

Public Domain (P)1988 Jimcin Recordings

A Drop of Picante Sauce

Walter Covell rough almost harsh voice leaves one feeling as though the narrator has spent or misspent a lifetime on the open seas. He tells these stories like an old mariner at the dockside pub.

I had mixed reactions to these short stories. Almost none came out the way one expects. In one case, a murderer walks away unpunished; further the reader (listener) cheers and the tiger story is absolutely fun, well at the end. My three favorites are: The Lady of the Barge although, I am not exactly sure what was resolved, it was an interesting boat ride, I think the guy got the girl; A Mixed Proposal where the lover is cheated out of his lady by his lady and his rival (I cheered for the rival); Captain Rogers was alluded to above as a story where the murderer walks free undetected. The Monkey's Paw and The Well are a bit macabre for my sensitive nature and tender heart. Nevertheless, there other natures and hearts which will find them engrossing, even entertaining.

If you buy this book, don't expected a barn burner. The stories are merely interesting, drops of picante sauce in the gumbo of one's library of life.