There is bedlam, and there is delightful bedlam.

This afternoon touched on the second, much to my pleasure.



The Year is 1884 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighbourhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s. Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.



Narrated by Genevieve Gaunt. A Londoner born and bred, she started her acting career playing Pansy Parkinson in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban before going on to read English at Cambridge where she graduated with a Double First. Recent work includes playing Marilyn Monroe in The Marilyn Conspiracy on stage and narrating The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming. Alongside acting on stage, screen, audiobooks and radio Genevieve writes for audiodrama (Thunderbirds), reviews books for The Spectator and interviews authors and creatives for literary festivals and in print for A Rabbit’s Foot magazine.



Directed by Tamsin Collison, an award-winning audio director with over 500 audiobooks and dramas to her credit, collaborating with artists from David Tennant to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Recent highlights include a dramatisation of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, Thandiwe Newton’s award-winning recording of Tolstoy’s War & Peace, and a new set of all-star readings of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. She also lectures at leading UK drama academies, including RADA and LAMDA. A lyricist/librettist, Tamsin has been commissioned by English National Opera, the Royal Opera House, Tête à Tête Opera, Highbury Opera Theatre and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Recent works include Last Man Standing and an opera based on Michael Palin’s The Weekend.



This audiobook is produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, LLC, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont. It was recorded and engineered by The Strathmore Studios in London.