Showing results by narrator "Raghad Chaar" in All Categories

This multicast dramatisation of Arabian Nights: Volume 1 is an Audible Original reenvisioning of three iconic tales - with a twist. Adapted by the great Marty Ross, whose previous audio dramas include Romeo and Jude, Dark Shadows, Doctor Who and Blood and Stone, listeners can expect to hear Sheherezade, Ali Baba & 40 Thieves and Julnar the Sea Born as they've never done before.

Huda, a secretary at the Australian embassy, has been ordered by the mukhabarat - the secret police - to befriend Ally Wilson, the deputy ambassador's wife. Huda has no wish to be an informant, but she fears for her teenage son, who may be forced to join a deadly militia. Little does she know, Ally has dangerous secrets of her own. Meanwhile, Huda's former friend, Rania, enjoyed a privileged upbringing as the daughter of a sheikh. Now her family's wealth is gone and Rania too is battling to keep her child safe and a roof over their heads.

In Volume 2 of Arabian Nights we return to Sultan Shahriyar’s palace where Scheherezade is using her spellbinding storytelling abilities to save both her and her sister’s lives. As much as the Sultan wants to kill her, each night he is drawn in by her tales and spares them. Scheherezade weaves a long, winding and exciting tale about Sinbad the Sailor, a reckless young man who has inherited his father’s wealth and spends it foolishly. His debts eventually force him to leave Baghdad and find his way alone.

An inspiring tale of modern migration, overcoming adversity and escaping the hell of war, from a girl struggling to walk for the very first time in her life. Nujeen Mustafa has cerebral palsy. This did not stop her travelling, with her sister, 4,000 miles from Syria to Hungary in a wheelchair.

Nawal El Saadawi writes out of a powerful sense of the violence and injustice which permeated her society. Her experiences working as a doctor in villages around Egypt, witnessing prostitution, honour killings and sexual abuse, including female circumcision, drove her to give voice to this suffering. She goes on to explore the causes of the situation through a discussion of the historical role of Arab women in religion and literature. Saadawi argues that the veil, polygamy and legal inequality are incompatible with the essence of Islam or any human faith.

Salma, happily married, tries every day to fit into life in Britain. When her first love contacts her, she is tempted to risk it all and return to Egypt. Moni gave up a career in banking to care for her disabled son, but now her husband wants to move to Saudi Arabia - where she fears her son's condition will worsen. Iman feels burdened by her beauty. In her 20s and already in her third marriage, she is treated like a pet and longs for freedom.

Zuhur, an Omani student at a British university, is caught between the past and the present. As she attempts to form friendships and assimilate in Britain, she can’t help but ruminate on the relationships that have been central to her life. Most prominent is her strong emotional bond with Bint Amir, a woman she always thought of as her grandmother, who passed away just after Zuhur left the Arabian Peninsula. As the historical narrative of Bint Amir’s challenged circumstances unfurls in captivating fragments, so too does Zuhur’s isolated and unfulfilled present.

When Marcie Mosse receives news that her grandmother is sick, she rushes back to her childhood village in the remote Scottish Highlands. Despite the tragic circumstances, returning to her family’s ancestral home, a once grand and now crumbling farmhouse overlooking a crystal-clear loch, feels like a long-awaited homecoming. Reconnecting with childhood friends, Marcie is flooded with memories of her life before moving to the city. Then, during a windswept horseback ride along the edge of the loch, she bumps into Ruaridh Balfour.

Under the grey Glasgow skies, 12-year-old refugee Reema is struggling to find her place in a new country and new language. But she isn't the only one feeling lost. Her neighbour Caylin is also lonely and lashing out. When they discover an injured fox and her cubs hiding on their estate, the girls form a wary friendship. As they learn to believe in themselves and in others, they find freedom and the discovery that home isn't a place: it's the people you love.