C

Veronica Mason, lead singer of the rockabilly band The Voodoo Zombies, discovers her vampire bass player staked through the heart. A vision of the murder flashes in Veronica's mind and she wonders if she's going bonkers. Up until now her supernatural skills consisted of a few botched love spells.

Liselle never meant to fall in love. When she accompanied her archaeologist husband on a dig in Mexico, she didn't expect to meet Charlie, a talented, fiercely intelligent painter who sees her in a way that her husband never has. After their brief but intense affair shocks her into living again, Liselle travels to a remote village on the west coast of Ireland. She gradually becomes acquainted with some of the locals, whose wholehearted charm and colorful stories revive her spirits and inspire her to make a documentary about their interwoven tales of romance.

Based in part on Dickens's own life, it is the story of a young man's journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist. Among its gloriously vivid cast of characters, he e.ncounters his tyrannical stepfather, Mr. Murdstone; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble yet treacherous Uriah Heep; the frivolous, enchanting Dora; and one of literature's great comic creations, the magnificently impecunious Mr. Micawber.

We are excited to present our members with a gift that is truly unique: an original essay, available exclusively here at Audible, written and voiced by best-selling author – and fellow listener – Ann Patchett. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a very real love story, and one that is much more about the journey than the destination.