Naxos AudioBooks is proud to be bringing Francis Brett Young (1884–1964) back into the literary limelight. A justly celebrated writer in his time, he drew on his military and medical experience as well as his acute environmental observations to create authentically detailed and poetically rich novels of profound emotional depth. The coal-mining and heavy industry of the Black Country in the West Midlands, observed by the author as a boy, imbue his ‘Mercian’ novels. He creates a sense of place as evocative as Thomas Hardy’s Wessex and his characters are deeply human – flawed, passionate, and unforgettable.

In My Brother Jonathan (1928), we meet the dogged, selfless and admirable hero Jonathan; his brother, the cosseted Harold; their parents, the impecunious but pretentious Eugene and Lavinia, who lionise Harold but seem to despise Jonathan; the not-quite-aristocratic Martyn family, particularly the youngest daughter, Edith, who falls madly in love with Harold but is loved obsessively and unrequitedly by Jonathan… The tapestry of love, loss and longing among all the main characters has an agonising beauty; Justin Avoth’s exquisite rendition will have listeners fighting hard to stem their tears.