What Not
About this audiobook
Rose Macaulay was a fascinating and influential British writer, known for her wit and intellect. She wrote numerous novels, essays and biographies, and she was highly regarded for her versatility as a writer. Her works often explored themes of social change, women’s rights and the complexities of human relationships. She had a unique ability to capture the essence of her characters and the world they inhabited, making her a much-admired figure in the literary world.
The satirical novel What Not was published in 1918. Foreshadowing Orwell’s 1984, it is set in a futuristic England where a government agency, known as the Ministry of Brains, is responsible for regulating and controlling relationships and marriages based on intelligence and eugenics. The story follows the main character, Kitty Grammont, as she navigates and rebels against the strict rules and regulations imposed by the Ministry. What Not is notable for its biting social commentary on government control, bureaucracy and the dangers of sacrificing personal liberty for societal ideals.
About the author
Clare Corbett won the prestigious Carleton Hobbs award in 2000 and has worked in voice acting ever since, performing in everything from video games, advertisements, radio plays and audiobooks. She has appeared in over 25 video games, including the Dark Souls series and Elden Ring, as well as It Takes Two and Baldur’s Gate 3, which won Game of the Year in 2022 and 2023 respectively. She voices several characters in the Spitting Image reboot, and can be heard as Franciska in Keeping the Wolf Out on BBC Radio, for which she has performed in hundreds of other plays. She has narrated hundreds of audiobooks and won an Audie Award in 2017. Her Naxos AudioBooks credits include Stoker’s Dracula, Cleland’s Fanny Hill, Richardson’s Pamela, Fielding’s Shamela, Andersen’s The Snow Queen and Other Stories and Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis.
