
A quirky legacy of a 19th‑century tontine drifts into the present, binding together two very different brothers. The younger, Joseph, remains a restless, eccentric figure who prefers wandering the streets and delivering unsolicited lectures, while his older sibling Masterman epitomises respectable, orderly Victorian propriety. Their shared inheritance—a small but wealthy pool of money that only the last survivor can claim—sets the stage for a light‑hearted yet sharply observed portrait of family, ageing, and the oddities of a scheme that promises nothing but a fleeting windfall.
As the brothers navigate their twilight years under the roof of Michael, a solicitor son, the narrative unfolds with witty commentary on the absurdities of their past decisions and the lingering pull of a promise that may never materialize. Listeners will be drawn into the charmingly eccentric world of the Finsbury family, where humor and a touch of melancholy coexist, inviting reflection on how the past can linger long after the original participants have faded.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (323K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer and David Widger
Release date
2006-02-26
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1868–1947
An American writer and traveler, he is often remembered for his close literary partnership with his stepfather, Robert Louis Stevenson. His life ranged from California to the South Pacific, and those experiences helped shape a career built on adventure stories, essays, and memoir.
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1850–1894
Best known for stories of adventure and divided selves, this Scottish writer gave the world Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. His life was as restless as his fiction, carrying him from Edinburgh to the South Pacific.
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