Some narrators earn our trust from the first page. Some, like Anne Brontë's Helen Huntingdon or Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, give us a stable centre to hold onto no matter how chaotic the world around them becomes. And then there's Nelly Dean — the housekeeper who narrates most of Wuthering Heights — who seems trustworthy right up until you realise she isn't, and by then the whole story has been filtered through her.

She's not the loudest character in Little Women. She doesn't have the fiery ambition of Jo, the gentle artistry of Beth, the romantic longing of Meg, or the youthful vanity of Amy. And yet Mrs. March — "Marmee" — is the character the entire novel rests on. She's the healthy soil everything else grows out of. And she may be one of the most quietly Stoic figures in all of classic literature.

Sample the Audiobook performed by Stephanie Poppins

There's a particular kind of magic that happens when ancient philosophy meets the great women writers of English literature. It's the magic at the heart of the Female Stoic Podcast — and it's exactly the kind of magic we love championing here at Neworld Books.

What three of history's most disciplined writers can teach us about acting without waiting to feel ready.

Stephanie Poppins is the audiobook narrator at Neworld Books UK. She trained in theatre performance and spent years performing theatrically and vocally, doing regional stage work and radio drama, whilst teaching English Literature. 

How ancient philosophy — filtered through the voices of women history nearly forgot — offers a radically freeing answer to the question: "Do I have to want more to be successful?"