Explorers of the Dawn by Mazo De la Roche

[Morlock]

This caught my eye as the author's been suggested to me on more than one occasion. Most of her books are not in the public domain. I didn't think any were, and perhaps other fans of hers weren't aware of it as well. (A Foreword by Christopher Morley doesn't hurt, either!) Cheers!

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25283

[TriciaG]

Bumping this one up as a suggestion. It's the story of 3 boys (9, 8, and 5) the old, strict governess of whom they're put in charge, and that lady's Irish (I assume from the accent) maid, set in England. Typical boy shenanigans, from what I can gather. Accent/dialect on the maid, and the kind of lispy talk from the youngest boy. Told from the viewpoint of the middle boy.

57082 words, or about 6-6.5 hours of finished recording.

[miss stav]

Please note that the author died in 1961, so it is not pd for death + 70 years countries.