Showing results by narrator "Lucy Archer Woodcock" in All Categories

Fanny Price, in Mansfield Park, tells her persistent suitor that "we have all a better guide in ourselves . . . than any other person can be." Sometimes, however, we crave external guidance: and when this happens we could do worse than seek it in Jane Austen's own subtle novels. Written to coincide with Austen's 250th birthday, this approachable and intimate work shows why and how—for over half a century—Austen has inspired and challenged its author through different phases of her life.

In March 1946, scientists began to track thousands of children born in one cold week. No one imagined that this would become the longest-running study of human development in the world, growing to encompass five generations of children. Today, they are some of the best-studied people on the planet, and the simple act of observing human life has changed the way we are born, schooled, parent and die. This is the tale of these studies and the remarkable discoveries that have come from them. Touching almost every person in Britain today, they are one of our best-kept secrets.

Spring 1152. Once she was a Queen, and will become so again... Eleanor of Aquitaine has escaped her marriage to Louis of France, as well as various lords bent on capturing her and forcing her into marriage with them, and is safe in her homeland once more. Sending a message to Henry, Duke of Normandy, Eleanor arranges her second marriage, this time to a lord of her choosing, a man already in possession of an empire of his own, an heir to the English throne about to take back the crown stolen from his mother, the Empress Matilda.

1522, England. Anne Boleyn has lived an adventurous youth in the glittering courts of Europe, now, promised in marriage to a man she knows nothing of, Anne has been called home by her ambitious father. She will enter the English Court, to find many admirers courting her. Anne finds potential for love in three men, but there is one... more unexpected than all the others, who claims her heart. The beginning of a love which would change the course of English history, and shake the foundations of the Church... The courtier's daughter who captured the heart of a king, Anne Boleyn.

The young Eleanor of Aquitaine has inherited the lands of her father, at once becoming most powerful and most vulnerable. Promised without her knowledge to the heir to the King of France, Eleanor is about to enter a court unknown, and a world most violent. Through trials of marriage, politics and crusade to the Holy Lands, Eleanor will travel, rising above the limitations set upon her, to forge a path to a future where dreams of true power are more than mere illusion.

A father’s devotion. A son’s courage. A timeless bookstore that holds the power to heal lost hearts. The Book Collected invites you into the poignant world of a father and son torn apart by life’s harsh realities—divorce, distance, and dashed dreams.

A fun, smart and surprising dive into the past, present and future of accents – and the enduring power of sounding different Accents have long held our fascination. As far back as the 7th century BCE, Egyptian pharaohs experimented with babies to test out theories about the “original”...

Andrew Langford is an honorable man. So it is deeply inconvenient when Sophie Renard, the woman he loved, appears at his door on the very day he’s reminded of a youthful wager that will cost the last unwed man a small fortune. She is beautiful, desperate, and, Andrew believes, married. Sophie came to London for a prestigious mathematics position that she’s worked toward for six years. But after the promised job is withdrawn, she faces humiliating failure unless she can persuade her employer to reconsider. With no one else to turn to, she seeks help from her old friend, Andrew.

In a quiet, timeless bookshop—where every shelf cradles secrets of lost days and every well-worn page murmurs forgotten dreams—the solitary Book Collector has spent his life safeguarding memories too fragile to be left unspoken. Hardened by a past filled with unnameable loss, he has grown accustomed to the steady rhythm of solitude amid the rustle of paper and the soft glow of lamplight. Then, one fateful afternoon, a mysterious young boy wanders in. His eyes, wide with innocent wonder, seem to carry an inexplicable pull—a spark that unsettles the collector’s carefully maintained reserve.

Dali is sure there is adventure and excitement beyond Telsemar’s timeless, sandstone walls. Certainly something more than the daily routine of a flower delivery girl. There must be. If only she could prove herself to the secretive Society of the Divine and earn a place among its revered ranks of explorers. Under the cautious watch of her guardian and mentor, Kip, Dali wonders if she will ever find an opportunity. When Katherine, a senior member of the mysterious society, ends up missing along with the magic dagger in her possession, Dali realizes this is her chance to show her worth.

Shadows in the Ledger follows Harriet Cromwell, a former London Metropolitan Police detective turned private investigator, who is determined to leave her old life behind—until a terrified accountant seeks her help. Victor Graham has unearthed explosive financial records linking powerful figures to bribes, shady shell companies, and ruthless intimidation. As the deadline for Victor’s blackmailers looms, Harriet realises they’re willing to silence him by any means necessary.