Showing results by narrator "Lillian Rachel" in All Categories

Three years ago Melisende’s husband, Simon, went off with Lord Barnard and his men to join King Phillip of France on the Third Crusade. Now Lord Barnard is dead and his son, Lord Charles, has come home from the crusades with the last of their men - and Simon is not among them. Lord Charles claims Simon died saving his life. Melisende suspects there is more to the story. Left to fend for herself and her two young children, Melisende is determined to discover what really happened to Simon at the battle for Acre.

In 1916, Chris returns home from a French hospital to his country estate just outside London. The nature of his injuries at the front has caused him to suffer from amnesia. Awaiting him at home are his devoted wife, whom he does not remember, and his cousin, Jenny, whom he remembers only as a childhood friend. For Chris, the last 15 years have not happened and he believes himself still in love with a woman named Margaret, the poor innkeeper's daughter he courted many years before.

Young Rachel Verinder inherits a sacred Indian moonstone from her uncle. This extremely valuable gem disappears from Rachel's bedroom soon after a party is thrown in her honor to celebrate her eighteenth birthday. Believed to be stolen, a series of narratives unfold to solve the mystery of the missing moonstone. In true Collins fashion, one cannot get enough of the twists and turns in this intriguing detective story.

Prayer & Praise is a treasure trove of thought-provoking messages inspired by the lines of Austen's three preserved prayers. Atop a solid foundation of scripture, these 50 devotional segments (each finishing with prayer and praise) enlist familiar characters and situations from Austen novels to illustrate spiritual principles - in creative, often surprising, ways!

Virginia Woolf's 1925 novel takes place over the course of a single June day in the lives of some very different Londoners: wealthy society hostess Clarissa Dalloway, who is preparing for a party; her old friend Peter Walsh, recently returned from India, whose proposal of marriage Clarissa rejected years ago; Septimus Warren Smith, a WWI veteran suffering from shell shock; and his Italian-born wife, Rezia, who is trying to care for him as best she can. Woolf's beautiful prose captures the minds and souls of these vivid characters.

Henry VIII is dead, and history will never be the same. The year is 1536. Three claimants vie for his throne: Anne Boleyn, who fights for her young daughter, Elizabeth; Mary Tudor, who sees the hand of Providence at work; and Henry FitzRoy, the king's illegitimate but recognized son. Factions form, and battles are fought over who will win the crown.

After breaking off his engagement with Agnes Lockwood, Lord Montbarry marries the eccentric Countess Narona before embarking on a whirlwind honeymoon tour of Europe culminating in Venice. There they reside in the decaying Palace Hotel with the Countess' brother, Baron Rivar, and their courier, Ferrari. Lord Montbarry later dies of bronchitis and upon hearing of this from Henry Westwick, Montbarry's brother, Agnes agrees to meet with Henry at the newly renovated Palace Hotel to investigate the insurance claim that was purchased prior to his death.

The conflict with Cornelius Marx is over. Determined to move forward, Adelynn Spencer eagerly charges into her new marriage to Detective Inspector Baze Ford and steals away with him to the countryside city of Bath. While Adelynn wrestles to escape her recurring nightmares of the Irish magician—both waking and sleeping—Baze seeks the city’s legendary waters, hoping they’ll cure his damaged leg and break his growing opium addiction.

Between 1895 and 1898, H. G. Wells wrote five science fiction novels, which have become among the most celebrated examples of the genre. The first of these was The Time Machine, in which Wells explores not only the fascinating subject of time travel but also the potential dangers to human autonomy by the advance of civilization. Well's world-weary Time Traveller, who is the main narrator, is one of his most quirky and appealing characters.

What makes a 1930s society girl become a farmer? Answer: the Second World War. This is the story of my mother, Frances Donaldson, a privileged young woman giving her all in wartime. With her soldier husband, Jack, far away and two young children to care for, she bought a farm in Warwickshire and determined to live off it. Could an emotionally fragile young mother survive the ordeal? A Woman's War tells how she conquered WWII. An emotional tale from riches to rags, from joy to sorrow, and, at the end of the war together again with Jack, rejoicing.

Rosamond Frankland has married the love of her life, Leonard, who is blind. They have bought Porthgenna Tower, the manor where Rosamond grew up and where her mother died 20 years earlier. What they don't know is the dark secret that hovers over her family, that house, and the stories about a woman's ghost that haunts the north rooms. Is this a ghost story, a love story, a story with a tragic ending, or a lovely one?

Betrayed by her father and sold as payment of a Roman tax debt to fight in Londinium's arena, gladiatrix-slave Rhyddes feels like a wild beast in a gilded cage. Celtic warrior blood flows in her veins, but Roman masters own her body. She clings to her vow that no man shall claim her soul, though Marcus Calpurnius Aquila, son of the Roman governor, makes her yearn for a love she believes impossible. Groomed to follow in his father's footsteps and trapped in a politically advantageous betrothal, Aquila prefers the purity of combat on the amphitheater sands to imperial politics.

The Invisible Man was the fourth sci-fi novel written by Wells in the 1890s. The main character, Griffin, is one of the intimidating villains in all popular literature. The archetypal "mad scientist," Griffin devotes himself to an obsessive study of optics and realizes his ambition to render livings things permanently invisible. After making a cat invisible, he successfully applies the procedure to himself. After causing chaos in London, he travels to the village of Iping in Sussex and takes up residence in a local hotel.

The Martians, finding the resources on their own planet dwindling dramatically, decided to invade and colonize Earth. They land in England and quickly establish control through their vastly superior military technology. The narrative focuses on the wanderings and deliberations of the narrator as he wanders around the country seeking refuge from the remorseless invaders. Two of the most significant characters he encounters are a curate and an artilleryman, neither of whom has an effective approach to dealing with the crisis.

Lia Wilder, a barista with a flair for inventing specialty coffee, always enjoys the annual Battle of the Flowers parade held each summer in Headley Cross. All the local businesses get involved in the competition and build a float made entirely of flowers and colored lights. Lia has a not-so-secret crush on the local Christian DJ, Jordan Tanner, so when first prize of the Miss Battle title is a date with Jordan, Lia is railroaded into entering the contest.

The curious and vivacious Lady Melanie Ludwig is the beating heart of her castle, but when her husband of 22 years and his cherished horse die suddenly in a hunting accident, her life begins to fall apart. At the height of her grief, her beloved unwed handmaiden, Janine, leaves her service due to an unplanned pregnancy, leaving Melanie full of rage, lonely, and without purpose.

In 1896, H.G Wells was stimulated to compose this dystopian fantasy about an obsessed scientist and his efforts to artificially accelerate the intellectual development of animals using bizarre medical procedures involving vivisection. Wells described the book as "an exercise in youthful blasphemy."

As winter comes to an end, a pod of narwhals begins a treacherous journey north. Along the way, they must find fish to eat, avoid a hungry polar bear, and navigate a maze of sea ice. Will their sensitive long spiral tusks and clicking calls be enough to keep them safe and help them find their way to their summer resting grounds? Discover the mysteries of these amazing toothed whales and their Arctic home in this suspenseful narrative about the majestic unicorns of the sea.

In the tumultuous year before war breaks out, a plane crashes on a country lane, and four people are brought together in the aftermath. Miriam is recovering from another miscarriage and learns to fly as an escape from the disappointments in her life. Audrey is a middle-aged upper-class activist who has shunned her society, travels the UK lecturing on reproductive rights, and lives in a gypsy caravan—and whose daily ritual includes a swim in a nearby river. As Little as Nothing beautifully explores resilience, the strength of new bonds, and the ways we reinvent ourselves.

The Wonderful Visit tells the story of an angel who finds himself unexpectedly marooned on Earth. Wells used John Ruskin's remark that an angel appearing on earth in Victorian England would be shot on sight as the inspiration for this tale of a celestial being who is completely out of place in human society. Ironically, the angel's first confidant and protector is a clergyman, who never recovers from the eventual and inevitable disappearance of the angel. Wells dwells in detail on the contrast between the idealism of the celestial visitor and the discourtesy of his hosts.