Showing results by narrator "Virginia Ferguson" in All Categories

Five-year-old Sarah doesn’t understand why she’s afraid. But she is. Frightening things keep happening in their new home. A century earlier, a servant girl with dreams of fame and fortune collided with the house’s mistress - a British aristocrat bent on securing her place in proper society. The tension between these women began with small things, built to prickly pressure, and then exploded into raging mayhem, tearing the entire household apart. Fury, vengeance, and hatred infuse the very walls of Crawley House.

November 1283. Prioress Eleanor’s cousin, the earl of Ness, visits with his wife, Eda. When his unloved spouse is murdered in the priory chapel with his knife, he becomes the prime suspect. Another murder follows. Eda’s quiet priest is killed in the same chapel. Eda had many enemies, so what connection could there be between a ruthless woman and a pious man who cared nothing of earthy things? Crowner Ralf insists the crimes fall under the king’s law and that Prioress Eleanor lacks objectivity because of her cousin’s involvement.

Once a celebrated singer, Rosemary Paul is now an embittered woman in her 60s, forgotten by nearly everyone but her assistant, Carrie Markham, who idolizes her and panders to her every need. When Rosemary receives the unexpected news that her record company is dusting off one of her albums for a reissue, the old hunger for fame and success is reignited, and with Carrie's help she begins to plan her big comeback. But as preparations commence, long buried secrets begin to resurface, and Rosemary's quest for fame at any price will lead to murder.

Bethany Simmons takes a shortcut on a stormy night and ends up in a place where one man is both sustained by the ghosts of his past and held captive by them.

"The Test" is a short, powerful piece that describes a day in the life of a woman, whose past comes to haunt her just as she thinks she is settled and perfectly safe in her life. Faced with memories of long ago as well as considerations and responsibilities of today, she must make a difficult choice she knows will change her life and affect the lives of those around her.

Another set of vivid, exquisitely detailed stories from all walks of life from the giant of Ukrainian literature Mihailo Kotsubinsky.

When marine biologist Jeddediah Walker discovers the fish contain a high concentration of chemicals, he suspects they are being deliberately dumped in Puget Sound. And he has another problem - an unexpected, beautiful, and suspicious new tenant renting his cabin. Later, when someone hacks into his computer, he realizes it is no coincidence and sets out to find out more about his mysterious tenant.

Elizabeth Tudor has chosen never to marry. The man she loves, Robin Dudley, has lost his wife in mysterious circumstances. Knowing that were she to marry him, it would lead to his destruction and hers, Elizabeth has made up her mind... But Robin does not know this yet. Afraid to lose her favourite, Elizabeth has told Robin there may be hope. As times goes on, Robin attempts persuasion, pressure and trickery to take his place beside her on the throne of England. And it is not only with her beloved that Elizabeth is having problems...

Now, Emma is a back-to-school PhD student with bigger and better things to worry about. That is, until one night, exhausted, slightly tipsy, and on her way home from a party, the glaring white light of a car comes crashing toward her, changing her life forever. Instead of waking up in a 21st-century hospital, she finds herself waking up in the backwaters of London, Victorian England, 1881.

This installment of the Alternative Endings series takes a fresh look at Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen", following Kai and Gerda in a somewhat different direction than the original.

Many lies have been told about Mary Astor. She never abandoned her parents to poverty. Her face was their fortune rather than her own. Nor did she rate on a private scorecard the sexual prowess of Hollywood's leading men. But two more dangerous and persistent lies have distorted the understanding of her life. One lie defines Astor as the survivor of sex scandals and suicide attempts who ended up living on charity in a retirement home for film folk.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian playwright, writer, and doctor. Known best for his plays, he had also written a great multitude of short stories for and about people of all ages and all walks of life. Life as It Happens is a selection of just such stories and novellas. From sad to ridiculous, to dramatic, to funny, by way of tragic or bittersweet - there is something here for everyone.

When Elizabeth’s best friend told her that she was in love, Elizabeth decided to do everything she could to forward the match between Caroline and Charlie’s friend Mr. Darcy. After all, Elizabeth and Caroline Bingley had always been the dearest of friends since they were tiny children, and whenever they were apart they wrote reams and reams of paper in correspondence.

Maria Krestovskaya demonstrates her incredibly astute understanding of human mind as she gives us a unique glimpse into the mental turmoils associated with one boy's first love.

A Christmas Surprise: Lord Robert, the Viscount of Marchwood, throws a Christmas Ball every year, and this year his daughter, Lady Audrey, has just turned 18. With the Marchwood family fortune all but gone, Lord Robert is keen to secure her a prosperous match. But when a handsome, masked stranger threatens to steal Audrey's heart, will it prove to be a good or bad Christmas surprise?

Recently retired from the Royal Navy, much acclaimed Captain Bartholomew Grayson has come home to London. He’s looking forward to the Christmastide season, especially now that he’s adopted his 10-year-old former cabin boy. The waif needs a family, and Bart wants to recapture the joy of his own childhood. Too bad the fly in the ointment is a strong-willed harridan with a tart mouth intent on stealing his cargo.

In 1957, the town of Honeyspoon is ill prepared for a murder mystery. In fact, most of the townspeople have never experienced a violent death until a shocking murder in the small town sets everyone on edge. Mrs. Nancy Peabody is a widow of very limited means. Her life is drab and lonely so she can’t avoid the temptation offered by the party line she shares with two of her neighbors.

Literary critic, E. A. Koltonovskaya, described the literary style of novelist Maria Krestovskaya as follows, “Her pen, for all its feminine agility, is often remarkable for its nearly masculine reticence. She has none of the chaotic flood of thoughtless emotions, which so frequently plagues the works by female writers. She does not like lyrical diversions and allows her characters to speak and act for themselves. Even during the most dramatic scenes, her tone remains restrained. Her formulation of women’s issues gives one the sense of a broad, universal foundation...."

David Brooks, Earl of Foxcroft had led a charmed life. Right up until his father died and he was forced to take responsibility for his family and the estates. His father had run the coffers nearly empty and it had been up to him to restore their fortune. He could have married an heiress, but felt that was a cowardly way out. Instead he built their fortune in a more scandalous way: by doing a trade and working. Now that he feels secure enough with his family's status he has decided to take a wife.

The last thing the Duke of Greystone wants is a wife, until the Lady Jane Blackmore seeks out his quiet corner of Earl Braxton's ballroom. But there she stands, attempting to shut out the rest of the world by simply closing her eyes, but the duke understands better than most that life is never that simple.