Showing results by narrator "Kendra Murray" in All Categories

When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds her famous grandmother's diary while cleaning out her New York brownstone, the pages are full of surprises. The first surprise is, the diary isn't her grandmother's. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law.

What started out as a couple of blog posts blossomed into a following of over 1,000,000 people who have all read and been touched by Mowry's stories. The most extraordinary thing he found when writing about his experiences is that the most common comment about his work is OMG that's me. You are telling my story. I don't feel so alone now.

Queen Marguerite de Navarre was one of the most powerful women of her age. Her masterpiece, The Heptameron, is a collection of some 72 stories told by five gentlemen and five ladies who find themselves stranded in an abbey. Proposed as an edifying way of passing the time while a bridge is being repaired, the tale-telling - as well as the conversations that follow each story - quickly becomes a battle of wits between the sexes, with tales concerning illicit lovers, romantic conquests, lecherous monks, manly honor, and women's virtue.

Together with The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most magical plays. One night, two parties creep from Athens into the surrounding forest. One includes sweethearts Lysander and Hermia, fleeing from Athenian law and the disapproval of Hermia’s father to get married. In pursuit is Demetrius, the suitor of Hermia favored by her father, and the doleful Helena, formerly affianced to Demetrius.

Gertrude Stein held a unique position at the center of the modernist movement. She was a novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in America, she moved with her family to Paris where she ran a Paris salon frequented by many famous historical figures, such as Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henri Matisse, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, and Sinclair Lewis.

Emily Dickinson was one of the most reclusive of all poets. She spent much of her life in seclusion in her father’s house in Amherst, and only a handful of her 1800 poems were published in her lifetime. Credit for the posthumous publication of her work must be given to her editor and friend Thomas W. Higginson, who reported that, in spite of the voluminous correspondence which passed between himself and Dickinson, he only met her twice in person.

“He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad … “So begins this historical tale of romantic adventure. Andre-Louis Moreau is an orphan and cousin of the beloved Aline. He is raised by his godfather, the Lord of Gavrillac, and matures into an educated lawyer—while Aline sets her mind on marrying the rich but dishonorable Marquis de la Tour d’Azyr. But when Moreau’s closest friend is killed by the Marquis in a duel, Moreau vows vengeance. After publicly denouncing the aristocracy and stirring up the crowds, Moreau is forced to go into hiding.

Give My Love to Berlin follows the lives of two gay couples—Tillie and Ruth, and their best friends, James and Ernesto—trying to navigate falling in love, thriving in their community, and coming to terms with the danger they are in just by being who they are. The novel jumps between the twenties and thirties and the early nineties and a young woman named Thea. Thea is dealing with the onset of her grandmother's dementia, and discovers secrets hidden away that her grandmother never intended for her to uncover.

Can you get by for an hour without talking? A day even? What about a month? Or nine? Rebecca Marley sets herself a nine-month challenge with only one rule: She isn’t allowed to communicate with anyone. She is to become mute. How hard could it be? Yet, what starts as a challenge soon becomes a journey of self-discovery as Rebecca has only herself for company. Will this time be the peaceful respite she so desperately seeks? Or will she confront aspects of herself that a noisy world hides so well?

Private Investigator Mallory Dimante has no time for a pro-bono cold case. Focused on developing the detective firm she’s building with her partner, Jake Steiner, she needs work that can keep them and their new Seattle houseboat afloat. But she can’t say no when she comes face-to-face with the victim of a devastating acid attack.

Not all problems can be solved with a mute button. Everyone knows Rebecca Marley. She’s the crazy, brave, and introspective woman who spent nine months without talking. Everyone loves her. She’s raw, honest, and relatable. She’s also rich and famous, although I’m sure you knew that already. You’ve probably read her articles, or her book, or seen one of her many interviews. She’s also socially anxious, self-conscious, and self-degrading, but she tries to keep that to herself. Her once-silent world has changed, and the noise has engulfed her.

Freckles and A Girl of the Limberlost are two of Gene Stratton Porter's most famous novels. Set primarily in the Limberlost Swamp of Indiana, USA, Freckles follows the story of Freckles, a lame orphan whose innate character rises above his circumstances. A Girl of the Limberlost is the story of Elnora, blamed for her father's death by her mother, who nevertheless meets every challenge that comes her way with admirable resilience.

As the generating force of its plot, Twelfth Night uses a device which has since become a staple in comedy: gender confusion. Viola and her twin brother Sebastian, are shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria, a country ruled by the melancholy Duke Orsino. The twins are separated and Viola is led to believe that her brother has perished. She disguises herself as a male under the name of Cesario and makes her way to the ducal court, where Orsino employs her as a messenger, to communicate his love to the reclusive lady, Olivia—who is not willing to return his affection.

Involuntary Immortals is the story of a woman who finds herself outliving her lovers and the incredible peril she faces when she sets out to discover the source of her involuntary immortality. Helen Ranston discovers her own daughter Agnes thinks she is a witch or vampire. Agnes is 40, but still looks 20 and has never aged throughout her daughter's entire life.

Detective Rebecca Watson is tracking a vicious serial killer in Eugene Falls, Florida. As a distraction, she's dragged back into court for the retrial of a man convicted of murdering his girlfriend five years earlier. His defense attorney will use any means to get his client freed, including uncovering old wounds from Watson's past. As the case takes a few hard turns, nothing can prepare her for the world she's about to encounter, the past that haunts her, and the truth behind the serial killer's motive.

Viv risks her life to fix the trouble she caused. Her new powers are blossoming, and she's beginning to understand what it means to live with magick. It's unclear, however, whether the benefit outweighs the cost. The secrets she uncovers have sharp edges. Can Viv divert a war, or does her very existence herald the end of an era?

Viviane Rose has lived with auditory hallucinations all her life. Despite this, she has a good job as the manager of the laundry at Vince Malum Residential Living Center, a long-term care facility for the mentally ill. She works there to be near her catatonic mother and amnesiac fiance, and she lives with her grumpy grandfather. Family is her top priority. Viviane has all aspects of her life running like clockwork until one of her hallucinations manifests and begins killing the patients at the Center.

Set in Pirth’Vee Grah, a world where one stays on top of the food chain by flying higher than the creatures that would eat your wings as an appetizer, the technologically superior Ch’Hota and warmongering V’Jeeta clash over a precious resource while the altruistic Pra’Acheen takes neither side. Forced to choose between the freedom to pursue a cure to White Claw, and his loyalty to father and flock, V’Jeeta High Prince—and budding alchemist—R'Venin must sacrifice more than he ever conjured before he can show his feathers in the Granite Spires again.

Murder and dark magic aren't even the worst of it. Oona Goodlight just wants to get through hockey practice, but a dead body on the ice means practice is canceled. A secret psychic and empath, she is shocked by the brutal death and shocked again when she witnesses the murder - and the killer - in a vision. When a wizard investigator asks her to use her psychic abilities to find the murderer, she’s pulled into a battle she never wanted to fight against a grudge-holding foe who’s waited a long time to see her dead.

Who knew death could be so eclectic? Relish this mesmerizing murder mystery mash-up of short stories. Murder and mystery have been the staple of literature and films for years. This anthology of short stories will thrill and entertain you. Some will also make you laugh out loud. Others will stop and make you think.