Showing results for "The" in Historical Fiction

Leo Tolstoy's classic story of doomed love is one of the most admired novels in world literature. Generations of readers have been enthralled by his magnificent heroine, the unhappily married Anna Karenina, and her tragic affair with dashing Count Vronsky.

When the celebrated biographer of the infamous pirate Blackheart takes a suite at the Mayfair Hotel to live out his final months, Goliath the porter is desperate to ask the one question that has haunted treasure hunters for decades: Where is the loot buried? Forbidden to disturb a guest, he instead visits the man writing the author’s own life story, only to discover him dead at his desk. Accused of the crime, Goliath turns to Cleo and Harry to clear his name.

For the sake of a most beloved sister, and for their father’s dying wish, Elizabeth would make herself submit... When her dying father demands one daughter marry the heir to Longbourn and the other wed a wealthy elderly widower, Elizabeth makes the hardest choice of her life. She becomes the wife of sixty-year-old Mr. Ashwood—a marriage in name only that leaves her more a daughter than a bride. Four years later, Elizabeth is a widow at twenty, impoverished and estranged from the sister she once adored.

Love is in the air in wartime England—but so is murder. Crofter’s Green is abuzz with excitement. Seven young couples are preparing to say their vows at a Valentine's Day celebration—an event made even more thrilling by the expected arrival of a very important (and very secret) guest: the most famous woman in the world.

In a kingdom torn by civil war, young Lillorigga seeks to shield her dawning powers from her cruel mother Merodda's manipulation. Mistress of a magic that, untamed, could kill her, Lilli brings her terrifying visions under the kindlier tutelage of the mysterious dweomermaster, Nevyn. But soon she must choose between her own clan and the true king who fights to claim his rightful throne, between sanctuary and blood feud, loyalty and love. 

Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1461. When Lady Catherine Dancy saves the life of a wounded knight, Guy de Rosel, her fate is sealed. Though they share a powerful connection, Guy’s manipulative brother Hugh discovers her identity and forces her into a loveless political marriage. Trapped in the crumbling de Rosel keep on the Scottish borders, Catherine faces an impossible choice between duty and desire. But Hugh’s cruel ambitions run deeper than she knows, and when betrayal strikes, will the chapel where she sought solace become her tomb?

Exclusively from Audible. 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.' So begins Charles Dickens' most famous historical drama: a gripping tale of war, social injustice and the choice between darkness and light. After being unjustly imprisoned for 18 years, French doctor Manette is released from the Bastille jail in Paris and embarks upon a journey to London in the hope of finding the daughter he never met.

Zeus crushed the ancient Titans in a war that shook the heavens, then hurled the vanquished into Tartarus: an abyss of ice and torment buried far beneath the underworld itself, sealed forever. Or so he believed. Now, high in Crete's mountains, archaeologists have unearthed a crumbling manuscript that promises whoever opens the gates to Tartarus will command the Titans – unstoppable beings capable of bringing the modern world to its knees.

After the world’s worst timed and worst worded proposal, Fitzwilliam Darcy strives to understand and to accept the reasons behind the unexpected rejection he receives. With acceptance, comes the desire to become a better man, even if the lady who inspired that change will never know the result of her take down. At his ancestral home for the summer, he will conquer the biggest and most painful disappointment of his life.

Light-skinned Black woman Irene Redfield encounters an old childhood friend - Clare - who is now "passing" as a White woman. Clare is married to a racist White man, who doesn't know she has African American blood. In spite of the danger of being found out by her husband and society at large, she finds herself helplessly drawn to Irene's world.

Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force.

Cornwall, 1620. Mary Wilby flees her brutal uncle’s house to board the Lady Grace as a colonial bride bound for Virginia. She prays that marriage to plantation owner John Forrester will bring the peace and security she craves, but she soon discovers her new husband harbors deadly secrets. Only one man offers her hope of escape from this waking nightmare: Walker, a half-English, half-Native American man haunted by his own tragic past. But their carefully laid plans for escape take a devastating turn…

Epheria is a land divided by war and mistrust. The High Lords of the South squabble and fight, only kept in check by the Dragonguard, traitors of a time long past, who serve the empire of the North. In the remote villages of Southern Epheria, still reeling from the tragic loss of his brother, Calen Bryer prepares for The Proving - a test of courage and skill that not all survive. But when three strangers arrive in the village of Milltown, with a secret they are willing to die for, Calen’s world is ripped from under him and he is thrust headfirst into a war.

As a Victorian clergyman's daughter, Edith Worms has seen everything—until a mythical salamander tumbles out of the fireplace into her lap. When a letter arrives from estranged relatives, Edith is swept away to a crumbling gothic Abbey in the wilds of Yorkshire. Wormwood Abbey isn't just full of curious beasts and ancient family secrets: there's also a tall, dark, and entirely too handsome neighbor who is strangely reluctant for her to leave.

London, 1955. Nurse Helen Brent has spent twenty-six years believing she’ll never find love. Then she meets her new patient, David Edevane. Despite a tragic upbringing, David is kind and stable, and their whirlwind romance quickly leads to marriage and pregnancy. But Helen’s world collapses when she uncovers a dreadful secret, and she will carry the consequences of her silence for the rest of her days…

England, 1941. The tranquil village of Crofter’s Green seems like a haven from the chaos of wartime. But when a local air raid warden is found dead in the village churchyard, five villagers--some getting on in years and none of them policemen--decide they need to uncover the truth.

New York, 1777. Jocelyn Sinclair’s life depends on deception. By day, she’s a humble servant in British Major Hector Radcliffe’s household, invisible and overlooked. By night, she risks everything as a spy for the Continental Army, gathering intelligence that could turn the tide of war. When she meets the enigmatic Captain Jared Denning, their forbidden attraction threatens to expose her carefully constructed lies. But Jocelyn discovers too late that the greatest danger doesn’t come from enemy soldiers but from someone she trusted with her life…

Pride and Prejudice has delighted generations of readers with its unforgettable cast of characters, carefully choreographed plot, and a hugely entertaining view of the world and its absurdities. With the arrival of eligible young men in their neighbourhood, the lives of Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters are turned inside out and upside down.

When Nicole Rayburn travels to Lockwood Hall and begins to research Alys’s story for a new book, she discovers startling irregularities in Alys’s case. Nicole’s suspicions mount as every answer leads to more questions. What really happened to Alys? And what became of her son, who disappeared the day she was hanged? Could it be that Alys’s death was the result of a well-planned conspiracy, or is there another, less obvious answer? And who is trying to sabotage Nicole's efforts by stealing her work?

1115, Germany. Young Hildegard is sent to the Abbey of St. Disibod in the Rhineland as her parents' gift to the Church in accordance with a custom known as the tithe. Hildegard has a deep love of nature and a knowledge of herbal healing, and she hopes to purse medical studies at St. Disibod. But no sooner does she settle into her new life than she finds out that as a girl she will not be allowed to attend the monastic school or have access to the abbey's library; instead, she must stay at the women's convent.