Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in Literature & Fiction

It’s 1753, and troubling news comes to Russell’s Ridge. Susanna Russell longs to escape her valley home. When war breaks out, she gets her wish to study in fabulous Williamsburg. But she realizes she’s lost something important along the way. Something - and someone. James Paxton is studying for the ministry. But when violence threatens the valley, his path becomes clouded. What is God’s will for his life? The answer is alarming - and impossible.

Clarissa Dalloway is preoccupied with the last-minute details of a party she is to give that evening. As she makes preparations, she is flooded with memories and reexamines the choices she has made over the course of her life. On the same day, the war-inflicted Septimus is struggling to keep his dark thoughts and vivid flashbacks from overwhelming him, leading to a catastrophic turn of events.

The subject and argument of the poem are clear from the title. However, unlike Juvenal, Johnson espoused the view that Christian values are an essential aspect of a life well lived. While Johnson passes harsh judgement on the foolishness of greed and social pretensions, his scorn is much tempered by that natural compassion that has made him one of the most lovable figures in English literature.

The Seagull is Anton Chekhov's first major play, originally produced in 1896. It dramatizes the romantic and artistic conflicts between four characters: the famous middlebrow story writer Boris Trigorin, the ingenue Nina, the fading actress Irina Arcadina, and her son, the symbolist playwright Constantine Treplef.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was the most notable literary figure of his time, just as John Dryden (1631-1700) had been of the preceding age. He was born in London, the son of a prosperous linen merchant, and to his dying day, he remained the poet of the town rather than of the country.

Before Nancy Drew, there was Violet Strange. When an investigation requires someone who can infiltrate a clique of young women, the firm hires Violet Strange. Those in society begin to whisper when valuable items are stolen, then mysteriously returned, everywhere the five Inseparables go. Can Violet find the culprit before those whispers turn to accusations?

Dr. Timothy Howard was the curator of the Municipal Museum in New York. Dr. Howard assembled a rather amazing display in the museum; highly realistic figures and a huge uncut diamond said to be valued at $16 million. How were the highly realistic figures created? The title should give you a clue, and the mummies aren't that old. The highly realistic figures in Dr. Timothy Howard's display at the Municipal Museum were created using his own special technique. As the story unfolds in "House of the Mummy Men", it becomes clear that Dr. Howard's creations are not as dormant as they may seem.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835-1915), little known now, but a renowned writer in her time, gives us five tales of the "weird" as she might herself have said. Here we have five of her better known stories, peopled with jilted lovers, blood thirsty old ladies, and grand, old houses whose restless ancestors refuse to abandon them! The five tales: "The Cold Embrace", "The Shadow in the Corner", "At Chrighton Abbey", "Good Lady Ducayne", and "Eveline's Visitant".

Thirteen-year-old Emily has saved up every single birthday wish from six to 12 years old, banking on a promise from the birthday fairy that one day she could use up all those wishes in one fell swoop. What Emily wishes for, however, is not a pony or new clothes or the chance to be a princess. She has a much bigger plan in mind.

F. Scott Fitzgerald is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. He wrote this collection of eight short stories in 1920 for magazines such as Colliers and The Saturday Evening Post. This collection includes: "The Offshore Pirate", "Dalyrimple Goes Wrong", "Head and Shoulders", "Benediction", "Bernice Bobs Her Hair", "The Cut Glass Bowl", "The Four Fists", and "The Ice Palace".

"Cup of Gold" by John Steinbeck is a historical novel that follows the life of Henry Morgan, a Welshman who becomes one of the most notorious pirates of the Caribbean. The story begins with Henry's childhood in Wales, where he dreams of adventure and riches. He eventually leaves his home and becomes a bond servant in Barbados, where he learns about the harsh realities of life and begins to develop his ambitions.

Madame Pratolungo is a close companion to Lucilla Finch, a young woman who has been blind since birth. Madame Pratolungo records the narrative of Lucilla's trials from falling in love with Oscar Duborg, her wealthy and shy neighbor, to ending up in a romantic entanglement between Oscar and his brother Nugent. When Lucilla temporarily regains her sight thanks to Herr Grosse, mistaken identities and manipulative schemes are there to greet her.

Rainbow Valley was written in 1919 by L. M. Montgomery for the series that began with Anne of Green Gables. Anne and Gilbert's children are growing up! Their new friends, the Merediths, live in the Manse nearby. When the Merediths aren't playing in the graveyard or riding pigs through town, they meet up with the Blythes to play, fish, and study insects in Rainbow Valley!

The Bronte Sisters: A Collection of Poems. While the novels of the Bronte sisters are much beloved, their beautiful works of poetry often go unnoticed. This collection contains all their poetical works, pieced together by Charlotte, who provides illuminating commentary on her dear sisters' words. The collection was first published under the names Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.

Award-winning audiobook narrator and storyteller Mike Vendetti reads Poems in Prose, the collective title of six prose poems by Oscar Wilde derived from Wilde's many oral tales. These prose poems are the only six that were published by Wilde in his lifetime, and they include (in order of appearance): "The Artist", "The Doer of Good", "The Disciple", "The Master", "The House of Judgment", and "The Teacher of Wisdom".

College freshmen have dissected this poem for ages, but it takes an older person to understand it.

Some pictures tell a story, and a certain old print acquired by a collector proves to have a very dark tale to relate, and in a most uncanny fashion. A classic tale from the master of the English ghost story M. R. James. Originally written to read by the fireside to the members of the Chit Chat Club of Cambridge, this story was first published in James's first collection The Ghost Stories of an Antiquary in 1904. This telling comes with a short afterword which provides some notes and commentary on the text.

Mia Rhodes created Ameritocracy to make it possible for anyone to become president. But as her online political competition races towards its finale, it’s poised to elect a Machiavellian manipulator with a winning smile, leaving Mia to wonder whether she’s changed anything at all. As the competition builds to its spectacular final debate in Washington, DC, Mia and her team must question everything they’ve done so far, and defeat a threat to democracy they had never imagined.

"Transience" by Arthur C. Clarke, narrated as an audiobook by Mike Vendetti explores the fleeting nature of human existence and civilization through the experiences of a child named Bran, who plays on a beach that has seen countless changes over millennia. The narrative spans from the dawn of human consciousness to a future where humanity must leave Earth due to an impending cosmic threat.

Evangeline Knapp's neighbors are in awe of her prowess. She re-upholsters furniture and can take scraps of fabric and create a beautiful garment. Her house is always immaculate and her children are beautifully behaved - except for the stubborn youngest, but with Eva's strength of will, they're certain she'll sort him out in time. The neighbors don't know that in her frenzied zeal to create the perfect home, her children live in dread of her temper. She loves them, but she can't stand having to remind them constantly about the same things, simple rules easy enough for anyone to understand.