Showing results by publisher "Audible Studios" in Biographical Fiction

In the late 1970s Ondaatje returned to his native island of Sri Lanka. As he records his journey through the drug-like heat and intoxicating fragrances of that "pendant off the ear of India", Ondaatje simultaneously retraces the baroque mythology of his Dutch-Ceylonese family. An inspired travel narrative and family memoir by an exceptional writer.

Fantasy, love and an exuberant celebration of English life and literature, Orlando is a uniquely entertaining story. Originally conceived by Virginia Woolf as a playful tribute to the family of her friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando's central character, a fictional embodiment of Sackville-West, changes sex from a man to a woman and lives throughout the centuries, whilst meeting historical figures of English literature.

Like the creation myths they supersede, the revelations of science are seared into our collective imagination through storytelling. From Archimedes' bath to Newton's apple, vivid accounts of scientific discovery help us understand the principles behind each theory, and add to the larger narrative of how the universe works, and how we came to be here. This anthology draws out and distils science's love of narrative from a wide range of scientific disciplines, weaving theory into very human stories.

Her beauty almost certainly saved her from the rising Nazi party and led to marriage with an Austrian arms dealer. Underestimated in everything else, she overheard the Third Reich's plans while at her husband's side, understanding more than anyone would guess. She devised a plan to flee in disguise from their castle, and the whirlwind escape landed her in Hollywood. She became Hedy Lamarr, screen star.

Ebenezer Le Page, cantankerous, opinionated and charming, is one of the most compelling literary creations of the late 20th century. Eighty years old, Ebenezer has lived his whole life on the Channel Island of Guernsey, a stony speck of a place caught between England and France yet a world away from either. Ebenezer himself is fiercely independent, but as he reaches the end of his life he is determined to tell his own story and the story of those he has known.

Barney Panofsky - Canadian expat, wily lover of women, writer, television producer, raconteur - is finally putting pen to paper so he can rebut the charges about him made in his rival’s autobiography. Whether it’s ranting about his bohemian misadventures during the 1950s in Paris, his tumultuous three marriages, or his successful trashy TV company, Totally Unnecessary Productions, he quickly proves that his memory may be slipping, but his bile isn’t.

Tayo, un veterano de la Segunda Guerra Mundial de ascendencia mixta, regresa a la reserva de los lagunas. Está profundamente marcado por su experiencia como prisionero de los japoneses y herido por el rechazo de su pueblo. Solo sumergiéndose en el pasado indio puede empezar a recuperar la paz que le fue arrebatada. Pero, por muy poderosa que sea la historia de Tayo, el triunfo perdurable de Ceremonia se extiende mucho más allá de la narración de los acontecimientos.

In 1909, Clementine steps off a train with her new husband, Winston. An angry woman emerges from the crowd to attack, shoving him in the direction of an oncoming train. Just before he stumbles, Clementine grabs him by his suit jacket. This will not be the last time Clementine Churchill will save her husband. Lady Clementine is the ferocious story of the ambitious woman beside Winston Churchill, the story of a partner who did not flinch through the sweeping darkness of war, and who would not surrender either to expectations or to enemies.

Captain Nemo is the fictional life story of one of Jules Verne's most memorable characters from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island. It covers his boyhood friendship with the dreamer Jules Verne, adventures aboard sailing ships, battles with pirates, and survival on a mysterious deserted island. Each time he returns home to his beloved France, Captain Nemo shares the tales of his exploits with the struggling writer Verne.

Nowhere in Africa is the extraordinary tale of a Jewish family who flees the Nazi regime in 1938 for a remote farm in Kenya. Abandoning their once-comfortable existence in Germany, Walter Redlich, his wife Jettel, and their five-year-old daughter, Regina, each deal with the harsh realities of their new life in different ways. Attorney Walter is resigned to working the farm as a caretaker; pampered Jettel resists adjustment at every turn; while the shy yet curious Regina immediately embraces the country - learning the local language and customs.

Lever les yeux vers les étoiles. Aussi, à défaut de pouvoir les approcher, dans un monde où le métier d'astronaute est réservé aux hommes, elle est devenue astrophysicienne. Mais le jour où elle apprend que la NASA recrute des scientifiques, consciente des sacrifices qui s'annoncent, elle saisit sa chance. Ce matin de décembre 1984, quand Joan arrive au centre de contrôle à Houston, elle s'attend à vivre une journée comme les autres.

American-born Catherine knows little of her Croatian mother's early life. When Marijana dies of ovarian cancer, 22-year-old Catherine finds herself cut off from the past she never really knew. As Catherine searches for clues to her mother's elusive history, she discovers that Marijana was orphaned during WWII, nearly died as a teenager, and escaped from Communist Yugoslavia to Rome, and then South America. Through travel and memory, history and imagination, Catherine resurrects the relatives she's never known.

Rosalind Franklin has always been an outsider - brilliant, but different. Whether working at the laboratory she adored in Paris or toiling at a university in London, she feels closest to the science, those unchanging laws of physics and chemistry that guide her experiments. When she is assigned to work on DNA, she believes she can unearth its secrets. Rosalind knows if she just takes one more X-ray picture - one more after thousands - she can unlock the building blocks of life.

García Márquez y Vargas Llosa se conocieron en el aeropuerto de Caracas, en agosto de 1967. Con apenas treinta y un años, Vargas Llosa era ya un escritor aclamado por la crítica. García Márquez, cuarenta años cumplidos, encontraba por fin el éxito editorial con Cien años de soledad, publicada ese año en Buenos Aires. Antes de confundirse en un abrazo en el aeropuerto de Caracas que dio inicio formal a la amistad, los dos genios de la literatura se habían escrito cartas y leído mutuamente con admiración.

Amani è nata in Siria ma è cresciuta in Italia. Quando compie sedici anni, con una scusa, la madre la porta nel suo paese di origine per qualche giorno. Dopo i primi entusiasmi per un mondo diverso e affascinante, ricco di profumi e sapori nuovi, Amani scopre di essere stata in realtà fidanzata a un cugino, mai conosciuto e mai amato. Le dicono che in Italia non tornerà più. Amani si ribella a quel fidanzamento e a quell'uomo, pagando un prezzo molto alto, in una realtà dura e violenta dove le donne non sono che oggetti sotto la tutela dei maschi.

C'è, in queste nove storie di infanzie, adolescenze e giovinezze, tutta l'abilità di Francesco Piccolo di soffermarsi su quei dettagli e sorprese della vita che afferrano però il senso della vita: una frase ricorrente della mamma; un saluto sempre uguale; le caramelle di un tempo che erano un colorante unico; la convinzione tutta meridionale che non piove mai e gli ombrelli non servono.

Cette biographie de la faim, de ce désir jamais rassasié, de cette quête qui n'a jamais de fin, Amélie Nothomb la décline sous toutes ses formes, du ravissement à l'horreur, avec brio, douleur, amour, humour et lucidité, pour dire ce terrible paradoxe d'exister. Il s'en dégage une puissance de vision, une perception fatale où l'absolu et sa dérision se côtoient. C'est une mise à nu éblouissante où l'auteur est le sujet de son œuvre et qui prouve ô combien qu'Amélie Nothomb est un de nos grands auteurs contemporains.

It is 1556 and the queen's astrologer, the prophet Nostradamus has uncovered a secret that could destroy the kingdom of France. The queen, Catherine de Medicis, a dabbler in black magic, has decided to get rid of the king's mistress by seeking out the legendary Undying Head of Menander the Magus, known as the Master of All Desires. But she does not know that evil befalls all those who wish upon this accursed object. And the head, in its coffer, has fallen into the possession of a charming, wryly perceptive but stubborn young woman: Sybille Artaud de la Roche.

Jane Popyncourt was brought to the court as a child to be ward of the king and a companion to his daughters - the princesses Margaret and Mary. With no money of her own, Jane could not hope for a powerful marriage, or perhaps even marriage at all. But as she grows into a lovely young woman, she still receives flattering attention from the young men flocking to serve the handsome new king, Henry VIII, who has recently married Catherine of Aragon. Then a dashing French prisoner of war, cousin to the king of France, is brought to London, and Jane finds she can't help giving her heart to a man she can never marry.

This exquisitely imagined novel opens as William rescues Caroline from a life of drudgery in Germany and brings her to England and a world of music making and stargazing. Lina, as Caroline is known, serves as William's assistant and the captain of his exhilaratingly busy household. William is generous, wise, and charismatic, an obsessive genius whom Lina adores and serves with the fervency of a beloved wife. When William suddenly announces that he will be married, Lina watches her world collapse.