Showing results by publisher "Blackstone Audio, Inc." in Historical

The three novels that make up The Forsyte Saga chronicle the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle class Forsyte family through three generations, beginning in Victorian London during the 1880s and ending in the early 1920s. Galsworthy's masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women.

An excerpt from the book: "Sure, it's unusual to have an 18-year-old mother when you're 12. But when you're an orphan and she's your aunt and the only mother you've ever had well, as I explained, it had worked out real well..."

An excerpt from the book: "In the dimness of the early morning I could see field after neighborhood field as I let my gaze wander around me. First there was ours, I supposed I would always think of the farm as ours, Grandpa's, Uncle Charlie's, and mine, though in truth it really was just mine now. Guess that was one of the reasons I was whistling. Just yesterday Grandpa and Uncle Charlie had signed all the official papers to make the farm mine, really and legally mine."

Thomas Carrick is a gentleman driven to control all aspects of his life. As the wealthy owner of Carrick Enterprises, located in bustling Glasgow, he is one of that city's most eligible bachelors and fully intends to select an appropriate wife from the many young ladies paraded before him. He wants to take that necessary next step along his self-determined path, yet no young lady captures his eye, much less his attention - not in the way Lucilla Cynster does, even though she lives miles away.

Written in the winter of 1849, The Scarlet Letter unfolds the story of Hester Prynne, a young woman branded as an adulteress in the harsh Puritan world of 17th-century New England. As Hester calls on her inner strength to transcend her shame, the scarlet letter ceases to be a stigma and finally becomes Hester's symbol of self-affirmation. This dramatic reading heightens the sense of lyric poetry that permeates every line of Nathaniel Hawthorne's great novel.

They meet in a clash of swords, drenched in the moonlight of Britain's rugged eastern coast: Captain Jack, his handsome features etched in silver and shadow, his powerful physique compelling "Kit" Cranmer to surrender. He is her dream lover come vividly alive, and his command of the smuggling gang is absolute. His all-knowing gaze penetrates her disguise as the male leader of a rival gang with frightening ease, and his "punishment" with kisses leaves her maidenly modesty in tatters.

On the eve of Katie's wedding to widower Bishop John, startling news staggers out of her anguished parents, and nothing prepares Katie for the devastation their confession brings. Feeling betrayed, Katie watches as the only life she has ever known begins to unravel, leaving in its wake a furrow of pain and a future of hope.

Bold, passionate, and possessive, the Cynster men let nothing stand in their way when it comes to claiming the women of their hearts. Gerrard Debbington, Vane Cynster's brother-in-law, is one of London's most eligible gentlemen. Uninterested in marriage, his driving passion is to paint the fabled gardens of Lord Tregonning's Hellebore Hall, an opportunity that is now at hand - if Gerrard agrees to create an honest portrait of Tregonning's daughter as well.

Some young ladies marry for money and social standing, a few lucky ones marry for love - but Tiffany Warren is marrying to end a feud. Honoring her mother’s promise, Tiffany reluctantly travels west to meet her estranged father and his enemy’s eldest son, rancher Hunter Callahan. Once the Warrens and the Callahans are united by marriage, both clans will stop squabbling over a disputed strip of land. In the chaos of a train robbery Tiffany seizes a golden opportunity. By assuming the identity of her father’s new housekeeper she can live with the father she never knew and assess his true character, as well as that of the neighboring cowboy to whom she is betrothed.

A lonely young heiress becomes the poorest wealthy woman in Victorian England when her father dies without telling anyone where he hid his fortune. Can Tressa and the no-nonsense estate manager find the fortune before the greedy relatives get to it first? Tressa Harlowe's father did not trust banks, but neither did he trust his greedy extended family. He kept his vast fortune hidden somewhere on his estate in the south of England and died suddenly, without telling anyone where he had concealed it.

De jóvenes, Florentino Ariza y Fermina Daza se enamoran apasionadamente, pero Fermina eventualmente decide casarse con un médico rico y de muy buena familia. Florentino estáanonadado, pero es un romántico. Su carrera en los negocios florece, y aunquesostiene 622 pequeños romances, su corazón todavía pertenece a Fermina. Cuandoal fin el esposo de ella muere, Florentino acude al funeral con toda intención.

Sir Niall Oliphant was betrothed to the Bruce's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, until she declares that his wound in battle has incapacitated him as a man. Because he does not wish to marry the spoiled royal, he is glad to pass her off to his brother Sir Walter. He's more than content to fade into the background with his injuries and remain a bachelor forever. Until he is presented with an offer from the Earl of Sutherland to marry his only daughter, a lass more beautiful than any other, who makes him want to stand up and fight again.

Lady Lucinda Esmond's swine of a father, the earl of Sotheran, was forever fleecing young bucks in London's gaming halls with impunity - until he cheats Captain Mark Chamfrey, who kidnaps 10-year-old Lucinda for ransom. But when Chamfrey has a change of heart and returns the girl, Earl Esmond nonetheless exacts his own price: Chamfrey can redeem himself and save his skin only by marrying his little victim nine years hence.

Fanny and her groom had been tricked! Parents on both sides, all impoverished, had decided to recoup their families' losses by marrying their children to the progeny of a wealthier neighbor. The joke was on them, however, when it was outed that neither family had a penny to its name. Charles was not the dark rogue of Fanny's girlish fantasies, but he was chivalrously determined that she should meet someone more appropriate for her than he.

Catriona, first published in 1893, is the sequel to Kidnapped and continues the adventures of David Balfour and his friend Alan Breck. Balfour returns to the city in order to defend Breck against false charges in the Appin murder. In so doing, he becomes a pawn in a game between feuding Scottish clans; he also sets eyes on a young woman whose involvement in the same matter becomes as central to his actions as his desire to vindicate his comrade in arms.

Tongues were set wagging when Elizabeth Markham's glamorous young parents were killed, sinking their only child to the unspeakable class of poor relation. Forced to live with her cruel, miserly uncle Julius, Elizabeth is forbidden to partake in the season's festivities. Marriage is her only escape, and she enacts a daring plan to trick her way into the duke of Dunster's exclusive house party, to snare one of the eligible dandies sure to dance attendance on her.

She was a lady's maid who longed to be a lady. How else could Lucy Balfour hope to win the favor of Andrew, Viscount Harvey, the toast of the town, who seemed ready to take a bride at last? There was only one way to do it, and that was to command his attention. It seemed an impossible dream; first she had to become the peer of her own mistress, the coldly beautiful Lady Angela, who was determined to claim Andrew as her own.

The last novel completed by Jane Austen before she died at 41, Persuasion is often thought to be the story of the author's own lost love. Sir Walter Elliot of Kellynch Hall has three daughters: Elizabeth, who shares his haughty vanity and, at 28 has found no one good enough to marry; Mary, who has, with some condescension, married the son of the local squire; and admirable Anne, who "was nobody with either father or sister".

This is a journey of both escape and discovery for four exquisitely different women, a month of bliss and privacy for four weary souls. Their refuge on the Italian Riviera provides the perfect backdrop for a story about the search for spiritual harmony within and without.

Scotland, 1812: rugged Highlander Graeme's loyalty to his clan means that their enemies are his own - even when that includes his neighbor, the Duke of Lattimer. It's a fight he doesn't relish, but when Graeme's reckless younger brothers foolishly kidnap Lattimer's younger sister, all bets are off. Lady Marjorie Forrester may be aligned with the enemy, but capturing her puts Graeme squarely in the middle of a war.