Showing results by narrator "Rachel" in All Categories

Richard has spent his life as a university professor, immersed in the world of books and ideas. Recently retired, he steps into the streets of his city, Berlin, and discovers a new community. A tent city has grown up on Oranienplatz, established by African asylum seekers. Hesitantly getting to know the people there, Richard finds his life changing, as he begins to question his own sense of belonging in a city that once divided its citizens into them and us.

In 2048, Sam Bixler is a brilliant scientist working for Telos, the world's most powerful corporation. Little does she know that a shocking secret about a deadly virus lurks within Telos, setting her on a thrilling and dangerous journey.

In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of colour (The Help) while also taking listeners on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

She's on the run from her cruel guardian... And Miss Adelaide has found the perfect hiding spot in the home of the formidable Earl of Tolston. But masquerading as a maid comes at a cost. One day she faints on the job, and when she wakes... She's in the arms of the Earl. His eyes are dark as he glowers down at her, but then he says, "What are you hiding, little one?"

Eighteen months after Natalie Gray loses her husband, Bernie, in a horrific hit and run accident, she finds love with his best friend, Ed Cooper, and moves into his home with her teenage daughter, Scarlett. But she begins to suspect Ed has a dark side - and even darker intentions. Natalie must get her troubled child to a safer place, but when Scarlett starts to hear voices coming from the empty apartment next door it seems she has unwittingly moved them into the heart of danger.

Alina and Laura are independent and career-driven women in their mid-thirties, neither of whom have built their future around the prospect of a family. Laura has taken the drastic decision to be sterilized, but as time goes by Alina becomes drawn to the idea of becoming a mother. When complications arise in Alina’s pregnancy and Laura becomes attached to her neighbour’s son, both women are forced to reckon with the complexity of their emotions.

Summer is busy season for Mackenzie "Mac" Almeida's bicycle shop, nestled in the quaint, seaside hamlet of Westham, Massachusetts. She's expecting an influx of tourists at Mac's Bikes; instead she discovers the body of Jake Lacey. Mac can't imagine anyone stabbing the down-on-his-luck handyman. However, the authorities seem to think Mac is a strong suspect after she was spotted arguing with Jake just hours before his death. Mac knows she didn't do it, but she does recognize the weapon - her brother Derrick's fishing knife.

When Diya Burman's best friend, Angie, dies unexpectedly, it feels like her own life is falling apart. Grief costs her friends, family and even her job. But that's ok, because now she's got a new job: working at Slough & Sons, a family firm that deals in cleaning up after the recently deceased. Old love letters. Porcelain dolls. Hoarded trinkets. Clearing away the remnants of other people's lives, Diya begins to see things. Horrible things. Things that get harder and harder to write off as merely her grieving imagination.

When Paige Nichols meets her husband’s glamorous new colleague at a faculty mixer, she instantly knows they’re having an affair. It’s the way he looks at her, like she’s the only woman in the world. Aaron used to look at her like that, too. And with her beautiful, knowing smile, Cara Morton seems to enjoy flaunting their romance right under her nose.

The students of LA’s elite Warner Prep can’t wait for their Senior Excursion—five days of Instagrammable adventure in one of the world’s most exclusive locations. This is not your average field trip. Which is why eight students can’t believe their bad luck when they end up on a digital detox in an isolated Colorado ski chalet. Their epic trip is panning out to be an epic bore . . . until their classmates start dropping in a series of disturbing deaths. The message is clear: this trip is no accident.

The first of our organs to form, the last to die, the heart is both a simple pump and the symbol of all that makes us human: as long as it continues to beat, we hope. The Story of a Heart is the narrative of the staggering medical innovations that have given us heart transplants, interwoven with the story of two children - one of whom desperately waits for a heart to save his life.

The ancient Mediterranean teemed with gods. For centuries, a practical religious pluralism prevailed. How, then, did one particular god come to dominate the politics and piety of the late Roman Empire? In Ancient Christianities, Paula Fredriksen traces the evolution of early Christianity—or rather, of early Christianities—through five centuries of Empire, mapping its pathways from the hills of Judea to the halls of Rome and Constantinople.

When her father and sister are killed, a distant relative invites Salome Alexandra and her mother to live with his family in Jerusalem. Quickly betrothed to a pagan prince half her age, Salome questions God's plan. But when she suddenly finds herself being crowned queen of Judea, she learns that a woman committed to God can change the world.

Sarajevo, spring 1992. Each night, nationalist gangs erect barricades, splitting the diverse city into ethnic enclaves; each morning, the residents – whether Muslim, Croat or Serb – push the makeshift barriers aside. When violence finally spills over, Zora, an artist and teacher, sends her husband and elderly mother to safety with her daughter in England. Reluctant to believe that hostilities will last more than a handful of weeks, she stays behind while the city falls under siege.

For neuroscientist Dr. Rachel Barr, understanding our brains is not just a profession but an immensely personal endeavour. Having witnessed her own mother’s struggles with mental ill-health, Rachel embarked on studies that would help her understand and share the simple steps that we can all take to better our own mental well-being. In stark contrast to the relentless effort and productivity of the multi-step optimization movement, Rachel offers a refreshing alternative.

As a member of the strictly religious Satmar sect of Hasidic Judaism, Deborah Feldman grew up under a code of relentlessly enforced customs governing everything from what she could wear and to whom she could speak to what she was allowed to read. Yet in spite of her repressive upbringing, Deborah grew into an independent-minded young woman whose stolen moments reading about the empowered literary characters of Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott helped her to imagine an alternative way of life among the skyscrapers of Manhattan.

After her one attempt at commitment ends in the worst kind of betrayal, Maggie Lawson vows that the only people she’ll love ’til death do they part will be her friends. Unfortunately, that means Maggie letting her bestie rope her into a year-long dating dare: score a new date each month or pay a penalty. It seems doable—until Maggie’s date stands her up, leaving only one option: the sexy stud who just moved in upstairs. The problem? He and Maggie can’t stop fighting—and that’s just the beginning.

Joanna's wealthy family aspires to Herod's inner circle, but when her father's esteemed position in the Sepphoris Sanhedrin is threatened, her family harbors a dark secret. Entangled in the complexities of aristocratic life and an impending arranged marriage, Joanna is caught between her own desires and maintaining appearances. When tragedy strikes, Joanna grapples with a new future that challenges her sense of duty and hope for love.

A book to offer clarity and guidance when facing the difficult decision of whether your relationship has a future. Whether we should stay in or leave a relationship is one of the most consequential and painful decisions we are ever likely to confront.

Beth Reynolds loved growing up close to Eleanor's Emporium – a bric-a-brac shop full of wonders on Lavender Bay. Devastated to learn that Eleanor has died, she returns home from London immediately and is shocked to discover that the elderly lady has left the shop to her! Vowing to restore it to its former glory, she only intends to stay until the end of the season. Although the longer she spends in the colourful seaside town, the more she falls back in love with everything she left behind... and quite possibly, with her best friend Eliza's older brother, local chef Sam Barnes!