Showing results by narrator "Frances Butt" in All Categories

It is the sixth century. The Romans have been gone for over 100 years, and Britannia is sinking into darkness. Kingdoms clash, and invaders flood the shores – the Jutes, the Angles, and now the bloodthirsty Saxons. Only Uther Pendragon has kept the West safe, defying, too, the rising tide of Christianity. But now, Uther is dead. And if the West falls, all of Britannia will follow. Deep in a secluded valley, hidden from the world, Arthur and Morgan have grown to adulthood under the care of their foster parents.

This edition of Shelley's second novel, transcribed and introduced by Deanna Koretsky, explores the work both as a complex portrayal of taboo desires and as an intergenerational story of reckoning with the horrors of racism and patriarchy. Mathilda is often understood as biographical, but this edition also highlights the issues of justice, gender, and rights.

After suffering the tragic loss of her best friend, Lottie Beck is struggling. Aged eighteen, she's flunked school and spends her days lying in a darkened room, doing nothing. Finally, she is forced to get a job in Silver Birches Care Home. Once there, and after meeting the residents, particularly the feisty, no-nonsense Bobby, she settles in, appreciating how much history lies behind each person. A history she can read, in her own special way, via the simple touch of a hand.

She embarked on a painful odyssey towards Europe’s oldest one percenter motorcycle clubs. Despite her triumphant career as a journalist, a gnawing emptiness festered within her as she ventured into her forties. An issue left unsolved for two excruciating decades. This haunting memory from the early 1990s in Glasgow, Scotland, and the man she never forgot. Time to bid the biker the farewell he never received and confront the shadows of her past.

The forest is a deadly place. Nobody knows this better than Penny. She has spent her whole life hiding in the darkness, shielding herself from the terrors that watch and wait within the trees. When Penny is abandoned and left for dead in the forest, she is forced to navigate this terrifying labyrinth in order to return home to her son and take revenge on the woman who tried to kill her. But the murderous creatures with the false smiles aren't the only monsters to lurk in the forest, and some demons may be closer than she thinks.

Although Psychic Surveys remain busy, there’s been no real cases lately to get their teeth into, logical explanations found for most hauntings. That all changes when Ruby gets a call from Conor Byrne, who lives in the Republic of Ireland. The fear in his voice is genuine. Ruby, Theo, Ness and Corinna head over to the Emerald Isle to help Conor, and, of course, the distressed spirit – their aim to bring peace to the living and the dead. They arrive to find a dilapidated cottage in a rural area, and a man that’s barely alive.

When apothecary Growina Crowe receives a witch’s grimoire as collateral, she attempts to summon an otherworldly companion. In the process, she forgets a boiling teapot, topples candles, and sets her herb garden ablaze. The next morning, a magic-eating monster besets her town, prompting a bounty hunt. Growina fears she may be responsible, but there are only two ways to find out for sure: wait for bounty hunters to catch her, or join one of the adventuring parties.