Showing results by narrator "Jenny Sterlin" in All Categories

The Bourbon King Louis XVIII has been restored to the throne of France, Napoléon is in exile on the isle of Elba, and Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, and his wife, Hero, have traveled to Paris in hopes of tracing his long-lost mother, Sophie, the errant Countess of Hendon. But his search ends in tragedy when he comes upon the dying Countess in the wasteland at the tip of the Île de la Cité. Stabbed—apparently with a stiletto—and thrown from the bastions of the island’s ancient stone bridge, Sophie dies without naming her murderer.

When the great Thomas Hardy published this heart-wrenching novel, he had no idea it would be his last. But the book stirred so much controversy and protest, Hardy vowed to never write fiction again. Jude the Obscure tells the story of a stonemason, tricked into a loveless marriage, who craves a formal education and a finer existence. Separated from his wife, Jude begins a new life with his cousin, and the couple defies social convention at every turn.

From the collection Mary Russell's War, "Stately Holmes" delivers the author's signature blend of narrative mastery and historical detail while shining light on previously unexplored corners of the Russell-Holmes universe. Laurie R. King blends her long-running brand of crime fiction with historical treats and narrative sleight of hand.

June 1815. The people of London wait breathlessly for news as Napoléon and the forces united against him hurtle toward their final reckoning at Waterloo. Among them is Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, frustrated to find himself sidelined while recovering from a dangerous wound he recently received in Paris. When the mutilated corpse of Major Miles Sedgewick surfaces from the murky waters of the Thames, Sebastian is drawn into the murder investigation, which threatens one of his oldest and dearest friends, Irish surgeon Paul Gibson.

One of the great novelists of British literature, Thomas Hardy caused quite a stir when this powerful novel was first published. Michael Henchard, down on his luck and drunk, sells his wife and child to a sailor for five guineas. As time goes by, Henchard becomes Mayor of Casterbridge—but he cannot escape the tragedy of his past.

Mary Russell is used to dark secrets - her own and those of her famous partner and husband, Sherlock Holmes. Trust is a thing slowly given, but over the course of a decade together, the two have forged an indissoluble bond. And what of the other person to whom Mary Russell has opened her heart: the couple's longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson?

“A brilliant, perceptive, and deeply moving fable.” —Boston Sunday Globe Publishers Weekly calls Gregory Maguire’s Lost “a deftly written, compulsively readable modern-day ghost story.” Brilliantly weaving together the literary threads of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, Charles...

In four new novellas, Christina Henry returns to the world of Alice and Red Queen, where magic runs as freely as secrets and blood. Lovely Creature In the New City lives a girl with a secret: Elizabeth can do magic. But someone knows her secret--someone who has a secret of his own. That secret...

Lady Philippa Nielson had no memory of what took place in her bedchamber in the dead of night—nor knowledge of the dangerous plot that put her life in jeopardy. But with a brief touch of his hand and one glance of his knowing gray eyes, Pippa felt a connection to the dark stranger who should have been her greatest enemy. Who was this man who seemed to understand more about her life than she did herself? Why did she respond to his most casual caresses with the most urgent and reckless of desires?

Although the legend of King Arthur has been told many times, rarely have the villains of the tale been given voices. Here, the treacherous half-sister of Arthur tells the fantastic story of her life, from her tragic childhood to the moment she realizes her fated role in the King's downfall. This is the perfect companion to Nancy Springer's I Am Mordred, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.

Lyrical yet unsentimental, The Midwife's Apprentice won the coveted 1996 Newbery Medal. Filled with striking characters, it paints unforgettable pictures of village life in the Middle Ages, the midwife's craft, and a very remarkable girl's growing independence and pride.

In a London Pub called The Coach and Horses, four men gather. Three of them have been friends for half a lifetime, having fought in the same war, drunk in the same pubs, and bet on the same horses. Now they have come together to deliver the ashes of a fifth man, Jack Dodds, to the sea. Their journey, which will take them deep into their collective and individual pasts, lies at the center of an astonishingly moving novel of friendship, memory, and fate.

To save her family, Mairey Faelyn must give herself in marriage to her sworn enemy, the powerful and ruthless Lord Rushford. Already a wealthy man, Rushford seeks a treasure that only Mairey can reveal, for she knows the family secret that leads to a hidden fortune. Now Mairey must decide whether to protect her vow of silence or enlighten her husband, who is beginning to feel more like her true love than her adversary.

Sons and Lovers is widely considered by critics and readers alike as D.H. Lawrence’s masterpiece and a classic interpretation of the Oedipal complex. Surely one of the greatest autobiographical novels ever written, it tells the story of Paul Morel, a sensitive artist with a far stronger attachment to his mother than his working-class, alcoholic father. Searching for love and human connection, Paul is torn between two very different women, but neither of them measures up to his mother.

In Nothing Like a Dame, theater journalist Eddie Shapiro opens a jewelry box full of glittering surprises, through in-depth conversations with twenty leading women of Broadway. He carefully selected Tony Award-winning stars who have spent the majority of their careers in theater, leaving aside those who have moved on or occasionally drop back in. The women he interviewed spent endless hours with him, discussing their careers, offering insights into the iconic shows, changes on Broadway over the last century, and the art (and thrill) of taking the stage night after night.

From the collection Mary Russell's War, "Mary's Christmas" delivers the author's signature blend of narrative mastery and historical detail while shining light on previously unexplored corners of the Russell-Holmes universe. Laurie R. King blends her long-running brand of crime fiction with historical treats and narrative sleight of hand.

When Madlyn and Rollo are sent to stay at ancient Clawstone Castle, they soon fall in love with the house and its eccentric, penniless inhabitants. There's grumpy, limping Uncle George, mousey Miss Emily, and reclusive Cousin Howard who hardly ever leaves his library. But, the children are especially enchanted by the cattle of Clawstone Park - rare and beautiful beasts, as white as snow and as wild as wolves. No one knows where they came from.

Although Katherine Mansfield was born in New Zealand in 1888, she spent much of her short life in England and on the Continent. As she wrote about the privileged worlds she encountered there, her stories quickly attracted literary attention. Prelude was hand-published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at their Hogarth Press. Readers today still applaud the grace with which Mansfield fuses image, mood and meaning. Here are ten of Katherine Mansfield’s extraordinary tales.

Two women, two generations apart, both on the brink of scandal... Phoebe shared more than her unruly dark curls with the ancestor whose portrait graced the walls of Ham House. Both had retreated from London life to Richmond's leafy beauty. Their retreat posed a challenge to Society's most notorious rakes - Viscount Ransome seemed set on making Phoebe his own. But secrets and passion were part of the fabric of Ham House and Phoebe had learnt from her rebellious ancestor.