Showing results by narrator "Zehra Naqvi" in All Categories

The Second Half explores how the second half of life is experienced by women from many different cultures. From a French actress to a British novelist, from an Algerian nomad to a Saudi Arabian doctor, and an American politician, Ellen Warner traveled all over the world to interview women about their lives. She asked them what they learned in the first half that was helpful in the second, and what advice they would give to younger women. Their revealing and inspiring stories are enlightening for all listeners.

A century after her legendary ancestors overcame a bloodthirsty tyrant, 17-year-old Valory Braiosa attends a training academy for elicromancers, immortal beings with magical gifts. Yet Valory's immense power seems impossible to tame, and she faces imprisonment by the Nisseran authorities. Then a forbidden resurrection spell awakens a long-dormant evil, and Valory may be the only one who can vanquish this terrifying villain.

When Payal Mehra's detached parents insist she marry fellow Londoner and serial dater Ayaan Malhotra in order to save their own company, she has a choice: get disowned from the luxurious life they've funded and put her dreams on hold while she works a soul-sucking day job...or get engaged to save her family's fortune and maybe rescue her own vision of a dream come true.

The stomach is notoriously outspoken. It growls, gurgles, and grumbles while other organs remain silent. For centuries humans have puzzled over this rowdy organ, deliberating on the extent of its influence over cognition, mental wellbeing, and emotions, and wondering how the gut became so central to our sense of self. Traveling from ancient Greece to Victorian England, eighteenth-century France to modern America, historian Elsa Richardson leads us on a tour of the gut, exploring all the ways that we have imagined, theorized, and probed the mysteries of the gastroenterological system.

It's 1831, and Lady Gwendolyn Crichton has been appointed royal sorceress following the tragic events known as the Swing. Now alone at the head of the Royal College of Sorcerers, Gwen must overcome prejudice against her gender and age if she is to exercise her authority and fulfill her responsibilities. Soon, an unexpected responsibility is made manifest when Sir Travis Mortimer, a senior magician recently returned from India, is found murdered in a locked room.

The long-dreaded war between Britain and France has finally begun. French soldiers have landed on English soil, and the British Army - and the Royal Sorcerers Corps, led by Lady Gwen - is moving to meet them. But when an inexperienced major disobeys her orders and sends two hundred hussars to their deaths, Gwen accidentally uses her magic to permanently damage his mind and sparks a political crisis at the worst possible time. In the aftermath of the battle, Lord Mycroft suggests she leave Britain and head to the North American colonies.

The Royal Sorceress, Lady Gwendolyn Crichton, will be responsible for the Empire's magical resources when the time comes. Still struggling to overcome prejudice within the Royal College of Sorcerers, she has at least earned the gratitude of much of the aristocracy, if not their respect. Just when Gwen needs to be firmly focussed on training new sorcerers, her adopted daughter Olivia, the only known living necromancer, is kidnapped.

It has been six months since the fall of the great cities of Ancient Sumer. Six months since war and chaos scattered everyone to the wind. Ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld, finds herself trapped in the rubble of her realm with only one thought: to rescue the man she loves. In the realm of light, Harga and Marduk mount a hopeless resistance against the vast Akkadian forces, whilst Gilgamesh, once king of Uruk, travels to Egypt in search of a legend that could save them.

The cosmic gods are about to strike, humanity is on the verge of losing its free will, and Carmella Hunter and her friends are the last line of defense. The task of being anchor between the witches and the skein is draining Carmella by the hour, but she isn't one to sit by and let her friends do the work. With the clock ticking toward the eclipse, Carmella is determined to wrestle a plan B into place.

Families are going missing in the city, and investigative operative Carmella Hunter has been tasked to find them. With the public eye on her every move, Carmella must work against a ticking clock to locate the missing humans. When the evidence begins to point to an entirely alien and sinister plot, the government agency Carmella works for is forced to change strategy. Now, Carmella and her friends must go undercover in the hopes of becoming the next victims. But will the kidnapper take the bait? And if he does, will Carmella and her friends make it out alive?

In the Bangalore, India, of the 2070s, a young woman who is internet-famous enters an empty police station and tells the virtual assistant that her life is in danger. When she disappears out of her own apartment, it's up to Police Sub-Inspector Ferron and her partner to determine whether a crime has even been committed. In a world of enhanced tech and extreme interconnectedness, can someone truly disappear?

After years of inconclusive war, the Franco-Spanish Empire is on the verge of collapse. The military is coming apart, the people are starving, the economy is on the brink . . . and yet, as long as the crown keeps tight control of its magicians, all hope of revolution and victory remains faint. The secret police are in control, rebel magicians are hunted down and eliminated before they can pose a threat and, worst of all, the government has found a new way to enhance magical power. The situation seems dire. But with a little help, there may be a chance.

Bound to the queen of Chandela by a forbidden soul bond that saved her when she was a child, Katyani has never fallen short of what’s expected of her—becoming the best guardswoman the Garuda has ever seen and an advisor to the crown prince when he ascends to the throne. But when the latest assassination attempt against the royals leaves them with a faceless body and no leads to the perpetrator, Katyani is unwillingly shipped off to guard the Chandela princes in Acharya Mahavir’s esteemed monastic school in Nandovana, a forest where monsters have roamed unchecked for generations.

A young African boy has been murdered in a back alley. Despite running low on empathy, social worker Stella Hardy heads into the night to comfort the grieving mother. But when she gets there, she makes a discovery that has the potential to uncover something terrible from her past. Enlisting the help of Senior Constable Phuong Nguyen, Stella's investigation draws her further and further into a dark world of drug dealers, sociopaths and killers.

This is the real world of modern Karachi as seen through the eyes of a young woman in an elite family. Here are the hidden dramatic realities of the upper class, the undertow of religion, revealing the truth sometimes spoken in hushed whispers, more often swept away by the flourish of silk saris at extravagant dinner parties...or perhaps never mentioned at all.

When kitchen witch Gwen Young releases King Arthur from the suit of armor in her cafe, it's just the beginning of a new adventure, as he accompanies her out on the town, discovering his new world and helping her solve another murder.

Fifty years hence, in the sleek modern city of Bangalore, a scientist working on revolutionary bioengineering techniques has been discovered inside his own locked home, his body converted into a neat toroidal package of meat. It's up to Police Sub-Inspector Ferron to unearth the victim's complicated past and solve the crime, despite the best efforts of the mastermind behind the murder, aliens beaming signals from the Andromeda Galaxy, her overbearing mother, and the intricacies of dealing with the only witness - an adorable parrot-cat.

Every girl needs a knight in shining armor.... When kitchen witch Gwen Young discovers the spirit of King Arthur in the suit of armor that stands in her cafe only an hour after finding a dead body in the library, she knows it's going to be a very strange day....

Return to Nissera, land of three kingdoms and home to spectacular magic. An uneasy peace reigns now that Valory has vanquished the Moth King and settled into her rightful place as queen of Calgoran. New leaders Glisette and Kadri hope to usher the neighboring kingdoms into an era of healing and prosperity. All should be well. But there's a fourth queen in charge: Ambrosine, banished overseas to Perispos. Driven by vanity, she vows to become the most powerful and beautiful ruler in the world, even if it means oppressing the mortal kingdom she is meant to protect.

The world isn't the same as it was yesterday. In fact, Viv is no longer sure that she is the same as she was yesterday. She can do something she never knew was possible—and Luca tried to kill her, just like Jasper said he would if she let him get too close. At the teahouse, it's business as usual, however: tentacles in the top floor, an invasion of not-quite-real-but-nevertheless-terrifying spiders . . . and a new murderer to catch, of course. Someone is trying to make sure a Greek-Australian couple never makes it to the altar, and it's not just perfume they're sneaking into the bride's room.