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An engrossing BBC Radio 4 series spanning the history of the home and domestic relationships over the past 500 years, presented by Amanda Vickery. Professor Vickery is one of the most charismatic historians in Britain today. In 'A History of Private Life' she reveals the intimate secrets of life at home, from the Tudor mansion to the modern bedsit.Through letters, diaries and other first-person accounts, we hear the voices of men and women from very different backgrounds telling their stories.

In the sleepy town of Lost Maidens Loch, people sometimes disappear.... Down a quiet lane in town sits a little shop full of oddities you’d probably miss if you weren’t looking for it. This is Love’s Curiosities Inc., and its owner, Temerity Love, is sought by experts all over the world for her rare and magical gift: The ability to find lost things and learn their stories. When Lost Maidens’ pretty local school teacher is found murdered by a poisoned cup of tea, a strange antique hand mirror is discovered nearby.

When a factory girl and a Jewish businessman fall in love it seems that the whole world is against them. Manchester, 1939. On the eve of war Gracie Earnshaw is working in Rosenberg's Raincoat factory - a job she hates - but her life is about to be turned upside down when she falls in love with Jacob, the boss' charismatic nephew. Through Jacob, with his ambitions to be a writer, Gracie glimpses another world: theatre, music and prejudice. But their forbidden romance is cut short when Jacob is arrested and tragedy unfolds.

Sadie Vaughn has long admired Howard Gibson, but after his fiancée jilts him at the altar, she refuses to be his consolation prize. But his mother has other ideas. Convinced that Sadie is the perfect wife for her son, she’s determined to push them together by any means necessary—whether they like it or not. Howard may be a fool, but Walter Reed is not. Sadie is and always will be his first choice, but his debilitating shyness makes him seem more dour grump than lovesick beau, dooming their courtship before it even starts. And his mother is done waiting.

It’s bad when the girls go missing. It’s worse when the girls are found. Six months ago, Charlotte almost lost everything. Now, she’s determined to keep her daughter, Elle, safe. So when local girls close to Elle in age and appearance begin to go missing, it’s her worst nightmare...

The oldest bonds are the hardest severed. When Fabio’s aunt Lucretia flexes her match-making muscles, he seeks escape from a marriage to shy, bored Adriane. Luckily, his friend Petros needs help investigating a possible rebellion in Vademlutra. All Fabio has to do is pretend to be poor and keep his wits about him. Certain there’s nothing to investigate, Fabio settles down for a week in the tavern until a lost young woman in the woods captivates him. Where is she from and why is she so keen to die?

Matthew Bixby despises social politics. Good manners and small talk weren’t prized in the slums, and despite having freed himself and his family of their poverty, Matthew never saw a need for such frivolous things. Until now. A war between the masters and workers is brewing, and if Matthew isn’t careful, it will destroy everything he’s built. But with so much of the battle being waged in ballrooms and parlors, he needs someone who can help him navigate society without adding to his burdens—a wife who won’t expect anything more than a partnership.

When Silas Byrnes married, he wasn’t expecting a happy ending for him and his wife. Theirs was a union of duty and not love, but fourteen years of marriage had been a misery for them both. Luckily the navy rarely allowed him time ashore. Now widowed, Silas has no choice but to return to a house that doesn’t feel like home and reclaim his children, who are determined to hate him as their mother did.

With Lucretia’s family busy arguing about money, any possibility that an old ring bought in the forum might be important is pushed aside until Lucretia’s cousin is poisoned and the local magistrate Amicus starts to raise questions. As the past starts to catch up with the present, Tryssa must help Amicus discover who would kill rather than reveal long-buried truths...and what those truths actually are.

190 AD Pecunia: an insignificant town in west Britain. Romano-Briton Lucretia is determined that her get-rich-quick scheme will not be undermined by minor things like her husband’s death, dubious imposters, or her married daughter’s fascination with a celebrity gladiator. But when the bodies start to mount up, wise-woman Tryssa starts to ask questions. Certain that a forgotten goddess cannot be blamed, Tryssa needs to uncover the truth before another life is lost.

1941. Hitler unleashes Operation Barbarossa, taking the German forces to the outskirts of Moscow. Fearful of Lenin’s mausoleum falling into enemy hands, Stalin orders Lenin to be moved a 1,000 miles behind the Urals. Caught up the web of intrigue is beautiful Allied spy Eva Molenaar. She uncovers a plot involving a Hollywood mogul, Hitler’s propaganda machine, and a Nazi spy ring to bring Lenin’s body out of Russia for a propaganda coup.

Irish Luck, Chinese Medicine is about improbable allies: an Irish single mother and a Chinese physician. Set against the backdrop of the Catholic Church in 19th Century America, it’s the story of how entrepreneurship and strength become a gateway for family survival despite injustice, tragedy, and ill-fated love. Follow the journey of a woman finding her strength as she rescues her sons from child labor and saves her family’s inheritance, only to risk everything for the man she loves.

Rosie Lee's owner, Abby, is a woman without a plan...and her beloved little cafe is a business with a serious lack of customers. The Rosie Lee's fry-up is legendary, but cooked breakfasts alone - however perfectly sizzled the bacon - aren't going to pay the bills. Fast approaching 40 and fighting a serious case of empty nest syndrome, Abby realises it's not just her menu that needs a makeover. And when Jack Chance, her 'The One That Got Away', saunters through the cafe doors and back into her life things definitely look set to change....

Natasha is a woman with a problem. The party lifestyle that she enjoyed with her partner, Helen, is about to come crashing to an abrupt end. While she battles with her addiction, she meets the charismatic Caroline who has the way of life that she yearns for. As Helen resists all change, Natasha searches for the bridge to a better life and finds herself facing hard choices.

Collected by the author, these stories from the yoga and Zen traditions are the flint and steel that strike a spark that lights up the mind with insights that one should ponder to bring to light ever deeper meaning. They may be similar in intent to Zen koans - but they are rather different in content. In many Zen koans, someone says or does something extraordinarily inappropriate, which catches your attention just because it's extraordinary - but afterwards the light from them has to be applied to daily life.

Juliette always thought she’d have more time. But as her 40th birthday approaches she is dealt the deadliest of blows - she has just weeks to live. As the terrible news sinks in, Juliette’s only concern is for her 15-year-old daughter, Rosie. Who will take care of her precious child? Who will love her daughter with the same fierce love? The answer lies in a secret Juliette hoped never to reveal....