Showing results by narrator "Emma Fenney" in All Categories

In The Happy Family, a pair of snails live inside a burdock forest near an old manor house. They remember the old days when their kinfolk were served on platters in the old house and suspect the house has since been abandoned. Deciding to grow their family, they adopt a common snail and must arrange a marriage for their new child.

In this fable about what happens to liars and boasters, a gentleman’s collar decides to marry and proposes to various female objects, embroidering his accomplishments and good qualities at every turn.

In The Princess and the Pea, a prince who wants to marry a princess finds it difficult to ascertain whether a princess is authentically noble. On a stormy night, a bedraggled young woman claiming to be a princess seeks shelter in the prince's castle. The Prince’s mother tests the girl’s claim by placing three peas underneath the 20 mattresses laid out for her. A humorous tale about the absurdities of the noble.

In The Naughty Boy, an old poet welcomes a wet and shivering boy into his home to warm up, not realizing that the boy has an ulterior motive - and a bow and arrow. This short tale ruminates on the naughtiness and ubiquity of Cupid.

In this parable about the transience of earthly things, a mysterious bell is heard by the inhabitants of a village. They search the forest but are unable to find the source. When a prince and a child eventually discover it, they realize that it is as mysterious and old as nature itself.

In "The Elderbush", a boy arrives home with a cold. His mother whisks him off to bed and prepares some elderflower tea to warm him up. A kindly older neighbor stops by to visit the boy, who asks for a fairy tale. The old man struggles to think of one, but becomes inspired by the aroma of the elderflower tea. A story about how real life can provide subjects for some of the most wonderful fairy tales.

In "The Dream of Little Tuk", a little boy named Tuk interrupts his studying to help an old woman carry water. Later, when he goes to sleep, he puts his geography book under his pillow in the hopes that its knowledge will be magically transmitted into his brain. In his dreams, the old woman appears and repays his earlier kindness.

In "The Emperor's New Clothes", two weavers tell the emperor that they can make him a new suit of clothes that is invisible to people who are unfit for their positions or who are stupid or incompetent. Con men, the two weavers actually outfit the emperor in nothing, but will anyone be willing to tell the emperor that he is naked? As an idiom, the story's title refers to things that are accepted as common knowledge in spite of being obviously untrue.

Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness. Readily accessible by children, they present lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity that appeal to mature listeners as well. This collection of 18 tales includes "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Princess and the Pea", and "The Snow Queen".

Formula One driver Remy Sabatino is leading the Drivers' Championship, in a car that is the quickest of the season by far. But that also means Sabatino's Russian teammate is the fastest too.... Their rivalry couldn't be more toxic ahead of the Grand Prix in Moscow. TV viewers around the world are about to witness the most catastrophic crash in Formula One history. Was this caused by the acrimony between these drivers? Matt Straker, former Royal Marine and corporate intelligence director, is again called in....

On the eve of her 27th birthday, Josie Goodwin is feeling harassed. Her boyfriend, Will, has become a donkey-loving hippy, and her best friend, Lara, has baby brain. She desperately needs to find the perfect location for a film shoot, or her career may implode. Her eccentric grandma has always said that Josie will inherit a book of spells on her birthday, but since she doesn’t believe in magic, nothing will improve; or will it?

Since walking out on her life at sixteen, Lamb has lived alone in the gaps between other people's lives. Secretly inhabiting the cellar of an elderly man for whom she cleans, she keeps herself to herself, her life a precarious balancing act - until she meets Doggo, a young criminal on the run. Both strangers to the concept of truth, Doggo and Lamb are drawn together, glimpsing in one another the possibility of finding solace and maybe even love.

A dysfunctional British nuclear family seeks a new life away from the big city in the sleepy Somerset countryside. At first their new home, The Hollow, seems to embrace them, creating a rare peace and harmony within the family. But when the house turns on them, it seems to know just how to hurt them the most threatening to destroy them from the inside out.

Conor and Dean are on the run with four-year-old Rosie. When they turn on one another, Conor takes drastic action to protect Rosie. He decides to keep her with him rather than leave her behind and risk getting caught. His only option is to return to his childhood home in Ireland, passing her off as his daughter. Sylvia, who witnessed the robbery, has her own secrets to hide. She becomes obsessed with Rosie and will stop at nothing to find the child.

Wendy and Nell have been best friends since childhood but when someone threatens to ruin their relationship, tough decisions must be made. Nell leaves for France while Wendy embarks on marriage and motherhood. Both keep in touch, sending letters baring all, or are they? They hide the truth that homesickness, violence, loneliness, and murder form the backdrop of their lives. When a twisted, deceitful face from the past turns up, obsession and heartbreak wreak havoc on their lives. Someone is seeking revenge and recompense. And someone is a killer.

Erica has always wanted to be exactly like her neighbour, Faye: beautiful, thin, and a mother. But Faye’s life isn’t as perfect as it seems - she has a terrible secret, and slowly but surely, it is threatening to destroy her and everything she holds dear. When Faye’s daughter Tamsin goes missing after school, the police turn to Erica. But is Erica the only one who has been enviously watching Faye? Or is there another threat hiding in the shadows?

The “Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep” is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). The tale follows the romance between a China shepherdess and a China chimney sweep who are threatened by a carved mahogany satyr who wants the shepherdess for his wife.