Showing results by narrator "Polly Lee" in All Categories

Victorian women ate arsenic to achieve an ideal, pale complexion, while in the 1790s balloon corsets were all the rage, designed to make the wearer appear pregnant. Women of the eighteenth century applied blood from a black cat's tail to problem skin, while doctors in the 1880s promoted woolen underwear to keep colds at bay. Beautification and the pursuit of health may seem all-consuming today, but their history is long and fantastically varied. Ranging across the last four hundred years, Margarette Lincoln examines women's health and beauty in fascinating detail.

Supporting the mental health and well-being of children and young people is a top priority for parents, caregivers, and teachers, but it can be tricky to find reliable and evidence-based information. Written by an experienced child and adolescent psychiatrist, in a user-friendly question-and-answer format, this book outlines the mental health challenges facing our children and young people and offers practical advice on how to best support them.

One day, 15-year-old Emily Dickinson meets a mysterious, handsome young man. Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to know who she or her family is. And even more surprisingly, he playfully refuses to divulge his name. Emily enjoys her secret flirtation with Mr. "Nobody" until he turns up dead in her family's pond. She's stricken with guilt. Only Emily can discover who this enigmatic stranger was before he's condemned to be buried in an anonymous grave. Her investigation takes her deep into town secrets, blossoming romance, and deadly danger.

A movie about a princess is to be made. When auditions take place, Jenna is astounded to be chosen over her much more talented friends. Curiously, even her strict mother gives her immediate permission for Jenna to fly off to begin filming in the small, romantic kingdom of Scandia. But soon Jenna discovers things aren't what they seem.

This is an exploration of feminine spirituality from the beginning of time to the present day. These extraordinary women have expressed their experiences of the agony and ecstasy of pursuing spiritual enlightenment through their poetry and prose, which is beautiful, inspirational, and very moving.

Many of us are striving to reach our full potential at work and beyond—to achieve our goals, rise to challenges, and connect well with others. But how can we develop our performance while also taking care of our well-being? The Performance Curve is a bold new holistic guide that effectively tackles this challenge, providing practical insights into how you can develop and sustain a productive and fulfilling life. This book explores not only how you can improve individual performance, but also how to build relationships and environments that bring out the best in others.

Karly Winters has waited 10 long years to have the man of her dreams, the handsome but duplicitous Jacob Cruthers. From her home in Glasgow, she pines for the Londoner who casually keeps her dangling, never with a thought of giving her what she wants and never with any intention of leaving his wife. For her part, Karly has no intentions of being second best any longer and she hatches an artful plan of devious intent that she is certain will work in her favor.

In December 1774, Benjamin Franklin met Caroline Howe, the sister of British General Sir William Howe and Richard Admiral Lord Howe, in a London drawing room for “half a dozen Games of Chess”. But as historian Julie Flavell reveals, these meetings were about much more than board games: They were cover for a last-ditch attempt to forestall the outbreak of the American War of Independence.

Brimming with mystery and treasure, this action-packed tale sends a boy in need of luck and a girl in need of a friend on an adventure that will change their lives forever. Meet George, the third Lord of Devonshire and the unluckiest boy in London. Why is George so unlucky? First, he's an orphan. Second, unless he sells everything, he's about to lose his house.

.Though born into one of Seattle's most prestigious families, Margot Benedict has fought to claim all the independence offered to young women in 1923. Where her brother Preston embraced a life of debauchery, Margot has a thriving medical practice. Working at a local orphanage, she's shocked to see a young boy who looks every inch a Benedict. But though she's convinced this is the illegitimate child Preston once mentioned, Margot has no way to prove any family connection.

For generations, the Benedicts have been one of Seattle's most distinguished families, residing in the splendid Queen Anne mansion known as Benedict Hall amid a host of loyal servants. But the dawn of the 1920s and the aftermath of the Great War have brought dramatic social conflict. Never has this been more apparent than when daughter Margot's thoroughly modern young cousin, Allison, comes to stay. But Margot is also shocking many of Seattle's genteel citizens, and her engineer beau, by advocating birth control in her medical practice.

Though born into one of Seattle's most prestigious families, Margot Benedict has fought to claim all the independence offered to young women in 1923. Where her brother, Preston, embraced a life of debauchery, Margot has a thriving medical practice. Working at a local orphanage, she's shocked to see a young boy who looks every inch a Benedict. But though she's convinced this is the illegitimate child Preston once mentioned, Margot has no way to prove any family connection.

Leo Zaccharelli may be a gorgeous TV chef, but to Amy Driver he's just her best friend. Until he rescues her and takes her to Tuscany with his adorable baby girl! Now Amy can't help dreaming about turning their friendship into forever....

Twain & Stanley Enter Paradise, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Oscar Hijuelos, is a luminous work of fiction inspired by the real-life, 37-year friendship between two towering figures of the late 19th century, famed writer and humorist Mark Twain and legendary explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley.

From South Park to Kathy Acker, and from Lars Von Trier to Sex and the City, women's sexual organs are demonized. Rees traces the fascinating evolution of this demonization, considering how calling the "c-word" obscene both legitimates and perpetuates the fractured identities of women globally. Rees demonstrates how writers, artists, and filmmakers contend with the dilemma of the vagina's puzzlingly "covert visibility".

In this poignant book, the writer and investigative journalist Katharine Quarmby describes the 20-year search for her Iranian birth father and her own adoption history. She links this narrative to the wider story that she uncovered during her search - of the many missing Iranian military fathers, who disappeared after the Iranian Revolution, but who are still sought by so many Iranian love-children in Britain today. Her narrative is a meditation on the importance of both birth and adoptive families.

Written in the language of the era, this witty and entertaining novel captures Austen's original style, suspenseful narrative, and sardonic humor. The Lost Years of Jane Austen begins with a true historical event - the arrest of Jane's aunt, Mrs. Leigh Perrot, on charges of shoplifting a piece of black lace. The fictional events that follow take Jane across the sea to the prison colony in Australia, bring her face to face with the dashing Mr. Wentworth and place her in many other adventures that are sure to thrill and delight Austen fans.

The boy Eden loves just saved her life. Now she must save his. To do so she must make a huge sacrifice. Eden can never see her friends or family again, as she travels 100 years into the future. But the dangerous risk Ryan took to rescue Eden has been uncovered, and now Ryan faces exile...which will leave Eden separated from him - the one person she can't live without - and stuck in the future. She must fight to save both of them.

It was as I was walking into the drama class that I remembered the girl I had bumped into and the green sweater just like mine. That was what had got Mrs. Watt mixed up. She had seen the girl in the green sweater and thought it was me. That was the simple explanation. Wasn't it? Fay can't help thinking it odd that people start remarking on conversations she knows she hasn't had, or saying they have seen her when she knows she was somewhere else. But then she starts hearing muffled footsteps behind her...

Disguised as a peasant, Cecilia has been hiding for years from the evil people who killed her parents. Now the time has come to reclaim her title. There's just one problem. Princess Desmia - supposedly Cecilia's decoy - believes a different version of the story.