Showing results by narrator "Rosemary Benson" in All Categories

Attorney Lauren Atkinson has spent her career defending death-row criminals. When a murder hits close to home and clues tie her to an old forgotten case, Lauren must stop at nothing to find the killer.

On the eve of the American Revolution in the fall of 1772, 18-year-old Phillis Wheatley, the household slave of John and Susanna Wheatley, was invited to appear before 18 of Boston's most prominent men in the Governor's Council Chamber in Boston to defend the premise that she was the author of a collection of poems. The so-called "jury" was comprised of the most prominent men in Boston. This was not a jury of her peers but rather one comprised of all white, all male, and largely middle-aged men.

Seychelle's life takes a turn when her tug intercepts a swamped fishing boat in the Gulf Stream. Inside the boat is a little girl in a bloodied white dress. When Seychelle returns to shore with the traumatized Haitian girl, she is faced with the border patrol, the police, and an unraveling love affair. Determined to protect the child, and somehow keep her from being sent back to Haiti, Seychelle becomes obsessed with the forces that nearly killed the girl.

Publishing is a personal story of a writer's hunger to be published, the pursuit of that goal, and then the long haul - for Gail Godwin, 45 years of being a published writer and all that goes with it. A student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1958, Godwin met with Knopf scouts who came to campus every spring in search of new talent.

Morgan Hill dons a pair of spectacles she finds hidden in an heirloom trunk and begins to catch a glimpse of lost generations and long forgotten family secrets. Her expansion and awakening flourish when she meets Yuri Bozek, a mysterious lumberjack who is more than his occupation implies. Drawing on his intuition and a deep energetic awareness, Yuri guides Morgan to discover the true essence of love.

Set in 1450 Paris, this thrilling supernatural suspense novel follows the harrowing journey of an Italian merchant and the beautiful widow of a French duke as they battle wolves and the Inquisition. From Wall Street Journal best-selling author Michael Wallace, The Wolves of Paris has been hailed for its superb plot and gripping, pause-resisting action scenes.

You need to listen to this audiobook if you want to understand the backdrop of history that created the fertile soil for today’s homegrown terrorist group-Boko Haram-to literally spring up overnight and within half a dozen years bring the most populous country in Africa to the greatest crisis in its history. The story is told through the eyes of fortune seeking engineer Paul Jeffries-out to make millions on a state of the art telecommunications project in Nigeria-who must confront his own demons by agreeing to search for the American ambassador’s daughter, Maureen Cahill, who has fled the relative safety of the embassy in Lagos to the besieged and shrinking rebel enclave of Biafra to help refugees in the mid 1960’s civil war. The journey will take them both to the darkest and most dangerous mangrove infested corner of one of Africa’s bloodiest civil wars. The trek will test their commitment to aiding the country, their dreams for nation building, and their growing love for each other.

Laura and Monique were cousins and, in childhood, had been as close as twins. So when Monique's husband, the Comte de Montigny, came to Laura and asked her to impersonate Monique in order to protect Monique's child, she agreed. His story of Monique's disappearance and suicide, however, did not sound like the actions of the cousin Laura had known, and the rest of Monique's family reacted with odd hostility to "Monique's" reappearance...She feared that Monique had been murdered - and that she would be next.

Of all the desperate women in German-occupied Paris, Gabriela Reyes is the least likely to scratch out her survival as a whore for a Gestapo agent. After fascists murdered her mother and brother and tortured her father in an insane asylum, she hates the Germans as much as she fears them. But when she discovers the man responsible for destroying her family, she decides to become his mistress to try to free her father and avenge her family.

Published in 1906, “The Gift of the Magi” is O. Henry’s beloved short story of Christmas giving. Jim and Della are a struggling young couple. Despite their limited resources, each must find a way to give the ultimate Christmas gift. Rosemary Benson narrates this enduringly popular tale that symbolizes the loving spirit of giving. This story is featured in the Middle School curriculum, and many free lesson plans, which include an author’s biography, vocabulary, discussion questions, and other activities, are available online.

How did powder and paint, once scorned as immoral, become indispensable to millions of respectable women? How did a "kitchen physic", as homemade cosmetics were once called, become a multibillion-dollar industry? And how did men finally take over that rarest of institutions, a woman's business? In Hope in a Jar, historian Kathy Peiss gives us the first full-scale social history of America's beauty culture.

Fedora is dead, and movies will never be the same. A star since the early days of Hollywood, she survived the business for an unprecedented four decades before retiring to Crete. As the years wore on and her costars turned wrinkled and worn, Fedora's perfect features never faded. Now that she has finally passed, the secret to her longevity will be told - a shocking revelation that will raise her to the level of myth.

In the post-9/11 West, there is no shortage of strident voices telling us that Islam is a threat to the security, values, way of life, and even existence of the United States and Europe. In this fearless, original, and surprising book, Anne Norton demolishes the notion that there is a "clash of civilizations" between the West and Islam. What is really in question, she argues, is the West's commitment to its own ideals: to democracy and the Enlightenment trinity of liberty, equality, and fraternity.

Stunned by the loss of her sister, Ryan determines to keep the secret they shared right before Marissa died. But Ryan soon finds herself caught in a web of growing terror as a series of "coincidences" make Ryan doubt her own sanity. Can she discover the truth before she shares her sister's fate?

Patricia Highsmith, author of classics such as The Talented Mr. Ripley and Strangers on a Train, was a lesbian and a writer who defied simple categorization. Marijane Meaker is the author of more than 40 books. Meaker and Highsmith met in New York City, became lovers, and embarked on a romance amidst the bohemian set of Greenwich Village and the literary crowd of Fire Island. Written with wit and brassy candor, this is a revealing look at a controversial icon of popular American fiction.

Biking from Oregon to Maine is no small feat, especially for two newly retired women who carry everything they need for three months, powered only by the strength of their legs and a desire for adventure. Alice Honeywell and Bobbi Montgomery invite listeners to follow their ride by bicycle across the United States, as they face scorching sun, driving rain, buffeting winds, equipment failures, killer hills, wild fires, and even a plague of grasshoppers.

Rare eyewitness account of early, chaotic days of WWII - Nazi invasion of Poland, Siege of Warsaw, and first months of Occupation - written by a young working mother. Rulka Langer's eye for detail and lively storytelling bring to life, from her unique vantage point, the opening chapter of the struggle between good and evil which ultimately engulfed the entire globe.

When the dean of Lovegood Junior College for Girls decides to pair Feron Hood with Merry Jellicoe as roommates in 1958, she has no way of knowing the far-reaching consequences of the match. Feron, who has narrowly escaped from a dark past, instantly takes to Merry and her composed personality. Surrounded by the traditions and four-story Doric columns of Lovegood, the girls - and their friendship - begin to thrive.

In September of 1963, Scott Stoddard, an American graduate student, is traveling to Switzerland, when he meets the Countess de Rovere, a French divorcee; he is smitten, and she is intrigued. What begins as a little coquetry soon becomes a serious love affair, much to the consternation of the countess’s ex-husband and mother, not to mention the countess’s friends of European high society. A meeting of equals poses problems enough, but what about one between two people who seem to have so many differences?

The first authoritative and comprehensive guide to "aging in place" - a burgeoning movement for those who don't want to rely on assisted-living or nursing-home care - which allows seniors to spend their later years living comfortably, independently, and in their own home or community.