Showing results by narrator "David Pickering" in All Categories

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the disastrous first meeting of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet at the Meryton Assembly provided each with a ready-made set of prejudices to apply to the other. But when a horrific rural accident reveals Darcy to be a man of active, intelligent benevolence, and Elizabeth, in the absence of her appalling family, to be an extraordinary lady of courage and decision - then, surely, the course of true love will run smoothly. But alas, the lovers' meeting is not the end, but a new beginning.

The simple truth is proven that sometimes a gentleman never knows his heart until a lady comes along to introduce it to him. When Mr. Darcy encounters Elizabeth Bennet injured after a fall, his concern for her welfare cracks the shell of his carefully guarded heart, and a charming man emerges. Elizabeth sees an appealing side of him she never believed possible from the stoic, proud master of Pemberley.

Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice is readapted in this regency tale of love in the face of tragedy. Mr. Darcy is thwarted in his attempt to propose to Elizabeth Bennet at Hunsford when he encounters her minutes after she receives the sad news from Longbourn of her sister’s death. His gallantry and compassion as he escorts her back to Hertfordshire begins to unravel the many threads of her discontent with him.

"It is the way of the world, Elizabeth. Men hold power over women, but I am not a man who wants to wield such power. I would prefer a woman who has some power over me". Fitzwilliam Darcy already has one arranged marriage in his past. The last thing he envisions for himself is another, yet he has somehow become entrapped in a promise to a dying man. Not only must Darcy overcome his resentment in order to live up to his sense of honour, but when he realises how deeply his heart may be engaged, he must convince Elizabeth Bennet of his true feelings.

This slightly unhinged romantic comedy follows Fitzwilliam Darcy as he sets off to find himself a wife and instead finds himself pulled into the mire of his aunt’s machinations and his own fascination with Elizabeth Bennet, whom he believes betrothed to another. As Meryton judges him the grieving groom of Anne de Bourgh and a caddish dallier with the hearts of others, Darcy must ferret out the truth behind his cousin’s disappearance, protect his sister from the fretful fate of all Fitzwilliam females, and most importantly, win Elizabeth’s heart.

A family torn apart. A king with an iron fist. Will their faith be strong enough to survive persecution and reunite? Jeanne is the wife of a wealthy merchant, but now she risks losing everything. Louis XIV's soldiers will stop at nothing to forcibly convert the country's Protestants to the "true" faith. The men ransack Jeanne's belongings and threaten her children. If Jeanne and Jacob can't find a way to evade the soldiers' clutches, their family will face a fate far worse than poverty and imprisonment. They may never see each other again....

In 1789, a terrible crime is committed, plunging one family into grief as another rejoices in the gift of an unexpected son. Two decades later, a chance meeting leads to the discovery of the lost heir of Pemberley and the man who knew himself as Mr, William Lucas is restored to his birthright as Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley.

France, 1685. Jeanne is the wife of a wealthy merchant, but now she risks losing everything. Louis XIV’s soldiers will stop at nothing to forcibly convert the country’s Huguenot "heretics" to the "true" faith. The men ransack Jeanne’s belongings and threaten to take her children. One by one, Jeanne watches her neighbors cave under the constant harassment.

Astronomers in England and America have made a terrifying discovery: an ominous black cloud the size of Jupiter is travelling straight towards our solar system. If their calculations are correct, the cloud’s path will bring it between the Earth and the Sun, blocking out the Sun’s rays and threatening unimaginable consequences for our planet.

Outcasts Billy and Bonnie must come together to preserve a secret legacy more than a millennium in the making. They find their lives turned upside down when they are thrust into a war against evil, a war they didn’t even know was being waged. Their newly formed friendship is tested and shaped as they are forced to fight a malevolent slayer who wields a powerful, medieval weapon and is intent on exterminating their dragon heritage forever.

A great love. A perplexing murder. Netherfield Park - a house of secrets. Fitzwilliam Darcy is in a tangle. Captivated by Miss Elizabeth Bennet, a girl of no fortune and few connections. Embroiled in an infamous murder in the home of his friend, Charles Bingley. He is being tested in every way. Fearing for Elizabeth’s safety, Darcy moves to protect her in the only way he knows but is thwarted. Thus, he is forced to turn detective. Can he overcome his pride for the sake of Elizabeth?

Call of Freedom, the riveting sequel to The Huguenot Chronicles, continues the intertwined tales of the Delpech and Darlington families amidst the tumult of 17th-century America. Jacob and Jeanne Delpech embark on a harrowing journey from Ireland to New York, driven by a deep desire for religious and personal freedom.

In the tiny English village of Fardles, a practitioner of black magic has located the Holy Graal in the sacristy of the local Anglican church. Intent on possessing it so as to amplify his own nefarious powers, he tries to trick its guardian into donating it. When that fails, he resorts to theft. Thus begins a tug-of-war between powers infernal and celestial, between a magician who would use the Sacred as an instrument of his own will, and an Archdeacon who seeks to protect and preserve what is sacramental and holy.

In this classic work of economic history and social theory, Karl Polanyi analyzes the economic and social changes brought about by the great transformation of the Industrial Revolution. His analysis explains not only the deficiencies of the self-regulating market, but the potentially dire social consequences of untempered market capitalism. New introductory material reveals the renewed importance of Polanyi's seminal analysis in an era of globalization and free trade.

When Lester Furnival and her friend Evelyn die in a plane crash, they find themselves walking through a ghostly, surreal, twilight London. The scandalous magician Simon Leclerc has sacrificed his own child to gain control over this world - and the next. As Lester and Evelyn discover what has happened to them, they are pulled in different directions - one toward isolation and despair, and the other toward a sacrificial self-giving that, to her great surprise, saves even her. All Hallows’ Eve is Charles Williams’ final novel - poignant, relevant, and chilling.

Unlike the dystopian vision described in Brave New World, or the psychedelic vision described in his The Doors of Perception, in The Art of Seeing, Aldous Huxley focuses on the actual vision of the human eye. Documenting his own profound near-blindness and subsequent attempts to improve his own sight, Huxley offers a thorough instruction manual on the controversial alternative vision therapy exercises developed by W. H. Bates.

The death of one’s spirit should come with a great deal of noise: weeping and wailing, if not thunder or the roar of a fire. Elizabeth could not have imagined a spirit forced into darkness by something so mundane as the scratch of pen on paper. Elizabeth Bennet has been certain of many things in her life: her place in society, the love of her family, her ability to choose her own future, and her ability to accurately judge the character of those she meets. Three days after the Netherfield Ball, a near tragedy shakes that foundation.

A generous, kind, and always hungry Charles Bingley sheds a little light on keeping company with the most interesting man in the world and shares his thoughts on puppies, his dreadful sisters, and the meaning of happiness.

Port-de-Paix, 1691. May Stuart is ready to start a new life with her young daughter in care in Charleston. No longer content with her role as an English spy and courtesan, she gains passage on a merchant vessel under a false identity. But her journey to collect her beloved child is thrown off course when ruthless corsairs raid their ship.

The image of the historical Jesus takes form in the words of the Gospel Q. The Lost Gospel Q represents the very first Gospel, older than the traditional Gospels and written by Jesus' contemporaries. It preserves Jesus' original words—the Sermon on the Mount, Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, parables, and his counsel for a compassionate life. The original of the Gospel Q was lost for 2,000 years, but for the past 170 years historians and theologians have been digging through the many layers of the New Testament to uncover one of the most remarkable lost Gospels of the Bible.