Showing results by narrator "Lydia" in All Categories

When Dorothy and her pet dog, Toto, are swept away from their Kansas home, they find themselves in the magical land of Oz where munchkins live, monkeys fly and Wicked Witches rule. In their quest to return home they meet a cast of characters that have become much loved by families since the story was first published in 1900. Dorothy, played by Lydia West (Years and Years) joins the Tin Woodsman, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion as they follow the yellow brick road to find the Wizard, played by Jim Broadbent (The Iron Lady, Moulin Rouge).

Kevin Kwan, best-selling author of Crazy Rich Asians, is back with a wickedly funny new novel of social climbing, secret e-mails, art-world scandal, lovesick billionaires and the outrageous story of what happens when Rachel Chu, engaged to marry Asia's most eligible bachelor, discovers her birth father. On the eve of her wedding to Nicholas Young, heir to one of the greatest fortunes in Asia, Rachel should be over the moon.

Nicholas Young's grandmother Su Yi is on her deathbed. While he rushes to be by her bedside, he's not the only one. The entire Shang-Young clan has convened from all corners of the globe to stake claim on their matriarch's massive fortune. With all parties vying to inherit a trophy estate in the heart of Singapore, Nicholas' childhood home turns into a hotbed of sabotage and scandal.

I’m a Gemini. Impulsive. Curious. Headstrong. A twin. Heir to a throne I know nothing about. And it turns out, I’m Fae. But of course there’s a catch—all I have to do to claim my birth right is prove that I’m the most powerful supernatural in the whole of Solaria. And sure, technically that’s true as I’m the daughter of the Savage King. But the bit they didn’t put in the brochure was that every single Fae in this Kingdom would claim my throne if they could.

The boy Nero lives. His mother Agrippina has married her way to power, tangling the Emperor Claudius in her skirts. The emperor may have a son and heir of his own, but Agrippina sees no obstacles to her ambition. Rome is a path through a marsh, lit by torches. Those who walk it are always one step from disaster–and the road itself is treacherous, slippery with blood. Claudius may have the world at his feet, but he has Agrippina in his bed.

The Celestial Heirs think the stars are on their side. But they don't know what's coming. We have to be smart. Fighting them one on one isn't an option so we have to be stealthy. Remaining under the radar won't be easy, but if we pull it off, they'll never suspect our involvement when their lives start falling apart.

The shadows are in my blood. I can feel them crawling through me, slithering under my skin and taking me hostage. But the darkness within me isn't nearly as bad as the darkness that lives around me. The four Celestial Heirs will stop at nothing to destroy the lives of me and my sister. But they haven't figured out yet, that we're the strongest creatures they've ever known. And when that secret comes out, we need to be ready to face them as well as any other cruel Fae who rises against us. It’s us or them. And it damn well won’t be us.

Drawing on the journey Lydia embarked on to rebuild her life after hitting a personal rock bottom, season by season, Evergreen offers practical advice and ideas that will inspire you to reconnect with nature, follow what you truly desire deep down and channel your inner strength throughout life's inevitable ebbs and flows. From learning to fall in love with nature to embracing the power of amateur status, rethinking your relationship with comparison to embracing solitude when you need it, Evergreen will take you by the hand and empower you.

Compiled by intrepid journalist Neve Pride, this archive of recordings spans the months after dragons emerged on earth, chronicling the communities that sprang up amid the destruction, the scientists, military leaders, and experts searching for a defense, and those steadfastly seeking the missing. Neve and her young daughter Bex travel among the wreckage speaking to those left behind and surviving, against all odds. Neve records everything for history, and in the hopes of locating a clue as to where the dragons came from and how one might stop them.

Hell Week has begun. Senior students have been tasked with making the freshmen's lives pure torture as we prepare to face The Reckoning—the assessment that will decide whether we stay at Zodiac Academy or lose our places here forever. With the Lunar Eclipse on the horizon, my sister and I have more to worry about than just passing our exams. A dark plot is unfolding and the shadows are drawing closer. It looks like our enemies could be more powerful than we ever realised.

From her unique childhood to her all-consuming fascination with Thomas Cromwell that grew into the Wolf Hall Trilogy, Hilary Mantel had a celebrated career as a novelist. Alongside this, she long contributed to newspapers and journals, unspooling stories from her own life and illuminating the world as she found it. This strand of Hilary's writing was an integral part of how she thought of herself. 'Ink is a generative fluid,' she explains. 'If you don't mean your words to breed consequences, don't write at all.' A Memoir of My Former Self collects the finest of this writing over four decades.

When she first meets Adam, Coralie is new to London and feeling adrift. But Adam is clever, witty, and (he insists) a quarter inch taller than the average male. His charming four-year-old daughter only adds to his appeal. But ten years on, something important is missing from the life Coralie and Adam have built. Or maybe, having gained everything she dreamed of, Coralie has lost something else she once had: herself.

When Lucy Tang Churchill meets George Zao at a lavish Capri wedding, she can’t stand him. He’s a mama’s boy. A self-righteous eco-warrior. A brooding weirdo that takes himself much too seriously. And no-one should look that good in tight white Speedos. Worried about what her Mayflower-descended, Wall Street-wealthy family might think of this Hong Kong surfer boy, Lucy returns to the safety of Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Marnie is stuck. Stuck working alone in her London flat, stuck battling the long afternoons and a life that increasingly feels like it's passing her by. Michael is coming undone. Reeling from his wife's departure, increasingly reclusive, taking himself on long, solitary walks across the moors and fells. When a persistent mutual friend and some very English weather conspire to bring them together, Marnie and Michael suddenly find themselves alone on the most epic of walks and on the precipice of a new friendship. But can it survive the journey?

Lydia Fenet, senior vice president of Christie’s and seasoned auctioneer, shares the secrets of success and the strategies behind her revolutionary sales approach to show you how to embrace and channel your own power in any room.

Into this fevered forum, a child is born. His mother is Agrippina, granddaughter of Emperor Augustus. But their imperial blood is no protection. The closer you are to the heart of the empire, the closer you are to power, intrigue, and danger. She faces soldiers, senators, rivals, silver-tongued pretenders, each vying for position. One mistake risks exile, incarceration, execution. Or, worst of all, the loss of her infant son.

The gifted filmmaker, corduroy activist and amateur dentist, Richard Ayoade, first chanced upon a copy of The Two-Hander Trilogy by Harauld Hughes in a second-hand bookshop. At first startled by his uncanny resemblance to the author's photo, he opened the volume and was electrified. Terse, aggressive, and elliptical, what was true of Ayoade was also true of Hughes's writing, which encompassed stage, screen, and some of the shortest poems ever published.

Constance Chatterley seeks to escape from the confines of a loveless marriage and the upper class surroundings that suffocate her. When she meets the gamekeeper of Chatterley mansion, Oliver Mellors, she is mesmerised and infatuated by his no-nonsense demeanour and passionate touch. The two soon forge a profound bond as a result of their sexual compatibility and sociopolitical views.

When a sudden diagnosis upends Lia’s world, the boundaries between her past and her present begin to collapse. Deeply buried secrets stir awake. As the voice prowling in Lia takes hold of her story, and the landscape around becomes indistinguishable from the one within, Lia and her family are faced with some of the hardest questions of all: how can we move on from the events that have shaped us, when our bodies harbour everything? And what does it mean to die with grace, when you’re simply not ready to let go?

The sixth and final book in the captivating series which follows the lives of Beth and Alex MacGregor, their family, and friends. Alex, now believing Beth to be alive, leaves Scotland and heads south to keep the promise he made to her at Culloden, determined to be reunited with his wife regardless of the danger to himself. Meanwhile, the Duke of Newcastle has realised that he cannot kill Beth, either publicly or privately, without attracting the enmity of powerful people, including the heir to the throne.