Showing results by narrator "Peter McGiffen" in All Categories

The poems of this book were written at very various times, one (“Wind over the Sea”) I believe even as early as 1910, but the order in which they are here given is not chronological beyond the fact that the third part contains only poems written after the outbreak of the war. Of these some were written in England (at Oxford in particular), some in Wales, and very many during a year in France from November 1915 to December 1916, which was broken by one leave in the middle of May.

Historians describe great wars as the clash of armies, the strategies of generals, the choices of leaders. But history is also shaped by the smallest moments—the flick of a wrist, the turn of a head, a slight hesitation. A single moment, barely noticed, that cascades into something far greater. And the world changes forever.

Historians know that great wars hinge not just on grand strategies, but also on small decisions—moments of hesitation, chances not taken. With Britain now out of the fight, the world stands at a precipice, and Germany’s full strength is unleashed upon an unsuspecting Soviet Union. Stalin, blind to the threat, refuses to see the warnings of impending doom. As millions of German troops surge across the border, the very fate of nations hangs in the balance.

What are your thoughts worth to you? Thawtless is a peaceful society where everyone is equal and the residents are content to follow the only rule that matters: Thinking is not allowed. During a school lunch break, Idere hears a voice whispering in his own head. He couldn't turn it off. Now, he's in danger of being banished from the only place he has ever known. Under a deceptive government of self-elected officials, Idere must find an answer to the new question plaguing him: Is this what you want?

Step into the stillness of evening, where every story glows like candlelight and each part hums with quiet wonder. Echoes Before Dreams gathers five poetic tales from the Before Your Dream series—stories written to slow the heart and carry you gently toward sleep.

Paper Boats on the River of Time is a calming bedtime story for adults, part of the Before Your Dream series. Written with soft pacing and a meditative voice, the story invites you into a world beyond clocks and calendars, where memories sail without direction, held by the current and the quiet.

The Passport of Forgotten Places is a poetic literary short story for bedtime — part of the Before Your Dream series. In a quiet room where candlelight flickers against weathered books, a traveller discovers a passport unlike any other — one that bears stamps not of countries that are, but of places that exist only in memory’s gentle chambers.

Two party members, Peter and Nick, are canvassing for the upcoming by-election. Peter, the older and less physically fit, takes on the quieter end of Priory Road, with its old Victorian houses. But as Peter advances up the road, the atmosphere becomes more unworldly and unsettling. What awaits Peter at the end house?

High on a remote mountain, where wind threads through stone and silence gathers in the dome, an old observatory waits for night. Inside, a solitary astronomer begins his ritual. He does not measure or chart. He simply watches — and wonders if the stars might be watching him in return. Through the telescope’s great lens, the familiar sky begins to change. Clusters shift. Constellations breathe. A spiral forms, a rhythm pulses, a triangle glows with deliberate synchrony.

When a solitary calligrapher discovers an invisible ink—one that cannot be seen, only sensed—he begins to write what the heart remembers. Each brushstroke draws out memories he never consciously chose, as if the ink knows what he cannot say aloud. The story unfolds gently, like breath in a candlelit room, where silence holds more truth than speech.

This meditative, slow-paced story invites you to join a retired postmaster as he discovers a forgotten box of unsent letters in his attic. By lamplight and soft rain, he opens each envelope—unlocking tender stories of love, hope, and unspoken courage from decades past. Perfect for listeners seeking calming fiction, poetic prose, and a mindful literary escape.

In a forgotten monastery perched above a weathered coast, time moves like tide — slow, reflective, and reverent. The Monastery by the Sea is a meditative literary short story crafted for peaceful evenings, guiding listeners through stone corridors, candlelit chapels, and thyme-scented gardens where silence holds meaning and the waves whisper prayers. This is psychological literary fiction for quiet evenings, unfolding not in action but in atmosphere — a quiet life observed through moments of stillness, devotion, and ritual.

Beneath a twilight canopy where golden light filters through ancient branches, books grow on leaves nestled between moss-covered stones. Each story unfurls softly: a love letter never sent, a child’s footsteps captured in green memory, the hush of secrets carried in fern fronds. The forest itself is the archivist here — a living presence that tends to stories as patiently as it tends to roots, streams, and the slow breathing of the earth.

In a quiet valley lies a guesthouse without sharp edges or straight lines. Its walls curve, its halls murmur, and its rooms seem to remember something you have forgotten. The Room Without Corners is an atmospheric literary short story set in a mysterious inn where guests arrive without knowing why and leave lighter than when they came. A traveller steps inside, drawn by the warm glow of candlelight. The curved spaces lead them through moments of memory, comfort, and rediscovery.

In the quiet hours before morning claims the sky, a train emerges from the mist—a train forgotten by maps, travelling only once a year along tracks wrapped in lavender and memory. The Train to Lavender Station is a gentle bedtime story for grown-ups, part of the Before Your Dream series. It offers a soft, meditative journey through grief, release, and quiet transformation.

Step into a quiet world where tranquillity takes form and peace becomes presence. The Garden of Starlight is a gentle literary sleep story for adults—crafted to be savoured at night. Through poetic prose and dreamlike imagery, it invites you to wander a sanctuary suspended above the clouds, where light, fragrance and silence move in unhurried harmony.

This is the story of The Cursed Galleon, a strange artifact kept at the oldest pub in England. A swashbuckling adventure story of mystery, love and tragedy.

London, 1943. The streets of Hounslow hide more than ration books and blackouts. A killer is working to a quiet rhythm of death, leaving behind bodies drained of blood and arranged with disturbing care. The press have their theories. The police have few leads. Theodore Nash doesn’t believe in monsters. He sees detail, intent, and the human mind behind every crime. A forensic consultant by trade, and a man more comfortable with puzzles than people, Theo has made a life of distance and control.

Have you ever heard a song on the radio and thought, "Did they say what I thought they just said" and then realized that they did and thought, "I can do better than that"? Then this is the book for you.

From the spectre of Queen Victoria, to Mary Queen of Scots’s picky ghost, and from Henry VIII and the restless phantoms of his many wives, to Oliver Cromwell, who claimed to have conversed with the ghosts of Kings long gone, we are going to be exploring the haunted history of the Royal Family.