Showing results by narrator "Des Powell" in All Categories

George Gordon Byron was born in 1788, the son of the profligate 'Mad Jack' Byron, and succeeded to the title in 1798 moving to the family seat of Newstead Abbey. He attended Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he proved to be a poor scholar, preferring boxing, the low life and poetry, publishing his first volume of poems in 1806. In 1809, at 21, he embarked on a grand tour of Europe and on his return to England he married the humourless Annabella Milbanke, who gave birth to his daughter Augusta in 1815.

Terrorism can strike anywhere. Even in a city full of magic. Appearing as another sleepy Massachusetts mill town, Llewellyn harbors a secret, it is a haven for the mystical and the supernatural. Its proximity to an inter-dimensional nexus allows its inhabitants to survive between the Ages of Magic.

Congratulations! You’ve found yet another self-help book that you’ll skim through, feel briefly inspired by, and then completely ignore while continuing to make the same bad decisions.

Written in the tradition of works by Joan Didion, bell hooks, Toni Morrison, and Eve Ensler, this “profoundly insightful and brilliantly inciting” (Dominique Morisseau, Obie Award-winning playwright) exploration of the soul of the United States - the past, the present, and the future Kevin Powell wants for us all, through the lens and lives of three major figures: his mother, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

Christmas is fast approaching at the new Hope Farm and Bev has convinced a reluctant Molly to organise an open day to raise some much needed funds ahead of the New Year. Their nativity tableau has everything they need: anti-social sheep, alpacas munching the Baby Jesus doll and a hairdresser dressed up as Santa Claus. But on Hope Farm it's going to take more than mulled wine and Christmas lights to get everyone in the festive spirit.

When William the Conqueror wished to reward his armourer, he made him a grant of land - land worked by freemen and already belonging to a Saxon lord. But the men of the Conquest had no time for the niceties of land tenure and legal possession. Rolf, the armourer, hacked his way through the Saxon defiance and savagely claimed his royal bequest.

Hannah Brown thought she had put the past behind her. But now it's coming to find her.... Hannah never dreamed she'd have a best friend like Ellen Brecht. Ellen is everything Hannah wants to be - beautiful, daring, glamorous and powerful. Growing up together in windswept Cornwall, life seems perfect. But their idyllic childhood is shattered by obsession, betrayal and, ultimately, a terrible tragedy.

Are you one minor inconvenience away from a full-blown existential crisis? Do you regularly Google how to do your own job while hoping nobody notices? Ever sat in a meeting nodding thoughtfully while having no clue what’s happening? Congratulations! You’re just like everyone else. This book is a highly questionable, deeply unserious guide to: Looking like you have your life together while internally screaming.

In this genre-defying story from Lygia Day Peñaflor, four teens befriend their favorite YA novelist, only to find their deepest, darkest secrets in the pages of her next book - with devastating consequences. Miri Tan loved the book Undertow like it was a living being. So when she and her friends went to a book signing to hear the author, Fatima Ro, they concocted a plan to get close to her. Told as a series of interviews, journal entries, and segments from the book within the book - this gripping story of a fictional scandal will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Flying V chronicles the origin of the most unique guitar on earth and its incredible influence on the history of rock and roll and heavy metal. Hear from the rock stars themselves as they describe how, when, and why the Flying V forever changed their careers and altered their entire approach to guitar playing. Journey inside the minds of the biggest icons of our era as they tell their riveting tales of discovery and passion for their beloved Flying Vs.

Thomas Mitchell’s mother abandoned him when he was five. Since then, Thomas hasn’t spoken to her, nor stepped foot in any Southern American state. One morning, he discovers a letter from her in his mailbox—a letter asking to see him. “I’m sick, Thomas…” she writes. “I want to see you…” Thomas fears she’s more than sick; he fears she’s dying.

Merrily Watkins, parish priest, single mum and deliverance consultant to the Diocese of Hereford, heads for the Malvern Hills to investigate an alleged paranormal dimension to a spate of road accidents in the sleepy village of Wychehill. Merrily is called in when two people are killed in a head-on crash that is also linked to the revamped local pub which, it seems, has injected the valley with a shattering, strobing surge of inner-city nightlife...and drugs.

Born to a French mother and an English father, Charlotte Bray has always felt like an outsider in her Cornish fishing village. She spends her days on her father's fishing boat, helping to feed a nation at war. But the war brings devastation, and her world is forever changed by tragedy. With nothing left to lose, she accepts a mysterious invitation to work for the War Office as a spy. She soon finds herself in Nazi-occupied Paris with a new identity. Charlotte begins working under the sombre but handsome Frenchman Pierre Lesieur. But do his allegiances lie elsewhere?

When a friend is forced to consider a marriage of convenience, Lady Amelia Staunton is determined to rescue her. But her plans trap her in an illicit seduction, and Amelia must marry him herself. Malcolm's all-consuming kisses and devilish humor might make up for her lost freedom, but she believes he will force her to abandon the Gothic romances she yearns to write. Since she can't escape him, she must distract him from her secret.

Kevin Powell is one of the most prolific and acclaimed American writers, thinkers, activists, and public speakers of the past three decades. His writings are important contributions to our national conversations on race, gender, class, politics, pop culture, celebrity, hip-hop, and the past, present, and future of the United States.

Thrive is the road map of how to grow your business and drive sales in highly shifting, constantly changing economic times. It is the story of those leaders and organizations that have seen consistent growth through several economic crisis - companies that were founded in the late 1700s to early 1900s, and they are still in business thriving today.

Spanning 30 years of American history, from the twilight of Kennedy’s Camelot to the days leading up to Bill Clinton’s election, We Are All Good People Here perfectly resonates with today’s fraught American political zeitgeist and asks us: why do good intentions too often lead to tragic outcomes? Can we separate our political choices and our personal morals? And is it possible to truly bury our former selves and escape our own history?

A tragic past. Thirty years ago, the body of a teenage boy was found in Gullspång's lake, and his best friend vanished from her home. Paul Bergman's death was ruled a suicide; Francesca was never found. An unsolved case. Drawn back to Gullspång, Detective Inspector Charlie Lager is haunted by the strange house she knew as a child, and by the missing girl who once lived there. Convinced that the original investigation was flawed, Charlie is determined to uncover what really happened all those decades ago.

The living dead. It had been one of the worst crashes in airline history, killing over 300 people and leaving only one survivor. Now the dead were buried and the town of Eton tried to forget. But one man could not rest. Keller had walked from the flames of the wreck, driven on by unseen forces, seeking the answer to his own survival. Until the town was forced to face the shocking, dreadful truth about what was buried in the old graveyard. And a truth Keller did not want to believe.

With its reputation in tatters, Alexi Ellis is determined to save her beloved Hopgood Hall from any more bad press. A writing course for wannabe journalists shouldn't cause too many issues and will hopefully take the heat off Hopgood Hall. But disaster strikes when one of the group is found dead in a local pub. What’s worse Alexi was the last person to see the victim alive, which makes her suspect number one. Alexi is sure she is being set up, but who would go to such deadly lengths?