Showing results by narrator "Virginia Ferguson" in All Categories

David Brooks, Earl of Foxcroft had led a charmed life. Right up until his father died and he was forced to take responsibility for his family and the estates. His father had run the coffers nearly empty and it had been up to him to restore their fortune. He could have married an heiress, but felt that was a cowardly way out. Instead he built their fortune in a more scandalous way: by doing a trade and working. Now that he feels secure enough with his family's status he has decided to take a wife.

This installment of the Alternative Endings series takes a fresh look at Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen", following Kai and Gerda in a somewhat different direction than the original.

After being rescued from the greedy mole by her faithful swallow and brought to the tropical kingdom populated by elves, Thumbelina finds herself thrust into the intricacies of elvish court politics and facing yet another marriage no one had asked her about.

When a spate of sudden deaths occurs amongst the elderly in Ellie's home town, the South Australian ambulance officer grows concerned. After a man purporting to be the relative of one of the deceased who clearly is not moves into the old man’s house, she becomes suspicious. She alerts a local cop, Nick, who takes her concerns seriously.

A beautifully detailed, emotionally intense story by a Ukrainian writer Olga Kobylanska describes a relationship between three roommates - three very different young women, whose diverse personalities and life goals causes their union to oscillate wildly between the jarring dissonance and the perfect harmony.

Bethany Simmons takes a shortcut on a stormy night and ends up in a place where one man is both sustained by the ghosts of his past and held captive by them.

As her freshman classmates move into dorms at Cornell University, Olivia Somerset suffers a nervous breakdown. When months of coaxing and analyzing fail to rouse Olivia from her stupor, big sister Miranda decides the sisters should fly off to Barcelona for some “vacation therapy”. After a mistake at their Barcelona hostel puts the Somersets in a large coed dorm room, Olivia and Miranda are saved by kindly Mr. Brown and his son, Greg, who happily volunteer to surrender their private room.

Literary critic, E. A. Koltonovskaya, described the literary style of novelist Maria Krestovskaya as follows, “Her pen, for all its feminine agility, is often remarkable for its nearly masculine reticence. She has none of the chaotic flood of thoughtless emotions, which so frequently plagues the works by female writers. She does not like lyrical diversions and allows her characters to speak and act for themselves. Even during the most dramatic scenes, her tone remains restrained. Her formulation of women’s issues gives one the sense of a broad, universal foundation...."

Three months have passed since Lady Emmaline Darling left her lover and fellow adventurer, Miles. Not certain she’s in love with him, they’re bonded in a miraculous way - she’s enceinte. Yet, despite his promises to write and make plans, there’s been nothing but silence. When she discovers he’s lied and has been out of pocket on a secret mission for the Crown, she’s convinced she can go it alone despite the scandal - and he can’t be trusted enough to know her secret hope.

Playwright and historian Rustem Valayev presents two poignant, dramatic, and thought-provoking episodes from our not-so-distant past. Despite having been written many decades ago, these two novellas hold up surprisingly well in the modern context.

When teacher Leo Tyndale moves to the small English town of Sandercombe after five years in India, he does not expect that his time at the local school will be a long one. But a brief encounter with the beautiful, and fiercely independent Hestia Royce, soon has him changing his mind. His feelings for her grow, though she is reluctant, and soon the rumours about their supposed relationship swirl around Sandercombe.

Murder in the Pachysandra introduces Hattie Moon, an elderly widow, who steps out of her dusty world of cat hair, mixed-up days, and rambling conversations with her dead husband, to solve the murder of her paperboy Jason Meeks. She, along with her friend Muriel Manning, unravel clues the police have missed. Suddenly, the amateur sleuths find themselves swirling in a deceitful, troubling world of marital infidelity, drugs, the dark web, and a diabolical force that hovers, ready to pounce.

Harriet Linfield is a lady novelist who has been disillusioned by love. She sets out to write more realistic tales about the emotion when she returns home to Linfield Court for the summer. Vowing to avoid any romantic entanglements along the way, she focuses instead on her writing and her plan to turn the estate she inherited from her uncle into a refuge for orphans.

From a student to a workaholic journalist, Alyson hadn’t had a free day in years. That all changed when she bumped into a mysterious handsome stranger. Blown away by his charm, she broke the monotony in her life and started a fun and steamy relationship with him. She soon landed in the lap of luxury, living a life she could only imagine. Was this really prince charming or just a temporary fantasy?

As a princess of the Romanov Empire, Elizabeth has enjoyed a life of luxury and privilege. But the sudden deaths of her parents leaves her unprotected, awash in the dangerous tide of her family’s political rivals. When the supreme council crowns her half-nephew Peter II in her place, Elizabeth is left with no title, no power, and no allies. Now little more than a bastard in the eyes of the world, she is sent to serve in the palatial home of Prince Menshikov - the real power behind the boy king.

Alenushka's Tales is a series of whimsical stories inspired by careful observation and great love of nature, written by Dmitrey Mamin-Sibiryak for his daughter Alena (Alenushka).

Will Jolene’s admirer captivate her heart and spark a flame of love? If he does, will she even notice, or will her desire to return to her hometown cloud her vision and cause her to miss out on love? If Jolene's life wasn't filled with enough drama, then there's Payton. Payton is happily married, a mother to a lovely stepdaughter with twins on the way, and the owner of a thriving photography shop. At 43 years of age, she's accomplished more than she could ever dream of. But even with all the bliss, there's still an unresolved matter that keeps lingering in the back of her mind.

Uncomplicated People is another masterfully written, bittersweet tale by Maria Krestovskaya - an everyday tragedy of love lost and dreams wasted on the altar of solid and secure mediocrity.

The long-awaited second volume of Vladimir Odoyevsky's excellent prose is here at last, delivering more titillating gossip, astute society remarks, a touch of mysticism, a healthy dose of the ridiculous, and much more.

"The Test" is a short, powerful piece that describes a day in the life of a woman, whose past comes to haunt her just as she thinks she is settled and perfectly safe in her life. Faced with memories of long ago as well as considerations and responsibilities of today, she must make a difficult choice she knows will change her life and affect the lives of those around her.