Showing results by narrator "Polly Edsell" in All Categories

Paris, 1720. The Hospice of La Salpêtrière is overrun with 'difficult' women. Halfway around the world, on the American frontier, French settlers are in want of wives. At the asylum, a list is drawn up: eighty-eight women of childbearing age to be shipped to New Orleans. Among them are Charlotte, Geneviève and Pétronille - a sharp-tongued orphan, an accused abortionist and a rumoured madwoman. They make the voyage over the ocean, knowing nothing of the harsh and extraordinary lives that await them, or how they will come to love and betray each other time and again in this wild land.

Rani's life is far from idyllic—with two small children and a partner in a tiny rented flat that has never felt like home, she has always wished for a different life. Then, Natalie moves into the large house across the road—and Rani can't help but be drawn to her. To her life of luxury, to her perfect husband, her perfect house. But not all is as it seems behind closed doors, and as Rani gets closer to Natalie, she discovers everyone has secrets—and some will stay with you for a lifetime.

Emma Snow wants three things in the world: to become a writer, own a cat and never think about Rowan Bosworth again. Darkly handsome with a tragic past, Emma should know better than to be in love with him. She's never sure whether he actually likes her, or if she's just a pawn in one of the twisted games he likes to play. One Valentine's Day, a terrible event occurs which rips the Snow family apart. Determined to uncover the truth, Emma is forced to delve into the dark underbelly of her celebrity family—and once and for all decide whether to think with her heart or her head.

Reeling from betrayal at the hands of the Whispers, Renata Convida is a girl on the run. With few options and fewer allies, she's reluctantly joined forces with none other than Prince Castian, her most infuriating and intriguing enemy. They're united by a lofty goal: find the fabled Knife of Memory, kill the ruthless King Fernando and bring peace to the nation. Together, Ren and Castian have a chance to save everything, if only they can set aside their complex and intense feelings for each other.

Following the assassination of Chancellor Dollfuss in Vienna, Elena Standish is enlisted by MI6 in London to travel to Trieste to rescue her former lover, Aiden Strother. Aiden left her broken-hearted several years ago, and she vowed to have nothing more to do with him, but MI6 chief Peter Howard explains that Aiden was acting undercover at the time and is a loyal British double agent....

Jacob Meaney makes so little money as a translator that his girlfriend has given up on him. Then Eloise, an Australian digital marketer, appears out of the blue, offering him unheard of sums for a couple of weeks' work. A private plane and helicopter take him to a showcase villa in Carinthia and all the luxury he would ever want. Unwillingly Jacob has become part of an organised crime conspiracy, held captive there by armed guards.

Elena Standish, a young English photographer working for British Intelligence, is sent on her latest mission to Berlin, where painful memories of her escape from the Gestapo come flooding back. With the help of another spy, she must rescue a renowned scientist and return to England unscathed. But, as rumours start to spread of germ warfare, Elena and her family know she must act quickly to save lives.

From the outside, Lorna has everything sorted. A cool job in radio, a home to call her own, plenty of friends. And anyone would be happy to attend their school reunion if they'd had the kind of post-adolescent glow up she's managed to pull off. Library Lorna is no more, and this new Lorna is 100%, definitely over her teenage crush on Finn, the most popular boy in school. But on the inside, Lorna's got to admit she is trying too hard.

In March 1940 Laura boards a ship and travels through the torpedoed waters of the Mediterranean to chase after Harry whom she has fallen in love with. He was out in Uganda, but has joined up to fight with the King's African Rifles. Will she succeed in her quest? Strong-willed and proudly independent, she has many dramatic life-changing upheavals to face on the way to Uganda and beyond. Love at War is based on a true story, the loves, dramas and losses of a resourceful, exceptional girl.

In the days after her mother's death from breast cancer, Oksana, a young queer poet, decides to return her mother's ashes to their working-class hometown in Siberia. It is a journey home that will take her through the raw, almost dreamlike emotions of early grief through to an acceptance of the wound that death leaves behind. As she navigates the rituals of parting, Oksana feels her way through memory and heartache with a wry humour, reflecting on her complex relationship with her mother and on her own experiences of love, loss, sexuality and the search for home.

In Judea, under the brutal rule of King Herod, a woman yearns for a child but is outcast when she does not fall pregnant. Against all convention, she masters the art of glassblowing. In Renaissance Florence, a young wife is left penniless by her hopelessly unfaithful husband and struggles to find a way to support herself and her young son. In contemporary Australia, a talented textile conservator, devastated by loss, is desperate to regain control of her life. Each woman wants something that seems unattainable, and it will take all their courage, creativity and determination to achieve it.

For one, their family home is Roxborough Hall—a magnificent centuries-old mansion in the Norfolk countryside. For another, the house isn't passed down from parent to child—but rather to the family member deemed most worthy. Cecily Mordaunt is dead. On the evening of her funeral, her family will gather for dinner and each will be given a letter, revealing who is the next custodian of Roxborough Hall. The house is a burden, a millstone, a full-time job...but they all want it. And some are willing do anything to get it.

A lifetime ago, a patient escaped Nazareth mental asylum. They covered their tracks carefully. Or so they thought. Thirty years ago, Marianne Smy committed a crime then fled from her home to leave the past behind. Or so she thought. Now, Marianne has been forced to return. Nazareth asylum has been converted to luxury flats, but its terrible hold on her is still strong. A successful academic, a loving mother and a loyal wife, she fears her secret being revealed and her world shattering. She is right to be scared.

Pemberley, 1799. When Miss Georgiana Darcy attempts to escape an unwanted marriage proposal, she isn’t expecting to end up quite so far from home. But after encountering a mysterious object in the nearby woods, she finds herself transported almost two hundred years into the future. Saltram, 1995. At a grand country house where a film crew are busy shooting the latest Jane Austen adaptation, a terrible crime has been committed. And Miss Darcy – newly arrived, impeccably dressed and thoroughly confused – is the only witness.

Sadler's Wells, 1933. Disciplined and dedicated, Olivia is the perfect ballerina. But no matter how hard she works, she can never match identical twin Clara's charm. As rehearsals intensify for the ballet Coppélia, the girls feel increasingly like they are being watched. And, as infatuation turns to obsession, everything begins to unravel.

The wild Scottish landscape is a far cry from Rose Saintclair's Saharan oasis, although she'll endure it for Lord Cameron McRae, the man she married after a whirlwind romance in Algiers. But when stormy weather leads to Rose's ship docking on Cape Wrath - the land of Cameron's enemy, Bruce McGunn - could her new life already be in jeopardy?

1813. Haunted by her father's death and tired of watching her mother struggle, Meg Marsh will do anything to keep a roof over her family's head. Even if that means getting involved in a dangerous smuggling operation. When Meg catches the eye of a dashing gentleman above her station, things start to look up, and she can't help but start dreaming of a life away from the shingle and boats of Castle Bay. Blinded by flattery and coin, Meg can't see the danger on the horizon - and the cost just might be her life.

England, 1913. Eighteen-year-old Rose Strong has loved childhood friend Michael Redfern for as long as she can remember. However, believing that Michael loves her beautiful but aloof younger sister, Delphi, Rose vows to keep her feelings hidden. When war breaks out, Michael enlists, and Rose fears for his life as he heads to the trenches in France. As the war rages on, Rose strikes up a friendship with Thom, a budding engineer. And when Thom’s feelings for her grow warmer, Rose must decide whether she is prepared to betray her heart.

Rome, 1938. As the world teeters on the brink of war, talented pianist Eva Valenti enters the house of widower Dante Cavallera to become his new wife. On the outside, the forces of Fascism are accelerating, but in her new home, Eva fears that something else is at work, whispering in the walls and leaving mysterious marks on Dante's young daughter. Soon she starts to wonder whether the house itself is trying to give up the secrets of its mysterious past - secrets that Dante seems so determined to keep hidden.

Being female means that Charlotte Dovedale's dreams are likely out of reach. Her mother is eager to support Charlotte's brother in his quest to join the newly formed Royal Flying Corps, but Charlotte is left to channel her energy into the suffragette movement. When she meets upper-class Scott Fanshawe, though, he opens a door for her: teaching her to fly. It soon becomes clear that Charlotte has not only the skill, but the bravery required for aviation. However, when she finally earns her pilot's license, the Great War breaks out and threatens to keep her grounded.