Showing results by narrator "Tania Rodrigues" in All Categories

In 1876 Sophia Duleep Singh was born into royalty. Her father, Maharajah Duleep Singh, was heir to the Kingdom of the Sikhs. Exiled to England, the dispossessed Maharajah transformed his estate at Elveden in Suffolk into a Moghul palace. Sophia, god-daughter of Queen Victoria, was raised a genteel aristocratic Englishwoman: presented at court, afforded grace-and-favour lodgings at Hampton Court Palace and photographed wearing the latest fashions for the society pages. But when, in secret defiance of the British government, she travelled to India, she returned a revolutionary.

My Seditious Heart collects the work of a two-decade period when Arundhati Roy devoted herself to the political essay as a way of opening up space for justice, rights and freedoms in an increasingly hostile environment. Taken together, the essays speak in a uniquely spirited voice, marked by compassion, clarity and courage.

Thirty-four-year-old Reeva thought her life couldn’t possibly get more complicated, until her semi-famous Bollywood mother calls to tell her that she’s been lying to her daughters for decades—the father they thought died thirty years ago has been alive this whole time. Only now he actually is dead. Worse? His dying wish was for Reeva and her sisters Sita and Jaya to attend his funeral prayers—which means spending a fortnight together at his house, surrounded by relatives they never knew existed.

Renuka Sharma is a dutiful wife, mother, and daughter-in-law holding the fort in a modest rental in Delhi while her husband tries to rack up savings in Dubai. Working as a receptionist and committed to finding a place for her family in the new Indian dream of air-conditioned malls and high-paid jobs at multinationals, life is going as planned until the day she strikes up a conversation with an uncommonly self-possessed stranger at a Metro station.

This is an inspiring tour of the world's oceans and 80 of its most notable inhabitants. Beautifully illustrated, the book includes fascinating stories of the fish, shellfish and other sea life that have somehow impacted human life - whether in our medicine, culture or folklore - in often surprising and unexpected ways.

Sweeping across Europe as it recovers from one war and hides its face from the coming of another, Snow Country is a landmark novel of exquisite yearnings, dreams of youth and the sanctity of hope. In elegant, shimmering prose, Sebastian Faulks has produced a work of timeless resonance.

Fourteen years ago Aasmaani's mother Samina, a blazing beauty and fearless activist, walked out of her house and was never seen again. Aasmaani refuses to believe she is dead and still dreams of her glorious return. Now grown up and living in Karachi, Aasmaani receives what could be the longed-for proof that her mother is still alive. As she comes closer to the truth she is also irresistibly drawn to Ed, her ally and sparring partner, and the only person who can understand the profound hurt – and the profound love – that drives her.

Divorce is not just a legal process; it's a devastating emotional experience which all too often brings both parties to the ground. But it doesn't have to be so traumatic.... Author Charlotte Friedman is a former family law barrister who decided to move from the courtroom to the therapist's chair in order to transform the way we handle divorce. In her view, the system sets both parties up for a fight, forced as they are to face lawyers, forms and life-defining court negotiations when they are also brimming over with grief and anger.

When Isobel Petty is orphaned, she finds herself being taken away from her home in India and sent to live with a distant uncle in England. On board the SS Marianna, she witnesses a shocking act – somebody being thrown overboard in the middle in the night. But when the ship’s captain insists that nobody is missing, Isobel and her two new reluctant friends must solve two mysteries – the identities of both the murderer and the victim – before they reach England and the culprit has the chance to escape.

Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. And when Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn't really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together.

London, 1939. Orphan Clara Knight is haunted by childhood memories of her house being bombed and fire raining from the sky - she was miraculously pulled from the rubble, finding herself all alone. Determined to make a difference with her life, she has found solace in nursing and helping others. When the storm clouds of war return and a tragically injured soldier arrives at the hospital, Clara is instantly drawn to him and the stories he shares. When Clara falls pregnant, the growing life inside her is a glimmer of hope: she will finally have a family of her own again.

In a boxy apartment building in an Illinois university town, Romola Mitra, a newly arrived young bride, anxiously awaits her first letter from home in India. When she accidentally opens the wrong letter, it changes her life. Decades later, her son Amit finds that letter and thinks he has discovered his mother's secret. But secrets have their own secrets sometimes.

From intelligence to emotion, for centuries science has told us that men and women are fundamentally different. But this is not the whole story. Shedding light on controversial research and investigating the ferocious gender wars in biology, psychology and anthropology, Angela Saini takes listeners on an eye-opening journey to uncover how women are being rediscovered. She explores what these revelations mean for us as individuals and as a society, revealing an alternative view of science in which women are included rather than excluded.

It’s time to take your place on the jury. The victim: A 16-year-old girl with facial deformities, neglected by an alcoholic mother, who accuses the boys of something unthinkable. The defendants: Four handsome teenage boys from hardworking immigrant families. All with corroborating stories. Whose side would you take?

Prepare to be chilled, electrified and entertained - a gem of a novel from 'one of the most brilliantly inventive writers of this, or any country' ( Independent). Walk down narrow, clammy Slade Alley. Open the black iron door in the right-hand wall.Enter the sunlit garden of an old house that doesn't exactly make sense. A stranger greets you by name and invites you inside. At first, you won't want to leave. Too late, you find you can't....

Smita, Giulia, Sarah: three lives, three continents, three women with nothing in common but nevertheless bound by a rare expression of courage...like three strands in a braid. Through the story of one woman’s hair, three women’s destinies are drawn together. Laetitia Colombani’s The Braid is the powerfully moving story of three women’s courage in the face of adversity.

Lily and Safa were best friends growing up. Now, Lily is the nation’s favourite breakfast TV presenter and Safa, once a renowned journalist, is reeling from a recent fall from grace. When news breaks about suspicious bruises on Lily’s body, Safa attempts to rekindle their old friendship. But Lily claims the bruises are nothing to worry about. And then one night the police are called to Lily’s home. Lily is strangely calm – and a body lies dead at her feet.

The publishing house of John Murray was founded in Fleet Street in 1768 and remained a family firm over seven generations. Published to coincide with this remarkable achievement' and in the anniversary year, Dear Mr Murray is a collection of some of the best letters from the hundreds of thousands held in the John Murray Archive. They reveal not only the story of some of the most interesting and influential books in history but also the remarkable friendships - as well as occasional animosities - between author and publisher as well as readers, editors, printers and illustrators.

Freshly arrived from a beautiful Tunisian island to work for the exacting Countess Poulais de Roc, Fatima finds herself in a city where even the most mudane tasks prove baffling. But her natural compassion and sheer grit ensure her survival, and unexpectedly bring good fortune to those around her. And then suddenly, it's Fatima's turn to seize happiness. Warmhearted and witty, this is a story of love and determination alive with the sights sounds and tastes of Paris.

Whitman 'Win' Tagore and Leo Milanowski are the greatest love story of our time. International movie star meets the beautiful son of a millionaire. Their kisses write headlines, and their fights break the internet. Nobody needs to know it's not real. Win knows that Hollywood demands perfection - especially from a woman of colour. Leo just wants to enjoy life, and shift press attention away from his dysfunctional family. Together they control the narrative.