Showing results by narrator "Nancy Peterson" in All Categories

Holly Newbury’s life is on hold in the cozy English village of Chilton Crosse. While her friends are marrying, having children, and embarking on successful careers, Holly is raising her three younger sisters and working part time at the village art gallery. Her life feels incomplete, but family is more important to her than anything. Then a film crew’s arrival galvanizes the community, and Holly becomes fast friends with Fletcher Hays, the movie’s love-shy American writer. The production of an Emma film isn’t the only drama in town, though.

Centuries ago, sound theology and good fiction were friends and not strangers. Decades ago, authors strove not for self-expression and self-disclosure but for a mastery of craft and language and books that transformed the reader with wisdom and love. In more recent years, the old ideals have been exchanged for lesser ones. Few guides to writing, which tend to focus on mechanics, point of view, and plot, address the more important matters of meaning, depth, and heart. But it is the latter qualities that make a book a blessing and gift to both writer and reader.

Undaunted by a threatening storm, Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley insists he must deliver his letter to Miss Elizabeth Bennet - then tragedy strikes. Riddled with guilt, Elizabeth comes to the aid of the comatose Mr. Darcy and stays by his side until he regains consciousness. She soon learns that although Mr. Darcy has awoken, he has not returned to himself. And with no memory of his first disastrous proposal, he has concluded that there is nothing he wants more than to propose to Miss Elizabeth.

A tale of betrayal, revenge, loyalty, and redemption, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a true classic. Hester Prynne settles in a little town in Puritan-era Massachusetts while awaiting her husband’s arrival from England. Hester becomes pregnant, exposing her sin in the eyes of the townsfolk. Her penalty: wearing an embroidered A on her bosom for the remainder of her life. When Hester’s husband arrives in the town anticipating a joyous reunion with his young wife, he instead begins a cankering quest to uncover the father of Hester’s child.

During a long season of sorrow, there were days that Suzanne Eller would whisper to herself, "Joy is more than a feeling; it is a knowing." She was learning that to keep joy in her life, she needed to sort out her feelings and what she knew to be true.

While British high society primps and plays, the impoverished citizens of London languish. But there are those fighting for the freedom of common citizens - including two members of the aristocracy who secretly champion revolution. In the drawing rooms of the upper class, Lady Amanda and Lord Nathaniel flirt and tease with the best of them as she pretends to win every heart in London for sport, and he to conquer them.

This is definitely not a ghost story. But for a while after you're gone, I see you everywhere. Every ragged young person sitting huddled on a pavement, every stretched-out body under cardboard in a shop doorway. Two parents stand by powerlessly as their only child seems intent on destroying herself. As the mother-a novelist-attempts to understand her daughter, she finds herself revisiting her own uneasy, unresolved relationship with her mother.

At the age of 94, Maggie Howard’s final wish is to return to San Francisco and find out what happened to the young man who saved her life in 1906 after the disastrous earthquake and fires that devastated the city. The morning of their rescue, Orlando Gallo promised he would find her again. But Maggie hasn’t seen or heard from him in over 70 years, and now, widowed and childless, Maggie hopes to leave her estate to Orlando’s descendants. She invites her neighbor to travel with her, and as the two women return to San Francisco to track down Orlando, they form a strong friendship.

Life changed beyond recognition for Alice when her son, Eddie, was born with autism spectrum disorder. She must do everything to support him, but at what cost to her family? When her cherished grandmother is hospitalised, a hidden box of mementos reveals a tattered photo of a young man, a tiny leather shoe and a letter. Her grandmother begs Alice to return to Poland to see what became of those she held dearest.

In this book, the author traces the history of this unholy alliance and invites those recovering from the influence of fundamentalist religions, as well as the non-religious seeking to preserve the democratic experiment, to excise the toxic influences of religious authoritarianism from politics and personal life. Listeners from all backgrounds will be enlightened and inspired by Baker's clear and incisive snapshot of this defining moment in our history.

Georgiana Darcy has grown up - and she has two older brothers who take her protection so seriously, she fears she is doomed for a life of dull solitude. However, one chance encounter with a young man from her past could set her on a path of adventure and romance...if only her dear family would let her. Michael Nelson is everything Georgiana remembers him to be: hard-working, honest, and handsome. He fills his days chasing after criminals and uniting divided families. Anything to avoid feeling the void of loneliness and his lack of family.

For almost thirty years, Shirley Jackson Award–winning horror author Gemma Files has consistently served up tale after tale celebrating monstrosity in all its forms: the imperfect, the broken, the beautifully alien, and the sadly familiar. Her characters make their own choices and take their own chances, slipping from darkness into deeper darkness yet never losing their humanity—not even when they’re anything but.

Marty Coursin is finally living the good life. Free of the erroneous FBI charges against him, now he's able to spend his days in comfort on Orcas Island. Sure, there's a bit of a mystery surrounding who's been sending him strange, anonymous messages. But who cares about that when everything is going his way, including the arrival of a beautiful, fascinating new resident?

A Woman's Place Is in the Brewhouse celebrates the contributions of female brewers and explores the forces that have erased them from the brewing world. It's a history that's simultaneously inspiring and demeaning. As women continue to work hard for equal treatment and recognition in the industry, author Tara Nurin shows that women have been - and are once again becoming - relevant in the brewing world.

God is so vast that the heavens cannot contain Him. Likewise, His personality is so complex that one name cannot adequately describe Him. Throughout the Bible, God revealed Himself to His people through His various names. In 30 Meditations on the Names of God, Marilyn Hickey and Sarah Bowling share their heartfelt thoughts about the importance of meditating on God's Word and how meditating on the names of God can help us with every need.

After her mother’s death, Eva Taylor discovered an astounding collection of documents, photos and letters from her time as a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Holland. Using the letters, she reconstructed her mother's experience in the underground resistance movement and then as a prisoner in the Amersfoort, Ravensbruck and Mauthausen concentration camps.

From an author praised for writing “delicious social history” (Dwight Garner, The New York Times) comes a lively account of memorable Miss America contestants, protests, and scandals - and how the pageant, nearing its one hundredth anniversary, serves as an unintended indicator of feminist progress.

It’s the summer of 1989 and Beatrice and Henrietta Volt are coming of age on remote Fowler Island, their ancestral home and wild playground. Thicker than thieves, the sisters plot their futures, having no idea that their parents are separating. Or that the plan is to separate them. Ten years pass before Henrie gets a desperate call from her sister―their father has died suddenly and B.B. needs her to come back to the island for the funeral. But Henrie doesn’t want to go back. She’s barely put the island and all those rumors about missing women behind her.

Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to A Wyoming Summer and discover whether or not true love can survive the changing seasons.

Myra Henshawe gave up her uncle's fortune for love. Having eloped with her husband, they embarked on a journey that can only be deemed as ordinary. As their lives play out, Myra begins to regret the decisions she had made in life, leading their marriage—and her health—to its demise. In this thought-provoking novel, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather paints a picture of American normalcy riddled with life's regrets and scorned love.