Showing results by narrator "Amanda Benzecry" in All Categories

Articulate and intelligent, Lady Augusta Peabody avoids Society's censure by secretly publishing her political essays under the pen name "Firebrand." But despite all outward efforts to behave like a proper lady at the balls she can’t avoid attending, she finds herself tripping into awkward encounters with the roguish Earl of Dunham and igniting a fiery war of words between them.

Jane Seymour has risen to become a lady in waiting to Queen Katherine, wife of King Henry VIII, but Jane has joined the household of the true Queen at a time most dangerous, as the King seeks to end his marriage to Katherine, and take Anne Boleyn as his Queen. Through years of struggle, Jane will watch as the England she knows, and the faith she honours are torn apart by the King's wish to take a new wife, and to break from the power of Rome. Devoted to her beloved mistress, Queen Katherine, Jane makes an oath to do all she can, to save England and its King.

Penniless and alone, Octavia Hadley finds herself forced to accept a position as governess to an orphaned girl living with her English diplomat guardian in faraway Russia. But when the diplomat abandons them as Napoleon’s army marches into Moscow, Octavia is determined to get both herself and the girl to safety.

May 1536: Queen Anne Boleyn has fallen and Jane Seymour is about to become Queen, yet the King's new love is troubled not only by the fall and execution of his last wife and Queen, but by the creeping feeling that she knows not the man she has promised to marry. As Jane steps into the palaces of the King, emerging quietly as England's Queen, she finds herself haunted by thoughts of Anne Boleyn, Katherine of Aragon and what the past means for her own fate. And Jane is not the only one troubled by the actions of King Henry VIII.

Sailing home to England with her two younger brothers, the intrepid Miss Zara Greeley plucks a half-drowned stranger from icy seas. The handsome man says he's a duke—a claim Zara is tempted to believe, for only a duke could be so impossibly arrogant, especially when their ship runs aground on a Scottish island during the storm, and they are forced to do manual labor in a brewer to earn their passage to the mainland.

A drunken laugh, a roll of the dice... and Aurora Sprague finds herself a child bride, married in haste to a young man she's never met to settle her father's gaming debt. Moments after the ceremony, the new groom gallops off to the army and Aurora is banished to a remote estate, married in name only. Years later, Alex Fenimore, now a top intelligence officer, is on a secret mission when a fiery young lady helps him escape an attack. He has no idea of her real identity—or that the sparks of desire between them are about to ignite a dangerous passion...

As featured on BBC Radio across the UK. Discover the simple, transformative joy of knitting — and how it can bring calm, colour and connection into your everyday life. Knitting Happiness is a warm, poetic and deeply companionable guide to wellbeing through the gentle art of knitting. Blending mindful practice with heartfelt storytelling, it explores how yarn, rhythm and the act of making can soothe the mind, lift the spirit and help us rediscover beauty in the ordinary.

November 1539. Sent as a bride for the much-married King of England, Anna of Cleves has left her homeland and family behind to travel to England. There to be wed to a man who has killed one wife, and perhaps caused the deaths of two more, Anna fears her marriage and husband, yet she has been promised to Henry VIII to secure alliance for her country, and safety for her people. But will there be safety for Anna? Into a court of scandal and cutthroat politics she is thrown, and only by her wits will she survive.

For Allegra Proctor, tutoring the Earl of Wrexham's son has its disadvantages—namely the widowed earl himself. Arrogant, cold, and moody, Wrexham is also distractingly dashing. But Allegra only needs to to keep secret her real reason for taking a job in the wilds of Yorkshire long enough to right the wrong against her father, committed by the earl's dastardly neighbor. All is going according to plan–until the earl’s son discovers her quest for justice and demands to help. But when their first foray runs into trouble, Wrexham is quickly entangled in the scheming.

Removed from the shadow of death as the Queen of King Henry VIII, Anna of Cleves revels in her new life as the King's "good sister". A new Queen has risen, the young Catherine Howard, and as court and country try to pit Anna against Catherine, the Lady of Cleves strives to show only friendship and support to the new Queen and the royal family.

Swan Castle, Cleves, 1521. Nestled deep in a land rich in myth and fairy-tale, within the changing politics and religion of the Holy Roman Empire, a young girl grows to adulthood, watching war and faith tear the world she knows asunder.

Step into the heart of Barnes and Hammersmith with The Bridge, a captivating tale of friendship and school days, resilience, calamities and community. This children’s book follows Lulu, a spirited schoolgirl whose daily walk across the iconic Hammersmith Bridge takes her on adventures big and small. But when the bridge is suddenly closed, Lulu’s world is turned upside down.

Step into Barnes Village, where best friends Ollie and Zoe laugh, play, skip, and sing—until one spring morning, they discover a curious thing. The pond they adore, with ducks, frogs, and fun, has vanished—disappeared—gone with the sun! Where did it go? What could it mean? The village pond’s nowhere to be seen. As the girls puzzle and ponder, asking, "Where did the water wander?" the mystery unfolds in a tale of friendship, surprise, and watery wonders.