Showing results by narrator "Anna Bentinck" in All Categories

Set against the rolling backdrop of a century of British history from the First World War to today, this is a family portrait captured in snapshots. First there is William, the factory lad who loses his life in Gallipoli. Then there is his son Billy, a champion cyclist who faces the D-Day Landings on a military bicycle, followed by his crippled son Will, who becomes an Oxford academic in the 1960s. Finally there is his daughter Billie, an artist in contemporary London.

When Rose's daughter, Vivien, is found dead in a suspected suicide, Rose has questions nobody can answer. Wasn't Vivien living the perfect life? A caring husband, a sweet little girl of her own. But as the police investigation develops, their findings raise new questions. Did Vivien kill herself, or was she attacked? If so, who has something to hide?

New South Wales, 1817. Margaret Catchpole is stranded at a settler's homestead as the floodwater draws in, and she finds herself facing death - as she has several times before. She looks back over her life - the complex and stormy partnership with Will Laud, a 'hell-born-babe', that led her into the world of smuggling and in to a double life. After Will is forced to flee the country, Margaret is taken on as a nursemaid by the wealthy Cobbold family, but a crime against them means she is tried and sentenced to hang.

This text centers around the purchase of an ancient amulet that can grant a family's heart's desire - the return of their parents - but which first sets them on a journey through time to ancient Babylon, Egypt, and Atlantis. Anna Bentinck's engaging reading captures the excitement and tension of the text.

Shortly before Christmas, Chief Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is called to the scene of multiple murders. Four people are found shot dead at the home of the wealthy Stahlberg family. Three of the dead are members of the family, and the fourth victim is an undistinguished author, seemingly out of place. As Hanne and her longtime police partner, Billy T., investigate, they unearth many motives for the murders. But Hanne doesn't believe that the full story has been revealed.

There's more going on in The Street than its inhabitants realize.... In the course of this delightful, quirky and perceptive audiobook, an elderly soldier with incipient Alzheimer's saves the life of a remarkable child, a resting actor finds real purpose, a woman starved of love discovers it in an unexpected place and a beloved cat achieves immortality.

The backbone of Mansfield Park is based around the marriages of sisters Lady Bertram, Mrs. Norris, and Mrs. Price. Each of these sisters marries a man from a different social class. Lady Bertram marries an extremely wealthy baronet, Sir Thomas Bertram; Mrs. Norris marries a clergyman who makes a decent living; and Mrs. Price marries a naval lieutenant who is injured shortly after they marry, causing his career to end with living in poverty.

Socially critical and emotionally complex, Tess of the d'Urbervilles is Hardy's masterpiece. It tells the story of Tess Durbeyfield, forced by her family's poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy d'Urbervilles. Violated by the son, Alec, her hopes of rebuilding her life with the gentle and bookish Angel Clare founder when he learns of her past.

Chief Prosecutor Sigurd Halvorsrud's wife is found dead in front of the fireplace in the family living room. The cause of death is instantly apparent – she has been brutally decapitated. Halvorsrud immediately falls under suspicion. Then a journalist at one of Oslo's largest newspapers is found beheaded. What links these two horrifically violent crimes?

Our Island Story by H. E. Marshall is an Edwardian history book for younger listeners (age six to 12) which tells the story of England, concluding with the reign of Queen Victoria. Antonia Fraser and many other current historians declare that it was this book that opened the delights of history for them. It fell from fashion in the 1960s, but its recent re-release in hardback has seen it become a publishing surprise in the UK, with sales of some 75,000 copies in a few months.

It has been 11 years since Hanne Wilhelmsen's life was forever changed by an assault that left her wheelchair bound. Now Hanne's self-imposed exile is nearing its end. When Oslo comes under attack from Islamic extremists in a series of explosions, the city is left reeling. A militant group claim responsibility, but the Norwegian police force doubt the group's very existence. The unfolding drama is brought to Hanne's door by her former partner, Billy T, who is convinced that his son, Linus, is involved in the recent events.

Rona Parish is asked to write a biography of reclusive artist Ellie by her concerned sister. Ellie has seemingly disappeared, and the mystery surrounding her whereabouts has fuelled a new interest in her work. But when Rona discovers that Ellie’s closest friend committed suicide, Rona wonders whether Ellie, wracked by guilt over her friend’s death, could have been driven to do likewise....

This is a book about memories, love, sex and the power of the imagination to see us through the most difficult times. The women of Reality, Reality are mesmerising, whether in love or in solitude. Jackie Kay’s newest and most luminous of collections is full of compassion, generosity, sorrow, and joy. In 15 extraordinary stories, she celebrates the richness and power of dream-life to inspire, to repair, and to make real.

One stolen baby. Two desperate strangers. One night of terror. When Nina almost dies during a disastrous blind date, her life is saved by a waitress called Angel. But later that evening, Nina is surprised by a knock on the door. It’s Angel - and she’s pointing a gun at her. Minutes later, Angel’s younger brother, Lucas, turns up, covered in blood, shielding a stolen newborn baby in his arms. Nina is about to endure the longest night of her life - a night that will be filled with terror and lead her to take risks she would never have believed herself capable of....

Joan Seabrook, a fledgling archaeologist, has fulfilled a lifelong dream to visit Arabia by travelling from England to the ancient city of Muscat with her fiancé, Rory. Desperate to escape the pain of a personal tragedy, she longs to explore the desert fort of Jabrin and unearth the treasures it is said to conceal. But Oman is a land lost in time - hard, secretive and in the midst of a violent upheaval - and gaining permission to explore Jabrin could prove impossible.

Set in London in 1837, Anna Mazzola's The Unseeing is the story of Sarah Gale, a seamstress and mother sentenced to hang for her role in the murder of Hannah Brown on the eve of her wedding. Perfect for any fan of Sarah Waters or Antonia Hodgson. After Sarah petitions for mercy, Edmund Fleetwood is appointed to investigate and consider whether justice has been done. Idealistic but struggling with his own demons, Edmund is determined to seek out the truth.

A photograph taken in 1971 sets two people on the path to uncovering the truth about their parents and themselves.

When Lily Bell is sold by her father to a Professor of Ghosts to settle a bad debt, she thinks she is about to hit the London stage as an actress. But little does she know that the professor intends her to be his very own ghost, part of an elaborate illusion for a fascinated audience. Obsessed with perfection, the professor covers all bases to ensure his illusion is realistic and when Lily comes across her own obituary in the paper and then her own headstone in the cemetery, she soon realises that she is trapped, her parents think she is dead and soon her fate is to become even darker.

The Phoenix and the Carpet is the sequel to Five Children and It and continues the adventures of Robert, Cyril, Anthea, Jane, and their baby brother, Lamb. They encounter a phoenix wrapped in a magic carpet, and thus begins a series of adventures: Captivating, extraordinary, and fun, even if some of them go horribly wrong.

In January 1987, Helen Honeysett goes on an evening run from her riverside cottage and disappears. Twenty-nine years later, Helen's body has never been found. Her husband has hired a detective to find out what happened all those years ago, but when the five households on that desolate stretch of towpath refuse to give up their secrets, Stella and Jack find themselves hunting a killer whose trail has long gone cold.