Showing results by narrator "Rosie Akerman" in All Categories

Women have been shamans since time immemorial, not only because women have innate intuitive gifts, but also because the female body is wired to more easily experience altered states, such as during the process of birth. Whether female or male, the altered states produced by psychedelics and ecstatic trance expand our minds to tap into and enhance our feminine states of consciousness as well as reconnect us to the web of life.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Feminists Don't Wear Pink (and Other Lies) curated and read by Scarlett Curtis with a cast of fierce women. We asked 52 women: what does the F word mean to you? The result is extraordinary. Curated by journalist and activist Scarlett Curtis, with incredible pieces by Emma Watson, Zoe Sugg, Keira Knightley, Gemma Arterton, Bridget Jones (by Helen Fielding), Saoirse Ronan, Liv Little, Dolly Alderton, Karen Gillan, Alicia Garza, Jameela Jamil, Kat Dennings, Nimco Ali, Beanie Feldstein, Olivia Perez, Amika George, Evanna Lynch, Akilah Hughes and others.

When Edgar dies in a Far East prisoner-of-war camp, it breaks the heart of fellow prisoner Starling, the man who loved him. When he visits Edgar’s family after the war, Edgar's mother, Clementine, mistakes him for another man, and he fails to correct the mistake. Playing the role of someone else and being in Edgar’s home with those who loved him stirs powerful and disorientating emotions in Starling. Edgar’s loss has driven his sister, Aida, to seek solace in the arms of a series of men–but the meeting with Starling sparks a powerful and complex connection.

Considered by Time magazine to be one of the best fantasy books of all time, Edith Nesbit's Five Children and It follows a tribe of children on their magical adventures during a summer in the English countryside. When a strange, furry creature appears in front of the children and offers a wish a day, the children take advantage of the creature's abilities and discover that their wishes have many unforeseen - and often quite funny - consequences.

Single father and confirmed bachelor Jack Skeffington is the mastermind behind an international smuggling ring, yet unable to control his rambunctious ten-year-old twins. What he needs is a stern, experienced, no-nonsense governess. What he gets is his business partner’s untouchable sister, whose delectable body Jack yearns to pull close. Mademoiselle Désirée le Duc cannot wait to return to France and regain her lost vineyard. But to do so, she must repay crippling debt. Determined to buy freedom, she accepts temporary employment from an Englishman with a wicked smile and a big… wine cellar.

Maria and William seem to have it all: two happy children, a beautiful house, a thriving business. But when their home is invaded by David, an ex-employee with a score to settle, the couple face a terrifying fight to survive. During the course of one hellish night, David picks apart their carefully constructed life. Secrets are unearthed, truths revealed. And soon David begins to wonder if he’s bitten off more than he can chew—because he’s discovering Maria and William are not the defenseless couple he imagined.

In Suzanne Enoch’s Great Scot, Jane Bansil knows she will never have a fairy-tale life. But even at three-and-30, well past marriageable age, she has to admit that the architect the MacTaggerts have hired could turn even a confirmed spinster’s head. In Amelia Grey’s Christmas at Dewberry Hollow, Isabelle Reed has no plans to ever fall in love - and certainly not with Gate, a man who doesn’t live in Dewberry Hollow. She will fulfill her duty and help him keep his promise to have his ill grandfather back in London in time for Christmas dinner.

The Psammead trilogy, featuring Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, and The Story of the Amulet, has enchanted audiences of all ages for decades. Experience the entire story in this one unique collection, narrated by Rosie Akerman.

Beth became a widow after just two years of marriage. Before her husband's death, they made the decision to freeze an embryo so that she could still have his child. But Beth has just been told that the embryo was implanted in the wrong woman seven years ago. Somewhere in the neighbourhood, her longed-for son is growing up without her. What should she do?

With Christmas approaching, the Brogan family of London's East End are braving the horrors of the Blitz. With the men away fighting for King and Country and the ever-present dangers of the German Luftwaffe's nightly reign of death and destruction, the family must do all they can to keep a stiff upper lip. For Jo, the youngest of the Brogan sisters, the perils of war also offer a newfound freedom. Jo falls in love with Tommy, a man known for his dangerous reputation as much as his charm.

Miss Virginia Underwood cannot resist rescuing a stray. Her latest find turns out to be a surly, reclusive war hero trying to recover from his wounds in peace. He doesn't want her help - and Virginia definitely doesn't want to fall in love. Not when a future with him would mean returning to the the same haut ton that laughed her out of Town during her very first Season.

Lord Rafe Gilbert longs for freedom - freedom from his controlling father, freedom to live his life as he chooses. He knows playing the rake keeps his autocratic father in check, but Rafe longs to determine his own destiny. Case in point, he fell in love with Lady Sophie years ago, but his father’s threats and his mother’s health prevent him from pursuing Lady Sophie in earnest. So when Fate thrusts Sophie into his path, Rafe knows he must turn her away and distance himself. But doing the right thing has never been so impossibly difficult.

The third installment of Edith Nesbit's Psammead Trilogy continues to follow the lives of the original five children and their magical endeavors. The children once again encounter the Psammead, but this time they also discover an ancient amulet that contains time-traveling powers and fuels their adventure throughout the novel. As the children experience different civilizations through time, they meet a multitude of new characters and explore many notable locales such as Atlantis before the flood, Babylon, and the Tin Islands.

Olive Harper's family has been feuding with the Westons for decades. The Westons’ stud farm is the biggest, but the Harpers’ is the most famous... and she's the sole heiress. Or was, until her father brokers a truce by offering the Weston heir the Harper farm. The only way to get it back is to marry the knave who kissed her and humiliated her, twice—or prove to her father that some rifts can never be healed.

Rumor has it, charming adventurer Christopher Pringle is finally ready to settle down. He’s searching for a free-spirited bride to join him on his travels. But when the matchmaker he hires turns out to be the woman he had a public spat with the day before, nothing goes as planned!

Lady Jane Everard cannot abide the new earl of Hadley. The unmannered Scot is a menace to genteel ladies everywhere, what with his booming laugh and swishing kilt and endless supply of “ochs” and “ayes”. Jane wishes Lord Hadley would behave as an earl should and adhere to English rules of polite conduct.

Lady chemist Penelope Mitchell took England by storm with Duke, a perfume for men that has women swooning at their feet. To prove the same aphrodisiacal potency of her upcoming version for ladies, the new perfume must cause a rake to fall in love with her in 10 days. And she has just the man in mind.

Meg Church adores two things: life in a village of perennial Yuletide, and the freedom of being a spinster with no reputation to protect. Oh, very well, three things: She’s harbored a secret tendre for Christmas curmudgeon Lucien le Duc since the moment she first glimpsed him. But the sexy blacksmith won’t give her the time of day, much less a night of torrid passion.

When Natalie snoops through her boyfriend's possessions, she finds more than she bargained for - Mark was once convicted of a brutal killing. However, he was not the only person sentenced for the murder of two-year-old Abby Morgan. The violent and twisted Adam Campbell was also convicted...and Mark knows more about the murder than he will admit. Can Mark ever break free from Adam and his past?

As the daughter of a duke, Lady Isabelle’s pristine reputation is paramount. Her high status is how she’ll attract the titled suitor her mother insists she wed. When Belle’s chaperone falls ill en route to a party, she must pose as an independent widow to avoid gossip. Why not have a wee innocent flirtation with a handsome tailor staying at the same inn? She’ll be gone in the morning…