Audiobooks narrated by Carole Boyd

The compelling new family drama from the nation’s favourite storyteller. Florence Stanville is a woman with a past. When she moves to Guisethorpe on the east coast of England, the townsfolk are intrigued by the glamorous and mysterious stranger, with her flame-red hair and abrupt manners. Florence doesn’t care about the gossips – she’s drawn to the peaceful seaside town by the pull of her childhood, when she lived for a brief but happy time with her beloved late mother. The riddle of those days remains and now Florence can only snatch at half-remembered memories and shadowy figures in her dreams. As Florence is reluctantly drawn into the lives of her new neighbours, the layers of her own life are revealed, though it’s clear not everyone wishes her well. Far from finding peace, Florence has found instead turmoil and secrets. Can she put the pieces of her past together, or will it remain a closed book forever…?

Josephine Cox (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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A Family Secret

The new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Josephine Cox - the master storyteller.Sometimes you just need the courage to tell the truth...Although she's surrounded by a loving family, Marie feels lost: living with a lie can be very lonely. Marie has been carrying a secret for years, one that could ruin the lives of those she loves most, and the guilt she feels weighs heavily. Her granddaughter, Cathy, is a most cheerful young woman, and in the first flush of love. The secret Marie is about to tell her will not only change her future but rewrite her past. Cathy now has a dangerous choice to make that could change her life forever.As far as everyone can see Cathy's future sister-in-law, Beth, has a happy life and a good marriage, but she's heartbreakingly sad. One day, perhaps she'll be brave enough to speak out and run away...Secrets at the heart of a family can last a lifetime... but it's the love of a family that can set you free.

Josephine Cox (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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A Woman's Fortune

The new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Josephine Cox - the master storyteller. Finding a new beginning means taking the hardest road...but the journey is where you find your true courage. Torn away from their beloved home, the journey for the Carter family has just begun... In the middle of the night, Evie is torn away from her beloved home and close-knit community, as her family run away to the south. Her father's luck has finally run out but, what should mark a hopeful new beginning, is just the start of young Evie's troubles. With the weight of her family's future on her shoulders, Evie has no-one to turn to. Her mother, worn down by life, runs off with a new man, and with her grandmother's sight failing, it's left to Evie to earn their keep and run the house. Holding her family together is only made harder when tragedy strikes at its heart. A lost letter from home means that Evie's only hope of a happy ending has been dashed, but she's determined to make a new future for herself and find her own fortune in life. Praise for Josephine Cox 'Cox's talent as storyteller never lets you escape the spell' Daily Mail 'Family secrets threaten to ruin everything in this beautiful tale of love and sadness' Woman's Own 'Another masterpiece' Best

Josephine Cox (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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Abdication: A Novel

England, 1936. The year began with the death of a beloved king and the ascension of a charismatic young monarch, sympathetic to the needs of the working class, glamorous and single. By year’s end, the world would be stunned as it witnessed that new leader give up his throne in the name of love, just as the unrest and violence that would result in a second World War were becoming impossible to ignore. In pitch-perfect prose, Juliet Nicolson has captured an era in which duty and pleasure, tradition and novelty, and order and chaos all battled for supremacy in the hearts and minds of king and commoner alike. As addictive as Downton Abbey, Abdication is a breathtaking story inspired by a love affair that shook the world.

Juliet Nicolson (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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Atonement

On the hottest day of the summer of 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie Turner, her childhood friend who, like Cecilia, has recently come down from Cambridge. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will have been changed for ever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had not even imagined at its start, and will have become victims of the younger girl's imagination. Briony will have witnessed mysteries, and committed a crime for which she will spend the rest of her life trying to atone.

Ian McEwan (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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Becoming Queen

'I will be good,' promised the thirteen-year-old Victoria, when she understood that she would be Queen of the most powerful country in the world. That, of course, is a matter of opinion. And there are other layers to the story. With a combination of novelistic flair and historical accuracy, Kate Williams begins by relating the heartbreaking story of Princess Charlotte, the Queen who never was, and her impact on the young Victoria. Our perception of Victoria the Queen is coloured by portraits of her older, widowed self - her dour expression embodying the repressive morality propagated in her time. But Becoming Queen reveals an energetic and vibrant woman, determined to battle for power. It also documents the Byzantine machinations behind Victoria's quest to occupy the throne, and shows how her struggles did not end when finally the crown was placed on her head. In the late eighteenth century, monarchies were in crisis across Europe. Discontented with their mad King, George III, and his spendthrift offspring, the English pinned their hopes on the only legitimate grandchild: Princess Charlotte, daughter of George, Prince of Wales. But Charlotte died at the age of twenty-two, a few hours after giving birth to a stillborn son. A grieving nation immediately began venerating her as someone who would have made an ideal Queen while Charlotte's rackety uncles embarked on a race to produce the next heir. No one thought that little Victoria, daughter of the Duke of Kent, would ascend the throne. She, in turn, became increasingly determined to take control of her own destiny, and clashed constantly not only with her hugely ambitious mother but with her protégé and household comptroller, the Irish adventurer, John Conroy. After she became Queen, ministers, even her beloved Prince Albert, still attempted to steal power away from her. Revealing how Charlotte's death shaped Victoria's reign and laying bare the passions that swirled around the throne, Becoming Queen is an absorbingly dramatic tale of secrets, sexual repression and endless conflict. After her lauded biography of Emma Hamilton, England's Mistress, Kate Williams has produced a most original and intimate portrait of Great Britain's longest reigning monarch.

Kate Williams (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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Born Bad

THE POWERFUL NEW BESTSELLER FROM ONE OF THE NATION'S FAVOURITE STORYTELLERS AVAILABLE ON AUDIO.Harry always knew he would go back one day ...Eighteen years ago when he was a boy, he had made a decision that drove him from the pace he knew and loved.In those early years, between boy and man, he had carved out a life for himself, and somehow, he had found a semblance of peace.Yet through every waking moment during those long aching years, he was haunted by what happened when he was a boy. He had never forgotten that warm, carefree girl with the laughing eyes. Then he recalled the sadness, the bad timings and even now, he could not forgive himself. They say you never forget your first love and it's true. You could have a dozen loving relationships and even settle down with someone you would die for, but your first love is always there, safe and protected in your heart and soul.Now for the first time in all those years, Harry is heading back. Excited, afraid, and full of doubts, he knows he has no choice. Rightly or wrongly, he needs to know the outcome of what happened all those years ago.And most importantly, he needs to find forgiveness.

Josephine Cox (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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Cleopatra

Cleopatra's palace shimmered with onyx and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Though her life spanned fewer then forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first and she poisoned the second. Incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony, two of the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a son with Caesar and - after his murder, three more with his protege. Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way the supple personality has been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order a generation before the birth of Christ. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff's is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life.

Stacy Schiff (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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Francis I: The Maker of Modern France

The bestselling author of Catherine de Medici returns to sixteenth-century Europe in this evocative and entertaining biography that recreates a remarkable era of French history and brings to life a great monarch-Francis I-who turned France into a great nation. Catherine de Medici's father-in-law, King Francis of France, was the perfect Renaissance knight, the movement's exemplar and its Gallic interpreter. An aesthete, diplomat par excellence, and contemporary of Machiavelli, Francis was the founder of modern France, whose sheer force of will and personality molded his kingdom into the first European superpower. Arguably the man who introduced the Renaissance to France, Francis was also the prototype Frenchman-a national identity was modeled on his character. So great was his stamp, that few countries even now are quite so robustly patriotic as is France. Yet as Leonie Frieda reveals, Francis did not always live up to his ideal; a man of grand passions and vision, he was also a flawed husband, father, lover, and king. With access to private archives that have never been used in a study of Francis I, Frieda explores the life of a man who was the most human of the monarchs of the period-and yet, remains the most elusive. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Leonie Frieda (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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His Dark Lady

London, 1583.When young, aspiring playwright William Shakespeare encounters Lucy Morgan, one of Queen Elizabeth I's ladies-in-waiting, the two fall passionately in love. He declares Lucy the inspiration for his work, but what secret is Will hiding from his muse?Meanwhile, Lucy has her own secret, and one that could destroy her world if exposed. No longer the chaste maid so valued by the Virgin Queen, she also bore witness to the clandestine wedding of Lettice Knollys and Robert Dudley, a match forbidden by the monarch. England is in peril. Queen Elizabeth's health is deteriorating, her throne under siege from Catholic plotters and threats of war with Spain. Faced with deciding the fate of her long-term prisoner, Mary, Queen of Scots, she needs a trusted circle of advisors around her now more than ever. But who can she turn to when those closest to her have proved disloyal? And how secure is Lucy's position at court, now that she has learned the dangerous art of keeping secrets?

Victoria Lamb (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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Jane Eyre

One of the most passionate novels of its time, Jane Eyre derives its strength from the honesty and directness of its heroine. The first person narrative involves us right from the start, letting us into Jane's thoughts as she matures from rebellious child to passionate woman. Notice how social snobbery is condemned - particularly in the character of Aunt Reed and the conditions at Lowood 'Orphans Asylum'. Listen how the writer builds her climaxes - most notably in Rochester's famous proposal scene. Notice, also, how Jane rises above her unhappy beginnings to gain Rochester's love. And, finally, revel in the story's ending - one of the most moving conclusions to a love story ever written.

Charlotte Bronte (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte (Author), Carole Boyd (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Carole Boyd