Audiobooks narrated by Esther Wane

"Triumph and tragedy, love and loss, murder and malice in the lives of five fifteenth-century queens The fifteenth century was a turbulent age: the Hundred Years War between England and France, and the Wars of the Roses dominated the lives of people both inside and out of the royal courts. Joan of Navarre, Katherine of Valois, Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Wydeville and Anne Neville were the queens who stood by England's sovereigns, caught up in wars that changed the course of their lives, and the course of history. They were also formidable women who defied the limitations of their times, often living out the brutal consequences of their determination. Alison Weir uncovers their stories in this final volume of her ground-breaking series on the queens of medieval England. Queens at War is a stunning culmination of research by a historian at the full extent of her powers and gripping account of five women on the throne."

Alison Weir (Author), Esther Wane (Narrator)

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Cairo Gambit

"Cairo, 1938 Archie Nevenden is many things: amateur archaeologist; theatre impresario; absent father; potential defector. And now, he's a missing person. His daughter, Prim, hasn't seen him for nearly fifteen years. But she's never given up on him, and now she's on her way to Cairo to assist in the search. Harry Taverner claims to work for the British Council, but Prim knows there's more to it. He clearly has a theory about what happened to Archie, one she's not going to like. As Prim and Harry uncover the layers of Archie's existence in Cairo, they find themselves drawn in to more than one conspiracy. And soon they'll discover that Archie may not be the only one in danger..."

S.W. Perry (Author), Esther Wane (Narrator)

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Ties of Starlight

"A heartbroken king. A jilted bride. A star-crossed wedding. Idonea knows the only thing her human blood is good for is its role in strengthening the Star Elves when the comet returns every two hundred and fifty years. Her whole life has been meant for the moment she marries Olaug and finally gets it right, and not even the king can stop her perfect marriage. The day Idonea was chosen to be part of the Cometa Couple, King Nyrunn was condemned to watching the love of his life spend the rest of hers in the arms of someone else. And he is powerless to stop it. But when the fateful wedding day arrives, the chosen groom is nowhere to be found. If they don’t have a Cometa Couple, the kingdom’s magic will weaken, and it will be their extinction. If Nyrunn steps in, he saves his people and marries the love of his life, but what will he do when he discovers he’s not the love of hers? When her husband is the king she fears and despises, will Idonea be able to give him her scarred heart, or will she spend the rest of their lives longing for a husband she never had? Ties of Starlight is book 2 in Tethered Hearts, a multi-author series of no-spice fantasy romances. Each standalone story features a magical bond that forces the couple to discover how much they’re willing to sacrifice for the sake of love."

Celeste Baxendell (Author), Esther Wane, Nathaniel Priestley (Narrator)

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The Missing Gardener - MacTavish & Scott - The Lady Detectives of Edinburgh - The Lady Detectives of

"Finola has just moved to Edinburgh and she's more than a little excited. After turning her whole life upside down, she's now a detective and her first case is not long in coming. At first, she's only supposed to find out if Amanda, a friend of her boss Anne, is being cheated on by her husband. But when Amanda's uncle disappears unexpectedly, Finola quickly travels to the west coast of Scotland to follow up on a lead, even though Anne suddenly insists on taking over the case herself. What began as a harmless search for a missing gardener soon becomes a matter of life and death - for Finola too! About the series: Young Scot Finola MacTavish has moved from the picturesque Isle of Skye to Edinburgh to work as a private detective in Anne Scott's agency. Along with computer whiz Lachie, the two lady detectives solve a series of baffling cases. Finola soon realises that she has a knack for investigation and shadowing people - preferably in disguise. What's more, she always has her granny's herbal medicine to hand, and the drops in question are much more than just a headache remedy ... About the author: Gitta Edelmann worked as a translator in Bonn, Rio de Janeiro, Freiburg and Edinburgh before moving back to the Rhineland, Germany. In addition to children's stories and historical novels, she published a five-volume cosy crime series before starting on the mystery series MacTavish & Scott. The author also goes by the name of Lady of Glencoe and Lochaber as she owns a few square feet of land there."

Gitta Edelmann (Author), Esther Wane (Narrator)

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Remembering Women: Lessons from the Ancient World

"Women do have a history of their own. All we need to do is remember it. In this illuminating new history, Christine Lehnen looks back at our collective memory to explore the myriad ways that women in the past have enjoyed a more egalitarian life. Due to advances in bioarchaeological methods, scientists have discovered that one out of three women in Ancient Scythia was an active warrior buried with her weapons. Far from being confined to their homes, these women rode out to hunt, travelled to distance places, or used weapons to fend off their enemies. These warriors were no exceptions to the rule, with women enjoying a significantly higher degree of equality than their Greek contemporaries. Remembering Women argues that there is a historical precedent for a fairer society. From reappraisals of well-known objects such as the earliest human bone calendars from the Stone Age to revelatory findings of innovative bioarcheological methods used on human remains from Ancient Scythia, evidence is accumulating that there were places in the past where all women were allowed to thrive. Interweaving innovative new findings from archaeology with the stories of her mother and grandmothers as well as her everyday experiences as a woman living today, Lehnen explores our collective memory of women and argues that it needs to change if we are to create an egalitarian society. Remembering Women follows the traces left in the material, literary, and archaeological record by our foremothers, and uses the heirlooms they have left us in their graves, their artworks, and their stories to take a fresh look at our life in the present."

Christine Lehnen (Author), Esther Wane (Narrator)

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Her Daughter's Lies

"I gasp out loud as I step through the door of the beautiful country hotel. My hands fly to my mouth in shock as I see the room is filled with my friends and family, my grown-up daughters and grandchildren at the center, gathered to celebrate my special birthday. Everyone raises their glasses to toast me. I should be enjoying the moment but I'm on edge and I can't relax. Who organized this surprise party? How did they know I was going to be here? Because I didn't come back to Burcott House to drink champagne and dance. Ten years ago, someone was murdered at this hotel. Tonight, after years of heartache, I planned to bury the past once and for all. I look around the crowd of smiling people and my heart thuds as I see the frown on my eldest daughter's face and the way my youngest daughter is smiling widely but her eyes are puffy, like she's been crying. I think about the one person who should be here who isn't . . . My family's secrets and lies swirl around my mind. Can I trust anyone in this room? Can I even trust my own daughters? I was going to finish off what happened all those years ago but did someone else have the same idea? And will I survive my own birthday party?"

Mikayla Davids (Author), Esther Wane, Rachael Beresford, Stewart Crank (Narrator)

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Ties of Legacy

"A merchant girl with a life of freedom. A young man who just wants to settle down. A journey through three enchanted kingdoms. As a roving merchant—or peddler, as many call her—Avery lives a life of freedom that few ever experience. She can navigate the enchanted landscapes of six kingdoms, and she’s an expert at finding unique items and matching them with the right customer. If her traveling lifestyle means she doesn’t have any close friends, at least she can help communities in need. And it’s worth it not to be tied down. She might be alone, but that doesn’t mean she’s lonely. Elliot would love to be tied to his birth kingdom like most people. Such a restriction might be limiting, but it would be better than being bound to a candelabra—especially once that candelabra gets stolen. With his life on the line, Elliot has to find it—or whatever is left of it. The last thing Avery wants is a pesky stowaway on her cross-kingdom rescue mission—especially not one who claims he’s bound to one of the items in her cart. Elliot is equally unhappy to be trailing her through the kingdoms—he’s sick of traveling and ready to put down roots. But Avery has promised to help free him from the ties binding him, and he’s willing to make a final journey if it means being free of the candelabra. He’ll just have to make sure his heart doesn’t form its own tie with his beautiful traveling companion. Should be easy, right? Ties of Legacy is book one in Tethered Hearts, a multi-author series of no spice fantasy romances. Each standalone story features a magical bond that forces the couple to discover how much they’re willing to sacrifice for the sake of love. This standalone story is set in the world of Melanie Cellier’s Kingdoms of Legacy series."

Melanie Cellier (Author), Esther Wane, Nathaniel Priestley (Narrator)

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Between the Lines

"In a land torn by division, faith and family draw the deepest lines… Growing up in 1970s Northern Ireland isn’t easy. Under the roof of her stern and devout adoptive mother, Eileen Duffy, Angela’s life is confined by rules and the tension of a community split between “green” and “orange.” In a place where identity is inherited and choices are few, Angela longs to carve out a future of her own. Her sheltered existence soon fractures when she meets Stevie, a boy whose roots contrast with her own upbringing. Their connection, tender and defiant, offers Angela a glimpse of freedom and belonging—but also sets in motion a series of events that will alter the course of her life forever. As the years pass, Angela is drawn back to confront the past she left behind. In a world where forgiveness is hard-won and history casts a long shadow, she must decide whether reconciliation is possible—or if some wounds will never truly heal… Between the Lines is a deeply moving exploration of love, loss, identity, and resilience. The perfect novel for readers who find beauty in the tension between light and shadow, and who believe that even in the most divided places, there is room for hope."

Evelyn Riley (Author), Esther Wane (Narrator)

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Twelve Post-War Tales: 'A marvel of the storyteller's art', Financial Times

"THE REMARKABLE NEW WORK OF FICTION FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF LAST ORDERS, WATERLAND, HERE WE ARE and MOTHERING SUNDAY In the aftermath of the Second World War Private Joseph Caan, a young Jewish soldier stationed in Germany, seeks the truth about lost family members; in the 1960s a father focuses on his daughter's wedding even as the Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink of disaster; in 2001, while planes fly into the Twin Towers, a maid working for US Embassy staff in London wonders if her birth on the day of the Kennedy assassination shaped her life; and at the height of a pandemic lockdown, Dr. Cole, a retired specialist in respiratory disease, returns to work and recalls a formative childhood encounter with illness and much more. These are just a few of the challenged characters we meet in Graham Swift's Twelve Post-war Tales. Tender, humane, funny and moving, Swift's latest work of fiction displays his quietly commanding ability to set the personal and the ordinary against the harsh sweep of history. It is an outstanding achievement, confirming his status as one of the great, most subtle voices of our age. Praise for Swift's most recent novel, Here We Are 'A magical piece of writing: the work of a novelist on scintillating form.' Guardian 'Here We Are smuggles within the pages of a seemingly commonplace tale depths of emotion and narrative complexity that take the breath away.' Observer 'The book's power comes precisely from the fact that it performs its magic in front of your eyes, leaving nowhere to hide . . . you wonder how he does it.' Financial Times 'With a wizardry of his own, Swift conjures up an about-to-disappear little world and turns it into something of wider resonance.' Sunday Times 'Swift has no equal in evoking the atmosphere of an era while probing human psychology with irony and tenderness.' L'Express, France 'Swift doesn't write, he whispers', Corriere della Sera, Italy "In a dozen pages Swift can embrace a whole life", Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany"

Graham Swift (Author), Alex Jennings, Esther Wane, Joan Walker, Patrick Moy, Tania Rodrigues (Narrator)

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Violette Szabo: The Life That I Have

"The story of Violette Szabo is one of the most extraordinary in the annals of World War II espionage and covert operations. Totally fearless and a dead shot, Violette Szabo volunteered to become part of the Special Operations Executive, Britain's premier sabotage and subversion organization of the time. On June 7, 1944, Violette left behind a two-year-old daughter to parachute into France on a special mission. Szabo and other British agents were assigned to organize French resistance fighters to hinder the advance of the SS Das Reich Division to the Normandy beaches. Unfortunately, Szabo's party was soon ambushed by the SS. Unable to walk due to a twisted ankle, Szabo covered the retreat of her comrades with machine-gun fire. Captured, she went through a series of interrogations and changes of confinement before ending up at Ravensbruck, the German all-women's concentration camp. She was finally executed on January 26, 1945. She was twenty-three years old. This exceptional work has been written with the assistance of Violette Szabo's daughter Tanya and unravels fact and fiction about one of the most fascinating characters of World War II."

Susan Ottaway (Author), Esther Wane (Narrator)

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Mrs. Grey

"Tensions rise in Clover Springs as two communities clash. Mrs. Grey finds herself in the middle of the chaos as her past comes back to haunt her. With Father Molloy and her other friends by her side, she can forgive those who hurt her, but can she forgive herself? Can she open her heart to a life filled with love and kindness or will the chains of the past destroy Clover Springs?"

Rachel Wesson (Author), Esther Wane (Narrator)

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Four Red Sweaters: Powerful true stories of women and the Holocaust

"The New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmakers of Auschwitz weaves together the stories of four Jewish girls during the Holocaust, strangers whose lives were unknowingly intertwined by everyday garments. Jock Heidenstein, Anita Lasker, Chana Zumerkorn and Regina Feldman all faced the Holocaust in different ways. While they did not know each other – in fact had never met – each had a red sweater that would play a major part in their lives. In this absorbing and deeply moving account, award-winning clothes historian Lucy Adlington documents their stories, knitting together the experiences that fragmented their families and their lives. Adlington immortalizes these young women whose resilience, skills, strength and kindness accompanied them through the darkest events in human history. A powerful reminder of the suffering they endured and a celebration of courage, love and tenacity, this moving and original work illuminates moments long lost to history, now pieced back together by a simple garment. PRAISE FOR FOUR RED SWEATERS: 'Novelistic and wrenching, this serves as a poignant testament to the unconquerability of the human spirit.' – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW PRAISE FOR THE DRESSMAKERS OF AUSCHWITZ: 'Compelling ... Adlington tells the stories of the women with clarity and steely precision' – Jewish Chronicle 'An utterly absorbing, important and unique historical read'– Judy Batalion, New York Times bestselling author of The Light of Our Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos 'Powerful ... a fascinating account.' – Woman"

Lucy Adlington (Author), Esther Wane (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Esther Wane