Audiobooks narrated by Jenny Funnell

Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII

Written with an exciting combination of narrative flair and historical authority, this interpretation of the tragic life of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, breaks new ground in our understanding of the very young woman who became queen at a time of unprecedented social and political tension and whose terrible errors in judgment quickly led her to the executioner's block. On the morning of July 28, 1540, as King Henry's VIII's former confidante Thomas Cromwell was being led to his execution, a teenager named Catherine Howard began her reign as queen of a country simmering with rebellion and terrifying uncertainty. Sixteen months later, the king's fifth wife would follow her cousin Anne Boleyn to the scaffold, having been convicted of adultery and high treason. The broad outlines of Catherine's career might be familiar, but her story up until now has been incomplete. Unlike previous accounts of her life, which portray her as a naïve victim of an ambitious family, this compelling and authoritative biography will shed new light on Catherine Howard's rise and downfall by reexamining her motives and showing her in her context, a milieu that goes beyond her family and the influential men of the court to include the aristocrats and, most critically, the servants who surrounded her and who, in the end, conspired against her. By illuminating Catherine's entwined upstairs/downstairs worlds as well as societal tensions beyond the palace walls, the author offers a fascinating portrayal of court life in the sixteenth century and a fresh analysis of the forces beyond Catherine's control that led to her execution-from diplomatic pressure and international politics to the long-festering resentments against the queen's household at court. Including a forgotten text of Catherine's confession in her own words, color illustrations, family tree, map, and extensive notes, Young and Damned and Fair changes our understanding of one of history's most famous women while telling the compelling and very human story of complex individuals attempting to survive in a dangerous age.

Gareth Russell (Author), Jenny Funnell (Narrator)

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Young and Damned and Fair: The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZE 2017 Born into nobility and married into the royal family, Catherine Howard was attended every waking hour - secrets were impossible to keep. In this thrilling reappraisal of Henry VIII's fifth wife, Gareth Russell's history unfurls as if in real time to explain how the queen's career ended with one of the great scandals of Henry's reign. This is a grand tale of the Henrician court in its twilight, a glittering but pernicious sunset during which the king's unstable behaviour and his courtiers' labyrinthine deceptions proved fatal to many, not just to Catherine Howard.

Gareth Russell (Author), Jenny Funnell (Narrator)

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Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum

'Intriguing, gleefully contentious and - appropriately enough - fizzing with life, Victorians Undone is the most original history book I have read in a long while' Daily Mail A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A groundbreaking account of what it was like to live in a Victorian body from one of our best historians. Why did the great philosophical novelist George Eliot feel so self-conscious that her right hand was larger than her left? Exactly what made Darwin grow that iconic beard in 1862, a good five years after his contemporaries had all retired their razors? Who knew Queen Victoria had a personal hygiene problem as a young woman and the crisis that followed led to a hurried commitment to marry Albert? What did John Sell Cotman, a handsome drawing room operator who painted some of the most exquisite watercolours the world has ever seen, feel about marrying a woman whose big nose made smart people snigger? How did a working-class child called Fanny Adams disintegrate into pieces in 1867 before being reassembled into a popular joke, one we still reference today, but would stop, appalled, if we knew its origins? Kathryn Hughes follows a thickened index finger or deep baritone voice into the realms of social history, medical discourse, aesthetic practise and religious observance - its language is one of admiring glances, cruel sniggers, an implacably turned back. The result is an eye-opening, deeply intelligent, groundbreaking account that brings the Victorians back to life and helps us understand how they lived their lives.

Kathryn Hughes (Author), Jenny Funnell (Narrator)

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Up Close

When Lia Thompson's grandmother dies unexpectedly, she has to return to a cold, creaky house in Norfolk. But as events unfold, she suspects that there is more to her grandmother's death than meets the eye. Aidan Morrell is surprised to see Lia, his teenage crush, back in town. As Lia starts to uncover the truth, she finds herself in a world of increasing danger. Is Aidan someone she can trust?

Henriette Gyland (Author), Jenny Funnell (Narrator)

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The Woman Who Ran: A gripping psychological thriller that builds to an explosive finish

'Wildly gripping and unputdownable. This is a brilliant book' Marian Keyes How do you escape what you can't remember? What is making Helen Graham so jumpy and evasive? Newly arrived in a tiny Yorkshire village, she finds the locals' curiosity her worst nightmare. Looking over her shoulder every day, she tries to piece together her past before it can catch up with her. But with everything she knows in fragments, from her marriage to her career as a war photographer, how can she work out who to trust and what to believe? Most days she can barely remember who she is... She can run. But can she hide? Praise for The Woman Who Ran: 'Disquieting, thought-provoking ...keeps twisting and turning as it hurtles towards a hair-raising climax' Guardian 'Clever and absorbing' Stylist 'Superbly executed, with a creeping sense of dread that builds to an explosive finish' Clare Mackintosh, author of I Let You Go

Sam Baker (Author), Jenny Funnell (Narrator)

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The Soft Whisper of Dreams

Some dreams shouldn't come true... Maddie Browne thought she'd grown out of the recurring nightmare that plagued her as a child - the swing in the garden, the kind red-haired giant and the arms which grab her from behind and try to take her away... Trying to move on, Maddie travels to Devon, but a disturbing encounter with a gypsy fortune teller, removes all hope of relaxation. And then there's the fact that Maddie's dream seems to be coming true.

Christina Courtenay (Author), Jenny Funnell (Narrator)

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The Secrets Between Us

A Richard and Judy recommendation for the 2012 Summer Book Club, this is a brilliant Gothic novel in the vein of Daphne du Maurier. A chance encounter: When Sarah meets dark, brooding Alex, she grasps his offer of a new life miles away from her own. They've both recently escaped broken relationships, and need to start again. Why not do it together? A perfect life: But when Sarah gets to the tiny village of Burrington Stoke, something doesn't add up. Alex's beautiful wife Genevieve was charming, talented, and adored by all who knew her. And apparently, she and Alex had a successful marriage complete with a gorgeous son, Jamie. Why would Genevieve walk out on her perfect life? And why has no one heard from her since she did so? A web of lies: Genevieve's family and all her friends think that Alex knows more about her disappearance than he's letting on. But Sarah's fallen in love with him and just knows he couldn't have anything to hide. Or could he?

Louise Douglas (Author), Jenny Funnell (Narrator)

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The Secret Kiss of Darkness

Kayla Sinclair knows she's in trouble when she almost bankrupts herself to buy a portrait of a mysterious eighteenth century man. Jago Kerswell, inn-keeper and smuggler, will take any risk to be with Lady Eliza Marcombe. Over two centuries separate Kayla and Jago, but thanks to a gypsy's spell, their lives become inextricably linked. Kayla finds herself on a quest that could heal the past, but will she find heartache or happiness?

Christina Courtenay (Author), Jenny Funnell (Narrator)

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The People at Number 9

'Everett cleverly maintains the suspense until the final denouement ... a compelling and easily readable tale of our times' - Have you met the People at Number 9?Sara and Neil have new neighbours in their street. Glamorous and chaotic, Gav and Lou make Sara's life seem dull. As the two couples become friends, sharing suppers, red wine and childcare, it seems a perfect couples-match. But the more Sara sees of Gav and Lou, the more she longs to change her own life. But those changes will come at a price.

Felicity Everett (Author), Jenny Funnell (Narrator)

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The No 2 Feline Detective Agency

Hettie Bagshot has bitten off more than any cat could chew. As soon as she launches her No. 2 Feline Detective Agency, she's bucketed into a case: Furcross, a home for slightly older cats, has a nasty spate of bodysnatching, and three of the residents have been stolen from their graves. Hettie and her sidekick, Tilly, set out to reveal the terrible truth. In a haze of catnip and pastry, Hettie steers the Furcross Case to its conclusion, but will she get there before the body count rises - and the pies sell out?

Mandy Morton (Author), Jenny Funnell (Narrator)

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The Missing Hours

'Is it a forgetting or a deception?' One moment, Selena Cole is in the playground with her children and the next, she has vanished without a trace. A woman returns twenty hours later, Selena is found safe and well, but with no memory of where she has been. What took place in those missing hours, and are they linked to the discovery of a nearby murder?

Emma Kavanagh (Author), Jenny Funnell, Leighton Pugh, Multiple Narrators, Various (Narrator)

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The Michaelmas Murders

As the annual flower and produce show approaches, it's all doom and bloom on the allotments, with prize vegetables going missing and a dead body on Bonny Grub's onion patch. Baronial landowner Fluff Wither-Fork calls in the No. 2 Feline Detective Agency. Who is trying to sabotage the competition? Will Hettie Bagshot and her sidekick get to the bottom of this before judgement day? Amid a sea of binder twine and raised beds, a killer cat is on the prowl. Who will be next?

Mandy Morton (Author), Jenny Funnell (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Jenny Funnell