Showing results by narrator "Des Powell" in All Categories

When Jess Newman married the love of her life Ben she was sure they had what it took to stay together forever. So when Ben falls out of love with her only to promptly fall in the arms of new girlfriend, Naomi, she really doesn't know how to come to terms with their divorce.

It’s the moment single-mum Kate has been dreading. With her only daughter, Chloe, about to leave home, she’s terrified by the prospect of an empty nest. That is until she meets charming lawyer Adam. He could be the perfect catch - if it wasn’t for his clingy son. Because Ben has a crush on Chloe. A crush that is fast becoming an obsession. Flattered by the attention, Chloe is happy to string him along - for now at least. But Kate can see the danger signs, even if her daughter can't.

An espionage thriller that has been called the first great spy novel, it has sustained its popularity, being embraced by each new generation. The first in a series of five novels it features the spy Richard Hannay, an action hero with a stiff upper lip who gets caught up in a dangerous race against a plot by German spies to destroy the British war effort. When Richard Hannay offers sanctuary to an American agent seeking his help in stopping a political assassination, he takes the first step on a trail of peril and espionage.

Thea Thomas needs to get away from her old life...and the interfering ex who won't leave her alone. When she lands a job heading up the restoration of Mill Grange, a stunning Victorian manor in Somerset, it feels like the perfect opportunity to start afresh. What she didn't anticipate was how hostile the volunteer team - led by the formidable Mabel Hastings - would be about accepting new leadership. And with the deadline looming before the grand opening, Thea is in desperate need of more volunteers.

A&E Nurse Amy Spencer lives a very ordinary life in Port Kara. She loves her job at the hospital and has a great group of friends, but there is something or someone, missing from her life. Amy’s tried dating but no one ever compares with the one boy that got away – Lijah Byrne. Lijah’s life since he left Port Kara has been what dreams are made of. But lately Lijah has started to feel hollow – the fame and celebrity he once craved now makes him feel trapped. The only place he’s ever felt safe is Port Kara…so maybe it’s time to go back home?

Artist Abigail Carey has always dreamed of a life in the country and, when Winfield Hall comes up at auction, she's desperate to make the place her home. The only trouble is that businessman Edward Townsend has exactly the same idea. With its position high on the Sussex Downs, Winfield is a stunning house, but it hasn't been a home for a long time and there's a lot of work to do to restore it to its former glory. It's going to take a lot of time and money, so Edward and Abi decide to take a risk and share the house, each living in their own wing.

April 1951. It is twenty years since the death of Rebecca, the beautiful first wife of Maxim de Winter. It is twenty years since the inquest, which famously - and controversially - passed a verdict of suicide. Twenty years since Manderley, the de Winters' ancient family seat, was razed to the ground. But Rebecca's tale is just beginning... This is Sally Beauman's companion to Daphne du Maurier's classic tale, Rebecca.

Meg is definitely not in the Christmas mood. She’s never gone in for tinsel, baubles and mistletoe, and right now she’s still getting over an illness. Yet when she’s invited to spend the run-up to Christmas in the snowy countryside rather than dreary London, she can’t refuse. Arriving at a warm and cosy family home in a small hilltop village, Meg soon begins to wonder what a proper Christmas might be like. But just as she’s beginning to settle in, she spots a familiar face. Lex.

Bug has hit her 30s with a bump. An almost wedding, an almost ex-husband, and a bookshop that’s almost turning a profit. With the help of her best friend – free spirit, activist and all-round legend Winnie, she’s going to make it all come good. Probably. Definitely. Maybe. At least she’s got her friends around her.

Far eastern Tales is a collection of Maugham's short stories, all born of his experiences in Malaysia, Singapore, and other outposts of the former British Empire. The stories included on this recording are Footprints in the Jungle, Mabel, P & O, The Door of Oportunity, The Buried Talent, Before the Party, Mr. Know-all, Neil MacAdam, The End of the Flight and The Force of Circumstance.

When Scarlett West’s useless husband, Luke, walks out and never returns, she’s left to try and make a new life for herself and her daughter, Ava. But with debts mounting, there’s only one place she can go. Returning home to the village where she grew up, Scarlett starts to slowly rebuild her life. Maybe this is the second chance she needs? Then there’s Cameron Ellis, Scarlett’s new boss. Everyone thinks Scarlett and Cameron are perfect for each other and as Scarlett spends more and more time with him, she begins to think that maybe he could be part of their new future, too.

When the castle she works in is sacked by the army of Prince Edward of England, kitchen maid Agnes Fitzgerald manages to escape north of Inverness to throw herself at the mercy of the Lord and Lady at Ravenscraig Castle. Although safe for now, the people of Scotland are fighting hard for their independence, and the threat of the English hangs heavy over the land. But when Agnes spies Cam Buchanan swimming in the loch, her mind turns away from war and towards love. Agnes even dares to dream of a happy future, until she learns that Cam must go and fight alongside Robert de Brus.

Devon, 1867. Free-spirited Rebecca Westbrook recognizes her perfect match when she sees him. His name is Captain Adam Bradley. She is the harbour master's daughter. He is smouldering and sophisticated — the most eligible captain ever to sail into the quay. Anyone can see it's meant to be. But Rebecca is anything but charmed. Her heart belongs to Tom Mason, a lowly cooper she's known forever. Her father doubts Tom's ability to provide securely for her. But Tom has a plan to prove him wrong. And until then, passionate Rebecca refuses to wait to be with him. But fate has other plans.

India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who’ll accept her–an enigmatic and mysterious man from America. A man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he’s ill.

This is the remarkable story of the English language; from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language. The Adventure of English is not only an enthralling story of power, religion, and trade, but also the story of people, and how their lives continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.

Molly Baker is living her best life. Thirty-eight years old, she lives on the 25-acre Hope Farm in Buckinghamshire, surrounded by (mostly) four-legged friends and rolling hills. An ex-teacher, Molly runs the farm as an alternative education for kids who have special needs or behavioural issues. It's full on, but she wouldn't have it any other way. So when the well-groomed Shelby Dacre turns up at Hope Farm asking to enrol his son Lucas, Molly isn't fazed. But Lucas is distant, and soon Molly realises he might be more of a handful than she anticipated.

Libby Cooper hasn’t celebrated Christmas since the night her parents died in a terrible accident. She wants to forget that the season of goodwill even exists; but her grandmother has other ideas. It’s time for Libby to start living her life just as her parents would have wanted her to do. First stop New York! What better way to immerse herself in the celebrations, than working in her great aunt’s Christmas shop, just a few blocks from Central Park? Making new friends in the Big Apple is the easy bit, but leaving the past behind proves much harder than Libby imagined.

The venue is booked, the dress is picked and senior midwife Anna Jones only has to say ‘I do!’ to the man she loves! Theirs might have been a whirlwind romance but Brae Penrose is everything Anna dreamed her husband would be, and she can’t wait to start a family with him. But as the big day approaches, Anna still isn’t pregnant and when disaster strikes, their perfect day looks destined not to happen at all! Is it a sign to slow things down?

Christopher Lee's highly acclaimed and award-winning BBC Radio 4 history of the British Empire.

In this New York Times best seller, award-winning author Simon Schama presents an ebullient country, vital and inventive, infatuated with novelty and technology - a strikingly fresh view of Louis XVI's France. One of the great landmarks of modern history publishing, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution is the most authoritative social, cultural and narrative history of the French Revolution ever produced.