British House

Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first time. What was it like to love, live, and rebel in Britain during the 19th and 20th centuries? These beloved British novels offer three dramatically different but universally recognisable experiences. Read by three luminaries of the stage and screen: Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, and Sir John Gielgud.

Born on Christmas Day, 1936, Princess Alexandra's birth was almost overshadowed by the abdication of her uncle, King Edward VIII. Yet public affection for this new addition to the Royal Family has only grown during a lifetime of dedicated royal service. In this biography, Helen Cathcart chronicles the first thirty years of Princess Alexandra's life, from the tragic death of her father when she was just five years old to her wartime childhood at Badminton living with her grandmother Queen Mary.

A spate of seemingly unconnected murders in southern England prompt a high-profile task force to be formed and led by DCI Jack Hawksworth, one of the Force's new rising stars who combines modern methods with old-school instincts. The victims appear as disparate as their style of death; the only link that Hawk and his team can pull together is that the murdered are all men of an identical age. The task force has nothing but cold cases of decades past to comb through in the hope that they might find a clue to who is behind the savagery.

There is a serial killer stalking the streets of North London. His name is Derek, and already six have fallen to his blades. Driven by a sickness within his soul he hunts women, his intention, to wash away a past humiliation by drowning it in the blood of innocents, and now he has victim number seven within his sights. Her name is Lucy, and she is every bit his type. But behind her gorgeous green eyes, and perfect smile, she is hiding a terrifying secret, and Derek is about to find out as bad as he thinks he is, he cannot hold a candle to Lucy. Welcome to the world of the Fading Light. When...

The options for the penniless daughter of a deceased earl are few indeed in Regency England. So, following the suspicious death of her father, the Earl of Morton, and the discovery that she and her much younger sister have been left without income or home, Lady Caroline takes a post as a lady's companion to the wealthy widow Frogerton. Just as Caroline is getting accustomed to her new position, her aunt, Lady Eleanor Greenwood, invites her and her employer to a house party in the countryside to celebrate her youngest daughter's birthday. But all is not well at the Greenwood estate.

In 1906, Britain's grip on the world was unassailable. Its navy ruled the seas, and its trade empire spanned the globe. But in the small port town of Tuticorin, a lawyer named V.O. Chidambaram Pillai—known to the world as VOC—had a revolutionary idea that would challenge the might of the empire itself. VOC's plan was audacious: to launch the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, a venture that would compete head-on with the British India Steam Navigation Company, the shipping giant that controlled the region.

Life is going pretty well for Raymond "Stick" Hart. He's happily married to the former Ponkaquogue Municipal Golf Club assistant pro, the beauteous Cajun firecracker Dannie, raising his rambunctious son, Charlie, and getting by writing smart-mouthed greeting cards for 50 bucks a pop. Then, one disaster of a day, Stick's world does a 10-car pile-up. Luckily, Stick has a solution to all his problems. He'll qualify for the British Open.

England, 1660. König Karl II. erlässt mit einer Akte der Verzeihung ein Generalpardon. Ausgenommen sind die Königsmörder, jene Hochverräter, die das Urteil zur Enthauptung seines Vaters Karl I. unterzeichnet haben. Dazu gehören auch die Oberste Whalley und Goffe, die im Bürgerkrieg auf der Seite Oliver Cromwells kämpften. Sie können rechtzeitig in die neuen Kolonien in Amerika fliehen. Die Flüchtlinge treffen dort auf eine Gesellschaft, die durch einen pietistischen Fanatismus geprägt ist und sich gerade vom Mutterland jenseits des Atlantiks abspaltet.

When Queen Mary died in 1953, James Pope-Hennessy was commissioned to write an official biography of her - unusual for a Queen Consort. Queen Mary's life, contrary to popular belief, was essentially dramatic, and she played a far more important and influential role in the affairs of the British monarchy than her public image might have otherwise suggested. Using material from the Royal Archives, private papers and Queen Mary's personal diaries and letters, Pope-Hennessy's biography was a remarkable portrait of a remarkable woman and received rave reviews across the press.

Comprised of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic States are rich in history, legends of lost fortunes, and buried treasure stories. This twelfth book in W.C. Jameson's Buried Treasure collection offers thirty tales of this region that have remained largely untold for generations. Lost mines, buried loot, caches of gold and silver ingots, gangsters, Native American Indians, pirates, chests of precious stones -- such are the ingredients of a rich stew of folklore gathered from the melting pot of the Mid-Atlantic States.

Will it be love with a handsom noble or a haunting curse? Can love transcend betrayal?A modern-day Regency mystery romance! Allison Whitney, an American student in present day Oxford, England, was unaware someone had peeked into her rooms. They recorded her intimate actions and had big plans for that image. Allison was too engrossed in her architectural history thesis. She had hopes to examine a grand abandoned manor house that was closed up for decades. The locked manor was guarded by its present owner, who decades before, fearfully abandoned it to live in the gatehouse. In a rage, he ...

A postman encounters a strange letterbox in this spooky story. He’s never seen the occupants of the house, the windows and doors are shuttered and any letters posted through the mysterious letterbox disappear into a void of black. It isn’t long before the postman and the local community must investigate.

When young, pretty Eliza Anderson walks through Grace McKenna’s door begging for help finding her missing sister, it sparks the Portobello Detective Agency’s most dangerous investigation to date. The trail leads Grace and her team to a plush clinic nestled in Scotland’s remote wilderness. On the surface, Whiteadder House seems too good to be true, offering miracle cures and luxury comfort at no cost. But as they dig deeper, the cracks in its gleaming façade start to show.

Surging out of the sea, the Bass Rock has for centuries watched over the lives that pass under its shadow on the Scottish mainland. And across the centuries the fates of three women are linked: to this place, to each other. In the early 1700s, Sarah, accused of being a witch, flees for her life. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Ruth navigates a new house, a new husband and the strange waters of the local community. Six decades later, the house stands empty.

Angela Rayner is a prominent British politician, known for her resilience, dedication, and advocacy for social justice. Born in 1980 and raised on a council estate in Stockport, she left school at 16 with no qualifications and became a teenage mother. Despite these early challenges, Rayner pursued further education, studied British sign language and social care, and began her career as a care worker. Her outspoken nature and commitment to workers' rights propelled her into union leadership roles, eventually becoming Unison's convenor in the North West. Entering politics in 2015 as the MP ...

It all happens so quickly. One day you're living the dream, commuting to work by riverbus with your charismatic neighbour Kit in the seat beside you. The next, Kit hasn't turned up for the boat and his wife, Melia, has reported him missing. When you get off at your stop, the police are waiting. Another passenger saw you and Kit arguing on the boat home the night before, and the police say that you had a reason to want him dead. You protest. You and Kit are friends - ask Melia, she'll vouch for you.

When Kwasi’s family moves abruptly from one side of London to the other, Kwasi is both excited by the change—the new house is so big—and unsettled by his new school and the pressures placed upon him by his parents and many aunties. One place Kwasi finds refuge and inspiration is the Chest of Small Wonders, an eclectic and run-down charity shop on the high street.

Only love can set you free In Victorian England, Emily and her daughter Amelia are prisoners in the attic of Emily's wealthy sister, struggling for survival. Amelia, a girl who has never felt the sun on her skin, possesses a remarkable gift—she can separate from her body and soar through the skies. As Emily reflects on her youthful dreams and the passionate affair she had with the brilliant black playwright Josiah Equiano, she grapples with the painful realities of family honour, racial hatred, and treachery. When forced towards an unwanted marriage and facing her sister's deadly ...

When you look in the mirror, who do you see? With Mandy the haunted doll now safely ensconced in Mason Town Museum, sealed in a glass case, Shady Groves and her colleagues, Annie and Ray, can relax. After a fashion. The small-town museum they run is not like others, it’s a place that seeks to contain and understand artifacts and relics charged with negative energy. Their aim is to gradually reduce how potent that energy can be, and the destruction it can lead to. All is well, until Shady chances upon a mirror in a thrift store. The reflection staring back at her is not quite her own.

What’s a proper lady to do when a gentleman’s charms prove irresistible? With his unruly black hair and cool gray eyes, Anthony Carlisle, the Earl of Carlisle, was christened “Lord Temptation” the first time he conquered London society. His effortless charm captured the hearts of every besotted belle in Regency London. But his own heart was captured when he first laid eyes on Lady Caroline Hardage. After he is torn from her arms by battle and betrayal, Tony returns from the war a scarred and embittered recluse who refuses to leave his ancestral home. Caroline is presented with the ...