New England Literature

In this collection of four short stories, 19th-century writer Sarah Orne Jewett explores the theme of female friendship. Tana Hicken brings authenticity to the New England towns in which each story is set. The skillful reading and vivid descriptions conjure images of strong country women living simple, inspirational lives. In "Martha's Lady", the listener's own chest nearly fills with pride as Martha is inspired by a visitor's kind words.

Female friendship is intense and that intensity can erupt into dangerous passions when teenage girls are cooped up in an exclusive East Coast boarding school. Beautiful, streetwise Cassidy Thomas; debutante jock Abby Madison; academic, sensitive Karen Mullens; and sophisticated troublemaking Zoey Spalding are four seventeen-year-olds who should be cruising happily through their Senior Year. But jealousies are simmering. And when Zoey plays a game with the class list—if you lose your virginity you get a star beside your name—it sets in motion a chain of shocking events.

Elise Gilpatrick never thought she would be a parent, especially not like this. After agreeing to take 15-year-old DJ as a temporary foster placement straight from the police station, she feels like she's in over her head. But, as she learns on the job with a little help from her coworker, Elise realizes that she and DJ need to lean on each other and on the God who pieced them together. Their rocky journey will only prove that it's never too late to find the love of a family.

Bree works in her family's bakery, Bellaluna's, where the secret ingredient is magic. Among all the mouthwatering treats that they regularly dish out rests a special cookie that can nudge would-be couples together. Though Bree has tried to perfect the recipe, her attempts have always come up short...but then Caleb, a visiting restaurateur, steps in and gets a taste of her latest creation.

They are icons of the literary world whose soaring works have been discussed and analyzed in countless classrooms, homes, and pubs. Yet for most listeners, the living, breathing human beings behind the classics have remained unknown - until now. In this utterly captivating audiobook, Dr. Elliot Engel, a leading authority on the lives of great authors, illuminates the fascinating and flawed members of literature's elite. In lieu of stuffy biographical sketches, Engel provides fascinating anecdotes.

The British Empire has sleepwalked, unprepared into war with the Triple Alliance, the Spanish colonies of the Caribbean and Central America. But this is not to be a war like those which have gone before it; wars decided by crushing British sea power and eventually, on land by the superiority of the logistics and tactics of relatively small colonial armies in the South Western badlands. Remember Brave Achilles becomes the call to arms.

Nathan Carter, a man in his 20s, moves from Boston to Eden, Vermont, following the death of his father and the end of yet another failed romance. When Carter's Jeep goes off the road in a snowstorm, 79-year-old Wallace Fiske nurses him back to health and the two become unlikely friends.

Set in an early New England colony, the novel shows the terrible impact a single, passionate act has on the lives of three members of the community: the fiery, tortured Reverend Dimmesdale; the obsessed, vengeful Chillingworth; and the defiant Hester Prynne, who, unwilling to name her partner in adultery, is condemned to wear a scarlet "A" on the breast of her gown for the remainder of her life.

When Manhattan business tycoon, commonly known as the Takeover King, Montgomery Livingstone is pushed off a Widow's Walk and falls to his death, Maeve and Meg are again thrust into a murder investigation as they attempt to help a seemingly innocent young woman accused of the crime. But it turns out there are many secrets to be uncovered, and once again, Maeve, Meg, and their savvy Boston Irish mother must band together to solve the murder. Maeve races against the clock to bring the killer to justice while caring for her patients and pursuing her goal of motherhood.

When Ezra Wilson took the job as a census worker, he never imagined it would lead to a place like his latest assignment. From the moment he turns off of the interstate and travels past the village limits, it becomes clear that Heritage isn't just some quaint New England town. A sinister encounter at an automobile graveyard is only the start.

Miss Marigold Manners may be steeped in the etiquette of her old-money Boston family, but she is also an accomplished, modern woman and an avid student of archaeology who can handle any situation with poise. When the death of her parents leaves her too destitute to pursue her academic career and she receives a letter from a distant relative on Great Misery Island, Marigold decides she must do what any person of superior sense and greater-than-average curiosity would: she mounts her trusty bicycle and heads up the craggy, fog-shrouded coast of New England for a date with fate.

Del has never had a good relationship with her family. After her parents’ divorce, and with the town rumor mill in full swing, Del’s uncle and the rest of the family shunned her and her mother. For years, there was nothing she could do about this. Now, with both of her parents gone, a chance has arrived. Her uncle wants the one thing Del inherited: the family home. Instead of handing the place over and giving her uncle what he wants, and with no other resources at her disposal, Del decides she will tear the place apart herself, by hand - piece by piece.

Cody, Christopher, Carla, and Steven are about to uncover a truth hidden for almost three decades. While they unravel the shocking mystery that will change their lives forever, they must find a way to forgive the past and each other and find their way to love again. While mysteries unravel and feelings blossom, Cody learns that true love deserves a second chance, after all. Escape into the beauty of the Atlantic coastline and fall in love with Cody Moore, her adorable teens, and her crazy house full of loveable pets.

Monreith, Massachusetts, was once a small community of whalers and farmers. These days it’s a well-to-do town filled with commuters drawn to its rugged coastline and country roads. A peaceful, predictable place—until popular restaurateur Laurel Thibodeau is found brutally murdered in her own home. Suspicion naturally falls on Laurel’s husband, Simon, who had gambling debts that only her life insurance policy could fix. But there are other rumors too. Among the group of six friends gathered for Alice Stone’s fortieth birthday, theories abound concerning Laurel’s death.

Would you rather be fired or face criminal charges? Dana Richardson faces that dilemma in her new job at a state university in New England. A research center, which reports to her, is falsifying data to help industrial clients meet federal pollution standards, and the last woman who tried to investigate the problem, died under suspicious circumstances.

Eleanor Morse's Margreete’s Harbor begins with a fire: A fiercely-independent, thrice-widowed woman living on her own in a rambling house near the Maine coast forgets a hot pan on the stovetop, and nearly burns her place down. When Margreete Bright calls her daughter Liddie to confess, Liddie realizes that her mother can no longer live alone. She, her husband Harry, and their children Eva and Bernie move from a settled life in Michigan across the country to Margreete’s isolated home, and begin a new life.

Soaked in mist and old magic, Storyland tells a history of Britain and the politics of its people through medieval eyes. Grounded in research, related as fiction, it begins before the Great Flood, with a troop of African giants quarrying stones. Later, the first migrants enter the Atlantic, calling themselves the Scoti and Britons, followed by the English and the Normans, crossing the North Sea.

An old mansion in Salem, moss-covered and gabled, broods over the destiny of a distinguished but troubled New England Family, the Pynchons. A haunting, centuries-old curse, a forceful probing of national and personal guilt, a romance between the young heroine and an attractive stranger all intertwine in this classic work by one of America's greatest novelists.

Romance writer Julia Landon knows how to write a happily-ever-after. Creating one for herself is a whole different story. But after a surprising—and surprisingly passionate—kiss under the mistletoe at Harmony Harbor's holiday party last year, Julia thought she might have finally found her very own chance at true love. Until she learns her Mr. Tall, Dark, and Broodingly Handsome has sworn off relationships. Well, if she can't have him in real life, Julia knows just how to get the next best thing....

There's more trouble on the farm, but Duck has nothing to do with it, for once. This time the trouble is a four-ounce puff of fluff who just won't go to sleep, and whose play-with-me peeps are keeping the whole barnyard awake with him. How do you get a baby duck to hit the hay? Poor Farmer Brown will find out - and Duck might just find himself in trouble after all.