Victorian Society

This brilliant satirical novel, tracing the life and loves of Ernest Pontifex, has continued in popularity since its original publication in 1903. Every generation finds in The Way of All Flesh a reaffirmation of youth's rightful struggle against the tyranny of harsh parents and its admirable will for freedom of personal expression.

When the genteelly born, impoverished Frankie Turner's impulsive younger sister goes missing, Frankie has no idea where to begin the search to find her. But when she discovers hasty marriages materializing between “troublemaking” women and men who don’t deserve them, she knows her sister is somehow involved. The only thread connecting the groomsmen is a membership to Rockford’s, an exclusive gambling hell owned by the devilish Jasper Jones. And it just so happens that Jasper has recently become the guardian of a sullen fifteen-year-old.

A visitor to Baker Street comes amid the rains of March in 1889, speaking of the shadowy world of séances and mediumship, subjects about which the ever-rational Holmes has little patience, nor is he any more approving when an accusation is made concerning his role in a past case that saw a convicted murderer hanged, yet when events unfold to draw Holmes to a manor in Wiltshire where the British Séance Society makes its headquarters, he soon finds himself caught up in a case that appears to Watson to have the involvement of the paranormal as its most likely explanation. It’s all inside ...

The daughter of a half-Chinese duke and a lady fossil hunter, Lady Glory Cavendish is a free-spirited campaigner for justice. She belongs to a secret society of lady detectives whose goal is to help women in need. During her latest case involving a dastardly dognapping, Glory crosses paths with the handsome and mysterious Wei Chen, a master of fighting and healing arts. Fascinated by the noble shifu, Glory convinces him to take her on as a pupil; the more time she spends with him, however, the more she longs for lessons of a more intimate nature.

In Phineas Finn, the second of the Palliser series, Trollope balances the rival demands of public and private life. Phineas Finn, an irresistible but penniless young Irish barrister enters Parliament and comes to London leaving behind him an Irish sweetheart, Mary Flood-Jones. In London, Phineas wins friends on all sides and is admitted into high society. However, he also falls more-or-less in love, first with politically-minded Lady Laura Standish, then with Violet Effingham, and finally with wealthy widow Madame Max Goesler.

Really, it's too much to expect any normal man to behave like a staid accountant in order to inherit the fortune he deserves to support the lifestyle of an earl. So when Derek Saunders's favorite elderly aunt and her ill-conceived - and possibly fraudulent - Lady Travelers Society loses one of their members, what's a man to do but step up to the challenge? Now he's escorting the world's most maddening woman to the world's most romantic city to find her missing relative.

The utterly charming Emily Leverton has a dark past and is determined to leave it behind in her respectable new role as a governess. But when she is recruited by a secret network of governesses who spy on the ton, it may just be a way to redeem the dark secrets of her past. An ex-solider turned railroad magnate, Zach hunts killers for the Metropolitan Police by day and dutifully attends balls at night. In neither world has he met a woman with the brazenness to mock him.

For 12-year-old Ottilie Finch, London is an exciting playground to explore. Her family have recently arrived in Hampstead from Durham, under a cloud of scandal that Otty is blissfully unaware of. The only shadow over her days is her mother’s mysterious illness, which keeps her to her room. When young local girl Mabs is offered the chance to become Mrs Finch’s companion, it saves her from a desperate life on the canals. Little does she know that all is not as picture-perfect as it seems.

Persephone Blackwell prefers digging in the dirt for old bones and secret treasure to anything Society might have to offer. When her godfather, the Duke of Pendleton, decides to host a Festival of Antiquaries, she jumps at the chance to take part—especially since it's the best way to save her oldest friend, Henry Talbot, who is being framed for treason. She has not yet found the evidence that he has sent home hidden inside Egyptian forgeries—but she does find something else: Conall Hunter, the Earl of Northwyck.

At a masquerade ball hosted in a sprawling London townhouse, a mysterious woman in a crimson velvet mask catches the eye of a disillusioned barrister. She lures him through shadowed corridors to a hidden parlor, where an exclusive society gathers to indulge in whispered fantasies. Behind the anonymity of their masks, they shed the rigid propriety of Victorian society, and their encounter becomes a dance of power, seduction, and fleeting intimacy—leaving him haunted by her identity long after the night fades. Written in first person from the male POV.

Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell's acting troupe's latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a damper on Alexia's enjoyment of her new London lifestyle.

A three AM knock at the door of 221B Baker Street, soon sends Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson out into the blanketing fog of a cold London night, where they are led by Inspector McPherson of Scotland Yard to an empty building, where four bodies, each the victim of a different manner of foul play, lie discarded like so much refuse. Amid the room the clues Holmes uncovers are strange, even contradictory, and seem to lead to more questions than answers, as he finds himself set about solving a mystery that taxes even the considerable powers of his brain, and leads to a conclusion as horrifying ...

Lord Farrington is returning from what had been a wonderful evening at White’s, when he is struck suddenly and knocked unconscious. Waking up to find himself in a locked room, he has no knowledge as to why he is there or who attacked him. With no means of escape, he struggles between fear and anger, only to be greeted by a veiled lady who promises to explain everything. Lady Josephine Rutherford has spent five years searching for the truth about her husband’s death. Believing that Lord Farrington is responsible, she uses her wealth and influence to have him captured and brought to her ...

Would you give up everything for the one you love? This heartwarming Regency romance collection is filled with mystery, suspense, and of course, love. Diamonds of the Marquess Lady Emily Dove doesn’t know whom to trust. Her true identity must never be known. Promise of the Earl A scarred man. A mysterious secret. A courageous woman who dares to follow her heart. Entangled with the Viscount Lady Ashton and Lord Johnston must trust only each other to work their way out of a dark mystery, and perhaps allow their hearts to become entangled in the process. The Duke’s Bidding Lord March is ...

One of Jane Austen's most complex and mature works, Mansfield Park shows the writer at the top of her form, tackling the manners and customs of early 19th-century society with wit and irony that still resonate with readers two centuries after the book's initial publication. Flo Gibson's compelling narration gives perfect voice to the trials and tribulations of Fanny Price, sent at a young age to live with her rich relations.

The Duke's Children is the sixth and final audiobook in the Palliser series. Plantagenet Palliser, the Duke of Omnium and former Prime Minister of England, is widowed and wracked by grief. Struggling to adapt to life without his beloved Lady Glencora, he works hard to guide and support his three adult children. Palliser soon discovers, however, that his own plans for them are very different from their desires. Sent down from university in disgrace, his two sons quickly begin to run up gambling debts.

The last novel completed by Jane Austen before she died at 41, Persuasion is often thought to be the story of the author's own lost love. Sir Walter Elliot of Kellynch Hall has three daughters: Elizabeth, who shares his haughty vanity and, at 28 has found no one good enough to marry; Mary, who has, with some condescension, married the son of the local squire; and admirable Anne, who "was nobody with either father or sister".

Will a shocking mystery lead Henrietta to her one true love? Henrietta is now Lady Chaucer and her life is about to become a whole lot worse. Lord Chaucer is cruel, hate-filled, and determined to shrink her life until he has complete control. Everything she has ever dreamed about is gone in a moment. Until she wakes up the next morning in a completely different house, finds out her husband is dead – and that she had the knife. Mr. Francis Newton knows he shouldn’t be falling for Lady Chaucer, but he cannot control his heart. To make matters worse, he is the one that he found her at the ...

In the fourth of the ‘Palliser’ stories, Trollope follows Phineas Finn’s return to the dangerous world of Westminster politics. When his political rival is murdered, Phineas is thrown under suspicion and eventually finds himself standing trial at the Old Bailey. The situation is complicated by the presence of two women in his life: his old flame Lady Laura, whose estranged husband is determined to destroy Phineas’s reputation, and the wealthy and enigmatic widow, Madame Max.

Cecilia Bassingwaite belongs to a very prestigious circle of women: The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels. Yet this is no ordinary Victorian lady's society—as it's full of pirates, thieves and ne'er-do-wells. These women spend their days pickpocketing and blackmailing their way around the country all before it's time to sit down for tea. But when Cecilia meets Ned Lightbourne her world is set to change forever. Because he's a paid assassin and she's his next hit.