Showing results by narrator "Johanna Ward" in All Categories

In the era of Rembrandt, Rubens, and Van Dyke, Spain had its own great painter: Diego Velasquez. His assistant is an African slave, Juan, who, by helping his master in his studio in the preparation of paints and stretching of canvasses, becomes an artist himself. Self-taught by watching his master's technique, he is torn between the need to keep his secret, for such work as the creation of art is forbidden to slaves, and the desire to reveal his own talents.

Drawn from the enchanting tales told to Kipling as a child in India, Just So Stories reveals the magic of the dawn of the world, when animals could talk and think like people. Cats and dogs, kangaroos and tortoises, hedgehogs and jaguars, whales and leopards, and many others are brought to life in an exotic Eastern landscape of "high and far times ago". Children will discover how the leopard got his spots, the elephant his trunk, and the camel his hump through clever tales that subtly hint at the pitfalls of arrogance and the importance of creativity.

Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle in Misselthwaite Manor after the death of her parents. With the help of a robin, Mary finds the door to a secret garden, neglected and hidden for years. When she decides to restore the garden in secret, the story becomes a charming journey into the places of the heart, where faith restores health, flowers refresh the spirit, and the magic of the garden brings happiness to Mary.

The Bette referred to in this magnificent novel's title is Lisbeth Fischer, an excruciatingly cunning poor relation who both depends upon and nurses a terrible grudge against the family of her beautiful cousin, Adeline. That family is slowly being ruined by the uncontrollable sexual appetites of Adeline's husband, Baron Hulot - appetites that will, in time, give Cousin Bette opportunity to exact her vengeance.

Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis were quite happy living in their ordinary red-brick house located in the suburbs. But when their father was called away, the children and their mother were compelled to move to a dark, shabby cottage in the country, and their lives changed more then they ever could have imagined. At first the country seemed lonely and dull. Then one afternoon, a walk led them to a railway tunnel. There they met Perks, the porter, made friends with the kind Station Master, and waved to the Green Dragon train.

How to Be a Billionaire is the first comprehensive picture of the real strategies and tactics that built the great business fortunes of modern times. Packed with engaging accounts of titans like Ross Perot, Richard Branson, and Phil Anschutz, it will show you principles that can increase your wealth and business acumen to the mogul level.

One day Ceddie Errol is visited by a gruff lawyer at the tiny house he shares with his widowed mother, and his life is never to be the same: for waiting in England is Dorincourt Castle, where Ceddie is to reside as the sole living heir to the irascible, proud, and selfish Earl of Dorincourt. It will be up to this virtuous boy to capture and warm the Earl's heart and transform him into a doting grandfather and responsible landlord.

These magical stories contain some of the best things ever written in the realm of fairy tales. Included are the "Cathood of Maurice", the story of Kenneth, who is turned into a fish and has to be caught before he can transform back into a boy; and of Amabel, who opens the wardrobe and discovers inside an enormous railway station. There are also stories set in fairy tale lands inhabited by kings and queens, princes and princesses who have to outwit wicked fairies and evil magicians. A favorite is the tale of Princess Belinda, who was condemned to be ugly during the week and beautiful on Sundays.

When an obscure government agent from an anonymous department tried to force Lyle to spy on her mysterious neighbors, she resisted. But the first step had been taken in a life-and-death struggle involving the precarious balance of power that would shift if scientists could extend life for centuries.

Double Vision follows Kate, a sculptor whose photojournalist husband is killed in Afghanistan, and Stephen, a journalist who, after covering September 11 with Kate's husband and then being betrayed by his wife, has determined to retire to a small town and write a book about violence.

If you're tired of holding your breath, waiting for exactly the right moment to arrive before you can start living the life you really want, wondering when it will be safe for you to stop working so hard and feeling stressed out, burnt out, and generally dissatisfied with life, this audiobook is for you.

Under-appreciated until now, The Lost Girl is perhaps D.H. Lawrence's most beautiful, thoroughly contemporary, love story. This captivating novel charts the journey of a woman caught between two worlds and two lives, one mired in dreary, industrial England and a life of convention, the other set in the vibrant Italian landscape holding the promise of sensual liberation.

The time is the mid-1880s when Florida, south of St. Augustine, is a virtual wilderness and Daytona, Miami, and Tampa are little more than dots on the maritime charts. Addie is a "beanery queen" who ekes out a living from her canteen at the convergence of two primitive railroads. She is popular with the train crews but is disdained by most of the townspeople because she lives, unmarried, with a war veteran whose mental disorder is considered to be of demonic origin.

Award-winning author Pat Murphy takes us aboard a luxury cruise ship and into the strange confluence of time and space known as the Bermuda Triangle, in an engaging science-fiction romp that recalls the work of Kate Wilhelm.

The Happy Prince lived in the Palace of Sans Souci, where sorrow was not allowed to enter, and only pleasure was experienced. Then, a gilded statue set on top of a high column allowed him to see all the wretchedness of the poor, the sick, and the lonely who inhabited his great city. What develops is a story of sacrifice and redemption that is a parable for our time. This audiobook includes nine of Oscar Wilde's magical and haunting fairytales. Written for his own sons, Wilde's tales will provide equal delight for children of today.

In completing Jane Austen's last novel, Julia Barrett has emerged with a literary treasure, holding true to the characters and theme designed by Ms. Austen. Set in the developing seaside town of Sanditon, it portrays a young woman from the countryside who is exposed to the sophistication and cynicism of resort life. Her name is Charlotte. With disarming charm and wit, she observes for us the array of quirky characters who reside in the booming resort-to-be.

Shy people and introverts generally avoid actively propelling themselves into the public eye. They would much rather work quietly behind the scenes. But is that enough? In our age of increasing workplace competition and seemingly relentless self-promotion, some experts assert that it will be the more "extroverted" personality types, those who speak out at meetings and give charismatic presentations, for example, who will succeed in the business world. But why should extroverts make all the money?

The year is 2034. Protected by a massive force field, the United Peoples of America, a separatist nation of 100 million citizens of California, Oregon, and Washington, thrive as the most harmonious utopia in human history. To the east, Donald Jesus Trump, in his fifth term as president for life, presides over a menacing kleptocracy that has been renamed the United Enterprises of America.

The year is 2034. Donald Trump, in his fifth term as president for life, presides over a menacing Putin-style kleptocracy that has been renamed the United Enterprises of America. Winston Smith, a technology executive, works in a state of constant terror at Patriot News, America’s only remaining media organization. Two-thirds of the population has been enslaved in deadly debtor labor camps owned by Trump-controlled oligarchs.

Kaethe Shalk has married into a family of disappearing German aristocracy. Having spent years in East Berlin, she faces a new life of boundless complexity when the Berlin Wall comes down and the ruin of the East stands in stark contrast to the exuberance of the West.