Showing results for "The Boyds" in Historical

The classic tale of an Australian girl who marries into the English aristocracy at a time of great change to the traditional order November 1910, and seventeen-year-old Lucinda is looking forward to being making her debut in Melbourne society. Beautiful and wealthy, she is set to make a...

A collection of BBC dramatisations and readings of William Boyd's award-winning novels and short stories. One of Britain's foremost contemporary writers, William Boyd is renowned worldwide for his bestselling novels, which have been translated into over 30 languages. He has won numerous awards, including the Somerset Maugham Award (for A Good Man in Africa), the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize (for An Ice-Cream War) and the Costa Book Award (for Restless).

Vienna, 1913. Lysander Rief, a young English actor in town seeking psychotherapy for a troubling ailment of a sexual nature, becomes caught up in a feverish affair with a beautiful, enigmatic woman. When she goes to the police to press charges of rape, however, he is stunned, and his few months...

Ellen, the narrator of Boyd's previous novel, The Revolution of Little Girls, this time pierces the heart of the sexual revolution in her quest to find a woman hero or - by default - to become one. Ferociously paced, Terminal Velocity delineates six wonderfully engaging characters: Artemis Foote, for whom being rich, talented, and beautiful is a kind of game; Jordan, a messianic fugitive who becomes Ellen's lover; Amethyst Woman, a Marxist/Leninist dentist; Ross, a red-diaper baby and now a columnist for Ramparts; and Pearl, an art history professor turned hippie.

William Boyd's Restless is a brilliant espionage audiobook and a vivid portrait of the life of a female spy. Full of tension and drama, and based on a remarkable chapter of Anglo-American history, this is listening at its finest. "I am Eva Delectorskaya," Sally Gilmartin announces, and so on a...

Fresh out of a Defiance, Ohio, high school, Thomas Boyd joined the Marines to serve his country in the patriotic heat of the spring of 1917. In 1919 he came home from the war with a Croix de Guerre and a desire to write. He joined the St. Paul News as a journalist and opened a bookstore, whose patrons included F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis. Through the Wheat appeared to immediate acclaim, with F. Scott Fitzgerald calling it "a work of art" and "arresting".

One May evening in London, Adam Kindred, a young climatologist in town for a job interview, is feeling good about the future as he sits down for a meal at a little Italian bistro. He strikes up a conversation with a solitary diner at the next table, who leaves soon afterward. With horrifying...

In post-WWII San Francisco, Dune House is an oddity—A sprawling, heavily-gated mansion with no telephone, no radio, and no electricity. The city is abuzz when it learns that Julia Paget, the rich, reclusive mistress of Dune House, is conducting a search for her long-lost heir. When newly-engaged Lark Williams visits Dune House to find the truth, Julia Paget forbids her from leaving.

Martha Hazlett, young, slight, and pretty, escapes from a position of near slavery in England and boards a ship for the colonies in America, where wives are needed. Upon arrival, she is selected for marriage by a gentleman old enough to be her father and wisked off to his plantation on the edge of the wilderness. She makes the best of a bad situation until the plantation is raided by Indians and she becomes a captive. Her only hope for rescue is from the men at the Jamestown settlement, but it is Jacob Fite, the Woodsman, who is best qualified.

William Boyd's Restless is a brilliant espionage audiobook and a vivid portrait of the life of a female spy. Full of tension and drama, and based on a remarkable chapter of Anglo-American history, this is listening at its finest. "I am Eva Delectorskaya," Sally Gilmartin announces, and so on a...

The year is 1739. Eliza Lucas is sixteen years old when her father leaves her in charge of their family’s three plantations in rural South Carolina and then proceeds to bleed the estates dry in pursuit of his military ambitions. Tensions with the British, and with the Spanish in Florida, just a short way down the coast, are rising, and slaves are starting to become restless. Her mother wants nothing more than for their South Carolina endeavor to fail so they can go back to England. Soon her family is in danger of losing everything.

Throughout history generations of young men have fought in wars started by old men. There is no experience other than combat that makes a more lasting or life changing impression on a man or woman. The majority who have seen the battlefield saw combat before their 25th birthday, and many who did never got to celebrate that anniversary. Those who do come back are forever changed. Krebs in Hemmingway's "Soldier's Home" for instance.

After having returned from captivity, Martha Hazlett agrees to marry Jacob Fite. Jacob and Martha leave Jamestown and sail for England so Martha can confront the aunt and uncle who mistreated her, and claim the inheritance her dead parents left. While in England, they stumble into a case of political intrigue that reflects on them badly. They flee England and sail for the West Indies where Martha kills a French Pirate captain who tried to seduce her. They escape from Jamaica bound for Jamestown, but soon find themselves shipwrecked with a band of pirates....

Time Period: Begins 1838 In 1838, Nellie Starr, a young Cherokee girl, is caught in the political upheaval of America's westward expansion. Forced by U.S. soldiers to leave their home in Tennessee, Nellie, her family, and thousands of other Cherokees travel the long, dangerous "Trail of Tears" to a new home in the Indian Territory of modern-day Oklahoma.

When Olive Wallace offers to take several friends and relatives on a once-in-a-lifetime bus tour through post-WWII Europe, they all jump at the chance—even though Olive can be petty, demanding, and judgmental. But do they really care about seeing the wonders of Europe—the magnificent Roman temples and the majesty of Carcassonne, an ancient, fortified city in southern France—or are they just trying to stay in Olive’s good graces?

England, 1351. The Pestilence has ravaged the land. Villages lie abandoned but for crows and corpses. Highways are patrolled by marauders and murderers. In these dark and dangerous times, the wise keep to themselves. But Gerard Fox cannot afford to be wise. The young knight has been robbed of his ancestral home, his family name tarnished. To regain his lands and reputation, he sets forth to petition the one man who can restore them. Fate places Fox on the wrong road at the wrong time as he hurtles towards a chance encounter.

Croatia, 1351. Daring knight Gerard Fox and his adventurous wife Willa, fresh from a dangerous quest across Italy and Greece, soon find themselves embroiled in a new intrigue as they sail toward the walled city of Dubrovnik. Having inadvertently hindered a rescue mission, Fox and Willa make amends by helping a desperate Croatian couple forced into a terrible dilemma: either they betray their hometown to a treacherous nobleman and the brutal warlord he serves, or their abducted child will be murdered.

Italy, 1351. English knight Gerard Fox and the resourceful Willa have come through a death-defying journey across war-torn Europe. Now looking towards their future together, they must first find a way to reconcile with their difficult pasts. In a small village between Florence and Siena, Fox and Willa are caught up in a deadly ambush. After rescuing the enigmatic woman who is the target of the attack, they take refuge in her opulent villa and learn her heartbreaking story—a tale of loss, deception... and a burning desire for freedom.

Widely considered as one of the finest historical novelists of the 20th century, Mary Renault brought the ancient world alive, turning age-old myths of gods and monsters into compelling human stories. In The King Must Die and its sequel, The Bull from the Sea, she retells the legend of Theseus, one of the greatest heroes of Ancient Greece.

Step into the opulent world of Versailles during Christmastime with Mary Stuart Boyd’s charming holiday tale, The Versailles Christmas Tide. Set against the luxurious backdrop of the French palace, this story brings to life the festive celebrations, historical elegance, and enchanting customs of a bygone era. Boyd captures the wonder of the season, blending vivid descriptions of holiday decor with the timeless spirit of togetherness and joy.