Showing results by narrator "Susie Berneis" in All Categories

In A Respectable Woman, Mrs. Baroda, the wife of a wealthy sugar plantation owner plays hostess to Mr. Gouvernail, a friend of her husband's. The reserved Mr. Gouvernail is a puzzle to Mrs. Baroda who is nonetheless intrigued by the man's retiring nature. When the two speak to each other outside one evening, Mrs. Baroda wants to get closer to her guest but realizes this would be at odds with her position as a respectable woman.

In The Locket, a confederate soldier declines his fellow soldiers’ request to reveal the contents of the locket around his neck. The locket, which holds pictures of his fiancée’s parents and the date of their wedding is found on the battlefield after a battle. Later, the soldier’s fiancée visits the battlefield with the soldier’s father, both shaken with grief. The soldier’s father asks his son’s fiancée to remove her veil, as it contrasts too sharply with the beautiful day and adds that on such a day miracles seem ready to happen.

Little Women - Based loosely on Louisa May Alcott's own upbringing, this American classic follows the lives of four sisters - Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March. Each girl has a vision of what their ideal future will bring, but each ultimately experiences, as most young people do, something completely different. Little Men - Now married, Jo couldn't be happier. Along with her husband, she operates the Plumfield Estate School. Plumfield is a haven for poor orphans and is attended by 12 adopted boys, as well as Jo's own two sons.

The story of Anne Shirley has endured generation after generation and catapulted L.M. Montgomery into the ethos of literature. Here, Dreamscape presents a collection of holiday stories featuring Anne and other characters.

Bernie's college roommate, Ellen Hadley, is burning the candle at both ends. And after her children forget her birthday and her husband forgets their anniversary, her Mother's Day expectations are understandably modest. When Bernie jokingly suggests Ellen fake her own kidnapping to set her family straight, she never imagines the stunt will find Ellen in a hotel room next to a dead body.

Six-million acres of Adirondack forest separate Natalie and Doug Larson from civilization. For the newlyweds, the isolated backcountry honeymoon seemed ideal for starting their lives together, but as they begin to explore the dark interiors of their own hearts, it soon becomes clear that they are not alone in the woods. A man watches them, wielding the forest like a weapon. He wants something from them that's more terrifying than death. And once they are near him, he will do everything in his power to make sure they never walk out again.

When interior decorator Madison Night's octogenarian friend dies and leaves her Sweet Dreams, the bounty is bittersweet. Once a thriving business, the pajama factory closed decades ago after a tragic accident took the life of a young model - or was that simply a cover up? Between her friend's death and her own stagnant life, Madison is tempted to hide under a blanket of willful ignorance. But when family members and special-interest groups lobby to expose the secrets of the factory, Madison gets caught in a tangle of secrets and lies and discovers that, sometimes, the bed you make is not your own....

Brooklyn has always been a little obsessed with food, but it was her sister, Savannah, who became a chef, graduating from the prestigious Cordon Bleu school in Paris. She and her classmates all went on to successful careers, but none of them achieved culinary superstardom like Savannah's ex-boyfriend Baxter Cromwell. When Baxter invites the old gang to participate in his new restaurant's gala opening, in San Francisco, Savannah asks Brooklyn to restore a tattered cookbook as a present for him. Shortly after receiving the gift, Baxter is found dead, with Savannah kneeling over him, bloody knife in hand, and the rare cookbook has disappeared....

Brooklyn Wainwright is thrilled to be appearing on the hit TV show, This Old Attic as a rare-book expert. Her first subject is a very valuable first-edition copy The Secret Garden. Its owner, Vera, is eager to have Brooklyn recondition it for resale. But a furious man viciously accosts Brooklyn, claiming that Vera found the first edition at his garage sale, and he wants it back - or else. In the days that follow, Brooklyn visits Vera's flower shop…and discovers her dead.

Do the voices in your head say you're not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough...or just not enough, period? It's time to stop listening to lies that sabotage your confidence and embrace the truth of who God says you are. Popular author and speaker Sharon Jaynes exposes the lies that keep you bogged down in shame, insecurity, and feelings of inadequacy. By recognizing the lies and replacing them with truth, you'll be able to silence the voice inside that whispers you're just not good enough, accept God's grace and move past failures that have defined and confined you.

In debt, Kentucky farmer Arthur Shelby reluctantly decides to trade two of his slaves. The two, middle-aged Uncle Tom and young Harry, are to be sold to Mr. Haley, a detestable slave trader. Eliza, Harry's mother and Mrs. Shelby's maid, overhears the details of the arraignment, warns Uncle Tom, and flees with Harry to the north. Eliza and Harry barely make it across the Ohio River before slave catchers can catch up with them. On the run, Eliza and her family seek shelter and safety.

Unsatisfied with the expectations of Creole society and unhappy with her family life, Edna Pontellier begins to fall in love with the dapper Robert Lebrun. Lebrun's flirtations, along with the lifestyle of renowned musician Mademoiselle Reisz, rejuvenates Edna's sense of freedom and independence. However, an affair with the womanizer Alcee Arobin provides Edna with a taste of the danger that comes with living outside of social convention.

Joseph Armagh was 13 when he first saw America through a dirty porthole on the steerage deck of The Irish Queen. It was the early 1850s, and he was a penniless orphan cast on a hostile shore to make a home for himself and his younger brother and infant sister. Some 70 years later, from his deathbed, Joseph Armagh last glimpsed his adopted land from the gleaming windows of a palatial estate. A multimillionaire, one of the most powerful and feared men, Joseph Armagh had indeed found a home.

Set in the 1870s, Edith Wharton examines the American elite culture on the East Coast. Newland Archer is a lawyer and heir to one of New York City's most prominent families. He is arraigned to be married to May Welland. Newland is pleased with the prospect, until he meets Countess Ellen Olenska, May's older cousin. Suddenly, Newland begins to doubt his arranged marriage and society's shallow rules as his attraction to Ellen increases.

Rare-books expert Brooklyn Wainwright is invited to the 50th birthday party of her neighbor Suzie's aunt Grace. A retired founder of a major video game corporation, Grace is a larger-than-life character who's turned her Lake Tahoe mansion into a fun house. Part of the fun involves a seance, but after the lights flicker, one guest is dead, poisoned by a cocktail intended for Grace. It seems someone is determined to turn Grace's playful palatial estate into a house of horrors.

When she receives an exquisite copy of the Kama Sutra from her best friend, Robin, to appraise and restore, Brooklyn Wainwright anticipates both recreating a beautiful book and spicing up her love life. But then Robin's apartment is ransacked, and the great guy she recently met is murdered in her bed. Now Robin is the number one suspect. Obviously, exploring the Kama Sutra's bliss will have to wait until after Brooklyn finds the killer...

Brooklyn's chance to restore a rare first edition of Beauty and the Beast seems a fairytale come true - until she realizes the book last belonged to an old friend. Three years ago, Max Adams fell in love with Emily and gave her the copy of Beauty and the Beast. Soon afterward, he died in a car crash, and Brooklyn has always suspected his ex-girlfriend and her jealous beau. Now she decides to find out who sold the book and return it to its rightful owner - Emily.

Cal Hudson knows the world can be an ugly place. As a reporter for a big Chicago newspaper, he's journeyed into the darkest corners to expose the vilest crimes, but the world he and his devoted wife, Faith, share is much nicer. They've made sure of it, creating a tranquil haven in suburban River Ridge to protect their precious nine-year-old son. But then the unthinkable happens: he vanishes. In a split second at a local carnival, their storybook world begins unraveling.

In "A Christmas Turkey", a poor family works hard to figure out how they can celebrate Christmas. When the father is unable to provide a turkey, the children venture out into the world, working to earn enough money to pool their resources and purchase one for the Christmas table.

In "A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True", 10-year-old Effie lives a comfortable life and experiences Christmases filled with delicious treats and wonderful toys. One night she has a dream that forever changes the meaning of Christmas for her. Encountering a group of underprivileged children, she is inspired to give them a Christmas they will never forget.