Showing results by narrator "Siân Phillips" in All Categories

This proud nation with its long history - sometimes rough, hewn from bleak landscapes, and sometimes gently soft from its comforting voices - has produced a long succession of artists and poets.

In the latter category, Louis MacNeice most probably stands pre-eminent; his words and phrasing are on a plane few can equal and most are in awe of. But in this volume we do put forward others who have their own words and voice to add to this rich tapestry.

Illegal battering of gingernuts and conkers in a murky corner of the playground; a procession of bearers of lost property interrupting the telling of the story of Joseph; justice being firmly done on three malefactors who stole Mr Henry's eggs... Here are 40 delightful stories about life as a village schoolteacher, set against the changing seasons of the countryside.

In a blaze of light, rush of wind, and scrabble of claws, Rachel and Eric are ripped through the wall and hurtled on to another world. Like thousands of other children before them, they have been snatched away by the Witch. But this time the Witch has met her match. Rachel discovers that she has extraordinary gifts: she can transform herself into a feather, or fly on an owl’s back, just as the Witch can. The Witch is excited she has found someone to use for her own evil purposes. But for the Witch’s victims, Rachel is their only hope.

The magic of all children has been released. Throughout the skies of Earth they swoop, crossing continents, changing shape, diving to the ocean depths and playing the deadly new spell-games. Rachel bides her time, watching the skies for what she knows will happen - the invasion of the Witches. But when it comes it is not in the way anyone expects, and there is also a new enemy - the huge, terrifying Gridda-breed.

Rachel and Eric have special gifts. She is a spell-maker who can fly, take any shape she pleases, see far and wide with her many-colored eyes. He is a destroyer of spells. When a party of Witches are dispatched to Earth from the planet Ool, Rachel and Eric are tested to the limit. The High Witch will stop at nothing to destroy them and slay her old adversaries, the Wizards. A breathtakingly exciting story in which armies of Witches and Wizards swoop through the air and thousands of children all over the world are invested with astonishing magical powers.

The night Evan Llyr phones, Gwyn, the boy magician, takes out the magic gift his grandmother warned him against: the mutilated figure of a horse. Gwyn feels pity and longs to do what he must never do – set the captured demon free and take away its pain. Gwyn feels a strange affinity with Evan, the chestnut-haired soldier, but soon the charming Evan shows the terrible dark side of his nature. Gwyn knows that he must do battle and one of them will perish....

There seems to be magic in the air the minute that William, Mary and Alice Constant arrive at Golden House to stay with their uncle and aunt during the Christmas Holidays. There is something special about the rundown Golden House that their uncle is trying to renovate into a hotel and as they explore, they begin to unravel its secrets. They discover a hidden room, reached by steps up the chimney. Here they meet the magician Stephen Tyler, a 16th-century alchemist who has been transported through time and needs their help.

As spring begins at Thrush Green, a series of local dramas takes hold of the community. Plans for the fete are hotting up, the illness of Mrs Peters at the restaurant makes the future unsure for the staff, and there are problems at Rectory Cottages.

Having enjoyed robust health throughout her career, Miss Read, the village schoolmistress at Fairacre, is looking forward to an energetic retirement in a few years' time. But, to her dismay, she is suddenly taken ill. She has no wish to give up her post yet, but memories of her former colleague collapsing in front of the schoolchildren haunt her. Is it time to say farewell to Fairacre?

The village schoolmistress, Miss Read, greets retirement with excitement, and settles down to endless lazy days, but her idyll is interrupted by the daily cares of her friends and fellow villagers in this, the latest Miss Read novel.

The end of the school year often brings unmitigated rapture for schoolteachers, and so it should for Miss Read, schoolmistress in the charming English village of Fairacre. But on the very first day of the long summer holiday, she falls and breaks her arm. Just when her summer seems ruined, her old friend Amy Garfield, comes to her aid with a diverting suggestion. They travel to Crete for two weeks, and the change of scene provides a welcome break for both of them.

Framed for a theft he didn’t commit and expelled from the church which has been his life, Silas Marner, the weaver, exiles himself to the remote rural village of Raveloe to bury himself in making money with his loom. The arrival of a golden-haired orphan toddler at his door, however, drags the recluse back into the world and away from his obsession with his hoard.

On a summer’s day we have perhaps all wished to take flight and view life and the world from the vantage point of a clear blue sky. Our feathered friends do it as a matter of course, and in this volume some of our finest wordsmiths speak with imagination, longing and desire on their behalf.

Oliver and his wife arrive by Eurostar to attend the birthday party of grandchild Hugo. Hugo's grandmother Harriet is also on her way. Oliver and Harriet fail to recognise one another at first - but the physical attraction is instantaneous. Harriet's son, Roderick,, a successful banker, is married to Jennifer, who works in publishing. Attempting to reconcile careers, marriage and children leads to high stress levels as the two generations walk a dangerous tightrope between fidelity and parenthood.

Rachel and Eric have special gifts. She is a spell-maker who can fly, take any shape she pleases, and see far and wide with her many-colored eyes. He is a destroyer of spells. When a party of witches are dispatched to Earth from the planet Ool, Rachel and Eric are tested to the limit.