Showing results by narrator "Daphne Kouma" in All Categories

Piano teacher Marina Meyer is delighted when her mother offers to help buy her own place in London, even though it means returning to Spain to sell the family holiday home. Cala Turquesa may be beautiful, but it also holds painful memories of Marina's father, who tragically died there in a boating accident. When Marina befriends turtle-saving vet Mati, it's hard to believe she could have stayed away so long. And then there's handsome property developer Agustín, who has set his sights on more than just the real estate.

Rachel and Hilary are sent to live with their ambitious aunt who runs a stage school, training a troupe of dancing girls. It's heaven for Hilary who loves to perform, but quite the opposite for quiet Rachel. The last thing Rachel wants is to become one of her aunt's Little Wonders—particularly if it means behaving like their irritating show-off of a cousin. A mischievous, fun and moving story about young performers, from the acclaimed author of the classic Ballet Shoes.

Celebrated singer Genevieve Dumont is both a star and a smokescreen. An unwilling darling of the Nazis, her position of privilege allows her to go undetected as an ally to the resistance. When her estranged mother, Lillian de Rocheford, is captured by Nazis, Genevieve is shaken. She knows it won't be long before the Gestapo succeeds in torturing information out of Lillian that will derail the upcoming allied invasion. The resistance movement is tasked with silencing her by any means necessary - including assassination.

Freya Scott is getting married. Her wedding to Matthew, her long-term boyfriend, is the first of eight in her calendar this year, and as someone who prides herself on being meticulously organised, Freya is intent on making it the perfect day to remember. But when Matthew calls things off hours before they walk down the aisle, Freya's entire life plan goes up in smoke. Humiliated and heartbroken, the last thing she wants is to attend a summer of other peoples' nuptials on her own.

Henrietta Maria is the most reviled consort to have worn the crown of Britain's Three Kingdoms. Condemned as that 'Popish brat of France', a 'notorious whore' and traitor, she remains in popular memory the wife who wore the breeches and turned her husband Catholic—so causing a civil war—and a cruel and bigoted mother. Leanda de Lisle's White King was hailed as 'the definitive modern biography about Charles I' (Observer). Here she considers Henrietta Maria's point of view, unpicking the myths to reveal a very different queen.

Giada Borghi has always known exactly what she wants. Graduating with honours? Check. An internship at a prestigious consulting company in Milan? Check! Ariberto Castelli, with his pretty face and unironically monogrammed shirts? Definitely not. Sure, they may have shared a kiss in a nightclub once upon a time – that doesn't change anything! Boys like Ariberto and girls like Giada just don't belong together. But working so closely with a handsome Italian is bound to turn any girl's head, especially as she realises there's more to Ariberto than meets the eye.

France, 1918: when Sophia, the rebellious daughter of a distinguished German general, witnesses a dramatic battle in the skies that leaves an English pilot without a plane and under the misapprehension that Sophia is on his side, she finds she has no choice but to agree to assist him in his attempt to avoid capture. He joins her in the family car she has stolen, trailed by both the German Army and a staff officer under strict instructions from Sophia's father to bring her home.

In this spellbinding new collection, Charlotte Higgins reinterprets some of the most enduring stories of all time. Here are myths of the creation, of Heracles and Theseus and Perseus, the Trojan war and its origins and aftermaths, tales of Thebes and Argos and Athens. There are stories of love and desire, adventure and magic, destructive gods, helpless humans, fantastical creatures, resourceful witches and the origins of birds and animals.

Nico Cloud desperately wants to be an explorer, but her parents think adventures aren't for girls. Fate intervenes when Nico chases a kitten on board a ship...and then the ship sails out to sea! Nico is an accidental stowaway. Lucky for her, the ship belongs to a famous scientist who is on a quest for new discoveries. But clouds are brewing overhead, and cunning pirates are determined to wreck the crew's mission. Can Nico steer the ship to victory and prove her parents wrong?

When war breaks out in September 1939, Laura, Andy and Tim Clark are evacuated to the countryside. The Colonel's comfortable home in Dorset is a huge contrast to their cramped terraced house in London, where their loving parents struggle to put the next meal on the table. Though unused to having children around, the Colonel proves to be a kind and generous, if gruff, guardian until a terrible turn of events means the kids must move on.

During the Second World War, across the frontline as well as on the Home Front, millions of people recorded their thoughts of their experiences - whether in letters, their personal diaries or those prosecuting the war giving speeches. Much as Letters of Note celebrated the great letters written through history, so Words of War allows the Imperial War Museum to showcase its incredible array of first-hand material to shine a light on how people journeyed through the 1939-45 conflict.

Alice Samuel might be old and sharp-tongued, but she's no fool. Visiting her new neighbours in her Fenland village, she suspects Squire Throckmorton's household is not as God-fearing as it seems and finds the children troubled. What she cannot foresee is that all five daughters will succumb in turn to a terrifying affliction and accuse her of witchcraft—who else to blame than an ugly, black-capped woman with mysterious healing skills?

Pandora is working toward earning her performance badge, which (like many junior witchcraft badges) has a component of doing a good deed. She is going to perform in a witch's retirement home to cheer the older people up. However, she is nervous about her singing ability ... so she makes a potion to improve her voice.

Curiosity gets the better of Scarlett as she tries an unusual recipe from Foxglove's book—with some disastrous, magical consequences! When Foxglove comes to the rescue, Scarlett learns her secret. Not only does Foxglove have magical powers—but she's scouting new talent for the Moonlight Magic Club! Scarlett joins Foxglove and her friends, Maya and Pandora, as they try and undo Scarlett's magical mistake!

When Chloe turns the key to Small Angels, the church nestled at the edge of Mockbeggar Woods where she is to be married, she is braced for cobwebs and dust. What she doesn't expect are the villagers' concerned faces, her fiancé's remoteness or the nagging voice in her head that whispers to her of fears she didn't even know she had. Something in the woods is beginning to stir, to creep closer to the sleeping houses. Something that should have been banished long ago.

Childhood sweethearts Neve and Jamie are inseparable from the moment they meet. Everyone knows they'll be together forever - that is, until tragedy strikes, and Jamie is torn from Neve's life. One street away, Ash is hit by lightning. As he recovers, family members notice a drastic change in Ash, almost as though he is a different person. Years later, chance brings Neve and Ash together- and she is struck by his familiarity. He shares so many traits with Jamie, as if their souls are entwined. Neve must ask herself whether she can love for a second time in the face of her grief.

Delphine Vimond flees to Paris after being cast out from her home in Rouen when her father is disgraced. Into her life tumbles Chancery Smith, apprentice printer from London, sent to discover the mysterious author of potentially seditious papers marked only D. In a battle of wits with the French censor, Henri Gilbert, Delphine and Chancery set off in a frantic search for D's author. But who is he—and does he even exist?

There are five of them. Claire, who sits awake beside a snoring husband and a little boy who is not hers. Jacques, a psychiatrist at the end of his career whose lonely nights are punctuated only by anonymous phone calls. Michèle, a retiree whose dark secret compels her out of bed and to church. Lena, a young goth who cannot brave the dawn, volunteering at a local café. Hervé, a shy accountant who sits in bed, panicking about his job while scrolling through emails into the early hours. They have one thing in common: insomnia.

When the Moonlight Magic Club accidentally bring home a stowaway creature from an enchanted realm, things take a chaotic turn. Everybody's magic is playing up! Can our favorite witches resist casting any spells until things are put right? Too late—Foxglove's magic has misfired and now Pandora and Maya find themselves in each other's bodies! How can Foxglove put things right?

Lexie lives in London with her colourful Greek-Cypriot family. After the death of their grandmother, she tells a terrible, instinctive, jealous lie about an heirloom necklace, a lie that splits the family apart. It's up to her to bring the family back together.... With important themes of truth and lies, loyalty and betrayal, What Lexie Did is a wonderful exploration of guilt and reconciliation for younger listeners.