Language Period

Splendiferous Speech explores the main sources of the American vernacular - the expanding western frontier, the bumptious world of politics, and the sensation-filled pages of popular 19th-century newspapers. It's a process that started with the earliest English colonists (first word adoption - the Algonquian raccoon) and is still going strong today. Author Rosemarie Ostler takes listeners along on the journey as Americans learn to declare linguistic independence and embrace their own brand of speech.

One fan. A thousand secrets. And a love too dangerous to name. In the glittering ballrooms of Regency London, every glance, every gesture, every flutter of a fan speaks volumes. For seventeen-year-old Eliza Linwood, it’s the only language she’s allowed to speak. Trapped by strict societal rules and an ambitious family, Eliza must use charm, grace, and coded movements to survive the social season—and avoid the marriage her parents have already arranged. But when she locks eyes with Thomas Harland, a quiet artist with revolutionary ideals and a past that won’t stay buried, Eliza’s ...