Showing results for "3" in Biographical Fiction

Mummy dreams of a quirky rural cottage with roses around the door and chatty chickens in the garden. Life, as ever, is not going quite as she planned. Paxo, Oxo and Bisto turn out to be highly rambunctious rather than merely chatty, and the roses have jaggy thorns.

A family torn apart. A king with an iron fist. Will their faith be strong enough to survive persecution and reunite? Jeanne is the wife of a wealthy merchant, but now she risks losing everything. Louis XIV's soldiers will stop at nothing to forcibly convert the country's Protestants to the "true" faith. The men ransack Jeanne's belongings and threaten her children. If Jeanne and Jacob can't find a way to evade the soldiers' clutches, their family will face a fate far worse than poverty and imprisonment. They may never see each other again....

Brendan Behan is widely remembered as a hard-drinking, wise-cracking writer who turned up roaring drunk for interviews and cared little for authority. But he was more than just a hell-raising celebrity. His wit, expressive use of language and understanding of human nature made his writing famous around the world, and his masterpieces The Quare Fellow, Borstal Boy and The Hostage rank among the greatest works of 20th century Irish literature. Dramatisations of all three appear here, alongside a short interview with Behan himself and a fascinating biographical programme celebrating his genius.

William Marshal’s prowess and loyalty as a knight in the English royal household has been rewarded by marriage to Isabelle de Clare, heiress to great estates in England, Normandy and Ireland. But their contentment and security is shattered when King Richard dies and is succeeded by his brother John, who takes the Marshals’ sons hostage and seizes their lands.

As the beautiful daughter of courtiers, Elizabeth "Bessie" Blount is overjoyed when she secures a position as maid of honor to Katherine of Aragon. But when she captures the attention of the king himself, there are whispers that the queen ought to be worried for her throne. When Bess gives birth to a healthy son the whispers become a roar. But soon the infamous Boleyn girls come to court and Henry's love for her begins to fade.

No one could have been more surprised than our Provincial Lady to receive an invitation from her American agent to travel transatlantic and embark upon a programme of lectures and signings. She was particularly amazed because, having received an overture sometime before and feeling that she would rather stay in the English countryside, she requested that they meet quite a few ‘requirements’ before she would agree to go. They met every stipulation. ‘

Wife and mother to a dynasty of kings, crusader, prisoner and formidable political operator, Eleanor of Aquitaine is a thoroughly modern woman, despite living almost 900 years ago. Intelligent, witty and independent, she is tough enough to forge her own destiny—and subtle enough to shape the world to her will.

La travolgente vita di Giorgio prosegue nell'immensa bellezza di Rio de Janeiro, dove mister Sax lo invia per risanare la filiale brasiliana. In questa città incredibile, tra spiagge, locali e ristoranti che intrecciano i destini di uomini e donne, la presenza di Giorgio Prà si fa notare ovunque, non solo nella vita mondana. Dalle discoteche agli ospedali, dagli uffici della Saxol Inc ai locali notturni, emerge una personalità fuori dal comune, che sembra consumare tutto con intensità e rapidità.

Daughter of the ambitious Earl of Warwick, Anne Neville is drawn into the ferocious war between Lancaster and York; a series of battles we now know as the Wars of the Roses. When Anne's father falls foul of Edward IV she is married without royal sanction to the Lancastrian heir, a man she has been taught to loathe.

The greatest moment in Roman history, from the perspective of the man who could have had it all.Julius Caesar is dead. Mark Antony, his second in command, is surely also in the sights of the assassins.But for Antony, where there is danger, there is opportunity. Can he seize the chance, and replace Caesar as Rome's undisputed ruler? The portents are good until a young man named Octavian appears, claiming to be Caesar's heir... The following months and years are a time of shifting alliances, betrayals and score-settling.

Salisbury 1226. When a child of village outcasts disappears from Salisbury, the odious new sheriff doesn’t seem to care. Ela Longespée is determined to help the girl’s desperate parents and her investigation leads her into the thick of a human-trafficking ring in London. There, she vows to find the lost child, arrest the perpetrators, and convince the king to make her high sheriff of Wiltshire.

October 1485: With the English crown finally in his possession, Henry Tudor’s endeavors to restore order to the realm are hindered by continuing unrest. Intrigue, treason, and distrust blights the new Tudor dynasty, challenging Margaret’s strength of character and her steadfast faith in God.

Sent into exile once more, Don Rodrigo de Vivar has just Will Redbeard and two warriors for companions. Over the next years, he creates the legend of El Cid, defeating enemy after enemy. Fighting overwhelming odds, he succeeds every time until, at last, he has his fiefdom of Valencia. This is the final chronicle in the series and details the last 18 years of the life of the man known as El Cid. Although this is the last in the series, it is a standalone book. Forget the film and listen to the reality of the man who was the greatest knight of his age - some would say, any age!

James, Lord of Douglas, known to his foes as the Black Douglas, leads a flank of the Scottish army in crushing a vast invading English force at the waters of the Bannockburn. Fresh from battle, James revels in honors heaped on him by the Scots and in the hatred of the enemy. When King Robert the Bruce orders him to push their advantage and force the English to the peace table, they both know the only way James can do so is by fire and the sword - the only language King Edward of England understands.

In a small modern day little village of Ingleton, the family of Wilsons have always had a reputation. Living in a huge manor overlooking the town full of history, they are also well known for being a family of witches, reaching back to the 1600s. When a thick fog lays over the village and begins to spread across the neighbouring towns and cities, bringing the undead and spirits of the underworlds with it, it is up to the Wilson witches.

A beguiling trio of fantastical and farcical anti-fairy tales about a giantess who builds a magical “cottage of one’s own,” battles a silver-scaled sea monster, and defies governesses and gravity alike.

Alexander the Great's sudden and unexpected death has left the largest, most formidable empire the world has ever seen leaderless. As the fight to take control descends into ruthless scheming and bloody battles, no one is safe. As wars on land and sea are lost and won, and promises are made only to be broken, long-buried secrets come to light in the quest for the true circumstances surrounding Alexander's death.

From Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, the bestselling authors of Meet Me in Monaco, comes a coming-of-age novel set in pre-WWII Europe, perfect for fans of Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Kate Quinn. Three cities, two sisters, one chance to correct the past . . . New York, 1937: When...

A young boy from Shropshire named Will Somers has a special talent for entertaining. His gifts bring him all the way to the court of Henry VIII where he becomes a favoured servant and close companion of the king. In his role as the royal fool, he observes the life and times of Henry and his court. He witnesses the successive rise and fall of his queens, nobles and ministers. He is the only one whom Henry trusts with his true thoughts. “The Tudor Fool” tells the story of the unlikely relationship between a tyrannical king and his humble jester.

Hungary, 1939. Like most Hungarian Jews during the onset of World War II, Shomo Stern is sent to the front lines with the Forced Labor Services–to be worked to death under the thumb of the Nazi war machine. Fighting the bitter European winter, the battalions witness horrific events in the wake of the Nazi advance.