Showing results for "A Birthday" in Historical Fiction

The Birthday Boys tells the story of Scott's doomed expedition through the voices of five men on the voyage. As Scott, Petty Officer Taff Evans, ship's doctor Edward Wilson, Lieutenant Henry Bowers and Captain Lawrence Oates step forward for their place in the narrative, the reader is gripped by the characters themselves alongside the vividly evoked period.

On the morning of her 37th birthday, Jane Austen suffers an unexpected fall during a solitary walk. When she awakens, disoriented and aching, she finds herself on the path to Oakham Mount, being tended by none other than Elizabeth Bennet. To her astonishment, Jane discovers she has somehow entered the world of Pride and Prejudice—a world she thought existed only within the pages of her novel. When she is escorted to Netherfield Park, Jane quickly learns that while Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley have married and are living happily at Netherfield, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy remain estranged.

With a foundation of the prose created by six handpicked Austen-inspired authors who have selected a location from their travels upon which to base an Austenesque short story, this book is just as much a whimsical travelogue as an anthology of excellent Regency romance fiction and fantasy. Each author tells the story of their homage to Jane Austen during their past travels to the UK, with photos to enhance the tale.

Rose Paton doesn't think she'll be singing at The White Horse for much longer. After all, she's got good looks, youth and talent on her side. But when mysterious stranger Marcus Bennley asks her to be his birthday present to his sister Marie – by singing at her party – she accepts. It won't lead to greater things, but it will lead to half a guinea. To Rose's excitement, the party is more than she could ever have hoped for.

In postwar Tinseltown, how far would a lonely heart go to find a soulmate? How deep into the treacherous world of the occult would L.A.'s disaffected dive? P.I.s Kit and Henry are posed to find out after they're hired to track down Lillian, the estranged wife of a prominent physician, who has gone missing with her "spirit" lover Tashin. The detectives' hunt leads to a Hollywood cult run by the ambitious Reverend, and his accomplice, the operator of a séance racket.

Gabe Douglass is the sheriff of Rutger Creek, Arkansas, and the father of seven-year-old Eva. The death of his wife signaled the end of his love life. There is no room in his heart for anyone new. But when Eva wants a mommy for her birthday, Gabe’s mother goes behind his back and orders a mail order bride for him.

The author of this book captures the listener's attention from the start by weaving a tale of a son's grief over the loss of his mother, which is intensified by the coincidental alignment of his mother's burial with his birthday. The man's memories of his mother and the special ritual they shared on his birthday provide a lens through which the listener can explore the anthropological phenomenon of a woman's transition into motherhood.