Showing results by publisher "Next Chapter Audio Ltd" in Literary Fiction

February 1554, Guildhall, London. Queen Mary the First, England’s first queen regnant, is about to make the most important, rallying speech of her life. Her good friend and advisor, Sir Francis Englefield, is with her all the way, supporting her Roman heritage. Mary plans to marry the Catholic Prince of Spain, Philip II, much against the advice of her parliament and most of the people. Even before the lavish wedding ceremony at Salisbury Cathedral, Mary finds she is deeply in love with Philip. In vivid detail, Derek Ansell's The Titian Portrait follows the life of Mary I.

His story begins after his creation at the hands of an old German craftsman in 1930s Illinois. Over the course of the next half century, he is pulled along by the current of rivers, pushed by the energy of providence and influenced by the power of the human spirit.

Imagine this: you’re 60 years old, divorced, broke. You’ve squandered away being the husband and father you should’ve been to your wife and children in your quest for status among your architect peers. Don't worry: that’s all about to change. Unfortunate encounters with large trucks on the highway have a way of altering your plans, like jettisoning you back into the past to wake up next to a woman you dated in college. You’re also about to realize she hasn’t aged a day - and neither have you. Thirty years stripped away, just like that.

Among a family picnic in Presley Park strides a man with the worst intentions. In the center of a leafy suburb, everyone is having fun until the unthinkable happens. The man walks into the middle of the picnic ground seemingly unnoticed, and, without warning, opens fire into the startled crowd. People collapse, wounded and dying. Those who can, flee for their lives.

A Loafer’s Guide to Living is a story of disrupted lives during a search for the rarest of conditions: equilibrium. Bernard Goldman is the son of a famous father, and can’t get over it. His life is in shambles, as he gets grief from everyone and everything around him.

In middle England, Juliette, Sophie, Ann, Evelyn and Will are in the final year of studying for an English degree. Will it all go to plan, with the expectation of success weighing heavily on their shoulders? And will they be fulfilled both academically and personally?

On Christmas Eve 1969, a letter from Australia House, London, brings welcome news for newlyweds Anna and Joseph Fletcher. Young and idealistic, Anna falls passionately in love with their adopted land. Seven months later, an unexpected event causes their life to take a tragic turn. Years pass, and Anna retreats to a fictional world she has created. But when a different challenge presents itself, does she have the courage to take the risk...or will she take refuge in fantasy?

After turbulent years in a Christian high school in Poland and his military service, Mordecai Goldman finds himself manning a tank for the Soviets in the Second World War. After he fights his way to Germany, Mordecai falls in love with his future wife and emigrates to Canada. Saying good-bye to everyone he loves, Mordecai moves on with his life and toward the inevitable conclusion that awaits us all.

Over six feet tall, blonde, and blue-eyed, Billy looks like an Adonis. But he is not the full shilling; one slice less than a sandwich. When you meet him, you might not notice at first, but after a couple of minutes, it becomes apparent. He’s not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. In Billy’s mind, he’s a superhero: a righter of wrongs, a saver of souls, and that’s where it all goes wrong. At the bus stop, he meets and talks with people as he goes to work, and they all look at Billy a different way.

Based on the life of West Texas pioneer J.D. "Big John" Sanders, Generations is a celebration of Irish heritage, a story of indomitable spirit and unfailing vision, and of relentless pursuit of the American dream. After a whirlwind romance with the formidable Nora Brooks, Big John forges a cattle town in the rugged West Texas frontier during World War I. Thirty years later, Marion Kidd Sanders journeys to New York in pursuit of fame and fortune and brings the family name to new heights.

When a deadly plague seizes the walled town of Avignon, young Marius is determined to save his townsfolk from the raging pestilence. While leading the effort to combat the Black Death, Marius is distracted by a liaison with the mysterious Alice. Meanwhile, Pope Clément harbors a burning desire for vengeance on the boy’s father. As death sweeps through the city, can Marius reconcile his passion with a duty to his wife, and his responsibility to the townsfolk?

After living in the shadow of his older brother, Ivan Wells knows his place in life. Never one to take responsibility for his actions, he spends his days eking a living by playing poker at the local casino. He's comfortable with his lot, until a long-forgotten woman from his past reappears. Hurtling into a heady relationship with the mysterious Sonya Lewis, his existence takes on new life. But then his ex-wife shows up with news that makes it difficult to turn her away. Torn, Ivan finds himself faced with complicated decisions. Will he finally learn to take control of his own destiny?

After losing her husband, Janet Porter’s life in the wooded heights of Oregon's Willamette Valley has begun to settle down. Everything changes when her son Nate calls from Iraq with unsettling news. Returning home on a medical discharge, Nate doesn't want the accolades or service medals he's offered; he wants to be left alone.

Billy Bradshaw is only 12 when a juvenile court judge sentences him to community service, and throws him to the care of six aging Bohemians in the Liberty Street Home for the Elderly. Billy's summer takes an unexpected turn when a new administrator arrives to Liberty Street, planning to get rid of the troublesome denizens of Hall B. Billy decides to save the home the Bohemians have created, and he doesn't face the challenge alone. Aided by Cassidy, the administrator's eccentric daughter, Billy embarks on a journey through the seedy New Orleans underground.

After a heart attack, lawyer Tony Stanford finds himself not in this world, but on a heavenly golf course. Not ready to believe he is dead, his wife, best friends, and the doctors work against time to prove to the hospital board he's not really gone. Even with its religious themes, Three Days in Heaven is a story a person of any faith can enjoy. Open-heart surgery, dying, and meeting up with God all seem like serious topics, but the audiobook deals with them in a lighthearted and believable way.