Historical Trees

Spring, 1096. Europe’s princes march their armies toward the Holy Land. They are accompanied by tens of thousands of pilgrims, led by a fiery preacher Peter the Hermit. Their destination is Jerusalem, the holiest of all Christian cities. Their goal is to conquer the Muslim occupation. History will call them the First Crusade. Among the pilgrims is Oderic of Rheims, a Benedictine monk from Eastern France. He's devoted to the cause, but the Crusade will test every vow he swore to the Church. His poverty will be challenged by greed, his obedience tempted by blood lust.

The year is 1831. As England emerges from the post war depression, the country is changing, and the birth pains of the Reform Act bring it to the brink of revolution. The violent times breed violent acts, both outside and inside the Morland family. Sophie's life is shattered by a hideous crime. Rosamund learns that achieving her dreams brings as much pain as pleasure. Heloise, mourning her beloved James, let’s control of Morland Place fall into chaos. And amongst them all stalks the deadly, invisible threat of cholera.

Before the #MeToo movement, there was the 1970s and three girls - Tessa, Athena, Jenny – looking for love, friendship, and meaningful futures. In desiring to break traditional roles in gender and sexuality, they face challenges from family, church and society. With new freedoms, there are also dangers. This is a story of women's empowerment that has relevance today for women and men. For listeners aged 15+

When Eloise Blackburn finds a strange gentleman perched in the leafy branches of an ash tree, she has strong suspicions he is not who he says he is. After all, the neighboring Allen family has never mentioned a cousin named Crispin from the West Indies. And what's this he's saying about a missing inheritance and a secret passageway in Allen Abbey?

This is a tale of witches and wishes, tales and trees, stepmothers, spells and a girl who sleeps in the ashes by the fire.... But it's not the one you know.

In recent years house histories have become the new frontier of popular, participatory history. People, many of whom have already embarked upon that great adventure of genealogical research, and who have encountered their ancestors in the archives and uncovered family secrets, are now turning to...

When war breaks out in Europe in 1939, a young unknown writer journeys from his home in neutral Ireland to conflict-ridden Paris and is drawn into the maelstrom. With him we experience the hardships yet stubborn vibrancy at the heart of Europe during the Nazis' rise to power, his friendships with James Joyce and other luminaries, his quietly passionate devotion to the Frenchwoman who will become his lifelong companion, his secret work for the French Resistance and narrow escapes from the Gestapo....

Charles Ball was born into slavery in Calvert County, Maryland and served there under several owners until, at twenty-six, he was sold and taken to South Carolina as part of a fifty-person coffle. After nearly seven years of grueling and often intolerable treatment in South Carolina and Georgia, he fled Georgia and returned to Maryland. This creative rendering of Balls' 1837 autobiography closely follows the original narrative. It recounts his upbringing in Maryland, his forced march to the deep South, and his escape and journey back home.

Letters from the Olive Tree is a literary historical fiction short story set in the early twentieth century. Giovanni Olivi, the second son of a proud but impoverished Tuscan farming family, is bound by tradition and cut off from inheritance. He leaves behind the only life he’s known and the woman he loves, Ersilia Innocenti, in search of opportunity in America, promising to make a life abroad and one day send for her.

Japón, finales del siglo XVI. El país deja atrás la Era de los Estados en Guerra y se adentra en un titubeante periodo de paz. Entre las víctimas del largo conflicto se halla Seizo Ikeda, único superviviente del clan regente de la provincia de Izumo, huérfano a los nueve años tras el exterminio de su casa. Hostigado por los asesinos de su familia y condenado al destierro y al olvido, inicia un largo peregrinaje al amparo de Kenzaburo Arima, último samurái con vida del ejército de su padre, convertido ahora en su mentor.

Ahora, además de las habituales sagas familiares ambientadas en un país exótico, Lark nos habla de las pioneras de las conquistas sociales femeninas: primero el sufragio, después el acceso a la universidad y, por último, la posibilidad de volar, volar, volar.

Hidden Women is a captivating collection of stories that shines a spotlight on the often-overlooked women who played significant roles in the lives of famous men from well-known narratives. This collection offers listeners a fresh perspective by delving into the untold stories of these remarkable women, showcasing their strength, resilience, and unique experiences.

Self-taught artist Rose O'Neill leaves the Midwest for New York in 1893, determined to become an illustrator in a field dominated by males. Mindful of her duty to the impoverished family she left behind, Rose’s obligations require her to yield to the men who hold the reins of her career, as well as the men she grows to love.

When her father, chief of the Gypsies, died, headstrong Etti lost her status but none of her spirit. She's the first woman to race her horse in Marseilles. She survives attacks by her drunken brothers, the very men who should have protected her, and she's turned the head of Rafa, a delicious Gitano Gypsy from Spain with a tantalizing sense of adventure and breathtaking passion. She dares to break all the rules to pursue Rafa - and the exciting life she craves.

تتناول الرواية قصة شجرة الدر كأول امرأة ملكة تتولي الحكم في تاريخ مصر الإسلامية، حيث قدرت لها الأقدار أن تتوج ملكة على مصر بعد مقتل الملك «طوران شاه» آخر سلاطين الدولة الأيوبية.

Raef Skallagrim wants to take the sea road. His ship is fast and sleek, his crew skilled and eager, and they will seek out new lands and win fame in the eyes of the gods. But Raef’s father refuses to allow the journey and when a stranger brings word that the king is dead and a gathering has been called to choose a successor, Raef must set aside his dream for his duty to his ancestral lands and his father. When factions split at the gathering, Raef finds himself mired in bloodshed and treachery.

Santander 1930.Inés Calleja se ve obligada a huir de su casa después que su novio la abandonase para casarse con otra. Humillada y rechazada por la sociedad, conoce durante el viaje a Lucía Madrazo, que también ha abandonado su pueblo dejando atrás un doloroso pasado. Juntas abrirán un negocio en Sevilla, donde triunfarán.Pancho Madrazo, hermano de Lucía, regresa a España desde México, donde ha hecho fortuna.

It’s 1975 in Lobito, Angola, where Rosa, Leo, and their children are trapped in their home as militants battle for power. After 13 years Portugal lost the War of Independence. Now civil war rages on. The Carvalho family has given up hope for peace in their beloved homeland.

From two-time Newbery medalist Lois Lowry comes this warm and resonant story of an unlikely friendship, which unfolds as a revelation on how we hold on to—and pass on—what matters most.

An anonymous telegram introduces Carl Brooke to both his future wife and her conflicted brother, who harbors a dark secret from the Civil War. The discovery of a deliberately cut tree reveals the presence of a mysterious one-legged man and the possible reemergence of Carl's nemesis, Thomas Drake.