Victorian Society

Middlemarch is a recognized masterpiece that explores the complex social world of 19th century England. It is concerned with the lives of several ordinary people, albeit ones with high social standing. The novel explores the very fabric of Victorian society in the 1800s, showing how various human passions, heroism, egotism, love, and lust, interrelate within this society.

In Phineas Finn, the second of the Palliser series, Trollope balances the rival demands of public and private life. Phineas Finn, an irresistible but penniless young Irish barrister enters Parliament and comes to London leaving behind him an Irish sweetheart, Mary Flood-Jones. In London, Phineas wins friends on all sides and is admitted into high society. However, he also falls more-or-less in love, first with politically-minded Lady Laura Standish, then with Violet Effingham, and finally with wealthy widow Madame Max Goesler.

In the fourth of the ‘Palliser’ stories, Trollope follows Phineas Finn’s return to the dangerous world of Westminster politics. When his political rival is murdered, Phineas is thrown under suspicion and eventually finds himself standing trial at the Old Bailey. The situation is complicated by the presence of two women in his life: his old flame Lady Laura, whose estranged husband is determined to destroy Phineas’s reputation, and the wealthy and enigmatic widow, Madame Max.

Attempting to recover a relic stolen from her family years ago, gifted crystal worker Leona Hewitt secretly makes her way into Lord Delbridge's private museum. But who she finds there is more entrancing than the crystal she seeks. Thaddeus Ware is a mesmerist with powerful psychic energy—that doesn't seem to be affecting the woman before him. Instead, Leona seems to exert a rather hypnotic power over the hypnotist himself. After she gives him the slip, absconding with the crystal they recovered, Thaddeus fears for her safety.

London, 1866. Móirín Donnelly has spent the last five years working in the shadows for the Dread Penny Society, a secret fraternity of penny dreadful authors who use their profits, influence, and street smarts to protect the poor and vulnerable of Victorian London. But spending so much of her life in secret is taking its toll on her soul—and her heart. When members of the Dread Penny Society begin disappearing, Móirín turns to her friend Detective Constable Fitzgerald Parkington for help.

In the fourth audiobook in Anthony Trollope's series known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, the values of a Victorian gentleman, the young clergyman Mark Robarts, are put to the test. Though he lives a comfortable life, has a doting wife, children and a patroness in Lady Lufton, his ambitions stretch beyond the little village of Framley. Through a combination of naivety and social climbing, Robarts is compromised and brought to the brink of financial and social ruin by the disreputable politician, Sowerby.

In The Adventuress, Emily and husband Colin have come to the French Riviera for what should be a joyous occasion - the engagement party of her lifelong friend, Jeremy, duke of Bainbridge, and Amity Wells, an American heiress. But the merrymaking is cut short with the shocking death of one of the party in an apparent suicide. Not convinced by the coroner's verdict, Emily must employ all of her investigative skills to discover the truth and avert another tragedy.

Spirited debutante Lady Olivia McLeod, cherished daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Strathaven, has two interests: solving mysteries and winning the love of her rescuer and secret crush, the infamous Duke of Hadleigh. When Livy joins Lady Charlotte Fayne's charity for young ladies and discovers that it is a front for a covert investigative agency, she is thrilled. Livy dedicates herself to solving a deadly case. Little does she realize that the path to danger will also lead to her heart's deepest desire.

Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Until...

The Victorians are often credited with ushering in our current era, yet the seeds of change were planted in the years before. The Regency (1811-1820) began when the profligate Prince of Wales - the future King George IV - replaced his insane father, George III, as Britain's ruler. Around the regent surged a society steeped in contrasts: evangelicalism and hedonism, elegance and brutality, exuberance and despair. The arts flourished at this time with a showcase of extraordinary writers and painters such as Jane Austen, Lord Byron, the Shelleys, John Constable, and J. M. W. Turner.

Perpetually unattached Lady Cassia McQuoid has accepted her fate as a spinster. But how can she be expected to lead a life confined to drawing rooms and royal balls when there’s a vast, exciting world to explore? Cassia can find but one solution: she masquerades as a thrill-seeking lad and stows away on a ship bound for open waters. Adventure awaits. So does notorious privateer Nathaniel Ellsby.

In a late 19th century London studio, aspiring artist Basil Hallward puts the finishing touches on a portrait of his handsome young friend Dorian Gray. Dorian looks at the painting and wishes that the portrait might grow old while he remains forever young.

Dr. Barnabus Milligan has always felt called to help people, whether that means setting a broken bone or rescuing the impoverished women of London from their desperate lives on the streets, as part of his work with the Dread Penny Society. Three years ago, he helped rescue Gemma Kincaid by secretly marrying her to protect her from her family of notorious grave robbers. But six months after Gemma and Barnabus exchanged vows, she realized her love for her new husband was unrequited. To protect her heart, she left.

In A Terrible Beauty, Tasha Alexander's gripping new audiobook in the New York Times bestselling series, Lady Emily travels to Greece where a ghost from her past returns to haunt her amid the ruins. On a quest to distract her lifelong friend Jeremy from his recent heartbreak, Lady Emily...

"Amato's narration is easy to listen to, and her accents are excellent." — AudioFile Magazine From New York Times bestselling author Tasha Alexander comes the latest installment in the Lady Emily series. Death in St. Petersburg is a gripping new audiobook that will mesmerize fans of historical...

The Duke's Children is the sixth and final audiobook in the Palliser series. Plantagenet Palliser, the Duke of Omnium and former Prime Minister of England, is widowed and wracked by grief. Struggling to adapt to life without his beloved Lady Glencora, he works hard to guide and support his three adult children. Palliser soon discovers, however, that his own plans for them are very different from their desires. Sent down from university in disgrace, his two sons quickly begin to run up gambling debts.

Meg Swift has a tiny problem with stealing. What else is she to do when her uncle triples the estate rents? She learns how to mend roofs, plant turnips—and how to steal. She's too busy for her godfather's parade of single gentlemen at the Cinderella Ball. Dougal Black has just been plucked from a millhouse as the last of the Thorncroft duchy bloodline. And if he's not married by the end of the year, the Prince of Wales will choose his bride for him. But Dougal doesn't know the rules of this new world. Luckily, Meg does.

Viscount Gavin Turley is convinced that love matches cause nothing but trouble. Still, after months of courting, he's fallen for Miss Georgie Featherton. He's passionate about her, in fact. But words of love are not an indulgence he will allow himself. When he presents Georgie with his marriage proposal, he will lead with his head - not his heart. His qualifications as a husband are excellent, after all. What could go wrong?

The Rose Garden is a richly imagined historical novel full of intrigue and secrets, spanning the luxury and poverty of Victorian England. Perfect for fans of Dinah Jefferies and Rachel Hore. Every house has its secrets . . . For twelve-year-old Ottilie Finch, London is an exciting playground to...

After an odd encounter at a grand masquerade ball, Lady Emily becomes embroiled in the murder investigation of one of the guests, a sometime actress trying to pass herself off as the mysterious heiress and world traveler Estella Lamar. Each small discovery, however, leads to more questions. Was the intended victim Miss Lamar or the imposter? And who would want either of them dead?