Showing results by narrator "Lorna Bennett" in All Categories

Affectionately known as the Queen Mother, she was born a commoner and never expected to be Queen. Yet, her life was forever changed with the abdication of her brother-in-law, Edward VIII, and she rose to become one of the most popular royal figures. Helen Cathcart's fascinating account charts the life of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, from her birth to her life as Queen Mother. Drawing information from family letters, royal journals, and the personal recollections, The Queen Mother is an exceptionally detailed picture of one of the most influential women of the twentieth century. 

As the leaves fall and the fog thickens, the town of Myrtlewood prepares for the annual Samhain festival. But this year, something is different. The chill in the air is not just from the frost but from a deeper magic, an ancient magic that has lain dormant for years. Rosemary Thorn and her daughter Athena both sense that something is amiss. They soon find themselves caught up in a thrilling mystery as strange occurrences happen around town. They must navigate through the mystical and mysterious world of magic and uncover the truth behind the spooky happenings before it's too late.

University of Oxford tutor and bestselling author Jason Verdoodt has it all: acclaim, women, money…and an enemy or two. When he's found dead at the bottom of the stairs during a celebratory reception at St Rumwold's College, many wonder if seething jealousy of his literary success has turned someone's mind to murder. Detective Chief Inspector Arthur St. Just becomes inescapably drawn into an investigation that takes him down the historic streets of Oxford and into the hallowed halls of its university.

The 10th installment in the New York Times bestselling A TWISTED TALE series asks: What if Wonderland was in peril and Alice was very, very late? Alice is different than other eighteen-year-old ladies in Kexford, which is perfectly fine with her. She’d rather spend golden afternoons with her...

Royal biographer Helen Cathcart's fascinatingly intimate account charts Elizabeth's extraordinary life, from her birth and early years growing up in the royal palaces—sleeping in the dungeons of Windsor Castle during the air raids of the Blitz—through to her marriage to Prince Philip in 1947, and their life together as new parents.

When Diana returns home one fateful evening, her life is shattered when she finds her husband, Patrick, dead. But the circumstances of his mysterious death only raise more questions than answers. Miles away, Angie's world is also falling apart. Her husband, Ray, has vanished without a trace, leaving her to grapple with his strange disappearance and the turmoil of raising their troubled teenage son alone. As both women dig into the secrets their husbands have left behind, they uncover a chilling web of lies and long-buried truths.

Meet the intelligent insects, marvelous minibeasts, and inspirational invertebrates that help shape our planet - and discover how you can help them help us by rebugging your attitude today! Remember when there were bugs on your windshield? Ever wonder where they went? We need to act now if we are to help the insects survive. Robin Wall Kimmerer, David Attenborough, and Elizabeth Kolbert are but a few voices championing the rewilding of our world. Rebugging the Planet shows us small changes we can make to have a big impact on our littlest allies.

The Stone Door is an omen, an incantation, and an adventure story rolled into one. Built in layers like a puzzle box, it is the tale of two people, of love and the Zodiac and the Kabbalah, of Transylvania and Mesopotamia converging at the Caucasus, of a mad Hungarian King named Böles Kilary and of a woman's discovery of an initiatory code that leads to a Cyclopean obstacle, to love, self and awareness, to the great stone door of Kescke and beyond.

To celebrate their engagement, DCI Arthur St. Just and Portia De’Ath visit the quiet village of Maidsfell in Cornwall. Upon arriving, they find the villagers in an uproar over plans to redevelop the local seafront.  

Antony Armstrong-Jones, photographer, designer and film-maker, gained worldwide attention when he married Queen Elizabeth II's younger sister, Princess Margaret in 1960—the first non-aristocrat to marry into the Royal Family for 400 years. How did a "commoner" come to marry a princess, a woman whom he had long admired from afar? In fact, "Tony" descended from Welsh gentry, the son of a barrister and a society hostess. His family shared a long-established link with the Mountbatten arm of the Royal Family.

Sandringham, the much-loved Norfolk retreat of Queen Elizabeth II, has been the private home of four generations of monarchs since 1862, when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought the country estate for their eldest son Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. Written with warmth and wit, Helen Cathcart charts a hundred years of royal domestic history at Sandringham, from earliest days through to celebrated visitor attraction. A blend of narrative history and family chronicle, Sandringham commemorates the centenary of one of the best-known private country houses in the world.

Loyal sister and friend to Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret grew up in the public gaze and was one of the most-discussed women in the world. But what was early life like for the younger sibling of the future monarch? And what role did she carve for herself within the Royal Family?

When Jane is asked to pick up her friend’s daughter, Florrie, from school, she can’t imagine the horror that will unfold. Because someone pretending to be Jane has already collected Florrie. And now the little four-year-old is missing... Things don’t get any easier when Jane starts receiving anonymous letters that include intimate details about her life. As a psychologist and agony aunt, she's used to getting letters asking for advice, but these are different. Are they somehow connected to the missing child?

Adam and Heather weren't related—or so they were told—but they didn't believe what their adoptive parents said. Growing up in a small town, they knew instinctively they were brother and sister. Thirty years later, a DNA test confirmed they were right. With time on their hands in 2020, the siblings hire genealogist Karen Copperfield to unravel the mystery that has shaped their lives: the identity of their birth parents. Nothing they have found out themselves adds up.

Here is the first full story of the Queen's racing enthusiasms and the first authentic account of Her Majesty's personal experience as a racehorse owner and racegoer, told with the help of trainers, jockeys, and others. This exhilarating volume traces the early years of the Queen's racing story, from childhood horse-lover to ebullient racegoer and owner of one of the finest string of racehorses in the world.

In this detailed biographical study of Katharine, Duchess of Kent, Helen Cathcart tells an enchanting story of a Yorkshire soldier squire's daughter who grew up to become an admired and popular member of the Royal Family. In this intimate and illuminating account, Cathcart charts the first forty years of the Duchess's life, from her birth during a snowstorm at the family home, Hovingham Hall, and wartime childhood through to schooldays at Castle Howard and early career working in a children's home.

Valoree no longer has to masquerade as her murdered brother and scourge the oceans as Captain Red. She no longer has to command his pirate band in a quest to regain his birthright. She has been named heir to Ainsley Castle. But no executor would ever hand over the estate to an unmarried pirate...

Born on Christmas Day, 1936, Princess Alexandra's birth was almost overshadowed by the abdication of her uncle, King Edward VIII. Yet public affection for this new addition to the Royal Family has only grown during a lifetime of dedicated royal service. In this biography, Helen Cathcart chronicles the first thirty years of Princess Alexandra's life, from the tragic death of her father when she was just five years old to her wartime childhood at Badminton living with her grandmother Queen Mary.

Something is clearly bothering Sir Flyte Rascallian, Master of Hardwick College at the University of Cambridge and renowned art expert. Are all the grimy paintings he's recently inherited from his aunt's old attic really as worthless as he claims? When Sir Flyte is found murdered in his study on campus, Detective Chief Inspection Arthur St. Just must unravel his sudden unusual behavior to get to the bottom of the death of the old master, but in doing so, St. Just becomes entangled in a web of priceless artwork, deadly intentions, and dangerous secrets.

Royal Lodge is one of a scattered group of dwellings, mansions, forts, and follies in the southern recesses and environs of Windsor Great Park which have served royal pleasures and private needs ever since the carefree days of Charles II. It has been the home of artists and courtiers and farmers and foresters, the picnic pavilion of queens and the private abode of two kings. Meticulously researched, royal chronicler Helen Cathcart paints a vivid picture of the evolving architecture, changing decor, and esteemed inhabitants of Royal Lodge from earliest days through to the mid-twentieth century.