Showing results by narrator "Judy Bennett" in All Categories

For years she prayed for her mother to give birth to a son. She longed to be spared her destiny as Britain's future Queen. Her dream was to live in the country surrounded by children, dogs and horses. But Elizabeth did her duty, the young princess pledging before her people that she would dedicate her whole life to the service of Britain and the Commonwealth. She hoped that that day would be a long way off. It was not to be. Only 25 when she became Queen after the premature death of her father, King George Vl, Elizabeth has become the stuff of superlatives.

Renowned biographer Andrew Morton takes an in-depth look at Britain’s longest reigning monarch, exploring the influence Queen Elizabeth has had on both Britain and the rest of the world for much of the last century. From leading a nation struggling to restore itself after the devastation of the second World War to navigating the divisive political landscape of the present day, Queen Elizabeth has been a reluctant but resolute queen. This is the story of a woman of unflagging self-discipline who will long be remembered as mother and grandmother to Great Britain.

As children, George Dashwood and Amelia Dennison were friends, just as their two very different families were. But in 1914, the now mature George realises the way he feels about Amelia has changed, and the declaration of war cuts across any romantic plans that the two might have. But when, miraculously, George returns safely from the front after four years, Amelia finds that the boy she loved has gone.

Hope Merriott has always thought of herself as truly blessed; her three daughters bring her much joy. But when Hope’s fourth daughter arrives, her birth coincides with the failure of her husband Alexander’s newest business venture. And although Alexander’s Great Aunt Rosabel offers to solve the family’s financial worries by gifting Alexander her large, elegant house in Wiltshire, Hope is full of seemingly unreasonable foreboding...

At the beginning of the last century, that three women determine on making their own way at a time when to be independent was to risk social ostracism, or even tragedy, is partly due to the influence each comes to have on the others’ lives. The love knots that they face in their relationships finally unravel, but not before hearts have been broken, and scandals risked.

During the Second World War, Eastenders Miranda and Ted are sent to the country with another young evacuee, Roberta (Bobbie), to live with two unmarried sisters in their idyllic rectory. The time they spend with Aunt Sophie and Aunt Prudence turns their underprivileged lives into something very near to heaven: gathering wool from hedgerows, initiating do and mend campaigns, and trotting about the countryside with Tom Kitten, Aunt Prudence's pony.

What's a nice girl like Lorna Wright doing with an East-End bad boy like Richie Clayton?The world is changing and London is swinging: it's the 1960s. But in the East End the docks are closing and life will never be the same for the families who have worked there for generations, among them the Wright family.Lorna Wright is a nice girl, but Richie Clayton is bad news: a violent thug who will stop at nothing to climb his way to the top of the East End underworld.

If Belinda is to save her father's kingdom from the wicked Princess Saramanda and her band of cut-throat robbers, she's going to need plenty of ideas and lots of karate practice.

It is Molly Clarkson’s 50th birthday. She is having a party. She is rich, but it's a small party - only four people. Four people, however, who all need the same thing: they need her money. She will not give them the money, so they are waiting for her to die. And there are other people who are also waiting for her to die. But one person can’t wait. And so, on her 50th birthday, Molly Clarkson is going to die.

Dullandon Primary School runs strictly by the headmaster's timetable - until Miss Pandemonium arrives. Within a week she has everyone trying to fly in home-made helicopters and making Friendship Cake, which turns out to be far too friendly.

Portia and Emily meet to launch their daughters on an unsuspecting society for the London Season of 1913. Both are determined that their offspring will catch the eye of their friend May's son, a future duke.

One day, a farmer tells a farm boy to take everything out of an old building and throw it away. ’It’s all rubbish,’ he says.In the middle of all the rubbish, the boy finds a beautiful old piano. He has never played before, but now, when his fingers touch the piano, he begins to play. He closes his eyes and the music comes to him - and the music moves his fingers.When he opens his eyes again, he knows that his life is changed for ever.

In 'The Mystery of Mr Jones’s Disappearing Taxi', someone has been driving Mr Jones’s taxi, and books have been mysteriously vanishing from the local library. Can Arabel and Mortimer solve the mystery? Mortimer’s Cross sees Arabel’s nasty great-aunt Olwen coming to stay, and subjecting Mortimer to a bath - much to his disgust. And in Mortimer’s Portrait on Glass the Jones family take a trip to Ireland and visit a glass factory, with unfortunate results.

"We have to leave our house in London," Mother said to the children. "We’re going to live in the country, in a little house near a railway line." And so begins a new life for Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis. They become the railway children - they know all the trains, Perks the station porter is their best friend, and they have many adventures on the railway line. But why has their father had to go away? Where is he, and will he ever come back?

"The moment I first met you, I noticed your pride, your sense of superiority, and your selfish disdain for the feelings of others. You are the last man in the world whom I could ever be persuaded to marry," said Elizabeth Bennet. And so Elizabeth rejects the proud Mr Darcy. Can nothing overcome her prejudice against him? This famous novel by Jane Austen is full of wise and humorous observation of the people and manners of her times.

A housewife, a tramp, a lawyer, a waitress, an actress – ordinary people living ordinary lives in New York at the beginning of this century. The city has changed greatly since that time, but its people are much the same. Some are rich, some are poor, some are happy, some are sad, some have found love, some are looking for love.O. Henry’s famous short stories – sensitive, funny, sympathetic – give us vivid pictures of the everyday lives of these New Yorkers.

The youngest of 16 princesses, Belinda is not very beautiful or clever - but she is very good at one thing: karate, which she learns from her Japanese tutor. Her skills come in useful when she is snatched from her own wedding to help with a dangerous mission. It’s up to the Karate Princess to outwit the Grand Oompah of Pomposity and stop him from capturing the Last Griffin....

Three vivid and entertaining short stories about teenagers, from Carnegie Medal-winning author Jan Mark. In 'Frankie’s Hat', it’s Frankie’s 17th birthday. Finding herself unexpectedly free of her baby, she has a carefree day buying a crazy hat and playing football. In 'Like It Is Round Here', Yo-Yo discovers her new boyfriend would rather spend time with her brother than with her.

Lucy King is no ordinary girl - she has extra-special powers! Lightning Lucy can fly, make objects float, or burst into flames! In these adventures, Lucy rescues a kitten, washes the dishes, and manages to disrupt the school music festival.

Some children can waggle their toes, some can waggle their ears, but Lucy King has extra-special powers. She shimmers, she crackles and she zooms through the air like a streak of lightning! When Lucy's parents discover that she can fly, they try to keep it secret. But wherever she is at the Christmas play, on a school outing, filming a TV commercial Lightning Lucy always ends up in the limelight. As her fame grows, Lucy begins to wonder if it might be better to be just a little more ordinary.