Showing results by narrator "Rachel Handshaw" in All Categories

We begin with the footsteps of a family walking along a beach 950,000 years ago. From here, Montefiore takes us on an exhilarating epic journey through the families that have shaped our world: the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Krupps, Churchills, Kennedys, Castros, Nehrus, Pahlavis and Kenyattas, Saudis, Kims and Assads.

We all wear hoods: the Grim Reaper, Red Riding Hood, torturers, executioners and the executed, athletes, laborers, anarchists, rappers, babies in onesies, and anyone who’s ever grabbed a hoodie on a chilly day. Alison Kinney’s Hood explores the material and symbolic vibrancy of this everyday garment and political semaphore, which often protects the powerful at the expense of the powerless—with deadly results.

In Earth, a planetary scientist and a literary humanist explore what happens when we think of the Earth as an object viewable from space. As a “blue marble,” “a blue pale dot,” or, as Chaucer described it, “this litel spot of erthe,” the solitary orb is a challenge to scale and to human self-importance. Beautiful and self-contained, the Earth turns out to be far less knowable than it at first appears: its vast interior an inferno of incandescent and yet solid rock and a reservoir of water vaster than the ocean, a world within the world.

The students of Royal Hastings University's new Multimedia Art course have been trouble from day one. The year-long course is blighted by accusations of theft, students setting fire to one another's artwork, a rumoured extra-marital affair and a disastrous road trip. ut finally they are given their last assignment: to build an interactive art installation for a local manufacturer. With six students who have nothing in common except their clashing personal agendas, what could possibly go wrong? The answer is: murder.

Every shelf is different and every bookshelf tells a different story. One bookshelf can creak with character in a bohemian coffee shop and another can groan with gravitas in the Library of Congress. Writer and historian Lydia Pyne finds bookshelves to be holders not just of books but of so many other things: values, vibes, and verbs that can be contained and displayed in the buildings and rooms of contemporary human existence.

Among the many things expectant parents are told to buy, none is a more visible symbol of status and parenting philosophy than a stroller. Although its association with wealth dates back to the invention of the first pram in the 1700s, in recent decades, four-figure strollers have become not just status symbols but cultural identifiers.

Why are there so many examples of public figures, entertainers, and normal, everyday people in blackface? And why aren’t there as many examples of people of color in whiteface? This book explains what blackface is, why it occurred, and what its legacies are in the 21st century. There is a filthy and vile thread—sometimes it’s tied into a noose—that connects the first performances of Blackness on English stages, the birth of blackface minstrelsy, contemporary performances of Blackness, and anti-Black racism.

Today is Ruth's first day of third grade at Dalton. The prestigious institution on New York's Upper East Side couldn't be more different from her old school in Harlem. Despite being the smartest girl in her grade, Ruth suspects that her classmates and teachers only see her dark skin. She also notices that Christina, the daughter of her mother's employer, treats Ruth very differently when they're hanging out with the popular girls rather than playing together.

Susannah has two beautiful daughters, a high-flying medical career, a successful husband and an enviable life. Her hair is glossy, her clothes are expensive: she truly has it all. But when—on the hottest day of the year—her strict morning routine is disrupted, Susannah finds herself running on autopilot. It is hours before she realises she has made a devastating mistake. Her baby, Louise, is still in the backseat of the car, and it is too late to save her.

In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of colour (The Help) while also taking listeners on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

What are the secrets to a healthy, happy, and wealthy retirement? To answer that question, longtime Morningstar columnist and podcaster Christine Benz asked 20 retirement thought leaders to go deep on a single lesson that they believe contributes to success in retirement. These lessons range from nitty gritty financial matters to quality-of-life considerations that help pre-retirees and retirees maximize their “time on earth” allocations.

Private Beijing is ripped apart after an attack leaves three agents dead and the head of the team missing. With the Beijing branch in turmoil, Private's owner and global head, Jack Morgan, immediately gets on a plane from LA. Soon after Jack lands in China, another Private office is attacked. It's clear that the entire organisation is under threat. As Jack launches a global investigation from unfamiliar territory, he will need the loyalty of his team now more than ever.

Jack Morgan is in Rome celebrating the opening of the new local Private office, when the party takes a deadly turn. Private agent Matteo Ricci is found at the party standing over the body of a dead priest with a gun in hand, swearing he did not kill the man. As Jack tries to prove Matteo's innocence, he uncovers a much deadlier conspiracy - which leads straight to the heart of the Vatican. With corruption closing in on all sides, Jack must decide who he can trust before the city falls.

When Jack Morgan is invited to the decadent Monaco coast, he thinks it's the perfect location for a new Private office. But the holiday is cut short after his partner, Justine, is kidnapped. Willing to do anything to get Justine back, it's not long before Jack discovers an insidious plot involving death, deception and a traitor at the height of US government, all coming to a head at the Monaco Grand Prix in just two days' time. With hours to prevent international disaster, Jack Morgan must solve this impossible mystery if he is to save himself and the people he loves most.

An overturned coach full of students. A stranded cable car full of strangers. An isolated chalet full of friends. Outside, a snowstorm rages. Inside one group, a killer lurks. But which one? And why is no rescue coming? What are they trying to escape from? And who are the terrifying Whistlers? A locked-room mystery.

When Paige Nichols meets her husband’s glamorous new colleague at a faculty mixer, she instantly knows they’re having an affair. It’s the way he looks at her, like she’s the only woman in the world. Aaron used to look at her like that, too. And with her beautiful, knowing smile, Cara Morton seems to enjoy flaunting their romance right under her nose.

Fabiola has spent her life being good. The perfect daughter to her single father. A supportive wife to her entrepreneurial husband, who’s throwing everything they have at launching his start-up. A devoted mother to her three beautiful children. And a loyal best friend to Liz, who's been by Fabiola's side since Liz married her oldest childhood friend, Peter. When Liz needs help starting her own family, Fabiola comes up with the perfect plan. She’s good at being pregnant, and she so badly wants to help her friend. It seems like the greatest gift one woman can give another.

A revelatory history of medicine, The Apothecary’s Wife challenges the myths of the triumph of science and instead uncovers the fascinating truth. Drawing on a vast body of archival material, Karen Bloom Gevirtz depicts the extraordinary cast of characters who brought about this transformation. She also explores domestic medicine’s values in responses to modern health crises, such as the eradication of smallpox, and what benefits we can learn from these events.

Only days ago, I had everything. A man I wanted to marry. A prestigious fellowship for graduate school. A perfect new apartment. I’m a psychology student. I should have known she was hiding something from the start… Now I’m shivering under a foil blanket wondering how my life became a nightmare. And when the paramedics check me over, it’s not concern I see on their faces. It’s fear. They think I did this. They think I killed her…

Fifteen-year-old Faith Wilson takes her little sister Hope’s hand. In worn-down shoes, they walk through the choking heat of the Dust Bowl, toward a new life in California. But when a storm blows in, the girls are separated from their parents. Starving and forced to sleep on the streets, Faith thinks a room in a small boarding house will keep her sister safe. But the glare in the landlady’s eye, as Faith leaves in search of their parents, has her wondering if she’s made a dangerous mistake.