検索キーワード： ナレーター "Susie Berneis" すべてのカテゴリー

When she receives an exquisite copy of the Kama Sutra from her best friend, Robin, to appraise and restore, Brooklyn Wainwright anticipates both recreating a beautiful book and spicing up her love life. But then Robin's apartment is ransacked, and the great guy she recently met is murdered in her bed. Now Robin is the number one suspect. Obviously, exploring the Kama Sutra's bliss will have to wait until after Brooklyn finds the killer...

Charles Minor Blackford, an aristocrat from Virginia, enlisted in the Second Virginia Cavalry at the start of the American Civil War. During his tour of duty, Captain Blackford kept constant correspondence with his wife, Susan Leigh Blackford. Captain Blackford wrote frequently about the horrible conditions in his camp, while Susan detailed her own struggles, including the loss of her home and the death of three children. This collection of letters highlights the misery of war, and offers a first-hand account of how the Civil War affected families.

Brooklyn has always been a little obsessed with food, but it was her sister, Savannah, who became a chef, graduating from the prestigious Cordon Bleu school in Paris. She and her classmates all went on to successful careers, but none of them achieved culinary superstardom like Savannah's ex-boyfriend Baxter Cromwell. When Baxter invites the old gang to participate in his new restaurant's gala opening, in San Francisco, Savannah asks Brooklyn to restore a tattered cookbook as a present for him. Shortly after receiving the gift, Baxter is found dead, with Savannah kneeling over him, bloody knife in hand, and the rare cookbook has disappeared....

"A New Way to Spend Christmas" describes a Christmas visit to Randall's Island in the East River, where orphaned and sick children are looked after. A charitable woman brings gifts and spreads "sunshine in that shady place" to the unfortunate children who live there.

In "Bertie's Box", a family sits around the table putting the finishing touches on their Christmas present wrapping. A letter arrives from a poor widow asking for assistance in providing a Christmas present for her two children. Overhearing this, young Bertie sets about packing up some of his toys to send to the unfortunate mother.

In "Kate's Choice", a young English girl inherits a financial windfall when she is suddenly orphaned. Per her father's wish, she is sent to America to live with the families of each of her four uncles in order to choose where she will live. Each family is full of wonderful, prosperous, interesting people, all of them anxious that Kate should choose their family to stay with. But at Christmastime, Kate surprises them all by announcing whom she shall stay with.

In "A Christmas Turkey", a poor family works hard to figure out how they can celebrate Christmas. When the father is unable to provide a turkey, the children venture out into the world, working to earn enough money to pool their resources and purchase one for the Christmas table.

In What Love Can Do, two poor sisters share their modest Christmas wishes with each other, namely: a little money with which to buy gifts for their family members. Overhearing this, the kindly residents of a boarding house come together to make a lovely Christmas surprise for the two girls.

"A Merry Christmas" is the famous Christmas scene (Chapter Two) from the immortal Louisa May Alcott novel, Little Women. The four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, and their mother, celebrate Christmas without their father who has gone to war. Newly impoverished, after father's financial loss, the sisters work outside the home for money to support the family, and rediscover the true meaning of Christmas in the process.

A short poem that evokes the ambience and spiritual joy of the season, "A Song for a Christmas Tree" is an ode to the wonders of the Christmas season.

In "A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True", 10-year-old Effie lives a comfortable life and experiences Christmases filled with delicious treats and wonderful toys. One night she has a dream that forever changes the meaning of Christmas for her. Encountering a group of underprivileged children, she is inspired to give them a Christmas they will never forget.

In "Gwen's Adventures in the Snow", Gwen and her siblings set out on a winter evening's sleigh ride only to encounter bad weather. Taking shelter in their country house to wait out the snowstorm, the group builds a fire, makes a picnic from the house's reserves, and shares stories to allay each other's fears.

In "A Country Christmas", Louisa May Alcott tells the story of Sophie, a debutante from the city who travels to rural Vermont to spend Christmas with her cousins Saul and Ruth. Though apprehensive at first, Sophie learns that the charms of celebrating Christmas in the country are many.

"Peace from Heaven" is an impressionistic poem written by Louisa May Alcott that weaves together pagan and Christian imagery to communicate the special magic of the Christmas season.

In "Mrs. Podger's Teapot", an old woman and her boarder take in an orphan on a cold winter's night. The child's natural spirit of generosity moves Mrs. Podger, and helps her find true happiness at Christmas.

In "Rosa's Tale", Louisa May Alcott spins a heartwarming fable about a horse who magically speaks to a lonely girl at midnight on Christmas Eve.

"What Polly Found in her Stocking" is a delightful Christmas poem that tells what a girl of the late 1800s might have gotten from Santa - if she were very good.

In "A Hospital Christmas" a Civil War-era hospital is the setting for a Christmas story about caring for others, thinking positively, and how sharing can make Christmas meaningful for those who have little.

In "The Quiet Little Woman" a lonely orphan girl named Patty desires only for a family to love her. When a family finally does come for Patty, she learns it is because they need a servant. But it happens that there is one person who cares about Patty, whose life will soon change forever.

From the snow-covered prairie to the remote Australian Outback, a cowboy's loving kiss makes this Christmas merry and bright in each of these novellas.