Colorado Parks & Wildlife Research Library

Mansfield Park is a study of three families - the Bertrams, the Crawfords, and the Prices - with the isolated figure of the heroine, Fanny price, at its centre. Fanny's quiet passivity, her steadfast loyalty, and love for the son of the family who regard her as the poor relation, and who have taken her under their roof, are among the qualities whose true worth is not appreciated until they are tried against the brilliant and witty Mary and Henry Crawford,...

"A rich family story, a personal look at the legacy of war in the Middle East, and an indelible rendering of how we hold on to the people and places we call home"--

Samantha Sweeting, the 29-year-old heroine of Kinsella's latest confection (after Shopaholic Sister), is on the verge of partnership at the prestigious London law firm Carter Spink the Holy Grail of her entire workaholic life. But when she finds she has made a terrible, costly mistake just before the partnership decision, she's terrified of being fired. In a fog, she stumbles out of the building and onto the nearest train, which drops her in the countryside,...

Generally considered the first English sensation novel, The Woman in White features the remarkable heroine Marian Halcombe and her sleuthing partner, drawing master Walter Hartright, pitted against the diabolical team of Count Fosco and Sir Percival Glyde. A gripping tale of murder, intrigue, madness, and mistaken identity, Collins's psychological thriller has never been out of print in the 140 years since its publication.

Assembling at their country house one final time before it is sold, four siblings and their children share past memories, hidden passions, and devastating secrets that threaten to overwhelm them.

Following the death of her uncle, the orphan Jane Eyre is sent to the Lowood School, where she grows into a confident and well-educated young woman. When Jane leaves to become a governess at Thornfield Hall, she falls in love with Mr. Rochester, her pupil's guardian. But a series of eerie and terrifying events threatens to destroy her happy future. Featuring gripping plot twists and surprises, Jane Eyre offers rich insight into the life of a woman...

"When her husband doesn't come home one day, Ariella realizes that the only way she can ensure her Jewish children's safety is to avail of the Kindertransport, but can she bear to let them go? A thousand miles away, Elizabeth Klein has closed herself off from the world. Losing her husband on the last day of the Great War, and her child months later, she cannot, will not, love again. It hurts too much. But she is all Liesl and Erich Bannon have. Thrown...

"It's a mystery that begins during the Great War, when Gabriel Hughenfort dies amidst scandalous rumors that have haunted the family ever since. But it's not until Holmes and Russell arrive at Justice Hall, a home of unearthly perfection set in a garden modled on Paradise, that they fully understand the irony echoed in the family motto, Justica fortitudo mea est: Righteousness is my strength. A trail of ominous clues leads Holmes and Russell from...

"Robinswood Estate, County Waterford, Ireland. 1946. Years of neglect and abandonment have left the family seat of the Keneficks almost derelict, but the new Lord Kenefick and his charming young wife Kate, are determined to breathe life into the old house once more. The war is over and they have survived, so now they must set about making a bright future for themselves and their family. But the shadows of the past are ever lurking, and there are many...

A tranquil weekend party at an English country manor is shattered by a suspicious death. Taking a leading role in the ensuing investigation is one of the most beloved characters from Anne Perry's Thomas Pitt series: Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould.