Isabelle and Alexander
About this audiobook
London, 1850.
Isabelle Rackham knows she will not marry for love. Though arranged marriages have fallen out of fashion, hers has been settled for some time to combine the upper-middle-class wealth of her father’s coal mines with Alexander Osgood’s prospering Northern country textile mills. Though not a man prone to romantic gestures, Alexander is well known as an eligible bachelor. His good looks have turned more than one head, so Isabelle is content to think of herself as Alexander’s wife.
However, her marriage is not what she expected. Northern England is nothing like her home farther west in the lake country. Cold, dreary, and dark, the soot from the textile mills creates a gray hue that seems to cling to everything in the city of Manchester. Alexander is distant and aloof, preferring to spend his time at the mill rather than with her at home. Their few conversations are brief, polite, and lacking any emotion, leaving Isabelle lonely and desperately homesick.
Sensing his wife’s unhappiness, Alexander suggests a trip to his country estate. Isabelle hopes this will be an opportunity to get to know her new husband without the distractions of his business. But the change of scenery doesn’t bring them any closer. While riding together on horses, Alexander is thrown from his and becomes paralyzed. Tragedy or destiny? The help and care that Alexander now needs is Isabelle’s opportunity to forge a connection and create a deep and romantic love where nothing else could.
About the author
Rebecca Anderson is a high school English teacher by day and a writer by night (or very early morning). She loves hiking, Broadway shows, food, books, and movies. She is happily married and a mom to four above-average kids.
Antonia Bath is an English actor, singer, and voice-over artist. She graduated from UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film & Television and currently lives in Topanga Canyon, California. Bath has performed at Cirque Bezerk, the Geffen Playhouse, the Falcon Theatre, and various CBGBs. Sokai Gakkai International in Japan hired Ms. Bath to narrate a series of photo essays for their president Daisaku Ikeda. Her voice is considered a match for Hermione Granger's in the Harry Potter franchise.
