A splendid version of Charles Dickens' most autobiographical work.

Eleven year-old Akeelah Anderson's life is not easy: her father is dead, her mom ignores her, her brother runs with the local gangbangers. She is a smart girl, but her environment threatens to strangle her aspirations. Responding to a threat by her school's principal, Akeelah decides to participate in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences. Much to her surprise and embarrassment, she wins. Her principal asks her to seek coaching from...

Set in a richly portrayed society well-stocked with eccentric nobles and gossipy villagers, this story centers around 17-year-old Molly Gibson, the only daughter of a respected country doctor. The well-ordered world of Molly's childhood is soon to be complicated by new people and unexpected situations. Most devastating is her father's decision to remarry after many years of widowhood. Molly's faltering efforts to cope gracefully with an impossible...

An inner-city junior high school teacher struggles with issues of addiction and his relationships with his students. One association becomes especially remarkable, perhaps even questionable.

Tom believes the Apaches are treated unfairly. After befriending their leader Cochise and arranging a truce, he is called upon by an Army General to negotiate a government peace treaty, but later is the target of a renegade ambush.

The Great Pharaoh orders architect Vashtar to build him the highest pyramid in the world as his tomb. 15 years have passed and his treasury is dwindling, so he marries Princess Nellifer, but she is as ruthless as she is beautiful.

Lt. Caleb Holt lives by the old firefighter's adage: Never leave your partner behind - it's a natural instinct. But when it comes to marriage, it's another story. After a decade of marriage, Caleb and Catherine have drifted so far apart that they are ready to move on without each other. As the two prepare for divorce, Caleb's dad asks his son to try The Love Dare experiment. While hoping the experiment has nothing to do with his parents' newfound...

An unhappily married woman indulges in a brief, torrid affair with an engineer, but then refuses to leave her elderly husband. Twenty-five years later, the former lover leaves a fortune to her son, causing an uproar. Una mujer infelizmente casada tiene una breve y apasionada aventura con un ingeniero, pero rehúsa dejar a su marido mayor de edad. Veinticinco años después, el ex-amante deja una fortuna a su hijo, causando un escándalo.

Iris, May, and Ruby are sisters living in Liverpool after WWI. Dutiful, devout Iris runs the household efficiently in place of their deceased mother. Wayward, dreamy May works as a maid but longs to act. And feisty, ambitious Ruby sells corsets to keep the family afloat. With their overbearing father and war-tormented brother, they struggle through poverty, passions, and profound disappointments.

A London photographer's model proceeds from an immature marriage into a series of shady affairs -- first with a television talker, then with a slick promotion man, and ultimately in a palazzo as the loveless wife of an Italian prince. After becoming a prisoner of her own success through these disastrous affairs, she realizes the awful price she has paid for happiness. This is a slashing social satire and a devastating spoof of the television-advertising...