Showing results by narrator "Emma Gregory" in All Categories

As the sun rose higher in the sky there was nothing to suggest that 23rd July 1932 was to be anything other than the most ordinary of days. But, for Grace Hardie, this one day changes everything. Grace Hardie has been happy in her family home of Greystones. Alongside her mother and brother, she lives a quiet life of sculpting. But her beloved Greystones is beginning to show signs of neglect. Unable to afford the maintenance of the sprawling estate, Grace begins to worry about who will care for her birthright when she’s gone.

Grace Hardie has grown up in a sweeping estate on the outskirts of Oxford. But her life has been a far cry from a fairytale. Ailing and asthmatic as a child, she never really found her place - not with her brothers, not with any friends - always on the outside. And when tragedy strikes twice in the same day, Grace’s world, and her place in it, is turned upside down. Ungainly and lonely at 16, could the bloom of first love be the guiding light she needs?

Exploring themes of ownership and abandonment, Eleanor Anstruther’s debut is a fictionalised account of the true story of Enid Campbell (1892-1964), granddaughter of the 8th Duke of Argyll, who sold her son to her sister for £500. Interweaving one significant day in 1964 with a decade during the interwar period, A Perfect Explanation gets to the heart of what it is to be bound by gender, heritage and tradition, to fight, to lose, to fight again. In a world of privilege, truth remains the same; there are no heroes and villains, only people misunderstood.

2017. Rachel Taylor’s mother hasn’t got much time left to live. Their relationship has often been strained, and Rachel has never quite understood why. When clearing out her mother’s things she thinks she finds an answer....

The poignant, searching, haunting story of one family's entanglement with 20th-century history. Katja Petrowskaja's family story is impossible to untangle from the history of 20th-century Europe. Taking the listener from Moscow to Kiev to Warsaw to Berlin and deep into archives, pieced-together conversations and memories, Maybe Esther is a journey into language, memory, philosophy, history and trauma and a singular, beautiful, unforgettable work of literature.

A decade ago, Ella Brooke's older sister, Miranda, vanished without a trace. With every passing year, Ella has come to resemble more closely the sister she lost - the same dark hair, the same piercing blue eyes - and now she's the same age Miranda was when she disappeared. Ella has never let go of her sister. She can still feel Miranda's presence, still hear her voice. She still talks to her. What holds Ella together is her love for her sister's 10-year-old son and her work as a self-defense expert helping victims.

Evie is 27; she's never been in love and worries that she never will be. And the prospect of being bridesmaid at no less than three weddings fills her with trepidation. Things get worse when Evie learns that Jack, the most attractive man Evie has ever laid eyes on, is Valentina's date. Jack can't possibly be as good as he seems. But as they sit together talking late into the night, Evie finds herself wishing he was real.

It is 10 years since Ella's sister Miranda disappeared without trace, leaving her young baby behind. Chilling new evidence links Miranda to the horrifying Jason Thorne, now in prison for murdering several women. Is it possible that Miranda knew him? At 30, Miranda's age when she vanished, Ella looks uncannily like the sister she idolized. What holds Ella together is her love for her sister's child and her work as a self-defence expert helping victims.

Maire Anne McCartney is recruited for a one-off IRA mission as a honey trap. She is told there will be no violence. But she has been lied to. To save herself, 18-year-old Maire must flee across the border alone and start a new life. Human rights lawyer Anne-Marie Gallagher is appointed Minister of State for Security and Immigration. At the same time, the police in Belfast receive an anonymous tip-off. The password is verified from the Troubles - and the coordinates lead DCI Jon Carne to a field. And a body.

First he selects them. Strips them of their identity. Then he kills them. All for her... DS Harri Jacobs transferred to Newcastle from the Met in the hope of leaving her past behind: the moment where her stalker turned violent. He left her alive, saying that one day he would be back. And she ran. But a year later, she realises he has followed her from home. He'll prove his devotion. With blood...

After being jilted at the altar, Zoe Moore flees to Boston, America, where she works as nanny to five-year-old Ruby Miller and her little brother, Samuel. Ruby and Samuel lost their mother in an accident; their father, Ryan Miller, is so wrapped up in his grief that he barely notices his two children. Whatever happened to the loving man she keeps hearing about from his neighbours?

Eve Sturridge, a high-flying divorcee and mother of two girls, is head teacher of Ivy House, an Ofsted 'Outstanding' prep school in Sussex. Eve is passionate about her school and its pupils. When Danish power couple Stefan and Anette Sorenson jet in and choose Ivy House over other schools, Eve is justifiably proud. The Sorensons are A-listers who bring an aura of style and power to Ivy House. Zoe is Eve's pretty 17-year-old daughter. Unlike her mother, Zoe's not so keen on school.

Two massacred families, with signs of ritual killings. A nine-year-old-child, abandoned in the snow. As Liverpool holds its breath, DCI Eve Clay hunts a sadistic killer who knows more about her past than she does. Her search will take her deep into the tunnels beneath Liverpool, boarded up and forgotten since World War II. There, deep underground, she will come face to face with true evil for the first time.

It's hard being that woman, the one whose husband disappeared. He went out five years ago for a pint of milk and never came back. So here I am with a daughter who blames me for everything, a son trying his best to pick up the pieces and a gaggle of neighbours who are incredibly nosy. Then I find a left luggage ticket in the pocket of one of his old coats and suddenly I'm thinking... What if he's not dead? What if he's still out there somewhere?

In the summer of 1983, when Helen is 16, the Dover family move in next door. She is infatuated with the bohemian Dovers, especially the petulant and charming Victoria. But the summer ends suddenly one tumultuous evening, and the next day Helen wakes up to discover that the family have simply disappeared. What went wrong that summer's evening? Why does Helen feel like something terrible happened?

Dan and Gemma have found their dream first home, but the asking price is the stuff of nightmares. The only way they'll ever save for a deposit is by returning, rent free, to Dan's childhood home. Obviously no one wants to move back into a bedroom still adorned with Kylie posters, with a mother whose culinary skills are noted for their spectacular gastrointestinal effects. But it's for only six months. Even they can manage that. Surely.

Lily McCain is cursed. With just one touch she can see a person’s future, whether it’s a good fortune or a terrible fate. Afraid of the potent visions she foresees, she distances herself from the world, succumbing to a life of solitude. But at the touch of a mysterious stranger – who has powers of his own – Lily sees a new, chilling future for herself: one where she is fated to make a terrible choice.

An Australian literary hoax lies at the core of My Life as a Fake, Peter Carey's captivating contemplation of the art world. In steamy, fetid Kuala Lumpur in 1972, Sarah Wode-Douglass, editor of a London poetry journal, meets the mysterious Christopher Chubb. An Australian literary hoaxer, Chubb is carting around a manuscript likely filled with deceit. In this dubious work Sarah recognises a real genius. But whose genius? She is drawn into a fantastic story of imposture, murder, kidnapping and exile, which couldn't be true unless its teller were mad. Or perhaps haunted.

Book 1 in the best-selling "Roland Benito" series. On a humid and rain-filled summer day in the Danish suburb of Brabrand, the body of a ten-year-old girl is found lifeless in a dumpster. Detective Inspector Roland Benito is immediately put on the case. Reporter Anne Larsen and freelance photographer, Kamilla Holm, are covering the case for The Daily News and the deeper they look into the story, the more entangled they become. It quickly becomes apparent to all involved, that the crime is linked to an internet chat site where the murdered girl had a profile.

Anna has everything worked out - a successful company, all the comforts she needs and no ties. But when she stumbles across the body of a young girl on a deserted beach in Lithuania, everything changes. Anna is compelled to uncover the story behind the tragedy, despite concern from her partner, Will. Everything points towards sex trafficking, but as she searches, her own deepest secrets start to surface. When Will disappears without a trace, Anna is pulled further into the murky world of organised crime. Time is running out, and there's a killer out there who will stop at nothing.