Showing results by narrator "Julie Teal" in All Categories

Abandoned when she was tiny, Maisie Reynolds was separated from her twin brother and forced to grow up in Holly Bush orphanage - a place where she has never known love or kindness. But with the world at war and Hitler’s devastating bombs coming ever closer, fate has other plans for Maisie, and a secret from her past changes everything. When she meets handsome Canadian paratrooper Cam, Maisie learns that love might not be lost to her after all - but not before her past life and D Day bring a tragic twist to her happiness.

For fans of The Help and The Invention of Wings, a searing and sweeping debut novel that gives a new and unforgettable perspective on modern-day domestic workers. Set in the blistering heat of Singapore, The Maid's Room follows the lives of two Filipina maids - sisters Dolly and Tala - who are working hard to send money back home and British expat Jules, who has left her job as a midwife to move to Singapore with husband David.

Emily Ryan has gone up in the world since her arrival in Sheffield. Brought there by her mother's ambitious schemes for her brother, Josh, she had found work as a buffer girl polishing cutlery for the city's famous trade. With the help of a friend, Nell, Emily eventually set up her own buffing business, employing those with whom she had once worked. Married to Thomas Trippet - Trip to his friends - they plan to build a life together, but when Lucy, Nell's daughter, disappears, it seems that the menace from the past is never very far away.

As narrated on BBC Radio 4. All families have their myths and legends. For many years Juliet Nicolson accepted hers - the dangerous beauty of her flamenco dancing great-great-grandmother, Pepita; the flirty manipulation of her great-grandmother, Victoria; the infamous eccentricity of her grandmother, Vita; her mother's Tory-conventional background. But then Juliet, a renowned historian, started to question. As she did so, she sifted fact from fiction, uncovering details and secrets long held just out of sight.

Rose's mother and Joshua's father have disappeared. Police inquiries have gone nowhere, but Rose and Joshua still believe that they are alive. Joshua is determined to work out the meaning of the cryptic ‘murder’ notebooks they have discovered. Rose receives some odd, desperate messages from Rachel, a former best friend, followed by the terrible news that Rachel is dead. But what does Rachel have to do with their parents?

Rose and Joshua meet when Joshua and his dad come to live with Rose and her mum. Then their world is shattered when their mother and father go out one evening and never return. With police inquiries going nowhere, Rose and Joshua are separated and sent to live with relatives. Then Rose is witness to not one, but two murders. Why is this happening? And how does it fit in with the disappearance of their parents?

From first dates to shipwrecked sailors, encompassing modern horror to gothic tropes, this anthology has something for every listener with one thing in common: They want something to think about when they go to bed.

Malka was three when the German invaders forced her family into the Jewish ghetto in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, a city in present-day Ukraine. Her father was killed in the first pogrom, but before he died he said to her mother Rivka: ‘save the children’. And despite her heartbreak, that is what she set out to do. Rivka kept Malka and her two older brothers alive through eighteen traumatic months, as the ghetto got smaller and smaller. They saw the worst of humanity but there were acts of kindness too.

Clare Greene and Sam Wilson are getting married, and everyone in Little Bramble is excited for the event of the year. But Clare and Sam are busy people and have left organising their wedding to the last minute. Luckily, wedding planner Hazel Campbell has recently moved to the village. She had what she thought was a wonderful life in Edinburgh with a successful business and a wedding of her own to plan, but when she caught her fiancé with her best friend she fled, leaving her whole life behind. Little Bramble seems like the ideal place for Hazel to start over.

Emma Patrick's life is spiralling out of control. On the cusp of her 50th birthday, she realises that she's been so focused on work that she's lost any real connection to people. When Emma's ageing father needs her help, she decides to go back home to the countryside to spend some time with him. But returning to Little Bramble after years away is filled with complications and people she'd rather avoid.

In 1978 East Germany, nothing is at it seems. The state's power is absolute, history is rewritten and the 'truth' is whatever the Stasi say it is. So when a woman's murder is officially labelled 'accidental death', Major Karin Müller of the People's Police is faced with a dilemma. To solve the crime, she must disregard the official version of events. But defying the Stasi means putting her own life - and the lives of her young family - in danger.

On the front lines of the Second World War, a contingent of female journalists were bravely waging their own battle. Barred from combat zones and faced with entrenched prejudice and bureaucratic restrictions, these women were forced to fight for the right to work on equal terms as men.

Mary O'Connor has been keeping a vigil for her first love for the past seven years. Every evening without fail, Mary arrives at Ealing Broadway station and sets herself up among the commuters. In her hands Mary holds a sign which bears the words 'Come Home Jim'. Call her mad, call her a nuisance, call her a drain on society - Mary isn't going anywhere. That is, until an unexpected call turns her world on its head. In spite of all her efforts, Mary can no longer find the strength to hold herself together.

Despite the many films and television programmes over the decades since the end of the Second World War that portrays our allied heroes as grown-up men and women, the Battle of Britain was in the main actually fought and won by teenagers. The average age of an RAF fighter pilot was just 20 years old. Many of the men and women who designed and built their planes were even younger.

Alice Dorothy Matthews is on the road to paradise! She’s sold her house in London, got rid of her nasty ex and arranged her move to Portugal where friendship and romance awaits. All that’s left to do is find a place to call home. But Alice’s dreams are called into question when complications with friends, work and new relationships make her Portuguese paradise feel far too much like reality. Will Alice’s dream of a new home in the sun come true?

Daisy’s job as a gift shop owner may involve selling chocolate truffles and lacy knickers, but this summer she finds herself turning her hand to a slightly different profession.... Daisy’s boyfriend, Eli, works for a secret government agency and, try as she might, Daisy can’t seem to help getting caught in the middle of his missions, which take her on a thrilling ride from the streets of Paris to a remote health retreat where carbs are banned! But when she finds that Eli might be in danger, Daisy has to stop playing at being a spy and become the real thing. Can she save the day?

Dresden, East Germany, 1980. A man's body is found buried in concrete at a building site in the new town district. When People's Police Homicide Captain Karin Müller arrives at the scene, she discovers that all of the body's identifiable features have been removed - including its fingertips. The deeper Müller digs, the more the Stasi begin to hamper her investigations. She soon realises that this crime is just one part of a clandestine battle between two secret services - the Stasi of East Germany and Britain's MI6.

The people of an ancient city awaken one night to find the earth beneath them trembling. But only the Augur, a fearless prophetess who was once the power behind the throne, sees the fate that awaits them. As the skies darken and portents threaten, a handful of people are drawn to do the Augur’s bidding. Fierce Saba and pale-haired Aemilia, her young acolytes, stolen from their homes long ago.

The crazy girls, they called them – or at least, Elizabeth liked to think they did. As a teenager in the late 1970s, she was clever, overweight and a perfect victim for the bullies. Then Rachel and her family arrived in town and, for Elizabeth, it was as if a light had been switched on. She was drawn to the bright and beautiful Rachel like a moth to a flame. Rachel had her own reasons for wanting Elizabeth as a friend and, although their relationship was far from equal, Elizabeth would do anything for Rachel. Then the first body was discovered.

True honour is endless. Join us. 1935. Norfolk. War is looming in Great Britain and the sprawling country estate of Alderberen Hall is shadowed by suspicion and paranoia. Thirteen-year-old Delphine Venner is determined to uncover the secrets of the Hall's elite society, which has taken in her gullible mother and unstable father. As she explores the house and discovers the secret network of hidden passages that thread through the estate, Delphine uncovers a world more dark and threatening than she ever imagined.