Showing results by narrator "Julie Maisey" in All Categories

The book focuses on the 1978 disappearance of Genette Tate. The 13-year-old schoolgirl vanished while out delivering newspapers on her bicycle in the Exeter countryside; no trace of her was ever discovered. With new and rarely seen comments from family, police and inside the courtroom, the story links her case to the earlier abductions of April Fabb (also 13), Christine Markham (9) and Mary Boyle (6).

Jennifer Hughes doesn’t have an extraordinary life, but that doesn’t matter - she loves her family and enjoys her job as a teacher. In her eyes, her unextraordinary life is utterly perfect. But then, in the blink of an eye, Jennifer finds herself cut off from everything she knew and loved, confined to a strange new world and forced to watch from a distance as her family and friends pick up the pieces. Can Jennifer hold her perfect life together, even though she’s not living it herself?

Peggy and Dar Tenant’s dream for security and respectability has been their driving force since they married. Just as they prepare to buy their own home, tragedy strikes, when Dar is involved in a devastated accident at the docks and Peggy’s world crashes around her. With Dar seriously ill in hospital Peggy’s reduced to scrimping and saving to keep a roof over her family’s head having to revisit the hardships of her youth that she dearly wanted to escape from.

Life has always been tough for May and Gus Lavender. Their father went away to sea never to return, and then their mother falls victim to the typhus sweeping through Liverpool. Regarded as orphans by the authorities, May and Gus are sent to the Brownlow Hill Workhouse. Like all workhouses, Brownlow is the last resort for the poor and the destitute. May and Gus will have to rely on each other more than ever if they are to survive the hardships to come....

On a winter’s evening, a trio of unruly teenagers board a bus, ganging up on Luke Murray, threatening to kill him. No one intervenes until Jason Barnes, a young student, challenges the gang. Luke seizes the chance to run off the bus, but he’s followed. Andrew Barnes is dragged from the shower by his wife Valerie: there’s a fight in the garden and Jason’s trying to break it up. As Andrew rushes to help, the gang flees. Jason shouts for an ambulance for Luke, but it is he who will pay the ultimate price.

In 2016, beloved broadcaster and journalist Rachael Bland was diagnosed with cancer. Shortly afterwards she made the brave decision to share her story, and she spoke with beautiful poignancy through her blog and podcast, You, Me and the Big C. Having been told that she had only a matter of months left to live and writing this in what were sadly her final days, Rachael brings her warmth, courage and humour in this heartwarming and heartbreaking story.

After her mother's death, Dora is sent to live with her father and his other family. But Dora is mixed race and illegitimate, two facts that see her treated as little more than a servant by her stepmother and half siblings. This doesn't stop the son of the house abusing his position, and Dora finds herself on the streets and pregnant....

As the station prepares to close down for good, DI Georgie Strachan is running out of time to find out what is really going on in Burrowhead and put a stop to it. A deadly drug appears in the small Scottish village, best consumed with the blood of a freshly slaughtered animal. But what does this have to do with the deaths and suicides? And who is responsible for supplying it?

An archaeological dig exposes a brutal history and a witness finally speaks. It seems the wickedness swirling in the harsh sea air of Burrowhead might be excised at last. But before DI Georgie Strachan can lift the veil of evil, a black horse is slaughtered on an altar in the woods and human remains begin to surface. Sinister rituals connect past and present, but no one wants to see, or tell, or hear, the truth. Soon Georgie must face the question - where do the missing souls of the village gather?

John, Rick, and Derrick Underwood are the most handsome trio of brothers in town and it takes three exceptional women to convince them to settle down. For Jodie, marrying John seemed exciting and romantic at the time, but the reality of life is proving too much. Jodie loves her husband, but she doesn't know how much more she can take of his dishonest ways. Rick's marriage to Laraine is filled with love and adventure; their life is blissful - until one day it delivers a cruel blow. Everything begins to unravel and Laraine isn't sure she's strong enough to survive.

Cat Cleary is a 16-year-old Irish 'slummy' arriving in Liverpool to seek her fortune. Joe Calligan, a young steam-packet deckhand, thinks she's the loveliest girl he's ever seen and hasn't the heart to tell her that Liverpool is full of people tramping the streets looking for work. And then Cat sees the White Empress, a huge luxury liner. In that moment her ambition is born - to be chief stewardess. In spite of her poverty, her lack of education, her family background, Cat Cleary sets about realising her incredible dream.

England, 1942: 23-year-old Betty runs away from Bristol to make a new life for herself. Betrayed by her husband, Betty flees to the seaside town of Bournemouth, where she has fond memories of childhood holidays. There, she finds a small family bakery in desperate need of a new shop girl.... At the Barton Bakery, Betty finds a sanctuary with shopkeeper Audrey Barton, but Audrey is fighting battles of her own. Her husband is at war and in grave danger, she is heavily pregnant and her customers are horrified by the demands imposed by rationing.

January 1941: As Charlie Barton tiptoes silently out of the house one cold winter morning to go off and fight for his country, his wife, Audrey, is left to run the family bakery on her own. Times are tougher than ever, but at the Barton Bakery in Bournemouth, Audrey is determined as always to serve the town with love, loaves and cakes, even as the town is reeling from the struggles of the Blitz. Audrey’s brother, William, has returned from battle with serious wounds. His fiancé, Elsie, is waiting for wedding bells, but William is a changed man, and will her hopes be in vain?

1936. Polly's guardian angel has to work overtime when her large family is forced to move from the countryside they love into central Liverpool. Money is desperately short, and with her mother working and her father sick, Polly is easily led astray by the handsome Sunny Andersen. But soon war looms, and Sunny joins the navy to train as a signaller. After the horrors of the May Blitz, Polly, too, decides she wants to help her country and goes into the WRNs. She hears that an old pal, Tad Donoghue from the Dublin slums, is now in the Royal Air Force.

In the aftermath of the General Strike, times are tough for coal miners and their families. When Cally loses her beloved mum, she hopes her father will comfort her. But instead she soon acquires a cruel stepmother, and Cally begins to fear that she is on her own. Through uncomfortable years in service, to a terrifying brush with the streets, through hard work and determination, Cally finally finds a place for herself. She even trusts enough in the future to create her own family, despite being abandoned by her own.

Life for Elsie is difficult as she struggles to cope with her alcoholic mother. Caring for her siblings and working long hours at Swift's jam factory in London’s Bermondsey is exhausting. Thankfully her lifelong friendship with Dot helps to smooth over life’s rough edges. When Elsie and Dot meet Millie Swift, they are nervous to be in the presence of the bosses’ daughter. Over time, they are surprised to feel so drawn to her, but should two East End girls be socialising in such circles?

1840: Miranda Jarvis would do anything to protect her sister - so when Lucy comes down with a fever, she thinks nothing of stealing a loaf of bread from a local landowner. After all, things can't get much worse. Miranda doesn't count on being nearly brained by the cook's rolling pin...but nor does she count on the house's owner himself. The respectable shipowner Sir James, known for his philanthropy, takes a keen interest in Miranda and her sister.

The Great War is over, and sisters Iris and Rose are adjusting to life in their modest Liverpool home after their brother Charlie has returned from the front. But when their mother sends Rose to the beautiful Welsh village of Tregarron to recover from an illness she discovers a new world of possibility at her feet. There, she obtains a job as housemaid to the wealthy but tragic Rhys-Pritchard family and falls in love with the young but troubled head of house. Meanwhile at home, Charlie, keen to improve his social standing, becomes engaged to the daughter of a successful coal merchant, while Iris falls for a porter from the local fruit market. Then tragedy strikes, and the whole family must pull together if they are to survive the turmoil ahead. Their support of one another can only bring them closer together, but will they be forced to put their dreams on hold in the process?

A tranquil Spanish village by the sea is the perfect place for Primavera Blackstone to raise her ten-year-old, Tom, son of the late lamented Oz, especially once they are joined by Oz's nephew, pro golfer Jonny Sinclair. But when her best friend, Shirley, introduces her new man, Patterson Cowling, he seems to be a magnet for trouble. A casual thief tries to pick his pocket and is found a few days later with his face blown off. A bloody coincidence? Or does Patterson Cowling have a past to protect?

Three years ago, Danny 'Abs' Abbingdon, star of Laid in Essex!, was living the dream. And then, on the night of the party, everything changed. It was supposed to be an intimate gathering. Just a few close friends in a remote cottage in Wales. But one thing led to another and the party spiralled out of control. Then a local girl was reported missing, presumed dead. Abs and his friends had been the last to see her alive.