Showing results by narrator "June Barrie" in All Categories

Veteran scriptwriter Vincent McInerney draws on his lifelong knowledge of Liverpool and his background in the Merchant Marine in these engaging thrillers, in which the gruff, indomitable John Crust and his sidekick Minty probe the circumstances surrounding a missing husband, a stolen sculpture and a hidden treasure.

The people of Fairacre are up in arms about the possible closure of the village school. This anxious time for Miss Read is made bearable by the support of all her friends and neighbours.

The Keep - that beautiful, ancient family home where the Chadwick family has lived for generations - is still a haven from the heartbreaks and storms of life. Jolyon Chadwick, a famous television presenter, takes his new girlfriend, Henrietta, home to meet his extended family - and also to meet Marie, the mother who deserted him and his father many years ago, and who has now reappeared and seems to want forgiveness.

Pregnant and grieving, twenty-something Tiggy arrives at the remote house of her friend Julia in the middle of a snowstorm. All alone, having lost her mate in a tragic accident, Tiggy finds refuge with Julia's warm and chaotic family. Nurtured and loved at last, Tiggy begins to live again as she eagerly awaits the birth of her son. But nearly thirty years later, when her son is about to become a father himself, the next generation discovers that there are some secrets of the past that still live on…

This delightful novel describes the post-war summer of 1946 - and follows the growing-up of three young women in the months between leaving school and taking up their scholarships at university. Una Vane, whose widowed mother runs a hairdressing salon in her front room, goes bicycling with Ray, the boy who delivers the fish and milk. Hetty Fallowes struggles to become independent of her possessive, loving, tactless mother. And Lieselotte Klein, uncovers tragedy in the past and magic in the present.

Storm in the Village, Miss Read, Headmistress of Fairacre School, learns of a proposed new housing development that soon has the citizens of Fairacre up in arms. In The Fairacre Festival, after a storm damages the church roof, the villagers must raise money for repairs.

Living in the British city of Rosington of the 1950s, Wendy finds herself penniless, jobless, and on the verge of divorce. She goes to stay with her friend, who seems to have everything Wendy lacks. But a decades-old mystery lingers, and the shadow of death seeps through from turn-of-the-century Rosington, portending tragedy.

A new excitement comes to the village of Thrush Green when Harold Shoosmith, a distinguished bachelor who has chosen the village for his retirement, takes the corner house on the green. Harold is soon enmeshed in village politics and becomes involved in the private lives of his neighbours as well. His presence has a dramatic effect on Dimity Dean and Ella Bembridge and is the cause of a serious misunderstanding between the two friends.

A broken marriage inspires Roly Carradine to leave his busy London life and find refuge in Cornwall, in the mellow stone house of his childhood. Here in Cornwall he welcomes Kate, also seeking refuge from the grief of losing her husband, and young Daisy Quin, a dancer recovering from a back injury. Roly's son Nat lives not far away and is plagued by the unsympathetic visits of his mother Monica, Roly's ex-wife. Roly, Kate, Daisy and Nat all try to find resolution in the beauty and peace of the Cornish countryside.

Matt’s mother kept all his childhood memories in a small box, amongst the many photos of Matt as a child. But something about those photos has always puzzled Matt. Is that really him? Why does he not remember those clothes and toys? And where, in the photos, is his sister Imogen? Imogen, meanwhile, is living with her husband and their baby in a rented cottage. Ever since her childhood she has loved the Summer House, a charming folly in the grounds of a beautiful and ancient house on Exmoor, and now they have the chance of buying it.

Based in Devon in the 1940s, these two dramas follow the lives and loves of a group of young women, all from different backgrounds, but all determined to do their bit for king and country in the Land Army. Billeted in a hastily converted farmhouse, they face cramped conditions and gruelling work - but there's always dances at the village hop and the chance of romance with a GI....

Nearly 25 years after a tragic accident forced Mim to give up her successful career as one of the world's leading ballerinas, history is repeating itself. Daisy, Mim's most talented former pupil, is suffering from injuries and she too will have to rethink her career. Mim arranges for Daisy to take a holiday in Cornwall, in the strange and beautiful house on the edge of Bodmin Moor where Mim's brother, Roly Carradine, is living.

The first charming Caxley tale introduces the deep-rooted camaraderie between Septimus Howard, a calm and controlled man, and Bender North, a confident, successful but gruff ironmonger. Their argumentative sides often clash, displaying moments of fury and forgiveness with wonderful tenderness. Theirs is a friendship that survives misunderstandings, the tragedy of war, and the bitterness of loss. The story of their families continues through the generations. Read by June Barrie.

The Howards of Caxley begins on a fine May morning in the fateful year of 1939, and then follows the path of the two families and the little town through the Second World War, towards hope for happier times ahead.

It was Felix who named it The Birdcage, the tall house in Bristol where Miss Pidgeon lived with her tenant, the beautiful and talented actress Angel, and Angel's daughter, Lizzie. It was Felix whom they all adored and who was so in love with Angel, but while Lizzie longed for a father, Felix had other commitments: to his insecure, possessive wife Marina and to their son Piers, both living at beautiful, mellow Michaelgarth, the family home on the edge of Exmoor.

When sweet, healthy, hearty Holly Fox dies suddenly in childbirth, the Surrey village reverberates with shock. She leaves behind a helpless, silent husband and a tiny daughter, Faith. Everyone assumes Holly's loving and capable mother will look after Faith, but when she unaccountably deserts her newborn grandchild, the baby must be packed off to her father's peculiar family in the North...

Clio is staying with her aunt, Hester, at Bridge House on the edge of Exmoor. A beautiful house, it is the scene of many happy childhood memories. But Clio has no idea that it was the setting for a terrible incident after the Second World War.

It was in the middle of a snowstorm when Tiggy arrived at the remote house on Bodmin Moor. She was alone, her partner tragically dead in an accident, and Julia, her dearest friend, welcomed her into her warm and chaotic family.

Clarissa really falls in love with the house – a beautiful Tudor manor in the Welsh Marches – and marrying Thomas is simply the best way to get it. But life there isn’t quite the idyll she expects. Thomas is so busy with the farm that he doesn’t see the need for a social life, and his two elderly, eccentric aunts – though charming – aren’t the most stimulating companions. When Evan appears on the scene, Clarissa is ripe for a little diversion. But the complications that ensue demand Welsh magic to unravel them.

For sixty-five years Toby the toy panda has lain in the dark loft. Now, trouble in the house wakes him: the arrival of child-hating Mrs Malevant, who’s come to mind Izzy and her siblings while their parents are away. Somehow Toby speaks to Izzy, just as he used to speak to his former owner, her great-uncle Maurice. The children desperately need the support of their great-uncle and Aunt Folly to stand up to Mrs Malevant. Can Toby help restore happiness to the house?