Showing results by narrator "Lisa Armytage" in All Categories

Romance can be found in every corner of the world and has changed the lives of people in every period of history. In this collection of 16 stand-alone short stories, including a brand-new tale, Anna Jacobs encapsulates the spark of first love and the glow of second chances in her inimitable style, which fans new and old will take to their hearts.

It's 1957 and, after the death of her husband, pianist Ilona Talivaldis and her nine-year-old daughter Zidra travel to the remote coastal town of Jingera in New South Wales. Ilona, a concentration camp survivor from Latvia, is searching for peace and the opportunity to start anew. In her beautiful vine-covered cottage on the edge of the lagoon, she has plans to set herself up as a piano teacher. The weeks pass, and slowly mother and daughter get to know the townsfolk. But Jingera is not quite the utopia Ilona imagines it to be.

Sandwiched between the needs of her elderly mother and her own family, Annie barely has time for a quick swim, let alone a leisurely chat about a long neglected tea set. But as the story unfolds, the modern world seems to fall away along with her mother's dementia, and forgotten family histories are revealed. 

The Lockdown Diaries records a year in the life of Dawn, Rod, their kids, cats and garden. We will all identify with their daily struggles with the pandemic. She takes us from the beginning of the lockdown, as we all became used to wearing masks, turned into teachers and hairdressers and found that nail technicians were like gold dust. She touches on the everyday struggles too - being apart from her six children, missing friends, and getting fat. On the plus side, Dawn has contributed to glass-bottle recycling on a global scale and performed miracles for Smirnoff shares.

Bequeathed a century-old house, four estranged friends return to their hometown, Calingarry Crossing, where each must stay for a season at Dandelion House to fulfil the wishes of their benefactor, Gypsy. But coming home to the country stirs up shameful memories of the past, including the tragic end-of-school muck-up day accident twenty years earlier.

Dan Ireland, a work-weary police crash investigator still hell-bent on punishing himself for his misspent youth, has ample justifications for not going home to Calingarry Crossing for the school reunion, but one very good reason why he should...Maggie Lindeman. Maggie is back in Calingarry Crossing trying to sell the family pub, while also dealing with a restless 17-year-old son, a father with dementia, a fame-obsessed musician husband back in the city and a dwindling bank account. The last thing she needs is a surprise houseguest for the summer.

Back in 1957, nine-year-old Zidra Vincent met Jim Cadwallader for the first time. Fourteen years later, their bond of friendship - forged during childhood in the beautiful coastal town of Jingera - is still strong. But is friendship all they dream of? Jim is now a respected war correspondent in Cambodia. Meanwhile, Zidra is an ambitious reporter at the SYDNEY MORNING CHRONICLE, and the seeds of a major story have just landed in her lap.

It is the spring of 1961, and the sleepy little town of Jingera is at its most perfect with its clear blue skies, pounding surf and breathtaking lagoon. Yet all is not so perfect behind closed doors. George Cadwallader - butcher by day and stargazer by night - is loved by everyone, except his wife. He only wants the best for his family, yet it's all falling apart. Philip Chapman is a sensitive young boy, a musical prodigy - and a target for bullies. But with his wealthy parents indifferent to his cries for help, his entire future is at risk.

Coming together with a small group of friends, Ann Pettitt started a movement that changed the face of Cold War Britain. Her remarkable memoir tells the real story behind one of the 20th century's most iconic expressions of grass roots political will.

New South Wales, 1972. Following the death of her beloved Aunt Hilda, widow Clare Barclay inherits Bellevue, an historic property in the Blue Mountains township of Numbulla, Australia. Giving up her teaching job to move there, Clare plans to restore the house to its original glory. She also hopes to track down a box of missing documents that may shed light on why her husband Jack secretly second-mortgaged their home. Clare makes friends with the locals, including a boy named Joe. She soon hears of plans to redevelop Numbulla, and to exploit the land bordering the protected wilderness area.