Showing results by narrator "Maggie Ollerenshaw" in All Categories

When Laura Thyme goes to Baffington to visit her cousin's recently-ordained son, she witnesses a sudden death. A year later Rosemary and laura return to help with an ambitious Medieval Fayre, organised by the local celebrity, Franklin Danvers. Their task is to refurbish the neglected churchyard, but on their first morning they discover a body, pierced through the heart with an arrow.

Five immaculate short stories dealing with the tentative-to-frantic strategies of isolated beings distanced from unresponsive societies.

Victoria Macara is 27 and lives alone in the old house on the corner that was once home to the family removal business. When the land is sold, she finds herself surrounded by a small estate of new properties called Victoria Square. The newcomers who move in around her bring with them their own dramas.

Grace McAllister thought being a surrogate for her sister would be a truly selfless act. But secretly Grace longed for the baby inside her to be her own, conceived in passion with the only man she had ever loved. But that could never be.... Josh Kingsley couldn’t bear to watch the baby grow big in Grace’s belly, unable to share in the magic. He wished she and the child were his to take care of. But when tragedy struck, Josh rushed to be there for Grace and baby Posie. Could they be his life, his family?

In these days of pandemic, war and political turbulence, hope can seem to be in short supply. But hope is one of the theological virtues, and it is far more profound than mere optimism. Teresa White in this Lent Book draws on inspiration from writers as diverse as Julian of Norwich and Karl Rahner, Elizabeth Barrett-Browning and Henri Nouwen, but throughout the audiobook there is strong scriptural underpinning that the author uses to great effect.

While searching for a stolen artifact, the notorious Mr R has his attention caught by the unlikeliest of treasures. Stumbling upon his dowdy cousin Elinor on the Continent, Theo Ravenhurst hardly believes his luck. His dangerous lifestyle appears to have finally caught up with him, and her family connections could be put to excellent use. Theo is convinced Elinor’s drab exterior disguises a fiery, passionate nature.

The Prime children grew up in a bleak North Country farmhouse called the Beacon. Colin married and went to work on a neighbouring farm. Bernice married locally, too. May stayed behind at the Beacon, the spinster daughter looking after ageing parents. And then there was Frank, Frank who was always watching.Frank was the one who got away. He left for London and Fleet Street, but journalism was not enough. Frank wanted fame and money...

No one wants to think about getting older. It’s true. At any age, when things are moving along normally day to day and everyone seems fit and well, there seems no reason to think about future problems that your friends and relatives might (and probably will) come across as they age. In fact, it might even seem a little morbid to think such thoughts, or possibly even tempting fate? Yet there will come a time when you must raise these issues, and ideally, this should be before any problems arise.

The season of 1939 brought all those 'in Society' to London. The young debutante daughters of the upper classes were presented to the king and queen to mark their acceptance into the new adult world of their parents. They sparkled their way through a succession of balls and parties and sporting events. As the hot summer drew on, the newspapers filled with ever more ominous reports of the relentless progress towards war. There was nothing to do but wait - and dance.

The lives of the three daughters of Lord Curzon: glamorous, rich, independent and wilful. Irene (born 1896), Cynthia (b. 1898) and Alexandria (b.1904) were the three daughters of Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India 1898-1905 and probably the grandest and most self-confident imperial servant Britain ever possessed. After the death of his fabulously rich American wife in 1906, Curzon's determination to control every aspect of his daughters' lives, including the money that was rightfully theirs, led them one by one into revolt against their father.

It is the heady 60s in Liverpool, and the Flowers, the Baileys, and the McDowds are three very different families bound together by music. The children are determined to be part of the glamour that surrounds the city, so when Sean, Lachlan, and Max form The Merseysiders and Jeannie and Rita become part of The Flower Girls, they put their hearts and souls into achieving success.

The Dark Flood Rises asks momentous questions as it entertains and enthralls. In her beautifully imagined new book, Margaret Drabble is at her incisive best, exploring the end of life with her trademark humour, composure and wisdom. Francesca Stubbs holds our hand as we take a walk through old age and death. Fran brings us to drinks with her dear friends, dropping off mouth-watering suppers for Claude, her ex-husband, warm and cosy in his infirmity.

During one glorious summer between the wars, the realities of life and the sexual ritual dance of the adult world creep into the life of young Margaret Marsh. Her father, preaching the doctrine of the unsavoury Primal Saints; her mother, bitterly nostalgic for what might have been; Charles and Binkie, anchored in the past and a game of words; dying Mrs Frayling and Lydia the maid, given to the vulgar enjoyment of life - all contribute to Margaret's shattering moment of truth.

In the 1970s, a single night in a remote hunting lodge with a Hollywood director and his leading lady causes an international scandal that wrecks Astrid's glittering stage career and rips apart her marriage. Her ex-husband, Scottish actor Magnus Fellowes, finds global fame, while Astrid retreats to a Sussex windmill. Now 82, she lives there still, with a troupe of dachshunds and her loyal friend, Mrs Baker, who came to clean over twenty years ago, and never left. But Mrs Baker has a troubled past too. There has been an 'Awful Incident' at the windmill; police are sniffing around.

In the Prince of Wales Hotel and the shabby terraces and tearooms of Westbourne, retired lives run their course - all, in their different ways, anticipating crisis.

The First World War is almost over when nurse Olivia Jones meets dashing American soldier, Tom O'Hagan, and they propose to marry. But Tom is dead by the time Olivia finds herself pregnant. Just hours old, their daughter Ruby is brutally removed from Olivia by her disgusted father and secretly taken to be raised in a convent in north Wales. At fourteen, Ruby is beautiful, intelligent and wilful - and delighted to be chosen by the wealthy Emily Dangerfield, who lives in a grand house near Liverpool, as a companion.

Tommy Carr was a kind man; Eve had been able to tell that after half an hour of knowing him. There had never been a day when he had not shown her some small kindness. The birth of a daughter, Jeannie Eliza, crowns the young couple’s happiness - just as her shockingly early death casts them low. But they do not need to talk about Jeannie because she remains with them, and their love does not change.

Rilporin has fallen and Corvus, King of the Mireces, reigns over an occupied land. The raiders and their dark religion have conquered, but victory came at a terrible price – the death of a god – and sparks of resistance glimmer on all sides. In the south, Mace gathers the survivors of Rilpor’s armies. Among the fierce tribes of Krike, Crys and Dom search for allies and for the truth of what binds them to the Gods of Light. And in the royal palace itself, Tara – once a soldier, now a slave – hopes to ignite a rebellion.

Stumbling upon his dowdy cousin Elinor on the Continent, Theo Ravenhurst hardly believes his luck. His dangerous lifestyle appears to have finally caught up with him, and her family connections could be put to excellent use... Theo is convinced Elinor's drab exterior disguises a fiery, passionate nature. He gives her the adventure she's been yearning for - and along the way discovers she has talents beyond his wildest imagination...

Sixty is the new 40, we're constantly told. Or is it that 70 is the new 50? Either way, there's nothing middle of the road about middle age. From coping with bodies that are 'heading south' to rampant ageism in the workplace, this time in our lives, in the words of Bette Davis, is 'no place for sissies'.