Showing results by publisher "HarperAudio" in Family Life

Lawson Cooper-Jones has two priorities in life—his son, Ned, and the survival of the dairy farm that has been in his family for generations. Despite the best efforts of the town matchmakers and the determined pursuit of local girl Adeline Walsh, Lawson's heart belongs still, and only, to his late wife.

Polly Manaia is living in Sydney's notorious Kings Cross, working as an exotic dancer. She's desperate to bring her young daughter to live with her, but beneath her brash confidence lie dark secrets which threaten to drag her under. Gina is excited to live with her mum again. She's mature for an eleven-year-old, but can this young girl cope with Polly's demons? Rhoda and Star, transgender performers and Polly's flatmates, bring stability to Polly and Gina's lives. Yet this unlikely little family will find themselves threatened in more ways than one.

Going from one child to two is never all that easy for a family, but when Emma's husband simultaneously fathers a third child three doors up the street, things get very tricky, very fast. No longer is it enough for Emma to be the best wife and mother - now she's trying to be the best ex-wife, and the best part-time parent to her ex's love child, and that's before she even thinks about adding a new bloke to the mix. Set in an upwardly mobile, ultra-competitive suburb, this is a funny, biting, heartwarming modern comedy.

Privacy is hard to maintain in Badara, the kind of small Australian country town where everyone knows everyone else's business. So discovers single mum Paige when she and her three children arrive from the city seeking refuge. Paige's only respite from child care and loneliness is the Tuesday gym club, where she had feared the judgement of the town matriarchs, but she is met only with generosity and a plethora of baked goods. Besides, both the brusque Marion and her polished sister-in-law Briony are too busy dealing with their own dramas to examine hers.

Food stylist Cara, corporate lawyer Alex and stay-at-home mum Beth couldn't be more different. If it wasn't for the fact they live next door to each other in Cuthbert Close, they'd never have met and bonded over Bundt cake. The Close is an oasis of calm and kindness. The kind of street where kids play cricket together and neighbors pitch in each year for an end of summer party. But no one told Charlie Devine. When she roars straight into the party with her huge removal truck and her teenage daughter with no care or regard for decades-old tradition, the guacamole really hits the fan.

Sleep deprived, struggling and at breaking point, first-time mum Gracie Michaels books one night - alone - at The Maxwell Hotel. A king-size bed all to herself. No demands. With time to recharge she'll be able to return to her family more like the unflappable mother she pretends to be. Instead, she wakes in a room she doesn't recognise after an encounter with a man who is not her husband. Then she sees something she wishes she hadn't.

They've been best friends since their sons started high school together, and Felicity, Emma, and Neve share everything...or so they thought. But Flick's seemingly perfect marriage hides a shocking secret which, with one word, threatens to destroy her and her family's happiness. Emma is in denial about a potential custody battle, her financial constraints, the exhaustion she can't seem to shake off, and the inappropriate feelings she has for her boss. And single mum Neve is harbouring a secret of her own; a secret that might forever damage her close-knit relationship with her son.

Joni, Deb, Eden, and Trina try to catch up once a year for a girls' getaway. Careers, husbands, and babies have pulled these old high-school friends in different directions, and the closeness they once enjoyed is increasingly elusive. This year, in a bid to revive their intimacy, they each share a secret in an anonymous letter. But the revelations are unnerving. Then a fifth letter is discovered, venting long-held grudges and murderous thoughts. But who was the author? And which of the friends should be worried?

Tildy Barrows, Head Curator of a beautiful archival library in San Francisco, is meticulously dedicated to the century’s worth of inventory housed in her beloved Beaux Art building. She loves the calm and order in the shelves of books and walls of art. But Tildy’s life takes an unexpected turn when she, first, learns the library is on the verge of bankruptcy and, second, discovers two exquisite never-before-seen dollhouses.

Love for nine-year-old twins Jon and Eden Hardacre is simple. Their mum, the creek that they swim in, each other—this is the love that they trust, love as clear and pure as sunlight, as honey, as water. But then there's a terrible accident. And in its wake, they develop a desperation—a yearning—to outgrow tragedy. They get older, compete with each other, fall in love with the same girl, and begin to realise that their lives—and who they love—demand something more. Something deeper. Richer.

In 1915, as World War 1 rages in Europe and the numbers of dead and injured continue to grow, Australian nurse, Sister Cora Barker, leaves her home in Australia for England, determined to use her skills for King and country. When she arrives at Harefield House - donated to the Australian Army by its expatriate Australian owners - she helps transform it into a hospital that is also a little piece of home for recuperating Australian soldiers.

When Elsa Goody's father and brother, George, die in quick succession, she and her sister, Rosie, are in trouble. Pursued by an unpleasant suitor with dubious motivation, Elsa leaves for Victoria on the hunt for a fortune in gold coins that her brother has hidden. If Elsa can find it, she will be able to save Rosie and herself from married slavery. Their quest leads them on a cross-country journey to find the last man who saw her brother alive, Ezekiel Jones. But Elsa is not the only one looking for buried treasure.

Howard and Elsie Manning were born on the same day, met at kindergarten, and have been married for 59 years. They have lived sensible, productive lives, and raised two self-sufficient daughters. Now, at 78, they are bored with the predictability of life, fed up with contemporary society, have aching joints and dwindling finances, and - funeral by funeral - their circle of friends is shrinking. Worst of all, they are grieving for their beloved, recently deceased dog Maisie.

It's 1989 and for a young Jewish-Australian violinist, a scholarship to Berlin is the chance of a lifetime. Germany is on the verge of change as the wall is torn down, and Susanna is swept along by the tumultuous event. Under the careful guidance of Stefan Heinemeyer, her renowned violin teacher and the grandson of a Nazi, she begins a composition in memory of her grandmother, Mirla, who died in the Buchenwald concentration camp during the Second World War, and Susanna is inspired to retrace Mirla's final footsteps.

Midwife Patience Murphy has a gift: a talent for escorting mothers through the challenges of bringing children into the world. Working in the hardscrabble conditions of Appalachia during the Depression, Patience takes the jobs that no one else wants, helping those most in need - and least likely to pay. She knows a successful midwifery practice must be built on a foundation of openness and trust - but the secrets Patience is keeping are far too intimate and fragile for her to ever let anyone in.

Sharyn Tregonning wanted a holiday somewhere glamorous for her 60th birthday. So when her husband Barry surprises her with a caravan trip from Adelaide to Broome, she is furious—and bitterly disappointed. Even worse, Barry's annoying friend Ray, and Ray's reclusive frumpy sister Kathleen are coming along. It's true that Kathleen Allenby has become a recluse. As the end-of-life carer for three family members (and at war with her mean neighbours) she has become anxious. She doesn't expect this trip to offer her much.

Karen Harper tells the tale of Consuelo Vanderbilt, her “Wedding of the Century” to the duke of Marlborough, and her quest to find meaning behind “the glitter and the gold”.

For generations, the Winston women have possessed an unspoken magical gift: they can heal with the touch of a hand. It's a tradition they've always had to practice in secret, in the moonlight hours, when the fireflies dance and the whippoorwill birds sing. But not every healer has rightfully passed on this knowledge, and for young Louise Winston, the discovery of her abilities comes in less-than-ideal circumstances—she brings her best friend back from death following an accident, the day after he professed his long-held feelings for her, five days before she's supposed to move away.

A body has been found in the burned-out wreckage of the church at Gibber's Creek—with older skeletons lying beneath it. The corpse is identified as that of Ignatius Mervyn, the man who attempted to kill Jed Kelly and her unborn child. Newcomer Fish Johnstone is drawn into the investigation, convinced that the police are on the wrong track. But as she digs beneath the warm and welcoming surface of the Gibber's Creek community, more secrets emerge. And Fish must also face her own mystery—the sudden appearance and then disappearance of her father, a Vietnamese refugee she never knew.

Sylvie is a lover of words and a collector of stories, only she has lost her own. She has no words for that night at the lighthouse when their lives changed forever. What happened to cleave her apart from her best friend and soul mate, Kase? Sylvie yearns to rekindle their deep connection, so when Kase invites her to the wild Tasmanian coast to celebrate her 40th birthday, she accepts - despite the ghosts she must face. Through an inscription in an old book, Sylvie and Kase discover their mothers have a history, hidden from their daughters.