Showing results by publisher "Hodder & Stoughton" in Women's Fiction

For fans of The Help and The Invention of Wings, a searing and sweeping debut novel that gives a new and unforgettable perspective on modern-day domestic workers. Set in the blistering heat of Singapore, The Maid's Room follows the lives of two Filipina maids - sisters Dolly and Tala - who are working hard to send money back home and British expat Jules, who has left her job as a midwife to move to Singapore with husband David.

The year is 1831. Down the murky alleyways of London, acts of unspeakable wickedness are taking place, and no one is willing to speak out on behalf of the city's vulnerable poor as they disappear from the streets. Out of these shadows comes Hester White, a bright young woman who is desperate to escape the slums by any means possible. When Hester is thrust into the world of the aristocratic Brock family, she leaps at the chance to improve her station in life under the tutelage of the fiercely intelligent and mysterious Rebekah Brock.

When story-lover Anna takes over Longhampton's bookshop, it's her dream come true. And not just because it gets her away from her three rowdy stepchildren and their hyperactive dalmatian. Unpacking boxes filled with childhood classics, Anna can't shake the feeling that maybe her own fairy-tale ending isn't all that she'd hoped for.

In the little village of Barton-in-the-Dale, long-hidden secrets are bubbling to the surface. Ashley Underwood and Emmet O'Malley are set to tie the knot, when a revelation from the handsome Irishman's past returns to haunt him. The town's resident nosey-parker discovers some juicy gossip about the primary school's dishy new staff-member and head teacher Elisabeth Stirling has a very special secret of her own.

The ultimate summertime story for fans of Jennifer Weiner and Jodi Picoult. Nantucket is only two and a half hours away from Martha's Vineyard by ferry. But the two islands might as well be worlds apart for a set of identical twin sisters who have been at odds for years. Just because twins look exactly the same doesn't mean they're anything alike - and Tabitha and Harper Frost have spent their whole lives trying to prove this point.

A lifetime ago, a patient escaped Nazareth mental asylum. They covered their tracks carefully. Or so they thought. Thirty years ago, Marianne Smy committed a crime then fled from her home to leave the past behind. Or so she thought. Now, Marianne has been forced to return. Nazareth asylum has been converted to luxury flats, but its terrible hold on her is still strong. A successful academic, a loving mother and a loyal wife, she fears her secret being revealed and her world shattering. She is right to be scared.

There's no doubt that Tori is winning the game of life. She's inspired millions of women to stick two fingers up at convention with her best-selling memoir, and she has the perfect relationship to boot. But Tori Bailey has been living a lie. Everyone around her is getting married and having babies, but her long-term boyfriend won't even talk about getting engaged. And when her best friend Dee - her plus one, the only person who understands the madness - falls in love, suddenly Tori's in terrifying danger of being left behind.

Despite her broken heart, when Dilly Gently joins Magnus Olensen's new band, the chemistry between them is explosive. Both impossibly romantic dizzy blondes with the souls of poets, they could be made for each other. But before they have chance to declare themselves, Dilly's friend Nell confides that she has a huge crush on Magnus, and Dilly nobly steps down in order to play reluctant matchmaker.

From the very first day that they move to the Oddlode Valley, it's inevitable that young teacher Mo Stillitoe, recently separated socialite Diana Lampeter and cool, retired dressage diva Anke Brakespear will find their lives entangled. Despite their differing generations and backgrounds, the women are on a relocation collision course. As inept removal men deliver furniture - and even horses - to the wrong houses, other moves are being made…

Christmas on Nantucket finds Winter Street Inn owner Kelley Quinn and his family busily preparing for the holiday season. Though the year has brought tragedy, the Quinns have much to celebrate: Kelley has reunited with his first wife, Margaret; Kevin and Isabelle have a new baby; and Ava is finally dating a nice guy. But when Kelley's wife, Mitzi, shows up on the island along with Kevin's devious ex-wife, Nora, and a dangerously irresistible old fling of Ava's, the inn is suddenly overrun with romantic feuds, not to mention guests.

When Ellen Jamieson breaks up with her long-standing boyfriend, she plans to go travelling. But first she agrees to house-sit for her parents, who are trying to find a buyer for their idyllic cottage in the Cotswold village of Oddlode. Under the wing of Ophelia ('Touchy Pheely') Gently, an impoverished local sculptor, Ellen goes to an Auction of Promises village fundraiser and wins a mysterious lot of three wishes. These have been donated by Jasper Belling, the incredibly gorgeous prodigal son of the local lord of the manor.

It starts with a lie. The kind we've all told - to a former acquaintance we can't quite place but still, for some reason, feel the need to impress. The story of our life, embellished for the benefit of the happily married lawyer with the kids and the lovely home. And the next thing you know, you're having dinner at their house and accepting an invitation to join them on holiday - swept up in their perfect life, the kind you always dreamed of.... Which turns out to be less than perfect.

Perseus grows up wanting to be a hero, but he cannot become one if his mother Danae still sees him as a boy. When his stepfather Polydektes casts him away on a voyage across the sea, Perseus is determined to fulfil the great destiny of the son of a god and the grandson of a king. But the line between heroism and monstrosity is thin, and when Perseus attempts to seduce first gentle Medusa and then beautiful Andromeda, before finally reuniting with Danae, they each learn of the dangers of resisting a boy prepared to risk it all for greatness.

Esta has known nothing but Eden's Isle her whole life. Raised by her grandmother, after a fire claimed her parents and scarred her face, she's instructed to piety, to deference and acquiescence by a religious society that will not suffer anything else. Cut off from the moral iniquity of the mainland, the island believes it can stay free of the Seawomen—creatures from the water that came upon land to corrupt God's creation and Man.

Can you ever outrun the past? It's Zoe's wedding day. She's about to marry Jamie, the love of her life. Then a phone call comes out of the blue, with the news that her mum, Gina, has been arrested. Zoe must make an impossible decision: should she leave her own wedding to help? Zoe hasn't seen Gina for years, blaming her for the secret that she's been running from ever since she was 16. Now Gina is back in her life, but she's very different to the mum Zoe remembers.

An ordinary day. An ordinary bank. An ordinary street in an ordinary town. Nothing ever happens until one day a shocking robbery turns life upside down for five people - Cillian, a police detective; Martha, the woman he thought was the love of his life; Tobias, who came to Ireland after World War II and now lies in a coma, shot in the bank robbery; Roman, the young Polish teenager who is suspected of pulling the trigger; and his mother, Rosa the cleaner, who dreamed of a better life for herself and her son - and things will never be ordinary again.

Seven-year-old Jake's heart is failing, and he doesn't want to leave his dad, Simon, alone. So he makes a decision: to find Simon someone to love before he goes. Beth is determined to forget the past. But even when she leaves New York to start afresh in a Lake District village, she can't shake the secrets that haunt her. Single dad Simon still holds a candle for the woman who left him years ago. Every day is a struggle to earn a living while caring for his beloved son. He has no time for finding someone new.

Paul and Alice's half-sister Eloise is getting married! In London! They couldn't hate it more. The product of their mother's first marriage to a dashing Frenchman, Eloise has everything Paul and Alice have ever wanted: an endless trust fund, model good looks, an international life of luxury and their mother's unconditional love. Meanwhile, Alice is in her thirties, stuck in a dead-end job and mired in an affair with her married boss, and Paul, who still isn't speaking to their mother after their father's death.

Zainab, Funmi and Enitan first meet at University in northern Nigeria, all learning how to become themselves. It's an experience that binds the three very different women together. When Enitan moves to New York to elope with a white man, Zainab and Funmi are left behind, with drastically different fortunes. Over the course of 30 years, their lives and friendships diverge and change. Funmi is separating from her husband, trying to understand her daughter Remi. Zainab finds herself the sole breadwinner for her husband and their four sons.

Written by Grazia magazine's Features Director, this is a novel about a woman who is trying, and so far failing, to conceive. A hugely funny, searingly honest comedy about what to expect when you're not expecting. Olivia and Felix are trying for a baby. They even moved to the suburbs in anticipation of their future family. But despite approaching her cycle and their sex life with military precision, there's still no sign of what felt like the sure next step, whilst friends' broods seem to be growing by the week.