Showing results by narrator "Penelope Rawlins" in All Categories

Franz Kafka is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most enigmatic geniuses of European literature. What happens when his idiosyncratic imagination meets some of the greatest literary minds writing in English across the globe today? From a future society who ask their AI servants to construct a giant tower to reach God; to a flat hunt that descends into a comically absurd bureaucratic nightmare; to a population experiencing a wave of unbearable, contagious panic attacks, these ten specially commissioned stories are by turns mind-bending, funny, unsettling and haunting.

Vicky Seagrave is blessed: three beautiful children, a successful, doting husband, great friends and a job she loves. She should be perfectly happy. When she makes a split-second decision that risks everything she holds dear, there's only person she trusts enough to turn to. But Vicky is about to learn that one mistake is all it takes - that if you're careless with those you love, you don't deserve to keep them....

Damascus, Syria, 2009. Carrie Mathison is leading an operation to capture or kill al Qaeda terrorist, Abu Nazir. But arriving at the compound where he was supposed to be in hiding, they find it empty. Carrie is sure that someone is leaking CIA information to the enemy and has betrayed their operation, seriously threatening American interests in the Middle East. To expose the double agent, her boss, Saul Berenson, devises an elaborate ruse that will send her on the most dangerous mission of her life.

Elizabeth the Jubilee Fairy is in charge of making every jubilee perfect! But when Jack Frost steals Elizabeth's Diamond Sceptre, both fairy and human celebrations are headed for catastrophe. Can Kirsty and Rachel help Elizabeth find the sceptre so kings and queens everywhere can celebrate in style?

Meet the mother whose children were taken away, and the father who fought for his son. Listen to the radical social worker, the judge, the lawyer. See inside the homes of foster carers, adoptive parents and children in care. Because behind closed doors, a scandal is ongoing.

A gripping account of the unsolved death of an Indigenous teenager, the detective determined to find her killer and a country's hidden secrets. On 17 August 2014, the body of 15-year-old Indigenous runaway Tina Fontaine was found weighted down in the Red River in the Canadian city of Winnipeg. The loss of Tina was a tragedy for her family and for the Indigenous community. But it also exposed a national scandal: Indigenous women are vastly more likely than other Canadians to be assaulted and killed.

One year ago, Casey Cassidy was happy. She had great friends, a wonderful teaching job and a busy life - until with one missed flight, everything changes. One year later, Casey knows what it means to find that once-in-a-lifetime love people dream of. But when Ben leaves, her heart is shattered. Left facing a year of firsts without him, piecing her life back together seems impossible. But then a friend offers her a home in rural France. In the solitude and emptiness, Casey needs to comes to terms with what’s happened and find a way to move forward.

The strange planet known as Tanegawa's World is owned by TransRifts Inc, the company with the absolute monopoly on interstellar travel. Hob landed there 10 years ago, a penniless orphan left behind by a rift ship. She was taken in by Nick Ravani and quickly became a member of his mercenary biker troop, the Ghost Wolves. Ten years later, she discovers that the body of Nick's brother out in the dunes. Worse, his daughter is missing, taken by shady beings called the Weathermen.

Alina knows she is not real - the fae queen spun an evil web to create her - but she wants more than to spend her days feeding off humans' energy to survive. She isn't content to lose herself in the dangerously attractive Reign. She wants a life of her own making. Desperate to help the man who saved her life, Alina vows to find his missing sister. Alina is convinced that the general of the Fae Authority plays a part in her disappearance. She infiltrates the organisation and gets close to their strongest fighter.

When a young couple buy their first home in Little Cote, they're so excited to make it their own. The house has been up for sale for months, and it is idyllic on the outside but needs a complete overhaul on the inside. However, while the garden is overrun with meets, the house is falling down, there's a horrid concrete patio that, while ugly, looks absolutely brand-new. The couple hate it, and seeing as they're doing the house from top to bottom, they decide to rip the concrete up, too. When two bodies are discovered under the patio, Jemima Cotton is the first on the scene.

When newlywed Penny begins some casual wedding planning, she only wants to help women afford the big day of their dreams. But taming bridezillas turns out to be a full-time occupation, and what began as a hobby becomes a nightmare. Soon Penny is struggling to keep her day job and prevent her own marriage from collapsing: Tired, stressed, and knee-deep in ivory satin, is Penny's life and livelihood hanging by a thread?

Being married to a celebrity isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when that celebrity has a very public affair with his co-star.... Alice McBride is determined that the one thing she won't lose in her marriage breakup is Borne Manor, her beloved home, but she gets more than she bargained for when she rents it out for the summer and a sexy cowboy comes to stay. Country music star Robinson Duff has had his own share of heartbreak and needs somewhere quiet to hide out for the summer.

With her signature blend of 'lose yourself' love stories and buried secrets, Sunday Times top ten best seller Tasmina Perry is back with this gorgeously romantic read, perfect for fans of Santa Montefiore and Rachel Hore. From Paris to St Petersburg, this spellbinding tale of love, loss and long-buried secrets is guaranteed to break your heart.... Everyone remembers their first kiss. You never forget the last.... It's 1961. Bright-eyed young journalist Rosamund Bailey is determined to change the world.

When 17-year-old Stella Whittaker is offered the chance to study at the Academy of Music in Vienna it's a dream come true, made possible by old family friends, Rainer and Marthe Kraus, who offer her a place to live. Seduced by the elegant beauty of the city, Stella explores the magnificent palaces, gardens, and fashionable coffeehouses, and after a chance meeting in an art gallery, falls in love with Harri Reznik, a young Jewish doctor.

Luca Mazza (38), who was taken ill during a food demonstration at the Fenn House Food and Wine Festival two days ago, is now known to have ingested poison. Lady Beatrice (36), the king's niece, who is working on a refurbishment project at Fenn House with her business partner Perry Juke (34), is believed to be comforting Luca's boss and close friend Sebastiano Marchetti (38), who she began dating last month.

Caught between boorish Detective Chief Inspector Richard Fitzwilliam and a killer wedding party, Lady Beatrice must solve the murder to save the big day.

Everyone thinks my life is bliss. The love of my life, Cary, and I live in our dream home and we have a beautiful little girl, Harper. I may not have given birth to her, but I’m her mommy now. But there’s one thing we never talk about… Cary’s wife before me, Presley, was perfect in every way. But she went missing a long time ago. Cary was distraught when he told me how she was abducted from her car, leaving behind a pool of blood. No one saw a thing. The neighbors are always gossiping about Presley. I try to ignore them, but one day I hear something that makes my stomach flip.

When Rosa wakes one morning to find Grandma Nan missing, she must use all of her survival skills to uncover her grandma's whereabouts. With the help of the mountain community, Rosa's investigation leads her to the very summit of Big Sky Mountain, where a family of eagles are facing huge problems of their own. Through helping the eagles, Rosa realises she really is at home on Big Sky Mountain.

There's a saying about all work and no play—but there's never a dull moment for Caroline working at Holly Walk Mall, especially at Christmas. When she's not dealing with orders from Ian, 'the manager who can’t manage' as her friend Rachel puts it, she's overseeing the usual late-night shopping sessions, Santa's grotto construction and, most importantly, the sampling of many delicious festive treats at the Italian café her friends Nina and Marco own.

Seventeen-year-old Veronica Clarke never thought she’d want to fail a test - that is, until she finds herself staring at a piece of plastic with two solid pink lines. With a college-bound future now disappearing before her eyes, Veronica considers a decision she never imagined she'd have to make: an abortion.