Showing results by narrator "Colleen Prendergast" in All Categories

Jo Milne was profoundly deaf from birth, when she also began to lose her sight. Just before turning thirty, Jo was diagnosed with Usher syndrome, a rare genetic and progressive condition that will one day rob her of her sight altogether.

In 2014 she made a life-changing decision to undergo major surgery. She had cochlear implants fitted, allowing her to hear for the first time. Every moment of Jo's days since the operation has become a journey of discovery.

She was only nine when her world fell apart. The struggle to understand took a lifetime.In 1960s Bristol, Susan's family was like any other with its joys and frustrations, and fierce loyalties. Then tragedy struck and left a legacy that was to last a lifetime.Susan was only nine when her mother died. A year later she was sent away to school. She didn't want to go, and didn't understand why she had to. In her struggle to cope with an uncertain world - a world where nothing seemed to make sense any more....

When Rose sees Joe in an Oxford bar, it is instant infatuation. He is everything that turns her on: a gifted musician with wit and high achiever. In her mind, at least, they are ideally matched. But Joe has no intention of settling down.

Amy lies in a coma. Her older sister, Moira, comes to her in the evenings and sits beside her hospital bed. Here, Moira confesses. She admits to her childhood selfishness which deeply hurt her family; to her savagery at boarding school; to the wild, bitter and destructive heart that she carried into her adult life.

What happens when your beloved only daughter's friend turns out to be a destructive cuckoo in the nest? When girlish charm turns to seduction and teenage friendship to manipulation. How can just one teenage girl wreak havoc on a decent, loving household? Envy is a uniquely absorbing novel focusing on two teenage girls. Isabel the charmed, golden daughter of a wealthy, devoted daddy, and Diane, whose bitter, downtrodden mother lives on a rented cottage on Isabel's family's land.

A spellbinding adventure from the best-selling, award-winning author of The Last Wild trilogy. Jewel Hastings doesn't know who she is. But she is about to discover that she is one of the most remarkable people to have ever walked the earth. On the run from school bullies, Jewel tumbles through the door of a mysterious old bookshop and falls headlong into Folio, the world of the imagination. There, she must begin a quest to rescue her missing aunt, helped only by her rude pet hamster Fizz and a malfunctioning copper robot.

Rabbit is surprised: some of the trees in the valley seem to be flying south for the winter. His friend Bear is sure that trees can't fly. Then there's a loud crunch! from very near by. It sounds like the world's largest rabbit, eating the world's largest carrot. There's a new creature in Rabbit and Bear's valley, and he's trying to change everything. From novelist and playwright Julian Gough and the winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize Jim Field, this is a tale of friendship, Progress and all kinds of getting muddy.

SPLASH! A mysterious thing lands in Rabbit and Bear's peaceful summer lake. Is it exciting, or terrifying? Is it a tiny fluffy owl, or a huge hungry monster? And has Rabbit finally met a creature with worse habits than himself? Rabbit's sure he can solve this mystery. But when he accidentally turns the best day ever into the worst day ever, he needs Bear's help.... From novelist and playwright Julian Gough and the winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize Jim Field, this is a tale of friendship, acceptance and what you can do with blueberry poo.

'Peace and quiet,' shouts Rabbit. 'That's all I want.' Owch. He's hurt his own ears again. What with Bear's snoring, and a BANG!BANG!BANG! noise from up in the tree, Rabbit knows that something simply has to be done. But high in the branches, perhaps Bear can show Rabbit how to see the world from a different place....

When single mum Ruth has a brief fling with Rob, she's mortified to discover that he lied to her. He lied to her, because he's married. Worse still, he's the husband of Janine, head of the PTA at the primary school where Ruth works as secretary, and when the truth of their fling is discovered, Ruth suddenly has a lot of enemies at the school gates. Threatening texts begin to arrive, rumours abound and the staff room becomes hostile.

Sophie Drew has been dealt the mother of all surprises—she's having a baby! Socializing with other mummies-to-be tempts Sophie into setting up a wish list at a local baby boutique. Although most of the items are unnecessary luxuries, she still finds herself lusting after designer changing bags and hi-tech prams. When some of the most expensive items from her list start arriving, Sophie thinks her boyfriend Max has been splurging but when he denies it, Sophie is surprised.

New mum Sophie Drew is planning her wedding to Max—who is proving to be an attentive and devoted dad to their baby girl. If only Sophie had as much energy. Motherhood—along with shopping for a bridal gown and other wedding-planning demands—is draining the life out of her. Fortunately her friends are by her side, and when she has an emotional meltdown, the troops rally around her. A trip to the doctor reveals she has postnatal depression—and soon some big decisions will need to be made.

Who ever said life was easy? Sophie Drew is thirty, single, and stuck in a dead-end job. She's convinced everyone around her has their lives in order while she's stuck muddling through. When a final demand from the bank makes her realize how dire her financial situation is, Sophie becomes determined to pay off her debts and take back control. During her reinvention, Sophie meets attractive charity worker Max and things start to look up, but her best friends have other plans. With spendthrift ex Darius back on the scene, she finds herself in a dilemma . . .

Holly Evans and her over-protective mother, Josie, are living a hand-to-mouth existence, moving constantly from one squalid dump to the next. When they move into an illegally sub-let council flat in Manchester’s rough Lansdowne Estate, Holly finally feels settled for the first time in her life - even if she is forbidden to go out, or even open the front door to callers when her mum’s at work due to fear of eviction. Increasingly cut off from friends at school, she soon feels isolated and alone in the world.

It’s mid-winter, and in the throes of a fierce blizzard, Elsie Redfern and her husband discover an unknown girl in their hay barn about to give birth. After the young mother dies, Elsie takes the infant in and raises her as her own daughter, her precious storm child. Gina grows into a beautiful little girl, but her safe haven turns out to be anything but. Torn away from her home and family, the child finds herself in a nightmare from which there’s no waking, but despite her misery and bewilderment, Gina’s determined to survive.

It’s December 1902, and Rose O’Leary is looking forward to her baby girl’s first Christmas. But then tragedy strikes: her husband dies at the shipyard where he works, and within days his friend Nathaniel makes it plain he’s determined to have her. Rose flees with her child but soon finds the world is a cruel place for a beautiful woman with no protection. More tragedy ensues, and yet, although she’s bruised and broken, Rose is a fighter.

When Alexis ‘Lexi’ James falls out with her best mate Nicole over ‘bad boy’ Ryan King, it’s just the beginning of a chain of events that go from bad to worse to deadly. Returning home one night to her high-rise flat, she is faced by a terrifying scene that changes her life forever, and matters are made worse when she is put into care in another town. Years later, Lexi has left school and is back in Manchester. A chance meeting with Nicole and her so-called ‘other half’ Ryan ends in disaster, and she vows never to see them again.

Thirteen-year-old Jessamine Grace and her mother make a living as sham spiritualists - until they discover that Jess is a mesmerist and that she really can talk to the dead. Soon she is plunged into the dark world of Victorian London's supernatural underbelly and learns that the city is under attack by ghouls, monsters, and spirit summoners. Can Jess fight these powerful forces? And will the group of strange children with mysterious powers she befriends be able to help?

Natty and Sean Wainwright have a rock-solid marriage and family. When their younger daughter falls ill on an overseas school trip, Natty rushes to her side. Luckily, Natty's best friend from college, Eve Dalladay, is visiting and offers to stay with Sean to lend a hand in the Wainwright household. But Natty returns home to find that Sean has fallen in love with Eve. Natty attempts to start anew, but Eve is there to knock her down again.

Trudy Watts has everything she's ever dreamed of: a job that she loves, a successful boyfriend, and an ultra-modern apartment in one of the most fashionable parts of London. With a long-awaited promotion due to come her way and her wedding just around the corner, Trudy's life is just perfect... That is until catastrophe strikes and her life is turned upside down. She's transferred to Turriff, a remote Scottish town to manage a small, struggling bank branch. Her arrival is traumatic and she wishes she was anywhere but here... Until she sees him, Ethan, the charming pub landlord.