Showing results by narrator "Katherine Press" in All Categories

Life-long friends Louisa, Jeannie and Kate are following in the footsteps of their families, working at the Clarks shoe factory. But when Britain declares war on Germany, the Somerset village of Street is shaken to its core. The Clarks factory is at the heart of life in the village, but the Clark family are Quakers and pacifists. Before long, there are fierce debates amongst the workers and tensions between those who oppose the war and those who believe the village men should go to fight.

Benjamin's world is turned upside down the day he meets Clara. Instinctively, he knows that she is his person and he is hers, but the devastating events of one of their last nights at university will take their lives in very different directions. 20 years later, a bombing is reported in the city where Clara and Ben met, and she is pulled back to a place she tries not to remember and the first love she could never forget. Searching for Ben, Clara prays that twenty years of regret is about to end. But is it too late to put right what went wrong?

1944, and London is under attack. Young mouse Pip Hanway's safe and quiet world is turned upside down when her home, umbrella shop James Smith & Sons, is destroyed by a bomb. Orphaned and alone, she must begin a perilous quest to find a new home. But the only way to get there is by joining Noah’s Ark, a secret gang of animals fighting with the resistance in France, operating beneath the feet of the human soldiers. Danger is everywhere and as the enemy closes in, Pip must risk everything to save her new friends.

Paris, 1866. When Baroness Sylvie Devereux receives a house-call from Charlotte Mothe, the sister she disowned, she fears her shady past as a spirit medium has caught up with her. But with their father ill and Charlotte unable to pay his bills, Sylvie is persuaded into one last con. Their marks are the de Jacquinots: dysfunctional aristocrats who believe they are haunted by their great aunt, brutally murdered during the French Revolution. Sylvie and Charlotte will need to deploy every trick to terrify the family out of their gold – until they experience inexplicable horrors themselves.

With the country in the grips of conscription, the pacifism at the heart of Street village comes under scrutiny, and when Kate befriends Gerald, a young Quaker arrested for refusing to fight, she starts to understand the true dilemma the community finds itself in. Still grieving the loss of her sweetheart Mattie, Louisa finds herself at odds with her parents, who refused them the chance to marry. As her mother’s attempts to find Louisa a husband show no signs of abating, Louisa takes solace in her friendship with Jeannie’s brother Lucas.

The year is 1607. When a catastrophic flood hits the Somerset coast, young sailor-in-disguise Fortune gets the blame. Locals are convinced witchcraft is at work. And Fortune - who is secretive, suspiciously good at swimming and, to everyone's surprise, a girl - is an obvious scapegoat. Even saving the life of her rival's only son doesn't clear her name. If anything, it makes matters worse....

Tim and Rachel Hendon are riding high on an ideal marriage and growing political success. Tim is already in the Cabinet, and as they celebrate yet another election victory, they have no idea that they are on the eve of a nightmare that is going to totally devastate their lives. After a high-profile murder, Katherine Sumner has disappeared. Is she the killer? Or will the information she has on top government officials make hers the next body to turn up on the coroner's table?

Veronica and Gabe met when they were children at ballet class, and by the time they’d reached their teens, they knew they’d be dancing together forever. Only Gabe’s mother had other ideas.... Twenty-something years later, Veronica no longer dances and life hasn’t turned out how she thought it would. She’s divorced with a needy ex-husband, monosyllabic teenage sons, a sister who fancies herself as a long in the tooth ‘it girl’ and a mother who’s recently moved into a care home.

Kate has done the unthinkable. She'd worked hard to build a perfect life for herself, while ignoring her growing unhappiness. But when her second child was born profoundly disabled, reality hit. Unable to cope, Kate left - disappearing without a trace. She ends up in LA, with a glittering career and a new family of sorts, but the guilt is still suffocating. Husband Andrew was left to pick up the pieces and care for their disabled daughter and angry, confused son. Bereft and broken, he leaned on Olivia, Kate's best friend. She's been by his side ever since, ignoring her own needs to meet his.

Milly-Molly-Mandy lives in a tiny village in the heart of the countryside, where life is full of everyday adventures! Join the little girl in the candy-striped dress as she enjoys her first ever visit to the seaside, goes to a concert and has a picnic with her friends – whatever Milly-Molly-Mandy and her friends are up to, you're sure to have fun when they're around.

There are more deities and daemons in the world than stars in the sky. But only Heartseers like Anise Star can see them—because only they still believe... Anise's job is to help humans and daemons live happily together. But when the villainous Mr Babbitt tries to steal her home in the White Woods and drive the daemons out, she is forced to travel to the capital to ask the High King for help. First, though, she'll have to convince him that daemons still exist.

Workers in the Clarks shoe factory, at the heart of the village, have left for the army in droves, and news from the Front seems to grow darker by the day. When lifelong friends Louisa, Jeannie and Kate receive the news they had been fearing, all hope seems lost. And Louisa’s world will be rocked further when she makes another discovery, one that will see her cast out by her family, changing her life forever.

When Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows that something is very wrong. She is insatiably hungry; her sister seems scared of her and her parents whisper behind closed doors. She looks through her diary to try to remember, but the pages have been ripped out. Soon Triss discovers that what happened to her is more strange and terrible than she could ever have imagined, and that she is quite literally not herself. In a quest to find the truth she must travel into the terrifying Underbelly of the city to meet a twisted architect who has dark designs on her family – before it's too late . . .

Milly-Molly-Mandy lives in a tiny village in the heart of the countryside, where life is full of everyday adventures! Join the little girl in the candy-striped dress as she has a tea-party, looks after a baby and helps to thatch a roof – whatever Milly-Molly-Mandy and her friends are up to, you're sure to have fun when they're around. Further Doings of Milly-Molly-Mandy contains twelve short stories that are wonderful to read aloud and are the perfect way to introduce younger readers to the enduringly popular heroine, not forgetting her friends little-friend-Susan and Billy Blunt!

It looks like Jessica and Jack have it all. Their social media accounts show them glamorous, happy and sickeningly in love. They even landed a book deal to share their seven rules for a perfect marriage – an instant bestseller, of course. But behind the scenes it's not so simple. Jessica is determined to make a success of her business and has stopped making time for Jack. Meanwhile Jack is learning that he hates the life of an Instagram husband.

When the mutilated body of a police officer is found in a derelict factory, the Hamptonshire police force is shocked to the core. DCI Helen Lavery returns from injury leave and is immediately plunged into an investigation like no other. Is this a random attack or is someone targeting the force? Organised crime groups or a lone killer? As the net draws in, Helen finds the truth lies closer than she could have imagined and finds herself facing a twisted killer who will stop at nothing to ensure their secrets remain hidden. And time is running out.

After one hilarious, disastrous magic show too many, Abby’s dad decides it’s time to give up showbiz. Until the day Abby finds a mysterious, dusty old book of spells among her mum's things. Mum had always been the dazzling magician, after all. As Abby practises, each new spell brings wonder and joy, not only to Abby and her dad, but also to the whole community. Nothing lasts forever, though, and after each public performance another spell vanishes from the book. So before the magic disappears forever, Abby and Dad plan one final, spectacular, impossible show . . .

For three years, Tamsin Shaw has been lying unresponsive in hospital. In two weeks, her husband Jamie plans to withdraw her treatment. But from her bed, she’s listening. Only she hears all her visitors’ secrets, and only she knows what truly happened before her accident. She can still expose this string of crimes and stop the man responsible. If she wakes up in time.

Henrietta Gaydon is making her debut in London society for the Season, but her popularity and apparent ease disguises the fact that she is out of her depth and that she dreads the objective of finding a husband. She longs for home, her father and Lord Henfield, whom she has always treated as an older brother. Charles Henfield stopped thinking of Henrietta like a sister when she was sixteen and he is determined to try his luck with her in London.

When Tartelin Brown accepts a job with the reclusive Marianne Stourbridge, she finds herself on a wild island with a mysterious history. Tartelin is tasked with hunting butterflies for Marianne’s research. But she quickly uncovers something far more intriguing than the curious creatures that inhabit the landscape. Because the island and Marianne share a remarkable history, and what happened all those years ago, has left its scars and some terrible secrets. As Tartelin pieces together Marianne’s connection to the island, she must confront her own reasons for being there.