Showing results by narrator "Willow Nash" in All Categories

Bath, 1911. Passionate suffrage campaigner Esther Stanbury works as a window dresser in Pennington's Department Store. She has hopes for women's progression and will do anything to help secure the vote. Owner of the prestigious Phoenix Hotel, Lawrence Culford has what most would view as a successful life. But Lawrence is harbouring shame and resentment. When Esther and Lawrence meet, their mutual understanding of life's challenges unites them. Can they overcome their pasts?

It is 1910. Elizabeth Pennington should be the rightful heir of Bath’s premier department store through her enterprising schemes and dogged hard work. Her father, Edward Pennington believes his daughter lacks the business acumen to run his empire and is resolute a man will succeed him. Determined to break from her father’s iron-clad hold and prove she is worthy of inheriting the store, Elizabeth forms an unlikely alliance with ambitious and charismatic master glove-maker Joseph Carter.

Purdy Rubin and Charlotte Figg were just like us - fed up with all those plastic spray bottles full of harsh chemicals under the kitchen sink, most of which were never used. So together they embarked on a mission to find a better solution. In this beautifully illustrated book, Purdy and Charlotte share their knowledge and show us how just a few natural hero ingredients can more than hold their own against 'Big Clean', especially when combined into their easy-to-make recipes.

Amelia Wakefield loves working at Pennington's, Bath's finest department store. So when Pennington's owner sets her a task to set sail on the Titanic and study the department stores of New York, Amelia couldn't be more excited – or determined! Meeting Amelia on board the Titanic, Samuel Murphy can't help wonder what painful history has made the beauty so reserved. Meanwhile, in Bath, Ruby Taylor has always kept her Pennington co-workers at a distance.

Snow is falling and there’s romance in the air. Curl up for a cosy Christmas by the fire at Seaview Cottage... When thirty-year-old Lily Ambrose’s latest relationship ends in disaster, she remembers happy childhood holidays in the seaside town of Shipley and decides it’s the perfect place for a fresh start. But when Lily arrives, the town’s spirits are as low as her own: the local celebrity due to turn on the Christmas lights has gone on a cruise instead. Keen to prove herself, she calls in a favour and secures gorgeous reality star Ollie.

Rose Gregory has suffered a devastating blow, a double bereavement from which months later she is still reeling. Sanctuary and rest are prescribed by her doctor. But when she arrives at her refuge, a dank and decaying monastery, she finds it is not the haven promised. Despite the veneer of calm contemplation, the monastery turns out to be a hotbed of intrigue and disharmony. Rose witnesses bullying and cruelty and ultimately in defence of the vulnerable turns to violence herself.

When Rob decides the family needs to get away for the summer Jess is not convinced—won't all the things they're escaping be waiting for them on their return? But the kids are thrilled, and before long their idyllic little cottage, the sea air, and the feel of skin sticky from sun-cream, lollies and sand, begins to work its magic. Jess allows herself to sink into the holiday vibes—the family even make holiday friends. As the summer heat intensifies Jess—ever vigilant—unearths a secret—a problem she's sure she can help solve.

Heather Harris is a piano teacher and professional musician, whose quiet life revolves around music, whose memories centre on a single song that haunts her. A song she longs to perform again. A song she wrote as a child, to drown out the violence in their home. A song she played with her little sister, Harriet. But Harriet is gone...she disappeared when their parents died, and Heather never saw her again. When Heather is offered an opportunity to play piano on a cruise ship, she leaps at the chance.

Pear Tree Farm in Cornwall, owned by the kind-hearted Nessa Vivian, is known for taking in lost souls, and ex-soldier Crispin Davies is certainly one of those. But the once sleepy caravan park is now a thriving business, and far from the peace and quiet Crispin was craving, he soon finds himself roped into helping out with a short-notice Christmas festival, organised by Nessa’s sister, Lowena. But despite Crispin’s initial reluctance, his involvement in the festival serves to throw him together with Ashley Spencer, an American woman and fellow lost soul.

Nessa Vivian is determined to keep her parents' business afloat, but Pear Tree Farm near the backwater Cornish village of Polgarth didn't do well as farm, and it's not faring much better as a camp site. Maybe it’s due to Nessa's habit of taking in troubled runaways, like ex-soldier Crispin, for next to nothing. Or perhaps her highly strung sister, Lowena, is right - caravans named after Beatles' songs and homegrown pears are not enough to turn the farm into a tourist haven.

Nadia has been investigating the secretive business of the wealthy Wilcox Smiths in Bahrain. When she goes missing, presumed dead, those close to her unravel a trail that leads back to the '70s in Tehran, where Martin Wilcox Smith began his career as a diplomat. Phoebe, Martin's enigmatic wife, is divided between her love of Nadia and protecting her husband; Fauzia, Martin's daughter-in-law, is a reporter investigating British ties to the Middle East; and Kate, Martin's niece, is in a relationship with a Bahraini refugee who opens her eyes to Martin's corruption.

In this collection of stories, Gabriella Braun shares insights from over twenty years of taking psychoanalysis out of the therapy room and into the sta­ff room. She shows us why a board loses the plot, nearly causes their company to collapse, and how they come through. We see the connection between a headteacher's professional and personal loss. We understand seemingly unfathomable behaviour—why a man lets his organisation push him around, a lawyer becomes paranoid, a team repeatedly creates scapegoats, and founders of a literary agency feud.

For years Hermione has been oppressed by her husband, Walter. Before they married, he had seemed loving and protective. Now he was demanding and brutal. Shy and vulnerable, Hermione blamed herself. But Walter is a man whose emotions are running out of control. And as Hermione tentatively tries to acquire some independence, her husband's desire to dominate women is becoming pathologically dangerous....

An extraordinary tale about the search for love from acclaimed Costa and Carnegie Award-winning novelist Sally Gardner. Jazmin has been shunned ever since her best friend, Becky, disappeared. But Becky didn't just disappear - she jumped off a tall building and seemingly never reached the ground. It was as if she simply vanished into thin air. Did Jazmin have something to do with her disappearance? Or was it more to do with Icarus, with whom Becky became suddenly besotted...?

London's luxurious Hotel du Barry has been left unscathed by WWI, and the party has just begun: tainted love, murderous desires and gin - it's The Grand Budapest Hotel with a dash of Gatsby. When a laughing baby is found amongst the Hotel du Barry's billowing sheets, tucked up in an expensive pair of ladies' bloomers and neatly pegged to the laundry line, the hotel staff resolve to keep the child.

Georgia Driffield is passionate, willful, resourceful, intelligent but often foolhardy, as she grows from girl to woman in the years between the two wars. It is not until she discovers the extraordinary life of her great-great-grandmother, Chantal, that she finds a way which will reconcile her to her adoption, reunite her with her adoptive parents and, unexpectedly, help her discover the true meaning of love.

Cynny Barlow is just eighteen when she falls helplessly in love with the dashing Ralph Clinton, an ambitious and talented actor visiting her home town for the summer. However, when Ralph is talent-spotted by a film producer, he puts everything behind him and leaves for the big time, with no idea that Cynny is already pregnant. Whilst her daughter Suzie is a toddler, Cynny can see no way out of her life of drudgery, working at the grocer's during the day, and as a barmaid in the evenings to make ends meet.

Constance Wilde's marriage has ended. Oscar is in prison and she has fled to Italy with their children to escape London gossip and public disapproval. Here she reflects on her marriage to Oscar, the confusing difference between his private and public self and whether she always knew that their marriage was founded on a different kind of love. Despite her family's warnings, her frustration with her impossible husband's spending and drinking, his affairs and his prison sentence, Constance remains loyal and loving.

Christmas should be the happiest time, but at Pennington’s dramas are seething beneath the surface. For Cornelia Culford, a divorce hearing looms where she could lose custody of her sons to her unfaithful husband. For Stephen Gower, being head of security at Pennington's is the perfect refuge from a tragic past at Scotland Yard. But soon Joseph Carter and Elizabeth Pennington beg him to help solve the murder of Joseph's first wife, now that the killer has struck again.

All expecting mothers have an innate capacity to give birth safely and naturally, but it's easy to be distracted by stories of traumatic births and a deep anxiety that you won't be in control. Experienced doula and Active Birth associate Nicole Croft takes the fear out of labour and childbirth in this empowering and practical guide. Full of wise advice and simple skills to prepare you mentally and physically, Nicole tells you everything you need to know to ensure you have a very positive experience giving birth, whether you labour naturally or require medical intervention.