Showing results by narrator "Imogen Wilde" in All Categories

A story short-listed for the 1995 Beefeater Children's Novel Award, which tells of the impact a Romany child from the country has on a sophisticated urban household when she goes to stay with her very proper aunt Emma.

It is no small matter, after all, to create something - to make it so only by setting down the words. We forget the magnitude, sometimes, of that miracle. Mr. Crowe was once the toast of the finest salons. A man of learning and means, he travelled the world, enthralling all who met him. Now Mr. Crowe devotes himself to earthly pleasures. He has retreated to his sprawling country estate, where he lives with Clara, his mysterious young ward, and Eustace, his faithful manservant.

Iris’s grandmother, Mimi, has started to put jam on her scrambled eggs and tie blue ribbons around her fingers to remind her of stuff. Her house, always full of things, is becoming harder and harder to navigate and when Iris goes to stay, she feels as if a whole life is becoming muddled up. As her grandmother’s memory fades, a mystery is uncovered. Who is Coral, and what happened to her?

Secrets, spies or maybe even a monster... What lies in the heart of the wood? Charlie, Dizzy and Johnny are determined to discover the truth, but when night falls without warning they find themselves trapped in a nightmare. Lost in the woods, strange dangers and impossible puzzles lurk in the shadows. As time plays tricks, can Charlie solve this mystery and find a way out of the woods? But what if this night never ends? A timeless novel for anyone who’s ever felt lost.

Elspeth has escaped the clutches of the dastardly Miss Crabb and her sidekick Gladys Goulash, and now she's determined to find her parents. After the dim-witted Gladys let slip that they'd been sent to Australia, Elspeth sets off on their trail, with the help of her best friend Rory and his snooty butler, Mr Tunnock. But Elspeth needs her wits about her as she ventures through the rain forest. Could it be that Elspeth hasn't seen the last of her enemies?

Cat is in love. Always the sensible one, she can’t believe that she’s actually dating, not to mention dating a star. But the fandom can’t know. They would eat her alive. And first at the buffet would definitely be her best friend, Evie. Amy uses Heartstream, a social media app that allows others to feel your emotions. She broadcasted every moment of her mother’s degenerative illness, and her grief following her death. It’s the realest, rawest reality TV imaginable.

A collection of honest, fierce and beautiful poems about being a mother, from pregnancy and birth to growing up and leaving home. Curated by acclaimed anthology Ana Sampson, Night Feeds and Morning Songs examines motherhood from all angles, capturing the mess and the madness, to the joy and the wonder....

How to Talk to Robots is your girls' guide to artificial intelligence. Entrepreneur Tabitha Goldstaub welcomes you into the AI world with a warm embrace. She brilliantly breaks down the tech-bro barriers offering a straightforward introduction and makes clear the enormous benefits of understanding AI.

Grace never thought she'd have to return home to Floral Street. Having spent most of her life building a successful career in London, she's done everything she possibly can to avoid the flower stall that's been in her family for generations. But when tragedy hits, she's got no choice. It's time to face the demons of the past and support her family. Faith has returned home after years travelling the world. She thought that her life would be different after a trip across the globe, but as she settles back into life in her childhood room she has to come to terms with her life.

Phil Owen has it all figured out. Or rather his character in his weekly role-playing game does. In real life? Not so much. Inviting Amy Evans to join their group’s campaign seemed like the kind thing to do when his best friend’s younger sister returned home broken hearted six months ago, but all it’s done is give her another dimension in which to tempt him. Yet when an unwelcome character from Amy’s past turns up in her present, it’s Phil’s spell level that saves the day. His prize? A three-month quest as Amy’s fake boyfriend, and a chance to turn fantasy into reality…

Tristan and Izzy are on the brink of marital breakdown. Sex has become less than perfunctory and distance shadows their interactions. The arrival of their new neighbour may just be their salvation: or, will she be their undoing? Vivacious, enigmatic and enticing, Viv piques both Tristan and Izzy’s interest, her appearance in their lives offering them diversion from their faltering marriage and a window into the people they might be were it not for each other.

Six friends travel to a remote island north of the Scottish Highlands for an old school reunion. They’ve rented the Lighthouse—a stunning, now abandoned building that was once notorious for deaths at sea. On the first evening, someone goes missing. The group search all through the night to no avail. But when the five remaining friends return to the lighthouse early the next morning, they are shocked to find James inside. He’s looks terrified—but won’t say a word about where he’s been.

Several months after the Frost Fair cast its spell over London, best friends Thomasina and Anne are running their own sweet shop – and, truth be told, longing for adventure again. Then the rumours begin – rumours of unexplained storms and catastrophic shipwrecks. And then disaster strikes, and their beloved friend Henry disappears: snatched by a mysterious creature, and dragged down into the depths of the River Thames. Determined to save him, the girls venture into the deep, and discover the enchanting world of the Free Waters: a vast, glittering underwater city, home to mermaids and sirens.

Deadly fires are lighting up Brighton, and the latest case is alarmingly close to home for DC Eve Starling. The blaze was deliberately set, and a mother and daughter didn’t make it out of the smoke. Eve’s investigation takes her deep into her own uncomfortable past. When her key witness disappears, and with the killer always one step ahead, Eve is desperate to solve the case – whatever the cost. But Eve has no idea how close she is to the flames, and playing with fire can get you burned…

In the year 4024, Christmas is everywhere. Santa Claus rules the world and the Big Day happens EVERY DAY! There are holographic elves to grant your wishes, travel is by flying sleigh, and all food is served as candy canes, in any flavour you can imagine! Not everyone gets to celebrate 24/7 though. Gryla Garland is a witch banished to the Mince Pie Isles, where Christmas comes but once a year. All she’s ever wished for is to join the festive world.

Ten years after graduating, the class of 2014 are back at Tisdale Comprehensive for the reunion, packed into a school gym full of familiar faces - and plenty of new secrets. With an evening of power cuts, fire alarms, sneaking off to explore classrooms in the dark, stolen kisses and heated fights - it's like they never left at all.

Princess Serena (or, as she prefers, Princess Pulverizer) doesn't want to be a princess - she wants to be knight! But her father, King Alexander of Empiria, thinks that she still has a lot to learn when it comes to exhibiting valiant behavior. So he presents a challenge: the princess must first go on a Quest of Kindness to prove that she truly deserves to go to knight school. With the help of a friendly dragon named Dribble and a perpetually terrified knight-in-training named Lucas, can she complete her quest and discover what it truly takes to be a hero?