Showing results by author "Charlotte Mendelson" in All Categories

When Zoe Stamper, specialist in Ancient Greek Tragedy, meets fellow academic Dr Penny Cartwright at a faculty music recital, she seems impossibly glamorous to Zoe, who is, after all, several rungs down the academic pecking order - and a nervous ingénue as far as Penny’s sophisticated circle is concerned. But Penny leaves Zoe a cryptic note, and a passionate affair ensues . . .

In North London, Claudia Rubin is in her heyday. Wife, mother, rabbi – and sometimes moral voice of the nation – everyone wants to be with her at her son Leo's glorious wedding. That is, until Leo jilts his bride, and the gleaming bubble surrounding the Rubins threatens to burst. Frances – Claudia's calm, mature, married daughter – tries to hold the nucleus of the family together, but the stress forces her to re-examine her own life, leading her to make a decision as shocking as Leo's choice to bolt.

Meet the Hanrahan family, gathering for a momentous weekend as famous artist and notorious egoist Ray Hanrahan prepares for a new exhibition of his art—the first in many decades—and one he is sure will burnish his reputation for good. His three children will be there: beautiful Leah, always her father’s biggest champion; sensitive Patrick, who has finally decided to strike out on his own; and insecure Jess, the youngest, who has her own momentous decision to make.

Amidst the crumbling yellow stone of Oxford and its prestigious university, secrets are stirring within the Lux family home . . . Jean, the constrained and guilt-ridden wife of an academic, is waiting for excitement – and it will come from an unexpected source. Eve, Jean's intelligent eldest daughter, luxuriates in wounded murderous jealousy of her younger sister and is on the brink of snapping. Raymond, the loathed rival of Jean's husband, begins to show interest in Eve. And Helena, Jean's best friend, has a confession, the revelation of which may just alter everyone's lives forever.

In a tiny flat in West London, sixteen-year-old Marina lives with her emotionally delicate mother and three ancient Hungarian relatives. Imprisoned by her family’s crushing expectations and their traditions, she knows she must escape. At Combe Abbey, a traditional English private boarding school in the Dorset countryside, Marina realizes she’s made a terrible mistake. Here, among the boathouses, chapel services and unspoken social hierarchy, she is the awkward half-foreign girl who doesn’t know how to fit in, flirt, or even exist.

This is not your typical guide to gardening. While listening, you will find no advice on topiary, or strimming, or tending to your greenhouse. But if you are attuned to the subtlety of difference between chicories and radicchios; if you cannot pass a packet of seeds without the desire to empty your bank account; or if you, too, long to one day, someday, own a small but emphatic apple orchard in your not-quite-rectangle, suburban garden . . . this is the audiobook for you.