Showing results by narrator "Olivia Darnley" in All Categories

As much as we might try to resist, endings happen in every moment—the end of a breath, the end of a day, the end of a relationship, and ultimately the end of life. And accompanying each ending is a beginning, though it may be unclear what the beginning holds. In How We Live Is How We Die, Pema Chödrön shares her wisdom for working with this flow of life—learning to live with ease, joy, and compassion through uncertainty, embracing new beginnings, and ultimately preparing for death with curiosity and openness rather than fear.

Just as the archetypal hero possesses the heart to face trials and tribulations for the sake of helping others, the bodhisattva has a remarkable resolve to free others from suffering so that all may achieve true happiness and awakening. Through each challenge, the Buddhist hero of compassion develops rich inner qualities that empower them to be of true benefit to others.

In How Not to Miss the Point, beloved Buddhist teacher Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche presents the Buddha’s core teachings as a guide to avoid modern-day spiritual pitfalls and offers an inspiring call to embrace one’s inherent goodness and potential for awakening

What is enough? Time enjoyed slowly. Choices made intentionally. Life lived gracefully. With minimalist and slow living writer Jessica Rose Williams as your guide, build a curated, simpler, more intuitive life founded on your personal values and desires. At 25, Jessica was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The shock compelled her to question her fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle, one designed around pleasing others. Enough is her heartfelt story of turning away from a life of regret, and it is also an invitation for you to begin your own transformation.

Lolly Willowes, so gentle and accommodating, has depths no one suspects. When she suddenly announces that she is leaving London and moving, alone, to the depths of the countryside, her overbearing relatives are horrified. But Lolly has a greater, far darker calling than family: witchcraft.

The fire is on, sherry poured, presents wrapped, and claws are being sharpened. In a seaside cottage perched on a cliff, one family reunites for Christmas. While snow falls, a tyrannical widowed matriarch presides over her unruly brood. Her niece tends to her whims, but fantasises about eloping; and as more guests arrive, each bringing their secret truths and dreams, the Christmas tree explodes, a brawl erupts, an escape occurs - and their 'midwinter madness' climaxes.

Illumen Hall is an elite boarding school. Tragedy strikes when the body of a student is discovered at their exclusive summer party - on her back is an elaborate tattoo of a magpie. When new girl Audrey arrives the following term, running from her own secrets back home in America, she is thrown into solving the case. Despite her best efforts to avoid any drama, her new roommate Ivy was close to the murdered girl, and the two of them can't help but get pulled in.

Leah and her three best friends get changed into their pyjamas, eat pizza, and argue about what film to watch. They laugh together, until the early hours. But the next morning, Leah blinks open her eyes and sees three empty sleeping bags. The other girls are gone. Twenty years later. In her small hometown, still-haunted Leah has never been able to shake off the rumours and whispers. How could she have slept through it all? She must know what happened.

Darkness descends over Sotenäs... When the daughter of an American ambassador is found lifeless in the famous marble pool on the small island of Hållö, the case lands on Sandra Haraldsson and Dennis Wilhelmson's desks. Garnering enormous attention from the public, not least from the White House, the duo is soon led to an old lighthouse on Hållö: a lighthouse with plentiful of secrets.

After leaving her cheating husband, Marnie needs a fresh start. With her thirteen-year-old daughter, Lauren, she moves back to her childhood village, Babblebrook. But her new neighbour, Andrew, might just be the rudest man Marnie has ever met. So why she can't stop thinking about him . . . ? Marnie throws herself into local the bakery, baking mince pies and spiced buns to help her old friends Pat and Matt. She spends her days dreaming of turning the bakery into a cozy café that will be the heart of the village, and finds herself unexpectedly drawn to gruff Andrew and his kind, reliable nature.

Ellinor lived for adventure, always travelling from one place to the next - until tragedy struck and turned her world upside down. Needing to escape, she accepts an invitation to stay with relatives at their remote Cornish farmhouse. As Ellinor settles on the outskirts of Calstock, it's not long before the land and its history have her itching to explore once more. Her search takes her far and wide when an unexpected encounter with an enigmatic, handsome stranger stops her in her tracks. From the moment they meet, Ellinor knows deep in her soul they share a connection like no other.

Brought to you by Penguin. Tammy loved her childhood growing up in the harbour town of Porthmellow. But when her father went bankrupt and her mother abandoned them, she was quick to learn that nothing lasts forever. Now, Tammy spends her days creating works of art in the golden Cornish sand, and...

Emma loved her life in the seaside village of Silver Cove. But when the discovery of sunken treasure ignited a feud between her family and that of Luke, her first love, everything fell apart. Heartbroken and betrayed, she fled. Now, as she wades into the sparkling surf for the first time in fifteen years, she remembers everything she loved about this beautiful place. Then a huge wave knocks her off her feet. Dripping wet, Emma is rescued by none other than Luke–who is, to her dismay, even more handsome than ever.

The authors of the New Testament regularly quote and allude to Old Testament passages that point to the presence, person, and work of Jesus. Jesus himself claimed that Moses wrote about him (John 5:46). And on the road to Emmaus, Jesus instructed the disciples from "Moses and all the prophets"...

Hannah has been married to Graham since they were eighteen - a union of desperation to escape their strict families. He's the only man she's ever kissed and honestly, she's not sure he's any good at it. But fourteen years of washing his underwear is more than enough to kill the romance. Well, that and the fact that he's got a work colleague pregnant. Hannah's new-found freedom is an opportunity to finally put herself first, and a trip to Spain sounds like the perfect start.

Penny and Jake live in a beautiful home in a beautiful neighbourhood with their beautiful baby boy. It's the perfect life. Except that Penny is desperately lonely and can't shake the feeling that she isn't bonding with her baby like she should be. So when Celia moves in across the street with her husband, Pete, and their gorgeous children, Penny is delighted to have a friend. But things aren't quite what they seem behind closed doors. Because Celia and Pete have a secret. And the truth threatens to devastate everyone around them.

In the archives of the national library, a young researcher named Linda sees a nine-year-old girl's face in the pages of a yellowed newspaper, and the seed of an obsession is planted in her mind. Birgitta Sivander was brutally murdered on a warm May night in 1948. The murderer was never found. Linda feels a deep connection to Birgitta, and in the months that follow she compulsively researches the case. All the while, a life is taking root inside Linda; she is to have a daughter of her own. As she grapples with the terror and wonder of motherhood, she gradually pieces together Birgitta's story.

Figure out what your baby is thinking from the moment they are born. Your baby has a strong desire to communicate, but it isn’t always easy to work out just what they are trying to tell you. In this fascinating, research-led book, parenting author Tanith Carey and Clinical Psychologist Dr...

Maggie and Liz may be sisters (and yes, named after a pair of much more famous siblings) but that's about all they have in common. Maggie is a free spirit - travelling the world, flitting through life and relationships without ever really having to connect. Liz, meanwhile, is the lynchpin of Little Martin village society and determined to be the perfect wife, mother and homemaker - even if she does live in a new build. When Liz and Maggie's beloved grandmother, Queen Vic, dies in a characteristically flamboyant fashion, they are left to deal with the aftermath - inheriting the family home.