Showing results by narrator "Shaheen Khan" in All Categories

When someone hacks into the systems of eight self-driving cars, their passengers are set on a fatal collision course. The passengers are: a TV star, a pregnant young woman, a disabled war hero, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife - and parents of two - who are travelling in separate vehicles and a suicidal man. Now the public have to judge who should survive but are the passengers all that they first seem?

Two years after the events of Pride and Prejudice, Miss Caroline Bingley is staying at her brother's country estate close to Pemberley, wondering if there's more to life than cribbage and paying calls. So when Georgiana Darcy's maid, Jayani, vanishes and Georgiana disappears in search of her, Caroline races after them to London, only to discover a shocking, cold-blooded murder. Soon Caroline is careering through the grimy underbelly of the city, demanding answers of malevolent footmen, reluctant magistrates, Indian dockhands, and mysterious East India Company men.

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. It is of immense importance to the culture of the Indian subcontinent and is a major text of Hinduism. Its discussion of human goals (artha or 'purpose', kama or 'pleasure', dharma or 'duty' and moksha or 'liberation') takes place in a long-standing tradition, attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world (the nature of the 'self') and the workings of karma.

In a small pocket of the city, between the houses of No.77 and No.79 on Eastbourne Road, there’s a neglected community garden. Once vibrant and welcoming, and a sanctuary for the people when they needed it most, the garden’s gate is firmly closed. But it only takes a small seed of an idea for big changes to happen. And as the neighbours’ need for connection grows, the twilight garden comes out of hibernation.

Eve is clearing her father’s house when she finds an old cassette player and a box of tapes. Though grieving, she smiles at the spark of nostalgia. One tape is labelled ‘Eve’–in her mother, Angela’s, scrawled handwriting. She disappeared for good more than ten years ago. The tape whirrs. A voice crackles. ‘My name is Angela’. Tears fill Eve’s eyes at the familiar voice–at the thought her mother recorded this message just for her. But the next words make her heart pound.

The chant of 'Azadi!' - Urdu for 'Freedom!' - is the slogan of the freedom struggle in Kashmir against what Kashmiris see as the Indian Occupation. Ironically, it also became the chant of millions on the streets of India against the project of Hindu Nationalism. Even as Arundhati Roy began to ask what lay between these two calls for freedom - a chasm or a bridge? - the streets fell silent. Not only in India, but all over the world.

Among the rarefied circles of Mumbai's posh Temple Hill, there is nothing more tragic than loss of face—not even loss of life. Radhi's pregnant best friend Sanjana's father is found dead in his study. Everyone says it's suicide. And yet, just hours before, he was telling Sanjana that he couldn't wait to hold his grandchild in his arms. Something feels off to Radhi. Her suspicions are further raised by the surly cook and timid young maid's odd behaviour. And who did the second cup of tea on his desk belong to? Radhi is determined to uncover the truth.

When human remains are discovered under Bradford’s derelict Odeon car park, DS Nikita Parekh and her team are immediately called to the scene. Distracted by keeping her young nephew out of trouble, Nikki is relieved when the investigation is transferred to the Cold Case Unit, and she can finally focus on her family. But after the identity of the victim is revealed, she’s soon drawn back into the case. The dead man is a direct link to her painful past. As the body count begins to rise, Nikki must do everything she can to stop the killer in their tracks before anyone else gets hurt.

Hana has a perfect job, a perfect home, a perfect marriage. It is her younger sister Mira who is a mess. But Hana wants children and her husband is hesitating, and perhaps her control is slipping. Mira dreams of a creative life but she's stuck working at a local café. She hates her flatmate and Hana's dismissal of her writing but she can't find the right inspiration. One night, a fight between Hana and her husband sparks something in Mira: the words ring in her head and she starts typing. But what can you borrow from your sister? And what can be forgiven?

A superbly nuanced work of fiction, Anindita Ghose's first novel The Illuminated revolves around two women: Shashi and Tara. After the sudden death of her celebrated husband, Shashi is alarmed to realize that overnight, she has lost her life's moorings. Meanwhile, their fiercely independent daughter Tara, a Sanskrit scholar, has been drawn into a passionate involvement with an older man, which threatens to consume her in ways she did not imagine possible.

Letter to My Younger Self is back with another incredible selection of letters from well-known figures. In this edition, interviewer Jane Graham asks one simple question to a wide range of women from the worlds of entertainment, politics, food, sport, literature and business. This collection of 50 of the most moving, inspiring and honest letters includes Fearne Cotton on battling imposter syndrome, Billie Piper on feeling burnt out, Dame Kelly Holmes on not giving up, Nancy Sinatra on marrying young and so much more.

With her thirtieth birthday on the horizon, Anna Kotze has accepted that there are some family secrets she’ll never know. While her mother’s Zimbabwean roots are woven into her life, all her father will say is that he was adopted. But when she finds an engraved necklace hidden among his things, a surprise piece of the puzzle finally falls into place: her father wasn’t just adopted—he was abandoned. The only clue to her grandmother’s identity is the inscription, ‘Indira’, Anna’s own middle name. But who was her namesake and where is she now?

When a body is found at the edge of Chellow Dene reservoir, Detective Nikki Parekh and DC Sajid Malik are quick to arrive. This is the third murder in the space of a few weeks. Each murder has a completely different MO, but there is one common theme...all the victims are teenagers. The dead boy reminds Nikki of her nephew, and she feels more helpless than ever. But then another boy goes missing. And this time his parents have been sent a threatening package, too. The pattern is different again - is the killer just playing a game?

Karna's Wife: The Outcast's Queen tells the extraordinary story of Karna, the unsung hero of the Mahabharata, through the eyes of his wife, Uruvi, bringing his story to the listener from a unique perspective. An accomplished Kshatriya princess who falls in love with and dares to choose the sutaputra over Arjun, Uruvi must come to terms with the social implications of her marriage and learn to use her love and intelligence to be accepted by Karna and his family.

What if the Western world does not have its ultimate origins in a single cultural bloodline but rather a messy bramble of ancestors and influences? As battles over privilege, identity and prejudice rock the cultural wars, it's never been more important to understand how the concept of The West came to be. This book tells a bold, empowering new story of how the idea of the West was created, how it has been used to justify imperialism and racism, and also why it's still a powerful ideological tool to understand our world.

India, 1855. There are two kinds of magic in Chompa's world. The kind her mother favours: writing-magic, which anyone can do if they take the time. Write a spell in Farsi, and wait. It's calm, controlled, safe, says Ammi. It's slow, frustrating, boring, thinks Chompa. Then there's finger-magic, which only those descended from ancient djinn are born with. Immediate, powerful - and dangerous, for every act of finger-magic leaves a trace, and comes at a price.

Grand Life Apartments is a middle-class apartment block surrounded by lush gardens in the coastal city of Chennai, India. It is the home of Kamala, a pious, soon-to-be retired dentist who spends her days counting down to the annual visits from her daughter who is studying in the UK. Her neighbour, Revathi, is a thirty-two-year-old engineer who is frequently reminded by her mother that she has reached her expiry date in the arranged marriage market. Jason, a British chef, has impulsively moved to India to escape his recent heartbreak in London.

When an anonymous tip-off leads Detective Nikki Parekh and DS Sajid Malik to the sprawling Salinger estate, Nikki’s senses are on high alert. The brutal murder of all four members of the Salinger family has shocked the sleepy Bradford village to the core. A mother, father, daughter, and son...all killed in exactly the same way – whilst sat around the coffee table, playing a game of monopoly.

When Detective Nikki Parekh receives a set of threatening postcards, she knows it can only mean one thing… The man who escaped arrest after murdering her mother two years ago is back. Each postcard has a similar message: You’re next Parekh. As the post marks on the cards gradually get closer to Bradford, Nikki must do everything she can to protect her family and catch the killer before it’s too late. But when human remains are found in a remote barn on the icy Yorkshire moors, Nikki’s attention is pulled away from her family.

In her 30 years as Temple Hill's most renowned matchmaker, Sarla thought she'd seen it all. Blissful unions, marriages of convenience, Mr. and Mrs. Good Enough. Not to mention the bitter unfortunates who never made it down the aisle. She's received as many threats as thank-yous along the way. Surely no one would actually harm her. A series of threatening notes, sent in blood-red envelopes, suggest otherwise. Then the body of a woman is found at Sarla's office, sprawled on her stomach next to a heavy bronze statue of the Nataraja — the god of dance. Who was the intended victim?