Showing results by narrator "Julie Teal" in All Categories

The Cosy Kettle café is the perfect place to escape this summer, for fans of Cathy Bramley, Jenny Colgan and Debbie Johnson. Guests can tuck into fruit puddings and strawberry-studded ice cream, but for Flora, the warm summer breeze is blowing in big changes... When Flora finds out about her husband’s secret fling, she escapes to the one place she feels safe: her beloved café, the Cosy Kettle, in the charming village of Honeyford.

Workaholic art historian Aurora Black doesn’t have time for fairy tales or Prince Charmings, even in the most romantic city in the world. She has recently been hired by a Parisian auction house for a job that could make or break her career. Unfortunately, daredevil journalist Cédric Castel seems intent on disrupting Aurora’s routine. As Aurora and Cédric embark on a journey across France, they get more than they bargained for as they find themselves battling rogue antiques dealers and personal demons, not to mention a growing attraction to each other. 

Upon its first publication in 1846, "Poor Folk" was an immediate critical triumph. Composed entirely of an exchange of letters between a middle-aged copy clerk and a young seamstress who live on opposite sides of a Petersburg tenement courtyard, the novel explores the emotional and psychological effects of a threatening urban environment on the psyches of poor people struggling to survive.

Joanna Jepson was born with a facial deformity that led to her being mercilessly bullied through childhood and adolescence while a strict evangelical upbringing imposed further challenges. Reconstructive facial surgery and a religious meltdown left her unrecognizable and disorientated and triggered a search for identity and belonging.

If life is cheap, how much is love worth? It's 1914, and young Rose Courtenay has a decision to make. Please her wealthy parents by marrying the man of their choice - or play her part in the war effort? After escaping to work in France, she meets Lieutenant Alex Denham, a dark figure from her past. But he's the last man in the world she should get involved with....

During her 70 years on the throne, few got to know the Queen well, but there is one body of work that sheds new light on her thoughts, personality and the issues that really concerned her: the Queen's own speeches. Based on in-depth research and interviews with many of those who knew the Queen best, this audiobook sheds new light on the life and career of our much-missed monarch.

Antonia Butler is on the brink of a life-changing decision, and a job advert looking for a multilingual housekeeper at a beautifully renovated Croatian farmhouse, Vila Maslina, is one she can’t ignore. Arriving on the tiny picturesque island of Korčula, Antonia feels a spark of hope for the first time in a long time. This is a chance to leave the past behind. But this island, and its inhabitants, have secrets of their own and a not-too-distant past steeped in tragedy and war. 

A plane falls out of the sky. A woman is murdered. Four people all have something to hide. Jim is a retired police officer. His beloved daughter has disappeared and he knows something is wrong. Tom has woken up to discover that his wife was on the plane and he must break the news to their son. Freya is struggling to cope with the loss of her father. But as she delves into his past, she may not like what she finds.

While many people with disabilities, differences and disadvantages are often under-valued in our society, under-acknowledged in history and under-represented, Krish and Miriam Kandiah team up again to show how God gives people with disabilities a special mention, special honour and very special jobs. Krish and Miriam introduce us to people in the Bible of all shapes and sizes who go on incredible adventures with God!

Cassandra is an Oxford don; Julia, her sister, a best-selling novelist. They share a set of disturbing memories of a strange childhood game and of Simon, the handsome young neighbour who loved them both. Years later Simon reenters their lives via a television programme on snakes and intrudes into their uneasy compromise of mutual antagonism and distrust. The old, wild emotions surge back, demanding and urgent, and this time the game is played out to a fatal finish.

A very young woman's first job: governess for two weirdly beautiful, strangely distant, oddly silent children, Miles and Flora, at a forlorn estate...an estate haunted by a beckoning evil. Half-seen figures who glare from dark towers and dusty windows—silent, foul phantoms who, day by day, night by night, come closer, ever closer. With growing horror, the helpless governess realizes the fiendish creatures want the children, seeking to corrupt their bodies, possess their minds, own their souls. But worse, the governess discovers that Miles and Flora have no terror of the lurking evil.

Rose's mother and Joshua's father have disappeared. Police inquiries have gone nowhere, but Rose and Joshua still believe that they are alive. Joshua is determined to work out the meaning of the cryptic ‘murder’ notebooks they have discovered. Rose receives some odd, desperate messages from Rachel, a former best friend, followed by the terrible news that Rachel is dead. But what does Rachel have to do with their parents?

Meet Caroline Gray: divorcee and newly single mother. Firmly closing the door on her acrimonious divorce, Caroline and son Ben have moved to trendy Frencham, where they join Caroline's longtime best friends, Heather and Eva. Settling into their new life is easy, but nothing has prepared Caroline for the demands of motherhood at The Sycamore, the school the trio's beloved offspring attend. Forget classroom bullies, forget trips to the head's office, this is full-scale adult playground politics. This is battle with the mothers who won't take no for an answer - the Playground Mafia.

Twelve years ago Linda's sister, Anna, was murdered. Her killer was never caught, but Linda saw him. Now, all these years on, she's just seen him again. On TV. He has since become a well-known reporter, and Linda - a famous novelist and infamous recluse - knows no one will believe her if she accuses him, so she does the only thing she can think of: she writes a thriller about a woman who is murdered, her killer never caught. When the book is published, she agrees to give just one media interview.

From royalty to suffragettes and from campaigners to contemporary rebels, Sky News Presenter Sophy Ridge explains the ways that women have changed the face of politics. Sophy Ridge has uncovered the extraordinary stories of the women who have shaped British politics. Never has the role of women in the political world ever been more on the news agenda, and Sophy has interviewed current and former MPs to gain exclusive insight into the role women play in politics at the highest level.

Mary O'Connor has been keeping a vigil for her first love for the past seven years. Every evening without fail, Mary arrives at Ealing Broadway station and sets herself up among the commuters. In her hands Mary holds a sign which bears the words 'Come Home Jim'. Call her mad, call her a nuisance, call her a drain on society - Mary isn't going anywhere. That is, until an unexpected call turns her world on its head. In spite of all her efforts, Mary can no longer find the strength to hold herself together.

Buckingham Palace, 1981. Her engagement to Prince Charles is a dream come true for Lady Diana Spencer, but marrying the heir to the throne is not all that it seems. Alone and bored in the palace, she resents the stuffy courtiers who are intent on instructing her about her new role as princess of Wales. But when she discovers a diary written in the 1800s by Princess Charlotte of Wales, a young woman born into a gilded cage so like herself, Diana is drawn into the story of Charlotte’s reckless love affairs and fraught relationship with her father, the prince regent.

Frances Brookman has just received the phone call every mother dreads. Her daughter Naomi has been in a life-threatening accident. As she races to the hospital, Frances catches sight of a child in another car – a girl screaming for help. It's a split-second thing and looks can be deceptive. She could follow the car, but can she live with the delay getting to her daughter? If she does nothing, can she live with herself?

For fans of The Help and The Invention of Wings, a searing and sweeping debut novel that gives a new and unforgettable perspective on modern-day domestic workers. Set in the blistering heat of Singapore, The Maid's Room follows the lives of two Filipina maids - sisters Dolly and Tala - who are working hard to send money back home and British expat Jules, who has left her job as a midwife to move to Singapore with husband David.

The scientifically proven route to enriching and enhancing your state of mind. Emma Young has no history of mental illness; just like everyone else, occasionally she gets down, anxious, and disproportionately stressed. Disappointed that her mind does not always deal well with the pressures of modern life, Emma decided to go on a mind-toning journey. Is it possible to tone your mind just as you can tone your body so it becomes more resilient and better prepared to deal with what life throws at you?