Showing results by narrator "Penelope Penelope Rawlins" in All Categories

Perhaps the most brilliantly successful ghost story ever written, The Turn of the Screw creates a terrifyingly believable impression of children so corrupted by evil that they remain deceptive pictures of innocent beauty.

For fans of Jojo Moyes' The Girl You Left Behind, this is the prequel novella, Honeymoon in Paris. Sophie, a provincial girl, is swept up in the glamour of Belle époque Paris but discovers that loving an artist like Edouard brings undreamt of complications. Following in Sophie's footsteps 100 years later, Liv, after a whirlwind romance, finds her Parisian honeymoon is not quite the romantic getaway she had been hoping for....

Rob and Anna have arrived for their holiday in the Caribbean. Kim and Owen, a friendly couple they met in the harbour, offer to charter their beautiful boat to take them to a distant island. Rob dreams of lazy afternoons spent snorkeling. Anna looks forward to the silence of days at sea. But why is Owen so secretive? Why does Kim keep a knife zipped into her moneybelt? Maybe Anna and Rob shouldn’t trust strangers...

Amelia Earhart is one of the world's most famous aviators in the history of flight and a role model for women everywhere. Follow the story of this trailblazing pilot—from her childhood adventures in Kansas, USA, to her around-the-world-flight in 1937, which ended in her mysterious disappearance over the Pacific Ocean.

Franz Kafka is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most enigmatic geniuses of European literature. What happens when his idiosyncratic imagination meets some of the greatest literary minds writing in English across the globe today? From a future society who ask their AI servants to construct a giant tower to reach God; to a flat hunt that descends into a comically absurd bureaucratic nightmare; to a population experiencing a wave of unbearable, contagious panic attacks, these ten specially commissioned stories are by turns mind-bending, funny, unsettling and haunting.

After years in Italy, honing his skills in the delicious art of seduction, Ashe returns to London's high-class establishments - preceded, of course, by his reputation for lavish opulence and unashamed wickedness. Then his scandalous ways are abruptly ended by his father's death. To claim what is rightfully his, notorious lothario Ashe must do the inconceivable - take a wife! But who could possibly even think about marrying such a man? Certainly not the lovely Genevra Ralston.

Meet fifteen heroines who defy convention, challenge expectations and forge their own happy endings in this selection of unforgettable folk tales. These role models defy stereotypes, strike out with courage and provide wonderful role models for young listeners. Hear about brave Elisa, who rescues her brothers from a terrible curse; free-spirited Leelinau, who breaks tradition and chooses her own future; and clever Princess Pyeonggang, who saves a whole country with her wits!

When a travelling skycircus arrives in Brackenbridge, Lily and Robert can't wait to step aboard.... But there's something sinister about the hybrid children who appear as part of the act. And before Lily and Robert can do anything, they're captured by shadowy figures and whisked off in the mysterious flying circus to somewhere far, far away....

There's a saying about all work and no play—but there's never a dull moment for Caroline working at Holly Walk Mall, especially at Christmas. When she's not dealing with orders from Ian, 'the manager who can’t manage' as her friend Rachel puts it, she's overseeing the usual late-night shopping sessions, Santa's grotto construction and, most importantly, the sampling of many delicious festive treats at the Italian café her friends Nina and Marco own.

From number-one New York Times best-selling author Jodi Picoult and her daughter and cowriter, Samantha Van Leer, comes Off the Page, a tender, wonderfully imaginative and romantic crossover novel. Meant for each other... Meet Oliver, a prince literally taken from the pages of a fairy tale and transported into the real world. Meet Delilah, the girl who wished Oliver into being. It's a miracle that seems perfect at first - but there are complications.

When famous TV chef Matteo McLeish turns up at the Old Forge Café and offers chef Charlie Hunter a place in his kitchen for the duration of Hampden Green's local opera festival, she thinks it's because he rates her cooking skills. In fact it's because he's heard she's good in a crisis. The wholesome star of Nonna's Kitchen is being blackmailed by one of his team.

Meet the mother whose children were taken away, and the father who fought for his son. Listen to the radical social worker, the judge, the lawyer. See inside the homes of foster carers, adoptive parents and children in care. Because behind closed doors, a scandal is ongoing.

When she arrived in New York on her 18th birthday carrying nothing but $600 cash and a stolen camera, Alice was looking for a fresh start. Now, just one month later, she is the city's latest Jane Doe, an unidentified murder victim. Ruby Jones is also trying to start over; she travelled halfway around the world only to find herself lonelier than ever. Until she finds Alice Lee's body by the Hudson River.

In this biography, discover the incredible story of Anne Frank, the courageous young writer who hid from the Nazis during World War II. Anne Frank's diary is read by children and adults worldwide. It tells two stories: one of an extraordinary young girl living in hiding during one of the most fearsome times in history, and one of a relatable young girl facing the same questions and troubles that kids come up against today. Learn how both sides of this puzzle made up the person who is Anne Frank.

Being married to a celebrity isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when that celebrity has a very public affair with his co-star.... Alice McBride is determined that the one thing she won't lose in her marriage breakup is Borne Manor, her beloved home, but she gets more than she bargained for when she rents it out for the summer and a sexy cowboy comes to stay. Country music star Robinson Duff has had his own share of heartbreak and needs somewhere quiet to hide out for the summer.

To everyone who knows her now, Zoe Maisey - child genius, musical sensation - is perfect. Yet several years ago Zoe caused the death of three teenagers. She served her time, and now she's free. Her story begins with her giving the performance of her life. By midnight, her mother is dead. The Perfect Girl is an intricate exploration into the mind of a teenager burdened by brilliance and a past that she cannot leave behind.

The brand-new release from the Sunday Times best-selling author that bought you Fairytale of New York and It Started With A Kiss. What happens when the happy ever after is suddenly and painfully taken away from you? Join Elsie as she battles to start again, with the help of a disastrous, newly-formed singing group and her father and sister armed with dating hopefuls.

When she was just fourteen, Jill’s family moved to Walney Island. Initially intoxicated by the freedom of the seaside setting—and fifteen-year-old Andrew Brownstone—she came to learn that her first impressions were very wrong. After making a shocking discovery in Seaview House, Jill fled the scene—a guilty secret she’s carried with her ever since. Now, thirty years later, when the decrepit Seaview House is being demolished, a body is found buried in the garden. But who is the deceased?

They say Leonie got into a man’s car. She was never seen again. It was the day before her fifteenth birthday. But what if she was never taken? What if the truth is right here, all along, in the house where we grew up? The house I’ve come back to, trying to piece the past together. A notification flashes on my phone. Photos on social media. I stare, chilled, at old pictures of my childhood home. Our front door, the gardens outside the window where I sit now. They’re tagged: #leonieshouse. A shiver of unease runs down my spine. Who knows?

What sort of mother would leave her all alone? A gripping and heart-wrenching domestic drama that won't let you go. Lily, who is almost three years old, wakes up alone at home with only her cuddly toy for company. She is afraid of the dark, can't use the phone and has been told never to open the door to strangers. But why is Lily alone, and why isn't there anyone who can help her? What about the lonely old woman in the flat below who wonders at the cries from the floor above? Or the grandmother who no longer sees Lily since her parents split up?