Showing results by narrator "Julie Maisey" in All Categories

London, 1914. Sick and injured servicemen are returning home and Lizzie Kellaway and her godmother Margaret Penrose are determined to do their bit to help them. With Lizzie's beautiful singing voice and Margaret's talent for the piano, concerts in hospitals and convalescent homes offer the perfect opportunity to lift the spirits of men who have suffered so much. When Polly Meadows's fiancé rejects her and leaves for the war, she doesn't hesitate before travelling to London to be with her childhood friend, Lizzie.

After a trophy-laden and record-setting club and international career, England’s greatest ever goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, could rightly look forward to an equally successful post-playing career. But a gambling habit forged in his playing days soon spiralled into a gambling addiction: a silent, self-destructive and ruinous obsession that destroyed relationships, his mental health and very nearly himself.

Patty Jenkins has come a long way from her poverty-stricken days in Brownlow workhouse. She now has a coveted position in the kitchens at Freeman's Department store in Liverpool and even the prospect of advancement. For Patty has always enjoyed baking, and her flair for it has caught the attention of the store owner, who intends to have her create elaborate cakes and pastries to serve at afternoon tea to Freeman's clientele.

Life has always been tough for May and Gus Lavender. Their father went away to sea never to return, and then their mother falls victim to the typhus sweeping through Liverpool. Regarded as orphans by the authorities, May and Gus are sent to the Brownlow Hill Workhouse. Like all workhouses, Brownlow is the last resort for the poor and the destitute. May and Gus will have to rely on each other more than ever if they are to survive the hardships to come....

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Virginia Nicholson's Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in the Second World War. A special multi-voice recording featuring five actresses that bring to life the hundreds of personal testimonies, diary entries and books that make up this superb study. Read by Patience Tomlinson, Annie Aldington, Rachel Bavidge, Julie Maisey and Georgina Sutton.

Fashion-guru Annie’s well-dressed world is falling apart – first she has lost her legendary sense of style, and now her daughter Lauren seems to have become her worst enemy. Even her multi-millionairess friend, Svetlana, is having daughter trouble – she’s at war with Elena over their business in New York.

Liverpool, World War II. Monica Eustace and Joan McDonald met as next-door-neighbours living in Mersey View in Liverpool. Their friendship is a close as ever, though they're married now, and sharing Monica's grand house on the other side of the city. But war clouds are gathering, casting a shadow over the happy future they dream of with their young husbands. Meanwhile, in London, Joan's half-sister Bella is overwhelmed with the glitz and glamour of the city while she's training as a singer - but will she forget her friends back home?

Lucy Winters’ parents have always been there for her. Loving, gentle and kind they have given her everything she could have wished for. Now, estranged from her husband, she has moved to the country to take over their thriving auction business. The moment she begins to prepare for her first sale she knows she’s made the right decision. And she dares to hope that at last she is living the life she has always dreamed of.

The phone call to the police arrives at dusk from an isolated farmhouse, 50 miles from the city. A terrified woman's voice pleads for help. But a violent storm rages in the area, and the first available patrol only succeeds in reaching her hours later. It is too late. Something perturbing has happened, something which leaves the investigators in the dark. Just one person is able to reveal the message hidden behind this act of evil, but this person is no longer a policeman.

When Lisa Martin and David Kirby were forced to part, they never dreamed they might one day have a second chance. Many years later, they meet again and it is clear that, despite everything that’s happened to them, they are still the big love of each other’s lives. Now, being in a position to marry, they don’t waste any time. Nothing is going to keep them apart this time around. But then they are faced with a shocking truth. Even if they’d seen it coming, there would have been nothing Lisa and David could have done to ward it off, and once it’s upon them, they can't turn back time.

Trapped in an abusive marriage to Lord Caraway with her beloved daughter Melissa, 24-year-old Lady Elodie Caraway knows she has to escape before her deepest and darkest secrets are revealed giving her husband every reason to seek his revenge. But time is of the essence, if she is to save herself and Melissa. With the help of lifelong friend Aiden Newman, they swiftly leave Oakland Hall for a new life in Liverpool's docklands. On arrival, Elodie and Melissa are welcomed as lodgers by Molly Haywood’s family, Aidens aunt – no questions are asked.

As teenagers, Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe were the only witnesses to a tragic event. Amid heated public debate, the two seemingly glamorous teens were dubbed 'The Ice Cream Girls' by the press and were dealt with by the courts.Years later, having led very different lives, Poppy is keen to set the record straight about what really happened, while Serena wants no one in her present to find out about her past.

'Queen of Chocolate' Beatrice Wodehouse, known for her decadent desserts, is ready to go head to head with her social media nemesis, clean lean baking machine Charlie Simmonds, in the Great Christmas Cook Off TV show. Beatrice is fed up of Charlie's sanctimonious attitude and is ready to show him that food is there to be enjoyed. Surely she'll blow his keto, low sugar, low-carb mince pies out of the water with her chocolatey creations? Except filming for the Cook Off turns out to be anything but sugar, spice and all things nice.

A murder investigation unearths the brutal history of a village where innocence has a shifting meaning if you are alive. Or dead. When psychotherapist Alexis Cosse is found murdered in the playground of the sleepy northern village of Burrowhead, the local police force of Georgie, Trish and Simon investigate. Georgie starts to realise something bad is lurking under the soil in Burrowhead, while someone (or something) equally threatening is hiding in the strange and haunted cave beneath the cliffs.

Every parents wants their child to be happy and to do well when they grow up. But what are the qualities they need to make a success of their lives? How can you encourage kindness in your children? And resilience and honesty? And why is having a backbone important for the healthy development of your child? From babies to teenagers, Backbone: How To Build The Character Your Child Needs To Succeed shows parents the essential steps they need to take.

From the moment Len came into their lives, everything changed for Millie and Elsie. Both fell in love with him, but he chose Millie because of her attractive legacy - the Jam Factory. Millie’s expecting Len’s baby, and it should be the happiest time, but her husband’s true colours have come to the fore - and Millie is forced to leave the marriage. Now Millie is desperate to save her child from Len’s clutches. Will Len ever allow her to find happiness?

Guernsey, 1556. Devoted servant Jennet is heartbroken when her mistress, Perotine, is arrested alongside her mother and sister for a crime that the Massey women did not commit. As Protestants, to be accused of theft under the staunch Catholic rule of Queen Mary is matter of life and death. And, once the Massey family find themselves locked in the grim Castle Cornet, it seems that nothing can change the dreaded sentence they face. Except for one thing, unknown to their accusers. Mistress Perotine is with child.

England, 1942: 23-year-old Betty runs away from Bristol to make a new life for herself. Betrayed by her husband, Betty flees to the seaside town of Bournemouth, where she has fond memories of childhood holidays. There, she finds a small family bakery in desperate need of a new shop girl.... At the Barton Bakery, Betty finds a sanctuary with shopkeeper Audrey Barton, but Audrey is fighting battles of her own. Her husband is at war and in grave danger, she is heavily pregnant and her customers are horrified by the demands imposed by rationing.

January 1941: As Charlie Barton tiptoes silently out of the house one cold winter morning to go off and fight for his country, his wife, Audrey, is left to run the family bakery on her own. Times are tougher than ever, but at the Barton Bakery in Bournemouth, Audrey is determined as always to serve the town with love, loaves and cakes, even as the town is reeling from the struggles of the Blitz. Audrey’s brother, William, has returned from battle with serious wounds. His fiancé, Elsie, is waiting for wedding bells, but William is a changed man, and will her hopes be in vain?

Cleethorpes – 1940. As the new year dawns, the show at the Empire comes to an end and it’s time for the girls to move on. All the seaside girls have their own battles to fight. And while they figure things out it’s time for them to do their bit for the war and keep Britain smiling.