Showing results by author "Wendy Holden" in All Categories

Practical, timely, relevant, and inspiring, 10 Mindful Minutes is Goldie Hawn's gift to parents who want to help their children learn better and live happier lives.

In 1933, 22-year-old Marion Crawford accepts the role of a lifetime, tutoring the little Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. Her one stipulation to their parents the Duke and Duchess of York is that she bring some doses of normalcy into their sheltered and privileged lives. At Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Balmoral, Marion defies stuffy protocol to take the princesses on tube trains, swimming at public baths, and on joyful Christmas shopping trips at Woolworth’s.

Eastern Europe, 1944: Three women believe they are pregnant, but are torn from their husbands before they can be certain. Rachel is sent to Auschwitz, unaware that her husband has been shot. Priska and her husband travel there together, but are immediately separated. Also at Auschwitz, Anka hopes in vain to be reunited with her husband. With the rest of their families gassed, these young wives are determined to hold on to all they have left-their lives, and those of their unborn babies.

It was a love so strong, a king renounced his kingdom - all for that woman. Or was she just an escape route for a monarch who never wanted to rule? Best-selling author Wendy Holden takes an intimate look at one of the most notorious scandals of the 20th century.

Marthe Cohn was a young Jewish woman living just across the German border in France when Hitler rose to power. Her family sheltered Jews fleeing the Nazis, including Jewish children sent away by their terrified parents. But soon her homeland was also under Nazi rule. As the Nazi occupation escalated, Marthe's sister was arrested and sent to Auschwitz and the rest of her family was forced to flee to the south of France. Always a fighter, Marthe joined the French Army and became a member of the intelligence service of the French First Army.

Britain, 1961: A beautiful blonde baby is born to Viscount Althorp, heir to the Spencer earldom. But Diana grows up amid the fallout of her parents’ messy divorce. She struggles at school. Her refuge throughout is romantic novels. She dreams of falling in love and being rescued by a handsome prince.

Edna saw first-hand how poor healthcare, lack of education and ancient superstitions had devastating effects on Somaliland’s people, especially its women. When she suffered the trauma of FGM herself as a young girl at the bidding of her mother, Edna’s determination was set.

Owen-known to his family as "little buddy" or "Little B"-has a rare genetic disorder that leaves him largely confined to a wheelchair. Before being united with Haatchi, Little B was anxious and found it difficult to make friends. Haatchi-an adorable Anatolian Shepherd puppy-was abused and left for dead on railroad tracks. He was struck by an oncoming train, and although his life was saved, his leg and tail were partially severed. Haatchi was left massively disabled and totally dispirited.

London's most glamorous glossy magazine is in trouble. Advertising revenues are nonexistent, and if editor Laura Lake can't pick them up, she's out of a job. According to those in the know, Scotland is having a fashion moment. Haggis tempura is on Michelin-starred menus, smart spas are offering porridge facials and a chain of eco-hotels is offering celebrity bagpipe lessons.

A teenage girl, guilty only of being Jewish, is saved from the fate that awaits her family and hidden by her parents' Catholic friends—who pay the ultimate price for their bravery. So much was risked and so much lost but the legacy of their courage and trust lives on through the surviving generations. Now, at last, their story can be told . . .

The Duchess, the second novel in Wendy Holden's trilogy about royal outsiders, fictionalises the unknown London life of Wallis Simpson.

Marion Crawford was 22 when she became governess to the young princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in 1933. A working-class girl with progressive ideas, she had intended to teach children in the Edinburgh slums. Instead, she had a ringside seat at some of the most seismic events of the 20th century. The castles and palaces housed a family frozen in time. But outside the royal gates, poverty and unemployment were breeding unrest in 1930s Britain. Hitler was on the rise in Europe. If royalty was to survive, it must draw closer to the people.

This enchanting book is an international best-seller. City folk Rosie and her boyfriend, Mark, have always dreamed of a countryside cottage. The nouveaux-riche Samantha and Guy are also seeking rural bliss: a mansion with a mile-long drive and a team of gardeners. The village of Eight Mile Bottom seems the idyllic hideaway for them. But as dreams become reality, they soon realize that village life can be far from peaceful.

Among millions of Holocaust victims sent to Auschwitz II-Birkenau in 1944, Priska, Rachel and Anka each passed through its infamous gates with a secret. Strangers to each other, they were newly pregnant and facing an uncertain fate without their husbands. Alone, scared and with so many loved ones already lost to the Nazis, these young women were privately determined to hold on to all they had left: their lives and those of their unborn babies.

It's the new university term among the dreaming spires. The start of a whole new life. Meet Isabel, beautiful, clever, shy - and leaving home for the first time. Meet Olly, recently graduated, idealistic and a little hopeless, a man whose heart leads his brain and for whom opportunity just hasn't come knocking - yet. Meet Amber, the It girl who is soon partying with the fast set - and no-one is faster than Jasper de Borchy, glamorous leader of the notorious Bullinger club.

Best-selling author Goldie Hawn offers parents a practical guide for helping their children to learn better and live more happily. Based on the MindUP programme, supported by the Hawn Foundation, 10 Mindful Minutes outlines short, practical exercises for parents and children - taking less than 10 minutes - to help young children and teenagers reduce stress and anxiety, improve concentration and academic performance, effectively manage emotions and behaviour, develop greater empathy for others and the world, and be more optimistic and happy.

Anna Farrier learns the hard way that in some careers, high-powered connections mean far more than actual talent. So, she becomes assistant to Cassandra Knight, an author of scorching blockbusters whose real forte is social climbing. Unfortunately, the ad Anna answered is Cassandra’s latest plan to bamboozle someone into becoming nanny to her son, Zak - a post no one in his or her right mind would want.

Laura Lake, editor of glossy magazine Society, is always on the hunt for scandalous scoops to fill her pages. Now she's discovered a top-secret village in the English countryside where the rich and famous own weekend retreats. Where film stars, Turner-prize winners and billionaires park their helicopters outside the gastropub and buy £100 sourdough loaves from the deli. Outsiders are strictly forbidden. But luckily Laura's best friend Lulu, a logo-obsessed socialite with a heart as huge as her sunglasses, suddenly fancies a quiet life in the country....

Ambitions clash when the village launches an allotment project. Morag wants to plough hers with a horse; Beth buys a gleaming mini-tractor; Alexandra arrives with a Chanel spade & film crew, while Mary endures the advice of a champion vegetable-grower.

Laura Lake longs to be a journalist. Instead she's an unpaid intern at a glossy magazine, sleeping in the fashion cupboard and living on canapés. But she's just got her first big break: infiltrate three society weddings and write a juicy exposé. Security will be tighter than a bodycon dress, but how hard can it be? Cue disappearing brides, demanding socialites and a jealous colleague determined to bring her down.