Showing results by narrator "Gráinne Gillis" in All Categories

Inspired by the true story of Sheila's grandmother, The Woman on the Bridge is a riveting novel of love, rebellion and families torn apart by war. Dramatic, shocking, and full of insight into women's lives, this is a powerful, haunting and unforgettable listen.

Still traumatised by her brush with a psychopath, Detective Cassie Maddox transfers out of the murder squad and starts a relationship with fellow detective Sam O'Neill. When he calls her to the scene of his new case, she is shocked to find that the murdered girl is her double. What's more, her ID shows she is Lexie Madison - the identity Cassie used years ago as an undercover detective.

1958: In a small town like Athenry, people talk. Everyone’s noticed that the injury which stopped Annie Fagan’s father from working doesn’t prevent him from hitting his wife. But a man’s home is his castle, and no one is going to intervene. Until Annie runs into Arthur ‘Sketch’ Talbot. Sketch is determined to help Annie, and the two soon fall in love. But Annie’s father won’t give his daughter up lightly, and Sketch’s attempts to save her will have devastating consequences....

Twenty essays on Irish women, historical and contemporary, who have defied cultural norms around femininity and achieved great things. The subjects include Irish women from Queen Medb to Eileen Gray, from Constance Markievicz to Sonia O’Sullivan, covering stateswomen, artists, writers, activists and rebels of all kinds. Written by multi-award-winning author and first Laureate na nÓg (Irish Children’s Laureate) Siobhán Parkinson. Perfect for use in schools as well as for leisure listening, this collection celebrates the role of women in Ireland’s changing society.

Ivy Rose Murphy dreams of a better future. For years she has set out daily from the tenements known as The Lane to beg for discards from the homes of the wealthy. Her fortune takes a turn for the better, but there are eyes on Ivy, and she is vulnerable as she carries her earnings through the dark winter streets. Jem Ryan, who owns the local livery, longs to make Ivy his wife, but she is reluctant to give up her fierce independence. Then a sudden astonishing event turns Ivy's world upside down.

Discover how expanding and improving your mental agility—your ability to flex your thoughts, feelings, and actions—can transform your life, bolster your resilience, and foster your zest for living. Endless self-help approaches claim to have the answer. It's important to be mindful, we are told, and to stay in the moment. Sometimes, we are advised to keep going no matter what, to be 'gritty'. Others tell us that adopting a 'growth mindset' is key.

From Sheila O'Flanagan, the number-one best-selling author of Someone Special and Things We Never Say, comes an unpauseable, heart-searching new novel for every woman who still remembers her first love.... Carlotta O'Keefe is happily engaged, and the wedding plans are coming together. She's clear about her future path, both personally and in her busy career. Maybe Chris doesn't make her heart race every time she sees him, but you can't have that feeling forever. Can you?

Julia Ashley was born to a life of dramatic twists and tragedy. Her future and any possible lasting happiness depended entirely on a "glove marriage" to a man who was no more than a name. The Dutch East Indies, in the 17th century, were the lands of legendary riches; of "nutmeg princes"; of fortunes built on barbaric plantations and slavery. And amid the extravagance, the cruelty, the bizarre customs, perhaps the strangest events of all were the curious weddings that sent girls halfway around the world.

Iona Brannock has always been impatient. Not one to hang around, she married her gorgeous husband just months after meeting him, and they have lived happily ever since. Now all she needs is a baby, and her life will be perfect. Sally Harper has been blissfully married for almost 20 years. She has a beautiful daughter, a loving husband and a great job. Her life is complete. But a surprise pregnancy is about to change everything.

An apocalyptic cult member carries out a gas attack on a rush-hour metro, but what links him to a jazz buff in downtown Tokyo? Or to a Mongolian gangster, a woman on a holy mountain who talks to a tree and a late night New York DJ? Set at the fugitive edges of Asia and Europe, Ghostwritten weaves together a host of characters, their interconnected destinies determined by the inescapable forces of cause and effect.

Sheila O'Flanagan's best seller Bad Behaviour is an irresistible tale of friendship, love and sweet revenge, not to be missed by fans of Kathryn Hughes and Jamie Beck. Darcey and Nieve were best friends for life. Until Nieve stole the heart of Aidan, the boy Darcey had fallen in love with while Nieve was travelling. Aidan was going to propose the very night Nieve caught his eye, and Darcey had seen the ring.

At once epic and intimate, the story of Lilly Bere unfurls as she tries to make sense of the sorrows and troubles of her life and of the people whose lives she has touched. Spanning nearly seven decades, from Dublin at the end of the First World War to Lilly's life in the new world of America, it is a novel of memory, war, family ties, and love.

One winter morning, in contemporary Dublin, a middle-class woman wakes up next to her husband in her suburban home, and without conscious purpose, walks out the front door to begin a journey that ultimately leads to profound transfiguration. She travels first by car and then train to Rosslare, from where she takes a ferry to Fishguard in Wales. Along the way, she finds herself in service stations, shopping centres, train stations, ferry terminals; recalling her youth, earlier fantasies of suicide and reminiscing about those people who have come in and out of her life.

The publishing house of John Murray was founded in Fleet Street in 1768 and remained a family firm over seven generations. Published to coincide with this remarkable achievement' and in the anniversary year, Dear Mr Murray is a collection of some of the best letters from the hundreds of thousands held in the John Murray Archive. They reveal not only the story of some of the most interesting and influential books in history but also the remarkable friendships - as well as occasional animosities - between author and publisher as well as readers, editors, printers and illustrators.

The Sugar Loaf Lodge welcomes you in to warm yourself by the fire as the snow falls softly down. You'll find yourself immediately at home, bathed in the magic of this romantic hotel as it reveals the secrets and dreams of its guests. Sheila O'Flanagan's Christmas with You - originally published as A Season to Remember - is ideal festive listening for fans of Veronica Henry, Carole Matthews and Marian Keyes. These enchanting linked stories from the number one best-selling author bring to life one unforgettable Christmas full of surprise twists, life-changing moments...and love.

June cleans houses. Ray is a janitor at the public tennis courts in Dun Laoghaire. After lives spent picking up the pieces, he's not romantic material, and she's not even friend material. When it comes to learning how to be with other people at the age of 70 plus, they are unlikely companions, even more unlikely friends.

When Carey Browne decides it's time for a holiday and flies into New York City - one of her favourite shopping destinations - she knows she'll have a good time. What she doesn't know is that she's about to have the biggest adventure of her life. Within days she's met and married Ben Russell, and a week later they're heading back together to Dublin, where they both live, to share the happy news with family and friends. Except not everyone's thrilled. And not everyone's convinced this is really more than a holiday romance. Carey and Ben are about to discover whether they've found the kind of love that can survive a blast of reality....

Since his beloved wife Helen passed, Luke and six-year-old Amy are just about keeping the show on the road, but he’d do anything to have Helen near him again. Connie’s much-missed mum was everything to her daughter. A friend, a cheer-leader, a comfort, and the best housemate Connie ever had. What she wouldn’t give to speak to her one more time… Teenage twins Alex and Lucy both miss their dad desperately but neither have the words to put it right. In the heart of Dublin, a quiet community is forming, drawn together by the loved ones they have lost, but kept together by friendship and laughter.

All children have imaginary friends. It's perfectly normal. But when Georgina's young son, Cody, tells her about his 'New Granny', a mysterious friend from the park, the words send shivers down her spine. Georgina's beloved mother died only months ago. Her husband, Bren, is certain the woman is an invention, Cody's way of grieving for his grandmother, but there's something in the way Cody talks about his new friend that feels so real.

What is the key ingredient to a happy, successful life? Endless self-help approaches claim to have the answer. It's important to be mindful, we are told, and to stay in the moment. Sometimes, we are advised to keep going no matter what, to be 'gritty'. Others tell us that adopting a 'growth mindset' is key. However, the truth is that there is no one size fits all solution to dealing with life. Elaine Fox, one of the world's leading psychologists and performance coaches, has witnessed this time and again.