For over forty years, Bel Mooney has been one of this country's best-loved journalists and authors, and her hugely popular Daily Mail advice column reaches six million people every week. Far from being a detached and abstract figure, Bel doesn't shy away from sharing her own life experiences of grief, forgiveness and joy with her devoted readers, making her column at once both distinctly personal and thoroughly universal in relevance. A lifeline for many, some of her wise, compassionate and unflinchingly honest words of good counsel are gathered together here for the first time. This selection includes problems, responses and some of the wide-ranging mini essays that appear in the Mail as 'And Finally'. Punctuated by some of Bel's favourite uplifting quotations, this collection also includes 'what happened next' with some of those who received Bel's wisdom - be it about love, loss, break-ups or breakdowns. A heartfelt and inspirational collection, full of valuable insights and prefixed by a wide-ranging and candid introduction reflecting on what being an advice columnist has taught her, Bel Mooney's Lifelines is a book readers will return to again and again, each time discovering something new in the process.
Bel Mooney has taken twelve children from different parts of the British Isles and observed them over a year as they play, learn and grow. She saw Denise being born, watched Gemma, the daughter of a company executive, at her nursery school and heard the fears of the parents of Donald, a West Indian child from Birmingham. She saw David in preparatory school and Melanie in her comprehensive; talked to a fourteen-year-old Asian boy about his experience of race, and to a ten-year-old Welsh boy about family violence. The twelve chapters in The Year of the Child mirror the stages in a child's development from total dependence to independence and self-awareness and the beginnings of a critical attitude to the world around – a world in which he or she, whatever the social background, has had very little personal choice. The Year of the Child makes a valuable contribution to social history, describing six boys and six girls from different parts of the British Isles and from three broad social groups; it goes beyond journalism and social comment to become a re-enactment of what the author calls 'that cyclical loss of innocence which is at the root of human experience'.
First published in 1989, in Bel Mooney's Somerset she sets the tone of this delightfully personal account of her 'adopted county'. Brought up in Liverpool, she writes of Somerset with the rapture of the late convert, travelling through its towns and villages in all seasons, observing sights as various as the Minehead Raft Race or rare beakhead moulding at All Saints, Lullington; the mysterious Glastonbury Tor and the magnificence of Wells Cathedral. She begins with Exmoor, with Lorna Doone, prize sheep at the county show, St. Bueno, the smallest parish church in England, moving on to the Quantock Hills, dotted with Bronze Age barrows and cairns. She describes the vale of Taunton Deane with it's rich red soil, and Cadbury Hill and the Somerset lore of King Arthur. We learn of the flat sodden world of the Wetlands, the dramatic beauty of the Mendips - wild, windblown trees and the 'gruffy ground' of abandoned mines. We can envisage the mud of Stert Flats, visit Burnham-on-Sea and Weston-super-Mare - a little melancholy out of season - and the accommodating, quiet, green fields and watery sky of the Eastern edge of the county. Somerset writers such as Parson Woodeforde, Coleridge and T.S.Eliot are introduced; so are characters from history - Judge Jeffries and the doomed Duke of Monmouth. The book is designed to be read as a narrative, and covers the whole of the old county of Somerset, dismissing the boundry changes of 1974, and including, therefore, the elegant spa town of Bath. Bel Mooney's enticing observations, her thoughts, idiosyncracies and passions, will be shared and enjoyed by anyone who plans even to pass through one of Britain's most beautiful counties.
At the heart of Ana Popescu's existence is the love for her son. He is the only thing that makes life in Ceausescu's Romania tolerable. In their mean little flat they have created a private world in which no harm can come to them. But Ana is haunted by a mystery in her own past, and by her awareness under a totalitarian regime the soul can gradually be corrupted. At last as incident at Ion's school convinces her she must send him away. When she seizes the chance to give Ion freedom, Ana unwittingly propels him beyond bureaucracy into an underworld of refugees and migrants. Attempting to follow, she is caught and thrown into prison. Then the collapse of communism and the overthrow of Ceausescu rekindle her hope for a future, as she leaves her country for the first time and embarks on a quest to reclaim her lost child. The achievement of Bel Mooney's powerful and ambitious new novel, as it moves across the changing face of contemporary Europe, is that it takes us inside the lives of people caught up in the flood tide of political events. A story of sacrifice, loss and love, it is a moving and triumphant celebration of the power and immutability of the bonds of motherhood and is also about one of the most pressing humanitarian issues of our age.
To newly separated Anna, holidaying in Devon with her seven-year-old son, the exquisite windsurfer winging across the waves on the river near their cottage represents all that is young, strong and free. In a nearby nursing home Anna's mother is dying of cancer, calmly accepting impending death with a dignity her daughter cannot begin to understand. Faced with the dilemma of many conflicting emotions – guilt, grief, nostalgia and an increasing infatuation with the teenage windsurfer – Anna struggles to come to terms with her life...
Eleanor Anderson's comfortable and well-ordered life is completely shattered when her husband Davis, the dependable and much respected village doctor, disappears. A few days later he is found dead, apparently the victim of a heart attack, and speculation is stilled as family, friends and patients akin feel a kind of relief at knowing the worst. But genuine grief at their bereavement gives way to angry bewilderment when a post-mortem reveals that the man they thought they knew so well, the man they all depended on, had taken his own life, for no obvious reason. And Eleanor discovers, in the uneasy company of her ungracious son, that all she had assumed and lived by has been false...
Kitty's favourite word is No She doesn't want to clean her teeth, eat her vegetables or, worst of all, play with boring cousin Melisso. In fact, Kitty can't seem to stop saying 'no' but when Dad tells her he doesn't ever want to hear her say 'yes', she discovers that that's exactly what she does want to say When she breaks one of her favourite toys, she finds she does want to tidy her room. When Dad says he doesn't want a goodnight kiss, Kitty decides she'd like to give one. When she's bored because Mum and Dad are having a lie-in she does want to play with her big brother, Daniel.
When her beloved small dog died, Bel Mooney was astonished at the depth of her ongoing sorrow. Sharing her loss online and in a newspaper article brought a deluge of responses, spurring Bel to explore these feelings further. Why do humans mourn pets? Can animals themselves grieve - and do they have souls? In Goodbye, Pet & See You in Heaven, Bel sets off on an emotional journey to learn more about pet bereavement. She is astounded by inexplicable 'signs' of her dog's spirit, watches Bonnie's ashes being turned into glass, talks to experts and discusses the mysterious enduring energy of love. She discovers why Ancient Egyptians mummified animals and what different faiths, myths, writers and scientists have to say about animals and the afterlife. She also looks back over her own life and reflects on lessons learned from companion animals - and from wildlife too. As informative as it is deeply moving, Goodbye, Pet is an intensely personal, uplifting look at the love we share with pets, both in life and afterwards. Enriched by heartfelt stories and inspirational words, it is a book to be treasured by anyone who has ever loved an animal.
Kitty is always losing things. It's not that she's careless, but things she put away very, very carefully just seem to move all on their own If Mum hears 'I can't find it ' one more time, she's going to lose her temper. Luckily, because Kitty loses things so often, she's good at finding them, too. So, when Mum loses the car keys and Dad's about to miss his appointment at the dentist, it's Kitty who finds them, just in time.
Bel Mooney interviews 12 people about the way one particular death has affected their lives. People recall the death of a father, mother, friend, sister, child, or spouse, from sickness ar tragedy, reminding us that though they share the common theme of loss, berevement is at once unique and universal.
Thirteen-year-old Flora Popescu and her family find themselves caught up in events leading to the overthrow of the repressive regime of Nicholae Ceausescu in Romania in 1989.
For over forty years, Bel Mooney has been one of this country's best-loved journalists and authors, and her hugely popular Daily Mail advice column reaches six million people every week. Far from being a detached and abstract figure, Bel doesn't shy away from sharing her own life experiences of grief, forgiveness and joy with her devoted readers, making her column at once both distinctly personal and thoroughly universal in relevance. A lifeline for many, some of her wise, compassionate and unflinchingly honest words of good counsel are gathered together here for the first time. This selection includes problems, responses and some of the wide-ranging mini essays that appear in the Mail as 'And Finally'. Punctuated by some of Bel's favourite uplifting quotations, this collection also includes 'what happened next' with some of those who received Bel's wisdom - be it about love, loss, break-ups or breakdowns. A heartfelt and inspirational collection, full of valuable insights and prefixed by a wide-ranging and candid introduction reflecting on what being an advice columnist has taught her, Bel Mooney's Lifelines is a book readers will return to again and again, each time discovering something new in the process.
First published in 1989, in Bel Mooney's Somerset she sets the tone of this delightfully personal account of her 'adopted county'. Brought up in Liverpool, she writes of Somerset with the rapture of the late convert, travelling through its towns and villages in all seasons, observing sights as various as the Minehead Raft Race or rare beakhead moulding at All Saints, Lullington; the mysterious Glastonbury Tor and the magnificence of Wells Cathedral. She begins with Exmoor, with Lorna Doone, prize sheep at the county show, St. Bueno, the smallest parish church in England, moving on to the Quantock Hills, dotted with Bronze Age barrows and cairns. She describes the vale of Taunton Deane with it's rich red soil, and Cadbury Hill and the Somerset lore of King Arthur. We learn of the flat sodden world of the Wetlands, the dramatic beauty of the Mendips - wild, windblown trees and the 'gruffy ground' of abandoned mines. We can envisage the mud of Stert Flats, visit Burnham-on-Sea and Weston-super-Mare - a little melancholy out of season - and the accommodating, quiet, green fields and watery sky of the Eastern edge of the county. Somerset writers such as Parson Woodeforde, Coleridge and T.S.Eliot are introduced; so are characters from history - Judge Jeffries and the doomed Duke of Monmouth. The book is designed to be read as a narrative, and covers the whole of the old county of Somerset, dismissing the boundry changes of 1974, and including, therefore, the elegant spa town of Bath. Bel Mooney's enticing observations, her thoughts, idiosyncracies and passions, will be shared and enjoyed by anyone who plans even to pass through one of Britain's most beautiful counties.
This is the fifth book in the Kitty series funny, affectionate tales that ring with the authentic detail of family life' The Independent Kitty always used to say she didn't want to do this or that, but there's been a change - now she wants to do lots of things, and the grown-ups won't let her Kitty finds herself saying 'Why not?' all the time and it makes her even more cross when they simply say 'Because'. 'Why can't I walk to school on my own?' 'Because.' 'Why can't I go trick-or-treating?' 'Because.' Kitty wishes they'd give her a proper answer But soon she discovers that sometimes a compromise is the best answer of all.
Harry and Zack are planning a camping trip in the wild outdoors. There's only one rule: no girls allowed - and that includes Bonnie the dog. But Bonnie has other ideas - camping is hard work, and it's about time she showed those boys who the real survivor is.
Radio 4's award-winning series Devout Sceptics has attracted a large audience fascinated by one of the biggest questions human beings ask: is there a God? A wide range of distinguished guests discuss in fascinating ways the spiritually testing territory between faith and doubt, through analysis as well as personal revelation and reflection. In a thought-provoking introduction, Bel Mooney draws together the themes of the book making this a truly illuminating and timely examination of our contemporary suspicion of organised religion - but which nevertheless recognises and explores the perennial human urge to reach out for meaning beyond the merely material or secular. Guests include: Ben Okri, Professor Paul Davies, Joanna Trollope, Dr Jonathan Miller, John Cleese, Clare Short, Philip Pullman and Susie Orbach.
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