Eight old friends reunite for a week in the sun... What could possibly go wrong? When her old flame Sam rings up one day and invites her on a villa holiday in Italy, Jen is completely thrown off balance. Sam, as she cannot help but recall, was the best kiss of her life. With her husband Marcus constantly travelling the world for work, and seven-year-old Alfie still in the marital bed, the joys of marriage and motherhood are thin on the ground for Jen these days... What could be more appealing than being with old friends and recapturing a little bit of their youth? Two months later, Jen and Marcus arrive at the stunning Villa La Silerchie. There to greet them are Jen's best friend Tara and her new husband Dave, a struggling writer; there's also vain, neurotic Miranda and her fiancé Toby; Jack, a handsome and successful actor, recently separated; and Sam - funny, laid-back, sexy Sam... Everything's set for the holiday of a lifetime; but as the week progresses, and tensions rise in the August heat, relationships unravel, old rivalries re-emerge, and uncomfortable truths have to be faced. Who knew what seven days in the sun could lead to...
Secret St Albans explores the lesser-known history of the Hertfordshire city of St Albans through a fascinating selection of stories, unusual facts and attractive photographs.
A distinctly Indigenous form of landscape representation is emerging among contemporary Indigenous artists from North America. For centuries, landscape painting in European art typically used representational strategies such as single-point perspective to lure viewers—and settlers—into the territories of the old and new worlds. In the twentieth century, abstract expressionism transformed painting to encompass something beyond the visual world, and, later, minimalism and the Land Art movement broadened the genre of landscape art to include sculptural forms and site-specific installations. In Shifting Grounds, art historian Kate Morris argues that Indigenous artists are expanding and reconceptualizing the forms of the genre, expressing Indigenous attitudes toward land and belonging even as they draw upon mainstream art practices. The resulting works evoke all five senses: from the overt sensuality of Kay WalkingStick’s tactile paintings to the eerie soundscapes of Alan Michelson’s videos to the immersive environments of Kent Monkman’s dioramas, this art resonates with a fully embodied and embedded subjectivity. Shifting Grounds explores themes of presence and absence, survival and vulnerability, memory and commemoration, and power and resistance, illuminating the artists’ engagement not only with land and landscape but also with the history of representation itself.
How do workers around the world balance risk and support to ensure that their practice meets the ever-changing needs of children and their families? Renowned authors Marie Connolly and Kate Morris join forces to explore the frameworks and ideas which have shaped contemporary child and family welfare practice. From definitions of abuse to assessment models, they examine the knowledge base which lies at the heart of safe and effective statutory practice with children and families. Drawing on examples from a range of English-speaking jurisdictions, the book explores: - How to engage families, including participatory approaches and the role of the Family Group Conference - How to create positive out-of-home environments for children, discussing foster, kinship and residential care and adoption settings - How to improve professional decision-making through supervision and other organizational frameworks. At a time when child welfare systems across the globe are undergoing review, Understanding Child and Family Welfare provides a timely exploration of the reform agendas which will shape future practice. With sharp analytic insights into the difficulties and dilemmas which characterize this field, it is fundamental reading for all students studying child and family support or child protection, as well as for practitioners working within children and family settings.
Meet Ellie. She's been married to Jack for seven years, has two occasionally-adorable-but-mostly-demanding children and is about to open a café with her friend, Tilda. But Jack is a soap actor whose long-running character has been killed off, leaving him hanging around the house and getting under the feet of Petra, an au pair too glamorous for her own good - even if she is a dab hand with glitter and glue. Meanwhile Ellie's excitement about the café is making her marriage seem dreary in comparison and when the gorgeous Mark moves in next door (with a wife in tow, admittedly) she asks herself when she and Jack went past their sell-by-date. How can she put the sizzle back into her love life without breaking the rules? And is there really something better out there - or is she just scratching a classic seven year itch?
Many policy and practice initiatives that aim to prevent social exclusion focus on children and young people. This book seeks to consider new approaches to understanding the complexities of prevention, and how these new understandings can inform policy and practice. The authors use evidence from the National Evaluation of the Children's Fund to illustrate and explore the experiences of children and families who are most marginalised. They consider the historical context of approaches to child welfare, and present a new framework for understanding and developing preventative polices and practice within the context of social exclusion. Preventative initiatives such as the Children's Fund have supported large-scale complex evaluations that have generated rich and important data about strategies for addressing social exclusion and what they can achieve. The findings of this book have direct relevance for all those engaged in developing preventative policy and practice and will therefore be of interest to policy makers, practitioners and students of child welfare and social policy more broadly, in providing a timely discussion of key debates in designing, delivering and commissioning preventative services.
The end of the world doesn't happen with a bang. It takes slightly longer than that but not by much. Research projects, Gross Anatomy class, tests and fancy coffee drinks will cease to be important. The fight for her life will become the only thing that matters." Reagan McClane is a prodigy med school student on the brink of a brilliant career, but the United States and the rest of the world are headed towards total economic and social collapse. And it doesn't take more than a few hours for mass crime, looting and pillaging to spread across the country like a plague. A brutal attack at her university leads to a fight for her life before Reagan barely makes it home to the safety of her awaiting grandparents and sisters on their family farm in Tennessee. Three sexy Army Rangers, one of whom is married to Reagan's eldest sister, will join the McClane family to build their farm into an impenetrable fortress that they will fight to keep, no matter the cost. Reagan will find that defending her hardened, scarred heart against ever letting anyone in again will prove even more difficult than survival as one Ranger, in particular, tries to invade it. The McClane Apocalypse is a story of love, survival and the importance of family during the worst of times imaginable. Look for Book 2 of the trilogy coming in July!
Imagine a book that transports kids thousands of miles away with the fresh, healthy dishes of different lands. This book leads little people to explore countries and cuisines to try themselves. Simple recipes, using fresh, healthy and easy-to-source ingredients, with suggested substitutions, will open up different tastes, aromas and cuisines.
This book challenges the current child protection culture and calls for family-minded humane practice where children are understood as relational beings, parents are recognized as people with needs and hopes and families as carrying extraordinary capacities for care and protection.
A body pulled from the harbour drags DC Donna Morris into murky waters... The lives of the people of Scarborough have always been tied to the sea. Often their deaths too. And when the body of a young man is pulled from the harbour, the police investigation has to dive into the tightly knit fishing community there. But DC Donna Morris, halfway through her probationary period in the town, finds very little is at it seems. Is the killing to do with old rivalries or more contemporary enmities, or is it somehow linked with a shocking murder which took place in the town twenty years ago? Donna does her best to navigate the tides and currents of the place she calls home for now, but finds people are prepared to muddy the truth if it means preserving the past, and old reputations. Praise for Kate Evans 'Kate Evans delivers a gripping crime debut with a truly original policewoman as the central character. Highly recommended' Irish Independent 'Well written and without any flashiness, this believable police procedural deals with guilt, vengeance, love, a serial killer with a God complex and redemption. . . effective and moving' Literary Review 'Read this book' 5 Stars, Reader Review 'A rich and rewarding police procedural with a candidly portrayed and memorable central character' 5 Stars, Reader Review 'A brilliant read' 5 Stars, Reader Review
As the years have gone by on the McClane farm, the family has suffered losses, brought forth new life and celebrated the return of old friends. They work with their community to restore unity while offering medical services at Doc's old practice in town. But some of them wonder if going to town will always be what's best for their personal safety and the security of the whole family. The teenagers are no longer kids but working, contributing adults who run patrols, hunt, fish and forage for supplies from neighboring towns for the betterment of the group. Making those trips sometimes comes at a price, however, and eventually even the ultimate one. When tragedy strikes and one of their own leaves the farm for good, how will they continue on? And in this next chapter of the family saga, a radio message may just put a wrench in their plans and ruin all hopes of maintaining a peaceful existence on their hidden sanctuary.
With the return of Robert McClane, the family will soon learn the reasons behind his unexpected homecoming. The McClane's also discover a problem in their small town, one that is wreaking havoc on the safety of the people and their medical clinic. As the family prepares to hunker down for the long winter, hearts will be broken, others opened to new possibilities, and even more members will be forced to leave their safe haven.
As the McClane saga continues, the family is forced to aid General Robert McClane in his travels to Fort Knox where he will meet up with the rest of his people from the bunker. The strength of the group will be tested, and hard choices met head-on. The family will face a new threat in the area that is wiping out innocent people near their farm, and some will be put in perilous situations. Cory and Paige will need to confront a difficult decision of their own, but can she let go of her fears to do so? Sam has given up all hope that Simon will come to his senses, but has he given up on her and is he willing to let her go so easily? And a fight for survival none of them saw coming will knock on their door. Can the family survive their toughest adversary yet?
As the saga continues, the McClane family must deal with the highwaymen for good, but despite their well-planned strategies and meetings, they find that time and again the group is one step ahead of them and will not be so easily defeated. Finding their hidden lairs will prove only half the battle, and in the end, they discover that others could be conspiring against them and working with their enemy to defeat them. The arrival of Robert McClane's doctors and scientists will significantly improve their chances of finding a cure for the Scarlet Fever ravaging the children of their village, but with more people comes significant complications that could potentially upset the balance of the family. And the conflict between Cory and his best friend lingers as he tries to find a way to help Simon learn to forgive him and resolve their issues. Except for the only problem Simon has isn't just Cory. His own struggles to win back Sam and convince her to return to the farm is the most difficult task he's faced yet. It leaves some of them wondering if harmony will ever visit their farm again.
Three groups of survivors have found each other during a pandemic that is changing the world and everything they once knew. Rescuing Jamie and Elijah is first up on their combined agendas. The mission is dangerous, and lives could be lost, but bringing the men home safely is the most important thing.Finding and foraging for supplies is also high on the list in order to thrive. As more and more people are added to their groups, feeding and housing them will take its toll. Banding together seems like the best idea, but will they be able to put aside their differences and work together toward a mutual need to survive.
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