On a Saturday morning in May 1980, Melanie Bowen, a pretty fifteen year old, ran down the stairs of her parents’ home in Port Talbot, grabbed her leather jacket and crash helmet, yelled a goodbye, and then walked out of the front door into the sunshine for what was to be the last time in her life. Never Say Die is the true story of what followed...
Can one day change your life? For Lu Fisher, ex-French teacher and fraught single mother, one day is pretty much like another; typing, translating, making endless cups of cofffee...oh, and daydreaming about finally giving up her dull temp job and going back to college and her first love, studying art. Nights, however, are quite a different matter. Particularly those that involve the delectable Stefan, who tutors the local evening class on impressionist painters, and who is making a serious impression on Lu. But one day is about to change her life. The day on which her irascible boss, Joe Delaney, breaks his arm in an accident and writes off her car. He's sorry, of course, and yes, he'll get her a new one, but in the meantime she needs transport and he needs a chauffeur. Simple, he says. She can drive his car instead. No matter that his Jaguar costs more than her house. Or, indeed, that Lu knows he'll drive her up the wall. One Day, Someday is a clever, funny novel about that time in a woman's life when dreams begin fading and princes- handsome or otherwise are getting thin on the ground. Lu's always rather hoped that hers would show up someday - trouble is, that someday has been so long in coming, if she's not altogether sure she'd even spot him if he did...
September 15th 2007 is a date that will stay with me always. For it's the day that Paul, my late husband and father to my seven children, decided he'd had enough of the life he had created for us all, and took himself off to the woods on the edge of our property, and fatally slashed his neck and arms." When Vikie Shanks met Paul, he seemed to be everything a girl could ever want. Handsome, attentive, caring and musically gifted, he felt like the antidote to all the bad things that had happened in her life. Vikie had had a deeply unhappy childhood, and it had scarred her. Sexually abused by her eldest brother and dominated by a violent father, her childhood ended with the death of her mother when she was just sixteen. Unravelled is the story of Vikie's life with Paul. Of the years in which his behaviour and mental state became ever more erratic. Of his casual cruelty, his spying, his inexplicable and sudden rages. Of his growing obsession with having more and more children, and of naming them according to a precise set of rules. How, over a period of years, he all but gutted their family home, tearing down most of the internal walls and removing almost everything but basic furniture, while simultaneously creating a secret home for himself, made out of plywood, in what used to be a shed. Of his secret diaries - the tens of thousands of entries he made, documenting every minute of every day. After his death, it would be these writings that would provide such compelling evidence of what further tragedy might have happened had he not made the decision that he did that fateful morning. Because whatever was wrong with him was like a ticking bomb that even Vikie hadn't properly heard; it seemed he'd spent time planning to kill the whole family.
Inspired by a true story, a fictional reimagining of a cat named Simon whose heroism and feline charisma won over the crew of a British warship just after World War II. Discovered in the Hong Kong docks in 1948 and smuggled onboard the H.M.S Amethyst by a British sailor who takes pity on the malnourished kitten, Simon quickly acclimates to his new water-borne home. The friendly feline soon established himself as the chief rat-catcher, while also winning the hearts of the entire crew. Then the Amethyst is ordered to sail up the Yangtze River to take over the guarding of the British Embassy, but the ship comes under fire from Communist guns. Tragedy strikes and many of the crew are killed and Simon is among those seriously wounded. Luckily, with the help of the ship’s doctor, the brave cat makes a full recovery and is soon spending time with the injured men, purring and keeping their spirits up. News of Simon’s heroics in dangerous wartime seas spreads and he becomes famous worldwide—but it is still a long journey back to England for both the crew and the plucky little cat known as “Able Seacat Simon”…
The Moon Under Water By Lynne Barrett-Lee What would you do if you suddenly discovered that your husband had been lying to you for years? Happily married, with two teenage sons, Alex Taylor considers herself lucky. And when she hears her childhood friend Cathy has died, she finds herself counting her blessings. She’s also surprised that she’s been left a bequest. They lost touch with one another almost twenty years ago. Why would Cathy remember her now? She really can’t imagine but she’s about to find out, because she’s been left something else – something that changes everything. It’s a letter confessing to the two year affair Cathy had with Alex’s husband, Sam. ‘But it’s history,’ he entreats. ‘It’s long over. It meant nothing.’ Surely Alex can forgive and forget? Should she? And can she? She’s not at all sure. But it looks like she won’t be allowed to. Because it seems Cathy’s left them a third thing as well. A teenage daughter. Who wants to come and find her father. The Moon Under Water is a novel about secrets, and the ripples that spread when they are suddenly exposed. It’s also about how betrayal not only re-writes the past - it has the power to also re-write the future...
Inspired by a true story, this is the fictional reimagining of 'Able Seacat' Simon's adventures and heroics in dangerous wartime seas. Simon is discovered in the Hong Kong docks in 1948 and smuggled on board the H.M.S Amethyst by a British sailor who takes pity on the malnourished kitten. The young cat quickly acclimates to his new water-borne home, establishing himself as the chief rat-catcher in residence while also winning the hearts of the entire crew. Then the Amethyst is ordered to sail up the Yangtze to take over the guarding of the British Embassy, and tragedy strikes as the ship comes under fire from Communist guns. Many of the crew are killed and Simon is among those who are seriously wounded. Luckily, with the help of the ship's doctor, the brave cat makes a full recovery and is soon spending time with the injured men in the sick bay, purring and keeping their spirits up. News of Simon's heroism spreads and he becomes famous world-wide - but it is still a long journey back to England for both the crew and the plucky little cat known as 'Able Seacat Simon'…
The Moon Under Water By Lynne Barrett-Lee What would you do if you suddenly discovered that your husband had been lying to you for years? Happily married, with two teenage sons, Alex Taylor considers herself lucky. And when she hears her childhood friend Cathy has died, she finds herself counting her blessings. She’s also surprised that she’s been left a bequest. They lost touch with one another almost twenty years ago. Why would Cathy remember her now? She really can’t imagine but she’s about to find out, because she’s been left something else – something that changes everything. It’s a letter confessing to the two year affair Cathy had with Alex’s husband, Sam. ‘But it’s history,’ he entreats. ‘It’s long over. It meant nothing.’ Surely Alex can forgive and forget? Should she? And can she? She’s not at all sure. But it looks like she won’t be allowed to. Because it seems Cathy’s left them a third thing as well. A teenage daughter. Who wants to come and find her father. The Moon Under Water is a novel about secrets, and the ripples that spread when they are suddenly exposed. It’s also about how betrayal not only re-writes the past - it has the power to also re-write the future...
The riveting account of a girl who was abandoned in the jungle and lived among monkeys In the early 1950s, in a remote mountain village in South America, as a small girl Marina Chapman was abducted while picking pea pods near her home. Her kidnappers then abandoned her deep in the Colombia jungle, and for approximately the next five years she lived with a troop of capuchin monkeys, eating what they ate, copying what they did, and gradually becoming feral. Eventually, she was taken from the jungle by a pair of hunters and sold as a slave to a couple in the town of Cucuta who beat and tortured her. After she managed to escape, she spent several years as a street child before being taken in by a family of criminals. Finally, a sympathetic neighbour arranged for her to go live with her daughter in safety in Bogota. The Girl with No Name tells this spellbinding story in vivid detail-from the enchantment of the shady garden where Marina was kidnapped to the dappled darkness of her jungle home to the hunger, poverty, and pain of her existence in Cucuta. The book also offers a rare and fascinating glimpse into the world of capuchin monkeys. This is a unique and inspiring story of abandonment, despair, and eventual happiness.
Fed up, frustrated and fast approaching forty, Charlie Simpson hasn’t had many high points in her life just lately. The only peak on the horizon is her ambition to climb Everest, if she could only get organised and save up the cash. Unfortunately, though, she has more pressing things to deal with; her eldest son moving out, her father moving in, and her best friend moving two hundred miles away. She finds solace, however, via her newly acquired modem, when she stumbles upon a stranger who’s a like-minded soul. Like-minded, perhaps, but no fantasy dream date. Though virtual, he’s of the real-life variety – he may be a hero, but he has a wife. Charlie hasn’t got a husband, but she certainly has principles, and they’re about to be hauled up a mountain themselves. And, of course, her mum’s always said she shouldn’t talk to strangers. The question is, is now the time to start breaking the rules? 'A fantastic book that gets you hooked from the first page' New Woman 'It's wonderfully funny and rather inspiring...I enjoyed it hugely and I confess I read it all in one go, wolfing it down like a delicious box of chocolates' Judy Astley ‘A charming and optimistic novel about modern love’ – Hello Magazine ‘A laugh out loud read’ – Real magazine 'I absolutely loved it - hooray for Julia! this is funny, original, well-written and unguessable - I had no idea how it would end. It also has the very best closing paragraph I've read in years. Completely wonderful, dazzlingly entertaining, unputdownaable' Jill Mansell
Born the third of eight children into a life of rural squalor in a farming community in the south of England, Faith Scott's infant world is already more challenging than most. Bewildered by the bizarre and cruel behaviour of her mother and terrified by the violent outbursts of her perpetually angry father, the only certainty in life is that there is none. So when Granddad 'Pop' gives her sweets and does the horrid things he does to her, how is she to know that isn't what all Granddads do? And if it isn't, why does her mother find it funny? Told with honesty and courage, this is the story of a little girl who never stood a chance - who was regularly abused in the most shocking ways by her family and preyed upon by the worst kind of men. Faith went on to have two children in her teens and endured appalling domestic violence but now, after all the suffering, she has turned her life around. Her decades-long journey out of the darkness tells the truth about what happens to abused children when they grow up, in a story that's horrifying and compelling in equal measure.
Headteacher Holly Connors is pinching herself. Dream job, dream life and the dreamiest fiance (her wedding to whom is mere months away). But dreamers often find themselves rudely awakened, and Holly is - by one tousle-haired pupil, Harry Meadows, who's been going off the rails since his mum died. holly knows he's hurting and she knows about loss, so before she can say the words 'professional detachment', she's made a ten year old's happiness her number one priority, despite knowing it will disturb a few ghosts of her own. It's easier to understand the child if you look at the parent, and Harry's dad, Will, seems more feckless than most. He's grieving too, if he'd only admit it, but seems determined to deal with his loss by himself. Mostly, it seems, by disappearing off to work, leaving Harry with a string of au pairs. Despite Will's insistence that it's none of her business, Holly's sense of responsibility towards Harry means that she can't just walk away. But when professional detachment turns into emotional investment, Holly begins to worry; is this just about Harry? Or should be taking a closer look at herself?
Can one day change your life? For Lu Fisher, ex-french teacher and fraught single mother, one day is pretty much like another: typing, translating, making endless cups of coffee…oh, and daydreaming about finally giving up her dull temp job and going back to college and her first love, studying art. Nights, however, are quite a different matter. Particularly those that involve the delectable Stefan, who tutors the local evening class on impressionist painters, and who is making a serious impression on Lu. But one day is about to change her life. The day on which her irascible boss, Joe Delaney, breaks his arm in an accident and writes off her car. He’s sorry, of course, and yes, he’ll get her a new one, but in the meantime she needs transport and he needs a chauffeur. Simple, he says. She can drive his car instead. No matter that his Jaguar costs more than her house. Or, indeed, that Lu knows he’ll drive her up the wall.. One Day, Someday is a clever, funny novel about that time in a woman’s life when dreams begin fading and princes – handsome or otherwise – are getting thin on the ground. Lu’s always rather hoped that hers would show up someday – trouble is, that someday has been so long in coming, she’s not altogether sure she’d even spot him if he did… ‘An absolute joy to read‘ – Jill Mansell ‘A sassy comedy of romantic errors‘ – Cosmopolitan magazine 'Chirpy, readable and very inspiring' -- Woman's Own
This is a book for anyone who has ever thought they didn't quite fit in' -- Beverley Cuddy, Dogs Today 'An uplifting and inspirational story about how one life-changing bond saved two souls' -- Happiful mag 'An astonishing book: by turns emotional, funny, eye-opening' -- Ann Green, Chief reporter, Psychic News Magazine Incredible Kratu tells the story of the lovable rascal from Crufts who became the peoples' champion worldwide and, in so doing, healed his owner's heart. A solitary child who only really found solace in nature, Tess Eagle Swan ran away from home aged sixteen and, by her late twenties, had already survived violence and drug addiction. In the following decade, life spiralled further out of control. Something had to change. Tess had always loved animals, so when she saw a post on Facebook about the plight of two dogs in Romania, she was moved to take action, helping find homes for both. It was the first step on the road that led her to Kratu - the Carpathian/Mioritic Shepherd cross she adopted in 2014. From his humble beginnings on a Roma camp in Transylvania, Kratu has gone on to become a canine international treasure. Now a trained assistance and therapy dog, he has brought joy to millions with his lovable antics - not least with his legendary appearances at Crufts. But the role he has played in Tess's story is more compelling still. After a lifetime of distress, Tess and Kratu's bond allowed Tess to finally learn to love herself and answer some of the questions behind her troubled beginnings. Incredible Kratu is the inspirational true story of this unlikely pair, who found in each other the love and support they needed to beat the odds and turn both their lives around.
On a Saturday morning in May 1980, Melanie Bowen, a pretty fifteen year old, ran down the stairs of her parents’ home in Port Talbot, grabbed her leather jacket and crash helmet, yelled a goodbye, and then walked out of the front door into the sunshine for what was to be the last time in her life. Never Say Die is the true story of what followed...
The abridged, junior edition of the story of Able Seacat Simon, beloved hero of the high seas. A must for Michael Morpurgo fans! When an orphaned kitten is discovered in the Hong Kong docks in 1948 by a British sailor, he has no idea of the journey that awaits him. Smuggled onto HMS Amethyst and named 'Simon' by his new friends, the little cat quickly gets used to life on the seas and appoints himself chief rat-catcher. When tragedy strikes, Seacat Simon keeps spirits up - but it's a long and dangerous journey back to England for the heroic kitten and his crewmates . . . Inspired by real events, this is the story of 'Able Seacat' Simon's adventures and heroics in dangerous wartime seas, as told by the cat himself!
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