Showing results by publisher "Zaffre" in Literature & Fiction

It's 1942 and the Second World War is raging on. Maggie Carpenter led a seemingly quiet life as a teacher in Manchester, but as the fighting intensifies she quits her peaceful existence to do her bit for the war effort. As part of an army of girls working on the canals to deliver essential supplies around the country, Maggie's world is far from comfortable. She has to share a tiny cabin with two strangers, where there's no running water and a questionable lavatory set-up.

What starts out like any other major libel trial for prolific lawyer Charlie Priest turns into a legal train wreck when the defence's star witness turns up murdered. While the defence stalls for time, Priest is determined to find out who is responsible, but as the bodies begin to pile up, Priest realises that he's caught in a web of deceit and corruption that protects a deadly secret - one that threatens to tear him and those he loves apart.

When 40-year-old Rabbit Hayes dies, she leaves behind a family broken by grief: her mother, Molly, her brother, Davey, her daughter, Juliet, her sister, Grace, and her best friend, Marjorie. They all have to learn how to cope with their grief, but despite fighting individual battles, they are drawn together by their love for Rabbit, and their love for each other. Laugh, cry and shout with joy for the colourful, unruly Hayes family as they battle with the loss of their beloved Rabbit, who in her own crazy way taught each of them how to live and goes on showing them how to love.

Acclaimed explorer Rob Nash has lost his way. Grieving the death of his wife, and blaming himself, he sees no reason to carry on. But when 'Uncle' Frank Douglas offers him the chance to lead a cave-diving expedition in the jungles of Papua, Nash can see some light at the end of the tunnel. But the expedition might not be what it seems. With a decades-old Japanese submarine buried deep in a cavern, and a team hellbent on unleashing the treasures it hides, Nash finds himself on a ship heading for danger.

Professional underachiever Dan Foster is finally taking a break. Sure, his life has been average at best and, yes, he has never has quite lived up to his potential. But after a few Bud Lites in paradise with his girlfriend Mara, things are starting to look up. Then the sun explodes. With the island suddenly plunged in darkness, the ultra-rich guests hijack the remaining supplies and declare themselves as the new ruling class.

Robin Wilde is acing life. After the year from hell, she's pulled herself up and out of the Emptiness, her love life is ticking along nicely, single motherhood is actually quite fun and she is ready for whatever life throws at her. When a thrilling opportunity at work arises, Robin is more than excited to step up and show everyone, including herself, what she's made of. But her best friend, Lacey, is increasingly brokenhearted about struggling to conceive, and her daughter, Lyla, is starting to come out with some horrible attitudes she's learning from someone at school.

Summer 1999: Twentysomething Sawyer is striving to make it in New York. Between her assistant job in publishing, her secret dreams of becoming a writer, and her upcoming wedding to her college boyfriend, her is plate full. Only one problem: She is facing an incredibly lonely summer as her fiancé has been spending longer and longer hours at work...with an all-too-close female colleague, Kendra. When Kendra's boyfriend, Nick, invites Sawyer to meet up and compare notes about their suspicions, the meeting goes awry.

At the dark heart of the Holocaust, there was a wooden hut whose walls were painted with cartoons; a place where children sang, staged plays and wrote poetry. Safely inside, but still in the shadow of the chimneys, they were given better food, kept free of vermin, and were even taught meditation to imagine full stomachs and a day without fear. The man who became their guiding light was a young Jewish prisoner named Fredy Hirsch. Historian and biographer Wendy Holden tells the inspirational and uplifting true story of Fredy Hirsch: The Teacher of Auschwitz.

Ailsa Rae is learning how to live. She's only a few months past the heart transplant that - just in time - saved her life. Life should be a joyful adventure. But.... Her relationship with her mother is at breaking point, and she wants to find her father. Have her friends left her behind? She's felt so helpless for so long that she's let polls on her blog make her decisions for her. She barely knows where to start on her own. Then there's Lennox. Her best friend and onetime lover. He was sick too. He didn't make it. And now she's supposed to face all of this without him. But her new heart is a bold heart. She just needs to learn to listen to it....

Sunny grew in the mother and baby home on Grove Lane, London. The daughter of a wartime nurse and a Polish pilot, she was abandoned by her mother shortly after her birth and taken in by Nan, the warm and gentle proprietor of the home. Never having known her parents, Sunny has always felt like she doesn't quite fit in, but now, at 16 years old, she is ready to find her place in the world. Heading out to start her first job, she finally feels she has some idea of who she wants to be. As 1950s post-war London is changing at a rapid pace, so is Sunny.

1853, Victoria, Australia. Five bushrangers led by the murderous outlaw Warrigal Anderson raid a small homestead. When they ride away, 19-year-old Toby O'Rourke's life is changed forever. His parents lay dead at his feet and his brother, Patrick, is badly wounded. But Toby O'Rourke is made of steel forged in the hardship of colonial life. Forced into adulthood, he and Patrick will seek to restore the family fortunes and outwit not only the rich businessman who conspired to rob them of their birth right but the vicious men who murdered their parents....

Orphaned at a young age, Rosa has always looked out for her younger sister, Grace, protecting her from the dangers and bullies of the workhouse. So when Grace is suddenly faced with a world without Rosa, she finds herself alone and forced to make difficult decisions about her future. Can she really walk away from everything she has built to protect the children Rosa has left behind? Returning to the gang-ruled streets of East London, Grace is determined to build a better future for herself and for the children of Bell Lane - no matter what the cost....

The highly anticipated sequel to the dragon romantasy Fear the Flames

Maggie and Liz may be sisters (and yes, named after a pair of much more famous siblings) but that's about all they have in common. Maggie is a free spirit - travelling the world, flitting through life and relationships without ever really having to connect. Liz, meanwhile, is the lynchpin of Little Martin village society and determined to be the perfect wife, mother and homemaker - even if she does live in a new build. When Liz and Maggie's beloved grandmother, Queen Vic, dies in a characteristically flamboyant fashion, they are left to deal with the aftermath - inheriting the family home.

It's 1941, and Kate is living in Rangoon, Burma. A world away from her traditional English upbringing, she is bewitched by the country and the kindness of the Burmese people. When Edwin, a young teacher from London, starts working in the government office with her, a friendship develops between them. But Kate can sense that Edwin has secrets and is looking for a place to call home - something she shares. As their bond grows, Kate begins to understand Edwin's past and the tragic events that brought them both to Burma.

Jenny Trelawney is no ordinary thief. Forced by poverty to live in the Devon forest, she becomes a successful highway woman - until her luck runs out. Transported to Australia, pregnant and alone, Jenny must face harsh challenges in an unforgiving land. When famine hits the new colony, Jenny becomes convinced that those she most cares about will not survive. She becomes the leader in a grand plot of escape. Setting sail in a small open boat on an unknown ocean, she will do anything for freedom, but at what cost?

1934. Following the death of her mother, 12-year-old Tess Rainbow takes on the responsibility of caring for her family. When a plane crash-lands near their home on Romney Marsh, she meets the charming Moray Tann, a young pilot from Scotland, who turns out to be the son of one of her father's rivals. Once nursed back to health, Moray returns to his duties—but not without leaving a mark on Tess' heart.

In an increasingly lonely world, three women strike up an unlikely friendship and find that community, female friendship and the wonders of nature can truly be powerful healers.

A 13-year-old boy commits suicide. A 65-year-old man dies of a heart attack. Dan Forrester, ex-MI5 officer, is connected to them both. And when he discovers that his godson and his father have been murdered, he teams up with his old friend, DC Lucy Davies, to find answers....

It is 1865, the American Civil War has just ended and 18-year old Vita Tenney is determined to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a country doctor like her father. But when her father tells her she must get married instead, Vita explores every means of escape - and finds one in the person of war veteran Jacob Culhane. Damaged by what he's seen in battle and with all his family gone, Jacob is seeking investors for a fledgling business. Then he meets Vita - and together they hatch a plan that should satisfy both their desires.