Showing titles in Friendship

At the heart of a tiny community in a remote village just inland from the Aberdeenshire coast stands an unexpected lighthouse. Built two centuries ago by an eccentric landowner, it has become home to the only bookshop for miles around. Rachel is an incomer to the village. She arrived five years ago and found a place she could call home. So when the owner of the Lighthouse Bookshop dies suddenly, she steps in to take care of the place, trying to help it survive the next stage of its life.

1946: The war might be over but for the Gilby family there are still battles to be fought at home. For Birmingham and the Gilby family the war years have been a time of great change. With husband, Len, having left her for another woman, Ann Gilby is finally free to follow her heart. While the neighbours may be scandalised by having a divorcee in their midst, Ann is determined to rise above the local gossip and make a happy home with her former sweetheart, the father of Ann's youngest child.

War strikes close to home for chief librarian Cordelia when her flat is bombed, and her beloved Robert is called up and sent abroad. Fortunately, her colleagues Mavis and Jane can help see her through hard times. The three friends find purpose in making the Silvertown library a friendly sanctuary for their deprived and devastated community. But sinister forces, from callous bureaucrats to crafty criminals, still lurk among the stacks.

As war rages, Barbara Sinclair is desperate to escape her unhappy home life. And with the threat of German bombs ever present, Barbara reluctantly agrees to marry John, her childhood friend, who is leaving to join the RAF. But an encounter with Alex Everton, a dashing Spitfire pilot, complicates matters for Barbara. With emotions running high, she begins to question whether she has made a terrible mistake. With the constant threat of death all around her, Barbara must try to find a way to deal with the complexities of her difficult home life and her emotional relationships, too.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Last Stories by William Trevor, read by Niamh Cusack, Stephen Hogan and Tara Fitzgerald. In this final collection of ten exquisite, perceptive and profound stories, William Trevor probes into the depths of the human spirit. Here we encounter a tutor and his pupil, whose lives are thrown into turmoil when they meet again years later; a young girl who discovers the mother she believed dead is alive and well; and a piano teacher who accepts her pupil's theft in exchange for his beautiful music.

Lucie Hart is a fledgling actress, her confidence having been shattered by her manipulative ex. Making ends meet by performing Shakespearean monologues full of romance she doesn’t believe in, she can see her dreams getting further out of reach. Theo Larkin has already taken Hollywood by storm and his next conquests are Shakespeare’s greatest works – and his incensed leading lady. Always short of money, Lucie can’t afford to waste the opportunity to bring crowds to her shows. And when a well-publicised bust-up leaves Theo’s reputation hanging by a thread, he is desperate to prove his worth.

Day and night Stella's Café opens its doors for the lonely and the lost, the morning people and the night owls. It is many things to many people, but most of all it is a place where life can wait at the door. A place of small kindnesses. A place where anyone can be whoever they want, where everyone is always welcome.

Lexi is on top of the world. the podcast she co-hosts with her ride-or-die bestie Amanda is going stratospheric but cracks are appearing. Claire's Whatsapp chat with her school friends is ominously quiet these days, which can only mean one thing: a side group without her. Joanne's just had a baby so she's no longer available for tequila-fuelled nights out - something she has to keep reminding her pals about. Fate brings Claire, Joanne and Lexi together.

Michigan, 1985. The drowning of a teenage girl causes ripples in the small town of Kettle Lake, though for most the waters settle quickly. For sixteen year old Joanne Kennedy, however, the tragedy dredges up untold secrets and causes her mother to drift farther from reality and her family. When troubled newcomer Lucinda arrives in town, she offers Joanne a chance of real friendship, and together the teenagers push against the boundaries of family, self-image, and their sexuality during the tension of a long, stifling summer.

Tom is a teenager and blends into the background of life. After a row with his dad and facing an unhappy future at the dog food factory, he escapes to the library. Tom unwittingly ends up with a bagful of romance novels and comes under the suspicion of Maggie. Maggie is a pensioner and has been happily alone for 10 years, at least that's what she tells herself. When Tom comes to her rescue, a friendship develops that could change her life.

Workers in the Clarks shoe factory, at the heart of the village, have left for the army in droves, and news from the Front seems to grow darker by the day. When lifelong friends Louisa, Jeannie and Kate receive the news they had been fearing, all hope seems lost. And Louisa’s world will be rocked further when she makes another discovery, one that will see her cast out by her family, changing her life forever.

For Tabitha Walker, her grandmother’s old adage, “Black girls must die exhausted” is becoming all too true. Discovering she’s pregnant—after she was told she may not be able to have biological children—Tabitha throws herself headfirst into the world of “single mothers by choice.” Between her job, doctor’s appointments, and preparing for the baby, she’s worn out. And that’s before her boss at the local news station starts getting complaints from viewers about Tabitha’s natural hair.

It is 1910 in the Lincolnshire Wolds. Fourteen-year-old Rosie Waterhouse lives with her father, Sam, well-known as the local poacher, in a cottage on the Thornsby Estate. The land is owned by William Ramsey, a harsh and heartless man, determined his only son, Byron, should marry well and produce an heir. Rosie is quick to learn the tricks of her father’s trade and it’s when she’s poaching fish from the estate’s stream that she meets Byron.

In the dead of night, a young woman is found on the doorstep of the House of Help for Friendless Girls. . . Winter 1887. Matron Hetty Barlow suspects Hope is lying when she claims to be suffering from amnesia. The girl is taken in, but it isn't long before her pregnancy is discovered, which could put the future of the house - a new experiment in dealing with destitute women - in jeopardy. They named her Hope, but Emma Hyde knows she can't keep up her deception forever. She's hundreds of miles away from home, but her well-to-do parents will be searching for her.

The one thing that can solve Stephen's problems is dancing. Dancing at Church, the shimmer of Black hands raised in praise; he might have lost his faith, but he does believe in rhythm. Dancing with his friends, somewhere in a basement with the drums about to drop. Dancing with his band, making music which speaks not just to the hardships of their lives, but the joys too. Dancing with his best friend, two-stepping around the living room, crooning and grooving, so close their heads might touch. Dancing alone, at home, to his father's records, uncovering parts of a man he has never truly known.

It’s nearly midnight on the eve of the millennium when 18-year-old Joel’s heart stops. A school friend, Kerry, performs CPR for almost 20 exhausting minutes, ultimately saving Joel’s life, while her best friend, Tim, freezes, unable to help. That moment of life and death changes the course of all three lives over the next two decades: each time Kerry, Joel and Tim believe they’ve found love, discovered their vocation, or simply moved on, their lives collide again.

In Lahore, Daru Shezad is a junior banker with a hashish habit. When his old friend Ozi moves back to Pakistan, Daru wants to be happy for him. Ozi has everything: a beautiful wife and child, an expensive foreign education - and a corrupt father who bankrolls his lavish lifestyle. As jealousy sets in, Daru's life slowly unravels. He loses his job. Starts lacing his joints with heroin. Becomes involved with a criminally minded rickshaw driver. And falls in love with Ozi's lonely wife. But how low can Daru sink? Is he guilty of the crime he finds himself on trial for?

Florence Stanville is a woman with a past. When she moves to Guisethorpe on the east coast of England, the townsfolk are intrigued by the glamorous and mysterious stranger, with her flame-red hair and abrupt manners. Florence doesn’t care about the gossips—she’s drawn to the peaceful seaside town by the pull of her childhood, when she lived for a brief but happy time with her beloved late mother. The riddle of those days remains, and now Florence can only snatch at half-remembered memories and shadowy figures in her dreams.

The Crafternoon Sewcial Club’s going from strength to strength, although Charlotte Newman is far from resting on her laurels. When a chance encounter highlights the sorry plight of parents unable to afford school uniforms, Charlotte is itching to develop a solution. And before too long, she’s initiated a clothing exchange program christened ReCyCool. Unfortunately, news of her fledgling enterprise is painfully slow to travel around the Isle of Man. If it has any chance of succeeding, Charlotte will have to arrange something spectacular to get the word out.

It’s a world of happiness and friendship, but also violence and poverty. Now that Dolly runs the Daydream Gin Palace on Gin Barrel Lane, she can finally control her own destiny, but sometimes fate still plays its hand. Keen to expand her empire, Dolly and Jack take on a new pub, but they are in for a shock when a foul smell in one of the bedrooms turns out to come from a body hidden in the wall. As the police hunt for their suspect, rumours abound, spread by the local urchins - happy to be used as runners for a little bit of food and a coin or two.