Showing results by publisher "Penguin Audio" in Friendship

Bob Bloomfield is, in the words of his best friend's wife, a 'selfish, arrogant a--ehole', who hasn't spent a great deal of time making friends in his 49 years on earth. But what if he could change? What if Bob could stop the very thing that has made him the man he is, the death of his younger brother, Tom in 1986. If he could save Tom, could he save himself? And what if all it took was a phone call?

Out in the drought-struck backwaters of rural Florida, The Kingdom of Sand's nameless narrator lives a life of semi-solitude, enjoying the odd, fleeting sexual encounter and the friendship of a few. His world is ageing, and the memories of another time flash, then fade - visions of parties filled with handsome young men, the parents whom he chose to spend his life besides, the generation he once knew, struck down by AIDS. But, when forced to watch the slow demise of a close neighbour, he is drawn back to the here and now

Twenty-nine year old Roberta has spent her whole life hungry - until the day she invents Supper Club. Supper Club is a secret society for hungry women. Women who are sick of bad men and bad sex, of hinted expectations to talk less, take less, be less. So they gather after dark and feast until they are sick. They drink and dance and roar. And, month by month, their bodies expand. At the centre of the Supper Club stands Roberta - cynical yet anxious, precocious and lost. She is seeking the answer to a simple question: if you feed a starving woman, what will she grow into?

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. When Eliza Hunt created the Hudson Valley Ladies’ Bulletin Board 15 years ago, she was happily entrenched in her picture-perfect suburban life with her husband and twin preschoolers. Now, with an empty nest and a crippling case of agoraphobia, the once-fun hobby has become her lifeline. So, when a rival parenting forum threatens the site’s existence, she doesn’t think twice before fabricating a salacious rumor to spark things up a bit. It doesn’t take long before that spark becomes a flame.

When 18-year-old Eve runs away from her small village to start a new life in the city, she quickly discovers that Leeds is not everything she expected it to be. Wandering the cold streets in search of shelter, timid Eve can only find work as a barmaid at the Bluebell Inn - a place her strict parents would never approve of. Serving ale and cheap gin to the rowdy crowd, Eve eventually catches the eye of dashing Sergeant Joseph Oates - but his intentions are not honourable, and he will leave her with more than just a broken heart.

Yorkshire 1944. The end of the war feels tantalisingly close, but Air Transport Auxiliary girls Bobbie, Viv and Mary have plenty more flights in their beloved Spitfires yet - battling everything from snow to enemy fire on their journeys. Risking their lives doing their bit for their country, this Christmas they're determined to have some festive fun. But as they set about bringing good tidings for all, a stern and mysterious new flyer in the form of Peggy arrives. What secret is Peggy hiding?

Written in a Yorkshire dialect that brings a place and its people magnificently to life, We Pretty Pieces of Flesh takes you by the hand and drags you through Doncaster’s schoolyards, alleyways and nightclubs, bringing back the intimate treachery of adolescence and how we betray ourselves when we don’t trust our friends. Like The Glorious Heresies and Shuggie Bain, it tracks hard-edged lives and makes them sing, turning one overlooked and forgotten place into the very centre of the world.

When Simon Brown reconnects on Facebook with his first love Sylvie—the French pen pal he never actually met—he is determined that this time things will be different. However, life isn't so straight-forward at sixty as it was at sixteen. His daughter's getting married, he's got difficult guests staying at his B&B and his larger-than-life school friend, Ian, has abruptly waltzed back into his life.

In 1992, on his thirtieth birthday, Artie Anderson meets the man who will change his life. Artie spends his days at a tedious advertising job, finding relief in the corner of New York City he can call his own, even as the queer community is still being ravaged by HIV. But when his birthday celebration brings Artie and his friends to his favorite bar, a chance encounter with Abe, an uptight lawyer and Artie’s opposite in almost every way, pushes Artie to want, and to ask for, more for himself.

Mackie, Edele, Alex and Nat are navigating their chaotic and confusing 20s together. They have jobs and pay their own rent (well, most of them) but don't know how to bleed radiators, defrost a freezer or test the smoke alarms. With breakups to deal with and major decisions to make, life can get messy, especially when they're still trying to get the hang of this 'being a grown-up' thing. Welcome to the joys of being almost adults.

Monsieur Perdu is back! In this novel from Nina George we return to Jean Perdu's beautiful barge on the Seine, his Literary Apothercary. He's spent many years still prescribing just the right book for his customers in the exact time they need it. His beloved books are his medicine: books that will comfort, guide, envelop and the perfect book to the customer that he know will guide them.

Meet Ingrid. She works on a gargantuan luxury cruise liner, where she spends her days reorganising the merchandise and waiting for long-term guests to drop dead in the changing rooms. On her days off, she disembarks from the ship and gets blind drunk on whatever the local alcohol is. It's not a bad life. And it distracts her from thinking about the other life she left behind five years ago. Until one day, she is selected for the employee mentorship scheme.

Whilst nursing the Hangover from Hell, Ellen stumbles downstairs to discover the kitchen slowly filling with water. Panic quickly sets in, and the three flatmates find themselves in the attic desperately attempting to switch off the water supply. But when Ben, Alexa's Hinge date from the night before, walks in, the door slams, the handle breaks, and all four of them are trapped. As the long hours tick by, Ellen nurses her sore head whilst Ben and Alexa really get to know each other, and Jack plans an unorthodox rescue mission.

Zadie Anson and Emma Colley have been best friends since their early 20s, when they first began navigating serious romantic relationships amid the intensity of medical school. Now they're happily married wives and mothers with successful careers - Zadie as a pediatric cardiologist and Emma as a trauma surgeon. Their lives in Charlotte, North Carolina are chaotic but fulfilling, until the return of a former colleague unearths a secret one of them has been harboring for years.

The new novel from Claire Daverley: a love triangle that will fill you up and keep you guessing . . .

Young and confident, with a swagger in her step, Sugar arrives in the small Southern town of Bigelow with the hope of starting over. Soon Bigelow is alight with gossip and suspicion, and Sugar fears she can't hide from her past. Until, that is, she meets Pearl, her next door neighbour. Over sweet-potato pie, an unlikely friendship begins, transforming both women's lives - and the life of an entire town.

The 1990s are proving tough for the convent. The order of the Sisters of Saint Philomena is down to its three last nuns. The place that Sisters Margaret, Bridget and Cecilia call home is in dire need of repairs and, with no savings and no new recruits, they are facing the prospect of having to sell up and leave behind the friends and neighbours in the parish community that they love. That is, until 90-year-old Cecilia decides to play the newly launched National Lottery and a series of small miracles begins to unfold.

Afghanistan, 2007. Carl meets Sarah, a nurse, at Camp Bastion and they feel an instant connection. But she’s the girlfriend of his fellow soldier, Danny, so he pledges to keep his distance. Finally back in England, Carl vows to never forget those who didn't make it home, honouring each of them with a tattoo of a poppy. While many miles away, Sarah tries to forget the man she swore to leave behind. But when Carl and Sarah are thrown back together, it’s clear that both of them are broken. But do the scars of what they went through run too deep?

Best friends Eleanor and Fin are inseparable. They are convinced that it will always be this way. But to be sure, they make a pact to keep their lives intertwined. And of course, they'll get married if they're both 35 and single. Eleanor and Fin haven't spoken in 15 years. They live on different continents, but more than an ocean separates them. Everything has changed since the last time they met. So, when newly single Fin reappears, there's no way they can keep their promise. Is there?

You are young, ambitious, college-educated and a feminist. Your new job is in television. To climb the ranks, you do whatever it takes. You know the rules of this world. When someone senior tells you how pretty you look, you smile and thank him—and make a mental note never to wear that dress alone with him again. When whispers start to circle that your office might have 'a bit of a rape problem', and your close friend confesses her own unsettling encounter, you know there is plenty to gain from staying silent, and all too much to lose through speaking out.