Showing results by narrator "Antonia Beamish" in All Categories

A scholar pursues an elusive biographer, stumbling upon buried fragments of distant lives; a woman walks out of her previous existence and encounters an ice-blond stranger from a secretive world; a schoolgirl draws a blood-filled picture of Jael; a swimming pool reveals a beauteous monster in its depths. The settings range from the heat of Provence in summer to the cold forests of Scandinavia, from chalk-strewn classrooms to herb-scented hillsides, from suburban streets to rocky wilds.

Alexandra Ludd is an actress playing Nora in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. In the eyes of the world she has everything a woman could want: husband, home, child, income, good looks, good friends, the plaudits of the crowd and the affection of neighbours. But Alexandra inspires envy as well as love: she was unwise to forget it, she was complacent, perhaps a little vain - and all fate has to do to bring her down is to snip a single strand....

After more than 20 years of marriage, Fay and Steve are happy enough, though life's become routine and lacks excitement. Fay believes an open relationship could reignite the spark they've lost. But can sex ever just be sex? Steve eventually agrees to the idea of sleeping with other people, but first they must set some ground rules: no sex with friends, no telling the kids and a limit on how many times they can see the same person. Can their marriage survive non-monogamy—even if they have permission?

Before H.P. Lovecraft, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King and Anne Rice, Henry James wrote hair-raising stories that made horror a popular, sometimes controversial, widely-read literary form, and set the bar for all who followed. Stephen King considers James’ The Turn of The Screw one of the best horror novels ever penned.

Kate and Bella, Bella and Kate. From childhood they were inseparable yet polar opposites: Bella sensible and cautious, Kate gregarious and just a little dangerous. Then men came into their lives and things changed: a black seed was set in in the heart of their relationship. Over decades, acts of both cruelty and love feed that seed until one shocking event leads to further tragedy. Neither will escape unscathed.

I was taught that life is pain. That love is pain. It was unavoidable. Acceptable. I never had anything, or anyone I could count on. Not really. Not even myself. Until I met Dr Menon... To the outside world Lauren Taylor’s relationship with her boyfriend Josh is perfect. He is supportive and loving and has been there for Lauren during her darkest moments. But behind closed doors, secrets and lies can be hidden…

In the Nazi-occupied Warsaw of 1943, Irma Seidenman, a young Jewish widow, possesses two attributes that can spell the difference between life and death: she has blue eyes and blond hair. With these, and a set of false papers, she has slipped out of the ghetto, passing as the wife of a Polish officer, until one day an informer spots her on the street and drags her off to the Gestapo.

'In the pursuit of magnificence, nothing is sacred', says Angela Carter, and magnificence is indeed her own achievement. One of the most acclaimed novelists of her generation, her work as a journalist and critic was no less original. Long autobiographical pieces on her life in South Yorkshire and South London are followed by highly individual inspections of 'abroad'. Please note that many of the essays in this collection also appear in Shaking a Leg.

Lullaby Beach takes the listener on a journey through three generations of a complicated, close-knit clan whose joys and misfortunes track many of the most pressing conflicts and concerns of post-war Britain, from the promise and hypocrisies of 1950s London to the political divides and risky freedoms of the present day.

Magda lives alone in her a huge house by the sea. Bad tempered and elderly, Magda does not need help from anyone, despite being wheelchair bound. With her sharp tongue, she gets through carers at a rate of knots, until Susheela arrives. And Susheela, it turns out, is in even more trouble than Magda. Still reeling from the recent death of her mum and trying to prop up her dad, who is at risk of losing the family business, she finds she is pregnant. The future suddenly looks uncertain and frightening.

Lifelong friends Claudia, Ella, Laura and Sal celebrated 60 as the new 40, determined not to let age change things. But now they are looking at the future and wondering how to make growing old more fun. Why not live together and have sunny afternoons on the lawn, helping and supporting each other when any of them need it - and still keep enjoying life? Joined by Claudia’s reluctant husband and Sal’s energetic new fiancé, they ignore the protests of their children and pool their resources in a lovely manor house in the country.

Erin Turner and Cristophe Donakis set the bed sheets alight during their scorching affair. But Erin's hopes of a diamond ring turned to ash when he unceremoniously kicked her out of his bed and onto the cold London streets. Years later, Erin's world is rocked again when she meets her newest business client. She knows it's him the moment his designer aftershave hits her senses....

Cristophe is going to make Erin pay back what he believes she stole - in whatever way he demands.... But little does he know that Erin's about to drop two very important bombshells!

When Karen Finch's 17-year-old daughter, Sophie, arrives home after a night out drunk and accompanied by police officers, no one is smiling the morning after. But Sophie remembers nothing about how she got into such a state. Twelve hours later Sophie's friend Amy has still not returned home. Then the body of a young woman is found. Karen is sure that Sophie knows more than she is letting on. But Karen has her own demons to fight. She struggles to go beyond her own door without a panic attack.

Angela Carter was one of the most important and influential writers of our time: a novelist of extraordinary power and a searching critic and essayist. This selection of her writing, which she made herself, covers more than a decade of her thought and ranges over a diversity of subjects giving a true measure of the wide focus of her interests: the brothers Grimm; William Burroughs; food writing, Elizabeth David; British writing; American writing....

Forty-nine-year-old Miranda is at a crossroads. Her children have left home, her perfectly civilised divorce is more than a decade behind her and her romances since have been lacklustre, and her career has stalled. The bright spots in her life are best friends Sophie and Kirstie, but it’s clear something has to change.

In the late 1970s, a young boy disappears from a summer cabin in the Swedish woods. His mother claims that he was abducted by a giant. The boy is never found. 25 years later, an old woman claims that a creature has been standing outside her house, observing her and her five-year-old grandson for hours. When Susso - a blogger who's dedicated her life to the search for creatures whose existences have not been proved - hears of this and sees a possible link between the two incidents, she takes to the road on a terrifying adventure into the unknown.

Despite past heartache, Sarah Yates is finally marrying her true love, John Needler. But Sarah and John can't pretend they're an ordinary couple. They're time travellers, and where time travel is involved, nothing runs smoothly. One minute Sarah is saying her vows, and the next she is hurtled back in time to a country that is on the cusp of war. But when the past and the present collide, that's when the real problems start....

India, 1902. When Lilly Myerson is summoned by her mother to spend one hot summer in Nainital, she leaps at the opportunity. It's the only way to escape her violent and controlling husband Royce, but in return, he forces her to leave behind her beloved son Teddy. In Nainital, Lilly meets Duffy, tiger tamer at the renowned Tiffert's Circus, and together they hatch a plan. She will join the circus, create a new identity, and earn her independence—and hopefully enough money to rescue her son.

In this no-holds-barred collection of essays, prominent women authors, journalists and TV personalities explore the truth about becoming mothers. Covering topics from labour to the breastapo, twins to IVF, weaning to post-birth sex, and with writers including Cathy Kelly, Adele Parks, Kathy Lette and Lucy Porter and many more, Things I Wish I’d Known is a reassuring, moving and often hilarious collection that will speak to mothers - and mothers-to-be - everywhere.

Addy joined the Tuis for the adventure. Vivacious and outgoing, she is the life of the party, with an unforgettable voice. Margot is quiet and withdrawn, grieving the young husband she lost to the war. Despite their differences, the girls become fast friends. When the Tuis are relocated to Italy to set up clubs in grand venues, Addy and Margot are enchanted by the culture. But dark shadows loom, and when their illusion of peace is shattered by news of a devastating attack, the friends will find their endurance pushed to the limit.