Showing results by narrator "Antonia Beamish" in All Categories

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.

Emma and Leo have been together forever, but their relationship seems to have lost its sparkle. When Leo turns up to Emma's 30th birthday dinner unforgivably late and extremely drunk, she can't help wishing for someone to wave a magic wand and turn Leo into a reliable and considerate boyfriend. Then Leo's path crosses with a decidedly unusual girl called Isobel, and as he falls under her spell, Emma sees him change before her very eyes. Soon she regrets wishing for a new Leo at all.

Nell Galilee, her husband and 12-year-old step-daughter, Maude, rent a holiday cottage by the sea, needing time and space away from home after Maude became involved in some troubling events. Nell grew up in this small wind-blown town and has mixed feelings about returning, and it isn't long before she is recognised by a neighbour, seemingly desperate to befriend her. The cottage, too, has been empty for some time, and from the start, Nell feels uncomfortable there. Something isn't quite right about this place.

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 DI Allie Shenton is called out to a murder suicide, it quickly becomes clear that it's a double slaying, and there is a killer on the loose. The bodies are found in a property owned by local entrepreneur/drug dealer Kenny Webb. Several young women are staying there, they are refusing to talk and one of them is missing. While she waits on forensic evidence, Allie decides to do what she does best. She takes to the community to see who will talk. Right now, she's the only one who can get answers. But then a third murder rattles everyone.

When orphan Julie Miller is sent to Canada to keep her safe from Hitler’s bombs at the start of WWII, she hopes this will the start of a happier new life for her after years of sadness. Taken in by a schoolteacher, it seems that Julie’s dreams are coming true. But that’s before a shadow is cast over her safe refuge, and before long, she is forced to run away. This is just the start of a long journey, one with many hardships before she can find a place to call home.

The heartbreaking story of the passionate love affair between Boris Pasternak and Olga Ivinskaya - the tragic true story that inspired Doctor Zhivago. Though Stalin spared the life of Boris Pasternak, the writer's lover, typist and literary muse Olga was sent twice to Siberian labour camps because of her association with him, miscarrying their child on her first visit. When released, she always assumed that Boris would leave his wife for her, but he failed to do so.

Leyli Maal is a beautiful Malian woman, mother of three, living in a tiny apartment on the outskirts of Marseille. Her quiet life as a well-integrated immigrant is suddenly shaken when her beautiful eldest daughter, Bamby, becomes the main suspect in two murders linked to a lethal illegal immigration racket. Is Bamby really involved? And why is everyone desperate to get their hands on Leyli's mysterious red notebook?

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.

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.

Claire lives with her family in a beautiful house overlooking the water. But she feels as if she’s married to a stranger – one who is leading a double life. As soon as she can get their son, Joe, away from him, she’s determined to leave Duncan. But finding out the truth about Duncan’s secret life leads to consequences Claire never planned for. Now Joe is missing, and she’s struggling to piece together the events of the night that tore them all apart.

On a peaceful hilltop campsite in the heat of summer, a private plane crash-lands. Several are killed, and many more lives are shattered - including those of the Gale family who own the site. For single parent Cathy Gale, her everyday struggles are eclipsed by the tragedy, as her boy Albie is one of the victims. He hangs onto life, while 18-year-old sister Nell, who was meant to be looking after him, is overcome with guilt.

Max Walker is the golden boy. He's attractive, intelligent, athletic. He's even nice to his little brother. Max is going to pass his exams with flying colours; he’s going to make his parents proud.

Orlando King is a trilogy about a beautiful young man, raised in a remote and eccentric wilderness, arriving in 1930s London and setting the world of politics ablaze. In a time of bread riots and hunger marches, with the spectre of fascism casting an ever lengthening shadow over Europe, Orlando glidingly cuts a swathe through the thickets of business, the corridors of politics, the pleasure gardens of the Cliveden set, acquiring wealth, adulation, a beautiful wife and a seat in parliament.

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…

When the breakdown of her marriage leaves Sadie Turner a single mum, she vows that she will make it on her own. After all, why would a smart businesswoman with a PhD and the prospect of a life-changing deal on the horizon need a man? But Sadie's man-ban is tested to the limit when she travels to Monaco to meet her potential investor. There she encounters Mac, a rough and ready playboy billionaire who lives life in the fast lane. But Sadie's heart isn't the only thing on the line....

Stefan Ziakas might be her father’s most hated business rival, but he’s the only man who has ever made Selene Antaxos feel beautiful. So, needing to make a new life for herself, Selene apprehensively turns to Stefan for help. Except the dark-hearted tycoon is nothing like the white knight she remembers! Selene realises it’s not always better the devil you know… She’s sold her soul - and her heart - to the enemy!

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.

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.

At Rooks Wood Farm, Rosalind Breen's twin sons grieve her death. Daniel shoulders the burdens of running the farm and caring for his brother, Caleb, who's shunned for his strange appearance. Meanwhile, Minsmere Bird Reserve is suffering a spate of vandalism and senior partners of the Anglican Detective Agency, Frank Diamond and Laurel Bowman, are enlisted to find the culprits. But shortly after taking the case, Laurel discovers the body of a young man dumped in one of the meres and the detectives are caught up in a murder enquiry.