-
Threepenny Dreams
Sometimes the worst has to happen . . . Recently widowed, Hannah Firth is still young - young enough to dream of a new life. When her spiteful daughter-in-law uses her as an unpaid servant, Hannah tries to leave, but she is unaware of the depths that Patty's spite will lead her to. Nathaniel King's life is ruined when his landlord's son lays waste to his market garden for a prank - and the resulting feud puts Nathaniel's livelihood at stake. Hannah has only a few coins and dreams of a happier future to sustain her as she tramps the roads and evades pursuit. When she meets Nathaniel, the attraction between them cannot be denied and they join forces. But their enemies have money and powerful allies on their side and will stop at nothing to get rid of them . . .
-
Jessica's Girl
Despite a deathbed warning from her beloved mother, Phoebe Mulligan has no choice but to throw herself on the mercy of her uncle, Edward. Wrenched from all she holds dear, the tragic young girl is delivered to Blackburn town, where she must live in a household terrorised by the cold, forbidding presence of her mother's brother. Phoebe cannot understand why she is treated so harshly by Edward Dickens. She is not to know the guilty secret that lies in his past, a secret that casts a sinister shadow over his feelings for his lovely niece...
-
Charlie
er forces that seem intent on shattering her family and even her belief in her parents. But she is not alone. Charlie meets kind, funny student Andrew, whose love helps her through the hard times and further unexpected tragedy. Together, can they unravel the mysteries of the past that haunt the Welsh family? And will facing up to those mysteries destroy their love for each other or make it stronger?
-
Nawabs Nudes Noodles
This is as much the story of Indian advertising as it is about India. Ad veteran Ambi Parameswaran looks at how advertising has evolved, reflecting the country's culture, politics and economy in the last fifty years. From sartorial taste and food habits to marriage and old age, music and language to celebrities and censorship, Ambi examines over a hundred ads to study how the Indian consumer has changed in the past five decades and how advertising and society have shaped each other. Combining anecdote and analyses to give us a slice of modern history, Ambi evaluates the relationship between affluence, aspiration and desire in India. Exploring trends and impacts, he covers the ads that captured the imagination of the entire country. From 'Only Vimal' and 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan' to 'Jo biwi se kare pyaar' and the controversial Tuffs shoes campaign, the book is a memorable journey through brands, consumers and the world of advertising.
-
His Brother's Wife
1860. Harriet Miles is trying to take care of her seriously ill mother, and just when she thinks things couldn’t get any worse she is fired from her job at the hostelry. The last thing she expects after her mother dies is a marriage proposal from a man she barely knows, but her only alternative is the workhouse. And so begins her new life with Noah Tuke. But instead of marital bliss, Harriet finds herself in the cramped farmhouse which Noah calls home, and in this overcrowded and angry household she meets with hostility and bitterness. The only person who offers her friendship is Noah’s brother, Fletcher. Gradually she learns the true reasons behind Noah’s desire to marry her – and realises that the only person she finds real companionship with is the person she can’t possibly be with . . .
-
A Nurse At War
Attractive, clever and wilful, Lily Knowles is desperate to leave home. So at twenty-one she escapes to London to train as a nurse, where she gathers many admirers - none more dashing than RAF officer Sandy Redfern, with whom she falls in love. But the coming of war, with the chaos of the Blitz, brings upheavals and unforeseen entanglements. Nursing a broken heart, Lily throws herself into her work, which sends her to a busy RAF hospital in Hampshire, where a faithful childhood sweetheart persuades her to become engaged to him. And then fate brings Sandy Redfern back into her life. What of their once passionate love and her present commitment? Can the past ever be recaptured and can past wrongs be righted?
-
Time to Say Goodbye
From the Sunday Times bestselling author Katie Flynn. Three girls, evacuated from Liverpool during World War Two, support each other through hardship and heartbreak. . It’s 1939, and three ten-year-old girls meet on a station platform. Imogen, Rita and Debby all missed the original evacuation and now the authorities are finding it difficult to place them. When Auntie and her niece, Jill, who run the Canary and Linnet Public House, offer to take them in, the billeting officer is greatly relieved. The countryside is heaven to the three little townies, especially after they meet Woody and Josh, also evacuees. They find that by climbing to the top of the biggest tree in the beech wood they have a perfect bird’s-eye view of the nearest RAF station and are able to watch the comings and goings of the young fighter pilots as the Battle of Britain rages. Then they find an injured flier and the war becomes a stark reality. As they grow up, love and rivalry enter their lives and, twenty years on, when the girls decide on a reunion, many surprises come to light...
-
Forgive Me her mothers dying words
Lesley Pearse, No. 1 UK bestselling author of Dead to Me and The Woman in the Wood, brings Forgive Me, a compelling story of a daughter uncovering her mother's secret past. Eva Patterson's life is forever altered by the devastating discovery of her mother, Flora, dead in the bath leaving only a note: 'Forgive Me'. Until Flora's suicide, Eva's world had been secure - but overnight everything changes. For when Flora leaves Eva a London artist's studio in her will, she finds her mother had a secret past. In the studio's attic are Flora's paintings and diaries, and Eva learns her mother was a popular artist in the swinging sixties. Eva's hunt for answers uncovers clues to a shocking crime which led Flora to hide her past. But will discovering the truth destroy Eva's belief in everything she holds dear? And will this journey lead her and those she loves into danger? From the author of international bestseller, Stolen, Forgive Me is an intense and gripping story of love and forgiveness. 'Engrossing and emotional, it's another winner from Lesley Pearse' Woman's Own 'I absolutely loved this book. The characters are likeable and the writing is always brilliant' Sun 'Intriguing, heart-tugging, beautifully written' Closer
-
Stolen
Lucy Winters' parents have always been there for her. Loving, gentle and kind they have given her everything she could have wished for. Now, estranged from her husband, she has moved to the country to take over their thriving auction business. The moment she begins to prepare for her first sale she knows she's made the right decision. And she dares to hope that at last she is living the life she has always dreamed of. But then, quite suddenly, her world is thrown into turmoil. She discovers a shocking truth, one that forces her to question everything she has ever known. And it becomes frighteningly possible that the very people who should have protected her are the ones who have betrayed her in the most devastating of ways. Can she ever forgive them? Can they ever forgive themselves...?
-
Are You Enjoying
Are You Enjoying?' is emotional, equally hilarious, and gutting. I couldn't put this book down because I'd been welcomed into the most intimate parts of these characters' lives' Rupi Kaur 'Fresh, intelligent, and bold: Mira Sethi's stories open up fascinating slices of contemporary life in Pakistan' Mohsin Hamid 'Complex, delicate stories, alert both to the comic and the tragic. And while they focus on characters changing in a changing society, there is a timelessness about Sethi's work that I think comes from her precise observations that a reader will remember like lines of poetry, for their beauty' Kiran Desai Childhood best friends decide to marry in order to keep their sexuality a secret. A young heiress embarks on a secret affair, ending in devastation but not for the party who was braced for it. A glum divorcee reaches out to his American neighbour. A radicalised student's preparations for his sister's wedding in Lahore involve beating up the groom. An actress from a sheltered background in Karachi is forced to grow up fast on the set of her first major TV show where the real intrigue takes place off-screen. From one of Pakistan's most exciting young writers comes an exhilarating, audacious debut story collection; upending traditional notions of identity, scrutinising the relationship between power and desire, and fizzing with energy and wit.
-
Win All Your Battles
What does it take to become an IPS officer? Hours of rigorous physical training, mental toughening and systemic conditioning at the national police academy, along with a never-give-up attitude, unwavering courage, grit and determination. Win All Your Battles, first published in Marathi as Kar Har Maidan Fateh, is the fascinating story of how Vishwas Nangre Patil rose from his humble village origins to become a steadfast, upright police officer and youth icon. In this book, Patil, recipient of a President’s medal for his role in countering the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, talks about his experiences at the police academy and the lessons he has learnt in a career spanning over two decades―from tackling mob violence to managing law and order during large public gatherings, solving serious crimes and implementing the latest technology for better law enforcement. This book is a must-read―not just for those who want to fulfil their khaki dreams, but for anyone in need of some inspiration.
-
U n Me . . . it’s Complicated
Love is not complicated, people are! Pyaar, Mohabbat, Ishq, junoon—love has its own Synonyms. The four-letter word, easy to spell and easier to say, is far more complicated when the brain and heart play their parts in a relationship. Aditya, a nerd, falls head over heels in love with rutuja, who happens to be the eye candy of the college. Rutuja loves books and wants Aditya to pen down a story. Will Aditya, a non-reader, manage to write a novel? Just when their relationship goes on a roller-coaster ride for the worse, Aditya decides to attempt suicide. Can a relationship make you weak? Can true love make you a rebellious, self-destructive, and violent person? Or will it make way for a better future? From the bestselling author of until love sets us apart comes another heart-wrenching tale of not just true love and friendship but also about hope and destiny, and the journey of a non-reader as he becomes a Bestselling author.
-
A Place Called Home
In the windowless, cramped servant's room at Mrs Shetty's luxurious house, where her mother is a maid, Alka dreams of an escape. When Mrs Shetty decides to send her to the same school as her daughter, she works hard, moulding herself into a new avatar. She marries Subbu, a coffee grower with a four hundred acre estate. Between taking care of her heritage home, her two young daughters and her fabulous relationship with her mother-in-law, Alka's life feels complete. But when secrets about her past that she has fiercely guarded are exposed, they threaten to destroy her life. To protect all that she has, Alka must fight her demons and travel back to the world she worked so hard to leave behind. A Place Called Home is a novel about secrets, family, and finding yourself, from bestselling author Preeti Shenoy.
-
That Summer
Daisy Shoemaker can't sleep. With a thriving cooking business, full schedule of volunteer work, and a beautiful home in the Philadelphia suburbs, she should be content. But her teenage daughter can be a handful, her husband can be distant, her work can feel trivial, and she has lots of acquaintances, but no real friends. Still, Daisy knows she's got it good. So why is she up all night? While Daisy tries to identify the root of her dissatisfaction, she's also receiving misdirected emails meant for a woman named Diana Starling, whose email address is just one punctuation mark away from her own. While Daisy's driving carpools, Diana is chairing meetings. While Daisy's making dinner, Diana's making plans to reorganize corporations. Diana's glamorous, sophisticated, single-lady life is miles away from Daisy's simpler existence. When an apology leads to an invitation, the two women meet and become friends. But, as they get closer, we learn that their connection was not completely accidental. Who IS this other woman, and what does she want with Daisy?
-
Anyone but Him
Andie and her sister Jin have never seen eye to eye. Andie doesn't envy Jin her marriage to a wealthy businessman, while Jin can't believe Andie's happy with her man-free existence (if only she knew!). But when their widowed mother Cora comes back from a Caribbean cruise with more than just a suntan, Andie and Jin are united in horror. Who is this gorgeous young man who's swept their mother off her feet? What the women really need is a friend to set the world to rights with - but can they be friends with each other?
-
Goddess:The Secret Lives Of Marilyn Monroe
More than half a century after her death, Marilyn Monroe is arguably still one of the most famous people in the world. Her life was a contrast of public brilliance and private misery, her death a tragedy suffused by dark questions - about her relations with President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert. Drawing on more than 600 first-hand interviews, Anthony Summers offers the classic, definitive biography of a woman who captivated the world. Marilyn's tragic story is clouded by gossip-reporting more than almost any other. GODDESS, however, delivers new, fully documented yet exciting fact. 'Gets as near to the heart of the mystery as anyone ever will' Guardian 'The fullest factual account of Monroe's life and death we're likely to get' Evening Standard 'The definitive story of the legend' Irish Times 'A remarkable performance...The ghost of Marilyn Monroe cries out in these pages' New York Times
-
The Thorn Birds
“Beautiful….Compelling entertainment.” —New York Times One of the most beloved novels of all time, The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough’s sweeping family saga of dreams, titanic struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback, returns to enthrall a new generation. The Thorn Birds is a chronicle of three generations of Clearys—an indomitable clan of ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family. It is a poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit. Most of all, it is the story of the Clearys' only daughter, Meggie, and the haunted priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart—and the intense joining of two hearts and souls over a lifetime, a relationship that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma. “A heart-rending epic…truly marvelous.” —Chicago Tribune
-
Tomb of Sand
In northern India, an eighty-year-old woman slips into a deep depression after the death of her husband, and then resurfaces to gain a new lease on life. Her determination to fly in the face of convention - including striking up a friendship with a transgender person - confuses her bohemian daughter, who is used to thinking of herself as the more 'modern' of the two. To her family's consternation, Ma insists on travelling to Pakistan, simultaneously confronting the unresolved trauma of her teenage experiences of Partition, and re-evaluating what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a woman, a feminist. Rather than respond to tragedy with seriousness, Geetanjali Shree's playful tone and exuberant wordplay results in a book that is engaging, funny, and utterly original, at the same time as being an urgent and timely protest against the destructive impact of borders and boundaries, whether between religions, countries, or genders.
-
Every Mother's Son
It's been a good few years since Molly and Bernie left their native Ireland and settled in Liverpool. Now they're both being courted by fine young men, and the future looks bright. But 1945 is rapidly approaching and soon war is changing everything - destroying homes and lives, and snatching away long-held dreams... The beautifully evoked backstreets of Liverpool are the perfect setting for a tale of grit, friendship - and love.
-
True Biz
True Biz plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they'll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who's never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school's golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the headmistress, who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another - and changed forever. This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, cochlear implants and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, True Biz is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.