Showing results by publisher "Penguin Audio" in Holidays

When Cordelia's daughter Emily falls for a young chap who doesn't meet the approval of her father, Cordelia is reminded of her own first love - a love that she has never forgotten. Mabel is determined to get to the bottom of a spate of local burglaries. Her heart is in the right place as she sets out on a quest to clear her friend's name, but there will be unforeseen consequences. It's nothing short of a miracle when Colette returns to Manchester. But it's not going to be easy for her to keep living the life she once knew, and an impossible situation lies ahead.

Residential home caterer Connie has had one online-dating disaster too many. Hurt in the past, and with her son to consider, now she's feeling hesitant. Then one of Connie's residents sets her up on a date at a beautiful German Christmas market - with the promise she'll take a mini-bus full of pensioners with her.

More than 50 years ago, Willie Nelson's beloved Christmas song, "Pretty Paper", first hit the airwaves. And for all these years, Willie has wondered about the real-life Texas street vendor, selling wrappings and ribbons, who inspired his song. Who was this poor soul? What did his painful trials say about our loves, our hopes, our dreams in this holiday season - and in the rest of our lives?

From the attic of a dilapidated English country house, she sees them - Cara first: dark and beautiful, clinging to a marble fountain of Cupid, and Peter, an Apollo. It is 1969, and they are spending the summer in the rooms below hers while Frances writes a report on the follies in the garden for the absent American owner. But she is distracted. Beneath a floorboard in her bathroom, she discovers a peephole which gives her access to her neighbours' private lives.

The title story tells of a typical Christmas at the farm before the coming of Flora Poste. It is a parody of the worst sort of family Christmas: Adam Lambsbreath dresses up as Father Christmas in two of Judith's red shawls. There are unsuitable presents, unpleasant insertions into the pudding and Aunt Ada Doom orders Amos to carve the turkey, adding: 'Ay, would it were a vulture, 'twere more fitting!'

Alice, Kate and Naomi want to keep the magic of Christmas alive in their village of Churchwood but a thief in the area and a new family that shuns the local community are only the first of the problems they face.

Christmas time is fast approaching at Mary Vale and newcomer Libby is ready to start a fresh chapter working alongside the Wartime Midwives. When she discovers that the local primary school is struggling, Libby rallies the midwives to band together and work with the local community. With the help of midwife Ada and teacher Margaret, Libby has a plan to save Christmas. But not everyone likes what Libby is doing, and local landlord Thorpe is hiding something.

An audio Christmas treat from Giovanna Fletcher.

Chloe can't wait for Christmas...to be over! Her son Ruben is staying with his dad this year and Chloe is planning to ignore the holidays all together. Her only nod to the season is the advent calendar Ruben left her, to help count down the days till he's home again. But then an heir hunter gets in touch, telling her there's a plot of land in Canada she may be entitled to. Surely, it's a scam. Or could it be just the escape she needs right now? They're offering to pay for her flights...and Ruben's latest note in the advent calendar tells her to 'say yes!'

Truman Capote makes whisky-soaked fruitcake in Alabama; Laurie Lee slides across a frozen pond in Gloucestershire; and Shirley Jackson is outwitted by a wily Santa Claus at the bank. Ghosts haunt the Christmases of Muriel Spark and Elizabeth Bowen, while Dostoyevsky, Daphne du Maurier and Italo Calvino take a cynical view of the season and Selma Lagerlof and Angela Carter celebrate its miracles. Ranging from Cork to Lagos to the Wild West, and from Paris to San Paolo to outer space, this is Christmas as imagined by some of the greatest short-story writers of all time.

It's mid-December, and for the fifth year in a row, there is little sign of the festive season in the Sullivan family's home in South London. That is until a mysterious someone starts sending strange gifts to widower Henry and his two children. First, a small-beaked and feathered face pokes its head out from between the branches of a pear tree. Before they know it, the Sullivan's home is full of boisterous animals and house guests, all demanding their attention.

Seven stories to span the Christmas holidays: 'A Faraway Smell of Lemon': The school term has ended. It is almost Christmas, but Binny, out last-minute shopping, couldn't feel less like wishing glad tidings to all men. Ducking out of the rain, she finds herself in the sort of shop she would never normally visit. 'The Marriage Manual': Christmas Eve. Two parents endeavour to construct their son's Christmas present from a DIY kit and in the process find themselves deconstructing their marriage.

London, 1948: Eve Forrester is trapped in a loveless marriage, in a gloomy house, in a grey suburb. Out of the blue, she receives a solicitor’s letter. A wealthy stranger has left her a mystery inheritance, but in order to find out more, she must travel to the glittering French Riviera. Eve discovers her legacy is an enchanting villa overlooking the Mediterranean sea and suddenly, life could not be more glamorous. Alone in paradise, Eve must unlock the story behind her surprise bequest - before events turn deadly....

Natasha is flying home for yet another Christmas as a Singleton with her Mum, Aileen and annoyingly perfect older sister Doon. At least she will be in Ballyclare - the beautiful old house in the Wicklow hills that has been a treasured home since her father walked out all those years ago. Then comes the killer blow - it looks like the house will have to be sold, and this will be their last Christmas there. But when a stranger knocks on their door, Christmas takes an unexpected turn; and Tasha is not the only McDonnell woman to have her romantic fortunes turned on their head in a matter of days.

It's Christmas 1937 and an eclectic list of guests and staff have gathered for the grand re-opening of Maybridge castle, a newly renovated yet still crumbling hotel deep in the Cumbrian countryside. An innocent game of murder-in-the-dark will turn into a real game of life and death. And by the time the first sherries have been drunk, one of these people will be dead - and one of them the killer. Someone has changed the rules, but who?

I haven’t been back to Eos since I first met my step-sister, Lex. It’s been twenty-five years since that summer. Since we went from strangers to sisters. Since Abigail went missing. Since we told the first lie. Now we’re back together on the island. So much has changed since we were teenagers. We’ve both tried to move on from the past – from each other. But the island won’t let us escape our secrets. Only me and Lex know the truth about Abigail. We’ve been living a lie for so long. And if the truth comes out – neither of us will survive it…

Laura's marriage is at a crossroads. When she discovers Villa Luna Rossa, a crumbling villa in the Italian countryside, she convinces her husband, Nick, to embark on a new life there. But as the intense summer heat rises, Laura quickly realises that her issues with Nick haven't been left behind. So it's a relief when their first guests arrive—a glamorous American couple. Laura can't help but be drawn to these strangers. As she gets closer to the couple, though, she realises that everyone at Villa Luna Rossa is hiding something.

Mara wants to believe in fate—she's just never had a good reason to. Until now. After a case of mistaken identity and the appearance of Joe—a gorgeous Austrian cellist—Mara has the chance to set up her own destiny. But life is complicated.... The lido where she works is under threat and her new housemate, Mike, proves to be more than she bargained for. Will Mara manage to arrange her own happiness? And what if true love is closer to home than she thinks?

November, 1941. Christmas is coming... and despite the blackout, shortages and a constant threat of air raids, the inhabitants of Kelthorpe on the Yorkshire coast are determined that war won't stop them celebrating. The run-up to Christmas sees sisters Connie and Lizzie and their good friend Pamela busier than ever. Between their jobs, carol-singing rehearsals with the church choir and night shifts doing their bit as Air Raid Wardens and ambulance drivers, it's all go.

1984 - and it's an important time for the children of Ragley-on-the Forest school...Their school choir is to sing a carol in a church in York, and it's actually going to be on television! Helping to keep his excited children, not to mention their parents, under control during these momentous events taxes Jack and his staff to the limit. And at the same time, Jack has his own problems to deal with....