Showing results by narrator "Kristin Atherton" in All Categories

The Book of Queer Prophets contains modern-day epistles from some of our most important thinkers, writers and activists: Jeanette Winterson tackles religious dogma, Amrou Al-Kadhi writes about trying to make it as a Muslim drag queen in London, John Bell writes about his decision to come out later in life, Tamsin Omond remembers getting married in the middle of a protest and Kate Bottley explains her journey to becoming an LGBT ally.

Maria and Josef live with their children in a valley in westernmost Austria. When the First World War breaks out and Josef is drafted into the army, Maria is left to provide for her family alone. Every day is a struggle against starvation, the harsh alpine climate and the hostile nearby villagers who see Maria as little more than a beautiful temptress out for the men left behind. But when a red-haired stranger arrives in the village, Maria feels happiness seep back into her life and she faces a choice whose consequences will affect the lives of her family for generations to come.

Vanessa and Kate live a glamorous life in the South of France helping the rich stay richer by hiding their money. While they know it's wrong, that their clients are corrupt, they are professionals and good at their jobs. Plus, there is the money... When their boss draws them deeper into his web of corruption, the chic veneer of their existence falls away, along with their excuses, leaving both women dangerously exposed to the lures of greed, gambling and hazardous liaisons.

After a morning that starts with a terrible migraine, an accidentally strong concoction of painkillers, and a bump on the head, Clover Hendry is not quite herself. And as she walks out of work at 9.47am, for once Clover isn’t worrying about the consequences. For once, she’s going to live for herself. . . if only for a day. Full of a joyful recklessness, Clover Hendry is taking the day off. But will her new-found freedom uncover long-buried secrets?

Europe, 1938. Even as the daughter of the extraordinary headlining illusionist, Lena Papadopoulos has never quite found her place within the World of Wonders - a travelling circus that traverses the continent in a luxury steam engine. Brilliant and curious, Lena yearns for the real-world magic of science and medicine, despite the limitations she feels in her wheelchair. But when a young French orphan, Alexandre, comes aboard the circus train, Lena's life is infused with magic and wonder for the first time. But outside the bright lights of the circus, darkness is descending on Europe.

The only thing Abi ever wanted was a proper family. So when she falls pregnant by an Australian exchange student in London, she cannot pack up her old life in Croydon fast enough, to start all over in Sydney and make her own family. It is not until she arrives, with three-week-old Jude in tow, that Abi realises Stu is not quite ready to be a father after all. And he is the only person she knows in this hot, dazzling, confusing city, where the job of making friends is turning out to be harder than she thought.

Lavinia never asked to be fought over. But now Turnus, her childhood sweetheart, has waged a war that threatens to destroy all she holds dear, because Lavinia's father has promised her to somebody else. Aeneas, rumoured to be the son of Venus, is famed for his bravery, cunning and his vision for a new great Empire. He is also secretive, slippery, and Lavinia wonders why he will never discuss the past he left behind. So when a stranger arrives in the camp with stories about Aeneas that suggest he is not what she seems, Lavinia realises she has to take her future into her own hands.

At exclusive boarding school St Michael’s, Carrie and her friends are used to getting away with anything. Until one night, their recklessness goes too far. They swore to keep what happened a secret. They swore to protect each other. But sixteen years on, someone is about to break that promise.

April Wood has returned home from her adventure on Bear Island, but over a year later, she can’t stop thinking about Bear. When April hears that a polar bear has been shot and injured in Svalbard, she’s convinced it’s her friend and persuades her dad to travel with her to the northernmost reaches of the Arctic. So begins an unforgettable journey across frozen tundra and icy glaciers. But along the way, she discovers much more than she bargained for – a tiny polar bear cub, desperately in need of her help.

Troy has fallen. The Greeks have won their bitter war. They can return home victors, loaded with their spoils: their stolen gold, stolen weapons, stolen women. All they need is a good wind to lift their sails. But the wind does not come. The gods have been offended - the body of Priam lies desecrated, unburied - and so the victors remain in limbo, camped in the shadow of the city they destroyed, pacing at the edge of an unobliging sea.

Holly Mayhew has the perfect family. But when she notices her seven-year-old daughter, Marley, becoming withdrawn and secretive, she sets up a solution. Holly creates a “worry box”, where Marley can post her innermost thoughts. But as the worry box fills up, Marley’s notes threaten everything Holly thought she knew about her daughter. What is Marley not telling her, and why is she so scared?

Woken from sleep by intruders, Arrow is shocked to realize that humans have managed to break through her wards. This was no simple break-in. It quickly becomes clear this was just part of a series, and the Erith's ancient enemies may be involved.

Pieta has a secret. Ten years ago, Pieta was kidnapped by a man calling himself The Blindfolder who said he wouldn't kill her if she kept her eyes closed for 48 hours. She never told anyone what happened to her, vowing to move on with her life. But when The Blindfolder starts hunting down his past victims, Pieta realises she may finally be forced to tell her deepest secret to stay alive....

This debut collection movingly explores how women and girls are looked at, look at one another and look at themselves, and how living as an object can shape their passions, fears and joys. With a clear eye and dark humour, Danielle Pender considers sex, parenting, grief and class as lenses for the ways in which the world watches women—and how women are always watching back.

In a city rocked by catastrophe, home-grown terrorism, shortages and wildfires, Cass is quietly raising three small children by herself. Her husband, Nathaniel, has left to serve as a medic. As life in the city becomes increasingly impossible, Cass knows she can no longer wait for Nathaniel’s return. Packing up their lives, she and the children set off in search of a place of greater safety. But Cass will learn that not all sanctuaries are what they seem – and as the fires around them begin to close in, she’ll discover just how far she’ll go for her children in a world teetering on apocalypse.

Three works of fiction, two by Mary Wollstonecraft, and one by her daughter Mary Shelley, creator of Frankenstein. In Mary Wollstonecraft's Mary, the heroine flees her young husband in order to nurse her dearest friend, Ann, and finds genuine love, while Maria tells of a desperate young woman who seeks consolation in the arms of another man after the loss of her child. And Mary Shelley's Matilda - suppressed for more than a century - tells the story of a woman alienated from society by the incestuous passion of her father.

Bonfire Night. A missing girl. Anna takes her eyes off Laurel for only a second. She thought Laurel was following her mum through the crowds. But in a heartbeat, Laurel is gone. Laurel’s parents are frantic. As is Anna, their nanny. But as the hours pass, and Laurel isn’t found, suspicion grows. Someone knows what happened to Laurel. And they’re not telling. Have You Seen Her is the breathtaking new thriller with a killer twist from best-seller Lisa Hall.

This is the incredible story of Elzbieta Zawacka, the WW2 female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo, told here for the very first time. Agent Zo was the only woman to reach London from Warsaw during the Second World War as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command, and then in Britain she became the only woman to join the Polish elite Special Forces, known as the 'Silent Unseen'. She was secretly trained in the British countryside, and then the only female member of these SOE affiliated forces to be parachuted back behind enemy lines to Nazi-occupied Poland.

Meet the Garnett Girls... Three sisters living in the shadow of their parents' glorious failed marriage. Rachel, desperate to return to London, but tied to the beautiful crumbling house they grew up in on the Isle of Wight. Imogen, with a devoted fiancé and a fledgling writing career, feeling a powerful connection to a beautiful stranger. And wild, passionate Sasha, trapped between her sisters and her husband, hiding a secret that could shake their family to the core...

The village of Nether Appleford calls itself ‘England’s Kindest Village’. Overseen by the Kindness Committee, this close-knit community strives to live their lives with kindness at the heart of everything they do. Just Be Kind. It’s as simple as that. But what is kindness? Is it doing something to help someone else? Is it giving up your time to help your community? Or, perhaps it’s something a lot less obvious.