Showing results by narrator "Julia Franklin" in All Categories

Manchester today. A dead baby. A missing mother. A cradle of secrets. Has the woman killed her child? Is she at risk to herself? Someone in the neighbourhood of old terraced streets has the answers. But Detectives Donna Bell and Jade Bradshaw find lies and obstruction at every turn, in a community living on the edge, ground down by austerity and no hope. A place of broken dreams. Of desperation. And murder. When a stranger crashes into Jade's life, her past comes hurtling back, threatening to destroy her and the world she has carved out for herself.

France, 1152. A beautiful woman is escaping through France, leaving behind two young daughters and a shattered marriage. This woman is Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, and her sole purpose is to marry the man she loves, Henry Plantagenet, a man destined for greatness as King of England. Theirs is a union founded on lust which will create a great empire. It will also create the most notoriously vicious marriage in history.

Everyone adores Christmas. Especially Lizzy Kingham. But this year, she is feeling unloved, and under-appreciated by her family. The present-buying, decorating, and food shopping have all been left to her. So she wonders what would happen if she ran away and left them to it. Lizzy heads to her favourite place: a beach hut on the golden sands of Everdene. There, she meets an unlikely collection of new friends, all running away from something. But the spirit of Christmas gets under Lizzy's skin: soon the fairy lights are twinkling and the scent of mulled wine mingles with the sea air.

Having been recently widowed in her 40s, shy Jane Redfern finally plucks up the courage to go on holiday alone. Embarking on a 10-day coach trip to Germany, the last thing she anticipates is to meet someone new and fall in love. But gradually she finds herself drawn to a fellow passenger, Shropshire farmer Dave Falconer, who has also lost his partner. In the stunning Black Forest, her friendship with Dave looks set to blossom. But riddled with guilt at having to leave her cantankerous 85-year-old mother in a retirement home, Jane finds it impossible to imagine a new life with someone else. And there’s something Dave hasn’t been telling her....

The sun is out, and the beach huts at Everdene Sands are filling up once again. Jemima is artist in residence for the summer, capturing the antics of the holiday makers on canvas. But it's not long before she becomes embroiled in their tangled lives.Vince and Murphy are best mates, and misspent their youths in the waves and bars of Everdene. Now they are making plans for The Lobster Shack, eager to make their fortune.

Lady Emily Longesley married the love of her life and hoped that he would learn to love her. Instead, he upped and left their country estate for London. Confronting her errant husband three years on, she sees that he has been robbed of his sight and doesn’t know her at all! If she plays his mistress by delicious deception, can he finally learn to love his wife?

When her sister disappears, can Ellen Ryan keep her beloved niece safe? For the inhabitants of Liverpool's Milton Street a steady income and a roof over their heads are luxuries. The Ryan family have barely grown accustomed to such things when a fire destroys their father Jack's modest coal haulage business, leaving Jack broken and his family facing ruin. They're forced to turn to Conor, Jack's brother from Ireland, a man whose noisy joviality 17-year-old Ellen Ryan suspects hides a mean viciousness.

She was far more than mistress to the king; Henrietta Howard was a dedicated patron of the arts, a lively and talented intellectual, and a passionate advocate for the rights of women long before the dawn of feminism. The mark that this enigmatic royal mistress left on the society and culture of early Georgian England was to resonate well beyond the confines of the court, and can still be felt today.

Friday nights, the best night of the week, the night they all looked forward to more than they cared to admit – talking, drinking, laughing and crying together. They were six female friends, different in age and circumstances, but with one common need: the warmth and support of their Friday nights. It was a time to share secrets and fears, triumphs and tragedies and, above all, to feel safe in the company of women friends.

I am the Dowager Countess of Kinsail, and I have enough secrets to scandalize you for life. I will never reveal the truth of my soul-destroying marriage--some things are too dark to be told. But at least no one can guess that I, a famously icy-hearted widow, am also the authoress of the shamelessly voluptuous romances currently shocking the ton! Only now I have a new secret identity, one that I will risk my life to keep - accomplice to Elliot Marchmont, gentleman, ex-soldier and notorious London thief.

A sweeping story of orphans and outcasts, haunted by the past and fighting to liberate themselves. At its centre is Monica Johnson, cut off from her parents after falling in love with a foreigner, and her bitter struggle to raise her sons in the shadow of the wild moors of the north of England. Intertwined with her modern narrative is the ragged childhood of Emily Brontë’s Heathcliff, the antihero of Wuthering Heights and one of literature’s most enigmatic lost boys.

When twins Annie and Lauren attend their older sister Chelsea's 40th birthday party at the Dorchester Hotel, they wonder why their lives are so different. Chelsea's husband is twirling her round the dance floor, while Annie's husband has gone fishing and Lauren's lover is at home with his wife and children.

Summer 1918. After their experiences on the front line of battle, young couple Amy and Edmond Derwent have now settled back in England. The Great War rages on, and Edmond, still struggling with the effects of the injury he sustained at Ypres, feels the guilt of remaining at home. But life at Larchbury is not without its own problems - food becomes scarce, and the Spanish Influenza causes deaths throughout England. Can Amy and Edmond keep their love strong?

After losing all her family in the Great War, Nell is grateful to marry Stan Hibbert. However, five years on, she is just another backstreet housewife, making every penny do the work of tuppence and performing miracles with scrag-end. When she discovers that Stan is leading a double life, she runs away to make a fresh start. Two years later, Nell has carved out a fulfilling new life for herself and her young children in Manchester, where her neighbours believe she is a respectable widow. But the past is hard to run from, and Nell must fight to protect the life she has made for herself and her children.

Sadie Nelson has two men to choose from, and neither is hassle-free. First there's Gil McGann, a Hollywood producer who's flown Sadie from grey London to sun-soaked LA in order to win her heart. He has more to offer her than Sadie could ever have imagined.... Then there's gorgeous actor Tavis Jones, whose sense of fun makes Sadie feel immediately at home. But can they ever be more than just good friends? The longer she leaves it, the harder it gets.

Hester and Harriet are reluctantly driving to visit relatives on Christmas Day when they come across a young woman hiding with her baby in a bus shelter. Seeing the perfect excuse for returning to their own warm hearth, the sisters insist on bringing Daria and Milo home with them. But with the arrival of a sinister stranger looking for a girl with a baby, Hester and Harriet's carefully crafted peace and quiet quickly begins to fall apart....

Waspish, wise, and wickedly witty, this is a collection to treasure forever. Reviewers have been describing Fay Weldon's inimitable voice for years. Now, here is Fay Weldon in her own words, selecting and introducing her favourite short stories from across her career as one of Britain's foremost contemporary novelists.

In 1960, Kate Freeman, daughter of the inimitable Rose Webster, goes to London to follow her dream of becoming a photographer. But Kate has a long journey to take before she can realise her ambition. The era that was dubbed "a time of peace" proves to be anything but, as Kate's family and friends cope with tragedy, upheaval, and the tears and laughter of family life. The comfort of loved ones and the support of friends goes a long way.

Eugenie Winford is devastated when her beloved father commits suicide, having lost his fortune in the Wall Street Crash. Now Eugenie and her proud, spoilt mother are ruined. Eugenie changes her name and goes into hiding as a housemaid for the Stannard family - anything is better than what her mother has planned for her. But her real identity is soon revealed, and Jen has to flee again. She ends up in Lambeth, with a poor but good family, and together they face the hardships of the Depression.

DCI Hannah Scarlett is an acknowledged expert in solving cold cases, but she is struggling under the weight of bureaucracy when Ramona Smith's disappearance from Bowness more than 20 years ago crosses her desk. The prime suspect was charged but found not guilty. Now the case has come back into the public eye as the result of a shocking tragedy on the Crooked Shore, the fount of dark legends south of the Lake District. A ruthless killer, who has already got away with one murder, plans further appalling crimes.