Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

What is it like to broadcast the fateful words "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday," then jump into the unknown? The members of one of the world's most unusual brotherhoods provide the answers in this incredible book. Formed during the Second World War to celebrate the survival of pilots who had been forced to bail out over water, the Goldfish Club has taken on new members ever since. They share one pivotal moment, but their experiences beyond this couldn't be more different.

Maddie Layne's life hasn't been the same since her sister was murdered. The police never found Greta's body so all Maddie was left with was unanswered questions - and her orphaned nephew, Zac, to look after. She works hard to make sure Zac has everything he needs; she even tends graves for some extra cash. Maddie isn't looking for any trouble.Lucy Rivers died decades ago under suspicious circumstances and the people responsible believe the entire affair is over.

The Quinns are one of the most feared criminal gangs in London's East End.So the reaction of Joe Quinn to the news that his daughter Lynsey is involved with a policeman is predictable and swift, and a pregnant Lynsey finds herself out on the street, bruised and alone.At the age of 11, Lynsey's daughter Helen is returned to the clan. Hated by her grandfather, loved only by her uncle, she struggles to fit into a world she doesn't understand. As warring factions battle for control of the East End, tragedy is about to strike again.

When 12 year-old Jared Johnson’s little sister dies, just hours after his mother breathes her last after wasting away so her children could eat, he knows he is on own. Desperate to avoid the workhouse, he does everything he can to survive the inhospitable streets of Birmingham. Jared is blessed with the gift of the gab and soon attracts the attention of the King of the Tatters, Toby McGuire. Recognising a kindred spirit, Toby soon has Jared out on a cart hustling for rags.

1915, Chrisp Street Market, East London. While the man she loves is fighting on the frontline for his country, Lily Larkin is up at dawn carrying crates of apples to his market stall. Taking charge of Greg's business while he's away, she's grown from a penniless workhouse orphan into a shrewd tradeswoman. But the market is a man's world, and Lily soon starts attracting unwanted visitors, including Greg's old rival.

Ralph Boyd’s first glimpse of Daphne will be etched on his mind forever. Dark, teasing, slippery as mercury, she seems neither boy nor girl but sprite - something elemental. An up-and-coming composer, Ralph is visiting the writer Edmund Greenslay at his riverside home in Putney to discuss a collaboration. In its colourful rooms and unruly garden, Ralph finds an intoxicating world of sensuous ease and bohemian abandon that captures the mood of the moment. Entranced, he knows he will return.

Life's been hard for Marcie Brooks, but when she marries Michael Jones things start to look up. Not only has he given her daughter, Joanna, his name but they now also have a son. The family's finances are on the up too, with Michael opening his first nightclub. However, when he refuses to do business with Paddy Rafferty, an Irish gangster, Michael soon finds him on the wrong side of the law.

When Angel is discovered by a model agent, her life changes for ever. Young, beautiful and sexy, she seems destined for a successful career in modelling and, very quickly, the glitzy world of celebrity, fame and riches becomes her new home. But then she meets Mickey, the lead singer of a boy band, who is as irresistible as he is dangerous, and Angel realises that a rising star can just as quickly fall....

It's 1959, and Boots Adams and his wife, Polly, are at their favourite Camberwell pub when they witness with horror a sudden and vicious attack on the barman, Joe, by a knife-wielding thug. Is this a sign of the times? Is contempt for old traditions and enthusiasm for everything new and fashionable going to threaten the Adams family and their easy-going existence? While Gemma is courted by one of the young men who works for her father, her twin brother, James, finds himself affected by his girlfriend's intriguing family secrets.

Ten years ago, Jo Martin was released from prison after serving 12 years of a life sentence. She is now out on license - and she isn’t Jo anymore. Given a new identity by the courts, and with a different appearance, a ready-made history and even a change of age, Jo can pretend to be anyone....

Part memoir, part self-help guide, this fascinating audiobook takes the listener through the history of spirituality, what it means in the world and how Sally’s version for the modern age can be harnessed in the personal space. Secret Spirit is an uplifting book about hope and happiness, that deals with the dead as well as a brighter way of living - and is told in Sally’s inimitable, lovable, no-nonsense style.

It is 1953 - Coronation year - and like all of Cockney London the members of the Adams family are looking forward to the celebrations. Chinese Lady, now Lady Finch, worries that her friends will think she is too grand to mingle with them. But her husband has a more pressing worry - the sudden appearance of the lovely but mysterious Katje Galicia, who knows more than she should about his own chequered past.

For more than a decade, two East End families have been locked in a bitter war. On one side are the Mitchells, a notorious underworld mob from East London's Canning Town. They have an iron in every fire and will resort to intimidation and violence to get what they want. On the other side are the O'Haras. The Mitchells' biggest rivals are a travelling family who live in nearby Stratford. They compete with the Mitchells for pub protection, and the two families hate each other.

After the brutal gangland murder of her husband Terry, Tracey Tempest just wants to move on. She’ll never get over Terry’s betrayal, but she’s determined his shady past won’t spoil life for her and her beloved boys Ricky and Jamie. Max Hardcastle just wants a quiet life and to maybe see how things go between him and Tracey. He knows she’s been hurt in the past, but he’s nothing like Terry and he’ll do anything to keep Tracey happy and safe. But some people have other ideas.

Molly Dawson, now a respectable married woman, lives with her husband, head gardener Charlie, on the Woodchurch Manor estate, where they have brought up three delightful daughters. Her life appears idyllic...but she has suffered the torment of a secret since she was 18 years old. When George Smith - a young stranger fresh out of the Navy - appears at the estate's annual garden party, Molly's life is set to change again....

Now that Molly Dawson's family have grown up and left home, she has every reason to expect that her life on the Woodchurch Manor estate with her husband, head gardener Charlie, will settle into happy contentment. It seems, though, that her estranged half-sister, Harriet, has other ideas. When the secret Molly has kept for more than 25 years is revealed in front of her whole family, Molly's relationship with her son and her husband begins to crumble. And when she takes a trip away from home to allow things to settle, Harriet steps in - with devastating consequences.

East London, 1938. Nine-year-old Daisy Purbright is a country girl at heart, and together with beloved brother Bobby, they've enjoyed the endless freedoms of rural England. But when her father gambles the family's fortunes on a speculative investment in London's docklands, Daisy and her family are swept up into the intrigue, danger and excitement. The Purbrights desperately attempt to settle to a new life in the East End, but the whisperings of war grow louder. Then Adolf Hitler conducts a paralysing bombardment on London, and war tightens its grip.

She's out of retirement – and out for revenge! When Georgina Garrett wakes in the night to find intruders in her house, she knows she must do everything she can to keep her children safe. But just when she thinks the ordeal is over, she realises something is terribly wrong. She arrives at her crime-lord husband David Maynard's London house to find a bloodbath. Six of David's best men lie dead and he is nowhere to be found. Georgina may have walked away from the game but she's still the best player on the street.

When Hetty Huggins made a promise to her dying mother that she would look after her younger sister and brothers, little did she know how difficult this would be. But despite the threat of being turned out onto the streets by the unscrupulous tallyman and the never-ending struggle just to exist, Hetty is determined her family will never starve or want for a roof over their heads. Longing for something better out of life than the daily grind of making matchboxes for a pittance, she dreams of setting up her own business.

Welcome to HMP Ashcroft. Run by a bent governor determined to impose his will with an iron fist, it might as well be hell for its inmates. Fights and favours are currency for survival, but nothing in life is free; there’s always a price to be paid, and for some it’s high. Whether serving time on the inside or outside, guilty or not, one thing is for certain: hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.