Showing results by narrator "Anna Bentinck" in All Categories

Wish I was Here features tales of passion and jealousy, lust and romance from the award-winning author of Red Dust Road. This fierce, funny, and compassionate collection explores every facet of that most overwhelming and complicated of human emotions: love. With winning directness, Jackie Kay captures her characters' greatest joys and greatest vulnerabilities, exposing the moments of tenderness, of shock, of bravery, and of stupidity that accompany the search for love, the discovery of love and, most of all, love's loss.

Rona Parish is asked to write a biography of reclusive artist Ellie by her concerned sister. Ellie has seemingly disappeared, and the mystery surrounding her whereabouts has fuelled a new interest in her work. But when Rona discovers that Ellie’s closest friend committed suicide, Rona wonders whether Ellie, wracked by guilt over her friend’s death, could have been driven to do likewise....

Traumatised by events in 1945, Yolande hasn't left her home since. And life has not been kinder to Bernard, her brother, who is now in the final months of a terminal illness.

Realizing that he has so little time left, Bernard's gloom suddenly lifts. With no longer anything to lose, he becomes reckless - and murderous...

In 1945, two brothers die in the icy Barents Sea and a book is all that survives of them. More than 60 years later, Donny and his mother set out for Suffolk to meet his mysterious great aunt. There is an accident and Donny is taken into care. But are the officials all that they seem and why won't they believe Donny's story? Soon he discovers that his life has been built on a lie.

Jane Eyre was sent to work as a governess to the ward of Mr. Rochester. Thornfield Hall is a spooky and mysterious place with many secrets. Jane and Mr. Rochester became fond of each other and grow very fond of each other after Jane saves Mr. Rochester from a fire that broke out in his room while he was sleeping. Their bond is sealed when Jane is able to keep Mr. Rochester's secret.

In the middle of the night, a woman wraps herself in a blanket and starts writing. In answer to a question you asked a long time ago, she writes, and so begins a letter that both women have preferred to forget. She writes night after night - a letter of friendship, by turns a belated outlet of rage and forgiveness, the letter dissects what is left of a friendship caught between the forces of hatred and love.

It has been 11 years since Hanne Wilhelmsen's life was forever changed by an assault that left her wheelchair bound. Now Hanne's self-imposed exile is nearing its end. When Oslo comes under attack from Islamic extremists in a series of explosions, the city is left reeling. A militant group claim responsibility, but the Norwegian police force doubt the group's very existence. The unfolding drama is brought to Hanne's door by her former partner, Billy T, who is convinced that his son, Linus, is involved in the recent events.

Summer 1939 - When war breaks out, Sylvie is marooned with her cousin Nell's family in the Chiltern hills and cannot return to her Normandy home. During the early days of rationing, blackouts, and the threat of bombers in the skies, Sylvie and Nell have to grow up quickly. Yet as the war rages around them, it's the competition and jealousy between the two that dominates their lives. When the girls fall in love with the same man, their relationship is truly tested. But the war pulls them all apart and changes the course of their lives – until their secrets are revealed.

Inspired by the lost voices of the Romany Holocaust, this heartbreaking and tender novel will appeal to readers who loved Sophie's Choice, Schindler's Ark, and The Book Thief. "Remarkable - brave, big-hearted and beautifully written" (Andrew Miller, author of the Costa Award-winner PURE) Austria, 1944. Jakob, a gypsy boy - half Roma, halif Yenish - runs, as he has been told to do. With shoes of sackcloth, still stained with another's blood, a stone clutched in one hand, a small wooden box in the other.

In this eloquent meditation on ageing, Marie de Hennezel guides us through a true ‘art of growing old’. She recalls her encounters as a clinical psychologist with extraordinary people who 'grow old gracefully’ – and through her experience shows us how to make the most of this time in our...

1980. On a hot summer's day five friends stumble upon an abandoned cottage hidden deep in the English countryside. Isolated and run-down, it offers a retreat, somewhere they can escape from the world. But as the seasons change, tensions begin to rise. Three decades later, Lila arrives at the remote cottage. Bruised from a tragic accident and with her marriage in crisis, she finds renovating the tumbledown house gives her a renewed sense of purpose. But why did the cottage's previous inhabitants leave their belongings behind? And why can't she shake the feeling that someone is watching her?

When Lily Bell is sold by her father to a Professor of Ghosts to settle a bad debt, she thinks she is about to hit the London stage as an actress. But little does she know that the professor intends her to be his very own ghost, part of an elaborate illusion for a fascinated audience. Obsessed with perfection, the professor covers all bases to ensure his illusion is realistic and when Lily comes across her own obituary in the paper and then her own headstone in the cemetery, she soon realises that she is trapped, her parents think she is dead and soon her fate is to become even darker.

In 2001, three-year-old Dina is killed in a tragic car accident. Not long thereafter Dina's mother dies under mysterious circumstances, and Dina's father, Jonas, is convicted of her murder. In 2016, the cold case ends up on the desk of Detective Henrik Holme, who tries to convince his mentor Hanne Wilhelmsen that the father might have been wrongly convicted. Holme and Wilhelmsen discover that the case could be connected to the suicide of an eccentric blogger as well as the kidnapping of the grandson of a EuroJackpot millionaire.

Set in London in 1837, Anna Mazzola's The Unseeing is the story of Sarah Gale, a seamstress and mother sentenced to hang for her role in the murder of Hannah Brown on the eve of her wedding. Perfect for any fan of Sarah Waters or Antonia Hodgson. After Sarah petitions for mercy, Edmund Fleetwood is appointed to investigate and consider whether justice has been done. Idealistic but struggling with his own demons, Edmund is determined to seek out the truth.

The hilarious and poignant new novel from the best selling author of The Kicking the Bucket List. When a box set of Broadchurch is more appealing than having sex with your husband, then perhaps it’s time to hide the remote… Cait and Matt have been married for 30 years. They are rock solid...

For Kay, living on her husband Bror's country estate, the Nazi invasion is a time of uncertainty. Bror is desperate to preserve the legacy of his home, even if it means co-existing with the enemy; Kay cannot do the same. She is lured by British Intelligence into a world of resistance. Tasked with protecting an SOE agent, Kay learns the art of subterfuge. Caught on opposing sides, will Kay and Bror find their way back to one another?

Free yourself from the guilt trap and move on with your life. Simple steps to free yourself from guilt Guilt is a major underlying cause of emotional disorders such as low self-esteem, depression, OCD and other mental illnesses. This guide, written by one of the UK’s most respected...

There are some things you can never leave behind… Kate Forrest is invisible…her husband doesn’t seem to know she’s alive and her two children have become stroppy adolescents. With her fortieth birthday approaching, Kate walks out of her life, and gets on a plane to Italy. With no responsibilities, she soon finds herself caught up in the arms of a man half her age. But eventually Kate will be forced to choose between her past and the future.

From the best-selling author of The Legacy comes an unforgettable novel exploring guilt, love and confronting the truth. April, 1942. Amid the chaos of a night of bombing in Bath, six-year-old Davy Noyle goes missing. Frances Parry, looking after him at the time, is tortured by guilt and refuses to believe that he's dead. As quiet falls and the dust begins to settle on the damaged city, a body is found. But it's the body of a little girl, Frances' best friend, Wyn, who has been missing for over 20 years.

This is a book about memories, love, sex and the power of the imagination to see us through the most difficult times. The women of Reality, Reality are mesmerising, whether in love or in solitude. Jackie Kay’s newest and most luminous of collections is full of compassion, generosity, sorrow, and joy. In 15 extraordinary stories, she celebrates the richness and power of dream-life to inspire, to repair, and to make real.