Marriage Friendship

Science journalist Lydia Denworth takes us in search of the biological, psychological and evolutionary foundations of this important bond. She finds that the human capacity for friendship is as old as humanity itself, when tribes of people on the African savanna grew large enough for individuals to seek meaningful connection with those outside their immediate families. Lydia meets scientists at the frontiers of brain and genetics research and discovers that friendship is reflected in our brain waves, our genomes and our cardiovascular and immune systems.

‘I absolutely loved this… I don’t think I’ve ever related to a story more… I laughed and cried… A really great read!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Sade Sodipo is ready to meet ‘the one’ and finally fulfil the Nigerian Dream. So far God hasn’t performed that little miracle quite yet, but...

A divorce, a wedding, and a looming retirement. Filled with big dreams, can this trio of fiftysomethings evade disaster and capture fulfilment?

Another powerful story in the Logan Family Saga and companion to Mildred D. Taylor's Newbery Award-winning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Cassie Logan and her brothers have been warned never to go to the Wallace store. So they know to expect trouble there. What they don’t expect is to hear Mr...

May 1944. Hope and excitement is in the air when news breaks of the allied forces landing in Normandy. D Day has arrived. However, the day-to-day struggles for the Tobacco Girls continue. Peace is on the horizon, but will their wishes and dreams win through and bring them a happy ever after?

Every Tuesday night, two couples see the same therapist for marriage counselling. At 8pm, as Liv and Jay are leaving their session, they see Maya and Hugo waiting to go in. When their young boys start at the same school, things are initially awkward, but as the women get to know one another, they become friends, sharing the fractures in their respective marriages. Soon, they are confiding their deepest secrets.

A groundbreaking, practical program for transforming troubled relationships into positive ones “This is the best book on relationships I have ever read. . . . John Gottman has decoded the subtle secrets that can either enrich or destroy the quality of our ties with others.” Daniel B. Wile...

Growing up in Birmingham, Sylvia and Audrey Whitehouse have always been like chalk and cheese. When the Second World War breaks out, Sylvia is still dreaming of her forthcoming marriage to fiancé Ian while Audrey jumps at the career opportunities the WAAF throws her way. Audrey joins the ranks...

1950 - Seven year old Carol Martin lies encased in an iron lung, struck down by the killer disease, polio. Distraught at her side, her mother, Violet, wonders if this is her punishment - for Carol is the love child who should not have been born . . . Family of Women is the story of three...

Three friends at life-changing crossroads . . . Matilda: Living the dream: presenting breakfast TV in Dublin and married to a man with a mega media career in the UK. But when she turns up in their London flat to surprise him for his birthday, it’s she who gets a shock. Sadie: Clinging to her...

Pretty seventeen-year-old Greta has never known a stable family life. With no father, and loathing her mother Ruby's latest boyfriend, Greta finds life hard at home and is happiest at work with her friends at the Cadbury factory in Birmingham where she is popular with the boys. Life takes a turn...

Shortlisted for Historical Romantic Novel in the Romantic Novelists Association Books Awards Birmingham, almost a decade after the end of the Great War, and the women of Lilac Street have had more than their fair share of troubles . . . Rose Southgate is trapped in a loveless marriage. Shy and...

London, 1952, the world is watching as a young princess takes centre stage... Eve Brown, a senior housemaid at Buckingham Palace, battles with an abusive husband and seeks a better life for her daughter and herself. Lucy Smith, young and ambitious, navigates the challenges of societal...

'Love, passion, drama, violence, menace and peril, and characters you fall in love with!’ – Santa Montefiore, author of Shadows in the Moonlight The mystery of St Kilda's residents are all revealed in the epic conclusion to Karen Swan's historical series set in Scotland. Jayne Ferguson has...

For all those who imagine escaping to a château and living the dream . . . to find that even dreams can have their complications. Steph, Jo and Meredith have been friends since school. Their lives have all taken very different paths across the years, but when Meredith buys a romantic château...

The Winter Children is a haunting mystery from Lulu Taylor, author of The Snow Angel. Behind a selfless act of kindness lies dark intentions . . . After years of IVF, Olivia and Dan are blissfully happy at the arrival of their long dreamed-of twins. At the same time, they make the move to...

It is 1942, and after a childhood of suffering in Birmingham, Maryann Bartholomew has built a life of happiness and safety with her husband Joel and their children, working the canals on his narrowboat, the Esther Jane. But the back-breaking work and constant childbearing take their toll on...

When all is lost, can she find the strength to start again? It is 1916 and Edith Mellor is one of the few female surgeons in Britain. Compelled to use her skills for the war effort, she travels to the Somme, where she is confronted with the horrors at the front. Yet amongst the bloodshed on the...

Can you be happy without a partnership at the centre of your life? Society still sets the gold standard for successful living as a marriage and kids. As Marianne Power turns forty, she wonders why this is still so elusive for her and whether, in fact, this is what she even wants, or just what...

Who would you choose to believe? Amos and Emerson have been friends for thirty years. Despite coming from vastly different backgrounds, the two men now form an enviable portrait of middle age: their wives are friends, their teenage daughters have grown up together, their days are passed in the...