Showing results by narrator "Maggie Ollerenshaw" in All Categories

There are stark differences between rich and poor in the Manchester of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel, Mary Barton. Factory owners such as Mr Carson, do not understand the anger of their poverty stricken workers, and care little for their welfare. For the mill-workers, employment means food on the table and being one step away from starvation, but trying to gain any political power means risking a loss of livelihood.

Five immaculate short stories dealing with the tentative-to-frantic strategies of isolated beings distanced from unresponsive societies.

Everyone says 14-year-old Billie is nothing but trouble. A fighter. A danger to her family and friends. But her care worker sees someone different. Her classmate Rob is big, strong; he can take care of himself and his brother. But his violent stepdad sees someone to humiliate. And Chris is struggling at school; he just doesn't want to be there. But his dad sees a useless no-hoper. Billie, Rob and Chris each have a story to tell. But there are two sides to every story, and the question is... who do you believe?

A newly-widowed woman has done a runner. She just jumped in her car, abandoned her house in London and kept on driving until she reached the Norfolk coast. Now she’s rented a tiny cottage and holed herself away there. She’s not quite sure, but thinks she may be having a bit of a breakdown. All she knows is that she can’t sleep and may be drinking a little more than she ought to. But as her story unfolds we discover that her marriage was far from perfect.

Annie naturally embraces the baby boomer's credo that old age, far from being a biological inevitability, is a mere lifestyle choice. If not downright carelessness. That doesn't stop her marshalling her contemporaries into suitable relationships - before it's too late. Perhaps it's even time she did the same for herself. But while smart, sassy Ms Stoneycroft may temper any romantic fancies with Yorkshire common sense, what she has yet to learn is that love is like the measles. The later it strikes, the harder it hits.... 

'An emotional rollercoaster. I loved it.' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The exciting new novel from the bestselling author of My Sister’s Lies. Rose has always been close to her father. Her mother died soon after she was born, so it’s been just the two of them for as long as she can remember...

Stumbling upon his dowdy cousin Elinor on the Continent, Theo Ravenhurst hardly believes his luck. His dangerous lifestyle appears to have finally caught up with him, and her family connections could be put to excellent use... Theo is convinced Elinor's drab exterior disguises a fiery, passionate nature. He gives her the adventure she's been yearning for - and along the way discovers she has talents beyond his wildest imagination...

Bloomsbury presents The Essential Family Guide to Caring for Older People by Deborah Stone, read by Maggie Ollerenshaw. No one wants to think about getting older. It’s true. At any age, when things are moving along normally day to day and everyone seems fit and well, there seems no reason to...

Bloomsbury presents Hope and the Nearness of God by Teresa White, read by Maggie Ollerenshaw. A reflection on the meaning and quality of Hope for the period of Lent and beyond. In these days of pandemic, war and political turbulence, hope can seem to be in short supply. But hope is one of the...

Part social satire, part police procedural, Bill James returns with the stunning prequel to Tip Top - In the drug-ridden Whitsun and Temperate housing estates a connection, once made, is only ever one thing: trouble. Trouble for the journalist whose investigation into the estates leads to his murder; trouble for policewoman Esther Davidson, whose job it is to arrest the killer; and trouble for TV producer Larry Edgehill, who becomes more involved with a Romeo and Juliet-esque cross-estate romance than he ever would have wanted.

Mary Barton has a choice to make: either protect a member of her family or sit back and watch a terrible miscarriage of justice. Will she make the right decision in time?