Showing results by narrator "Deryn Edwards" in All Categories

1884 - When Betsan Morgan’s mother succumbs to a devastating illness, she doesn't think her life could get much worse. But then her father moves in his new beau, an unserious flitty woman and coincidentally also the bargirl in the pub he works in, and she soon learns her house is no longer a home. All she can do is sit in the attic and stare at the portrait of her mother. Her new stepmother, Elinor, couldn’t even let them have the grace of keeping it in the hallway.

Remember how rested you felt after your yoga retreat weekend, energised after your cold water swim or nourished after your cacao ceremony? Intentional Living gives you the tools to make those once-a-year epiphanies into daily must-haves. Jayne herself is a hardworking, straight-talking businesswoman who is the founder and CEO of the company Psychic Sisters. She knows what it's like to feel tired and listless. Through 8 intentions she has set for you, she shows you how to harness the power of manifestation, tarot, cyclical energy and the natural world to make your aspirations a reality.

Enid Hardcastle has always had a hard life, but when her family can’t make ends meet and are moved to the workhouse, it feels like things can’t get any worse. But luckily for Enid, her friendship with local boy Jimmy gives her the strength. Also from the cold, hard streets of Merthyr, Jimmy has made his name as an entrepreneur, repairing boots and hand-delivering them to the fine people of the town. Enid has seen for herself that you can make a better life for yourself, so with Jimmy’s help, she sets about trying to save her family. But there are even darker places than the workhouse...

'It's our son, Sam... someone took him. Please help us' Emma hoped that she and her family would return from their year abroad closer, with memories to last a lifetime. Instead, they returned minus one child. A year on, Emma is haunted by the image of an empty cot, and feels further than ever...

Wales, 1943. Sara Lewis should be heartbroken when her husband doesn't return from war. But he was never the kind husband she hoped for. And now she's stuck with her cruel mother-in-law on the family farm. Sara must do what is best for her young son. So she leaves the farm for the safety of her sister's home. Despite herself, she begins to notice Carlo, an Italian prisoner of war. Longing looks soon turn into a connection neither of them can sever. But fraternization is forbidden. As their love grows, so does the danger all around them.

Heatwaves, wildfires, hurricanes and flooding caused by climate change are already impacting people and nature. Adaptation until now has been incremental with governments and institutions tinkering around the edges of current systems. This will not be enough. Sink or Swim explores the hard choices that lie ahead concerning how people earn a living, the way governments manage relationships between countries, and how communities accommodate the movement of people. Should people be encouraged to move away from the coast?

In June 1940, the Channel Islands become the only part of Great Britain to be occupied by Hitler's forces. Hedy Bercu, a young Jewish girl from Vienna who fled to Jersey two years earlier to escape the Anschluss, finds herself once more entrapped by the Nazis, this time with no escape. Hedy's War follows her struggle to survive the Occupation and avoid deportation to the camps. Despite her racial status, Hedy finds work with the German authorities and embarks on acts of resistance.

Annabel Streets and Susan Saunders spent their 30s climbing the career ladder, having children and caring for elderly parents - all at the same time. By their 40s, they were exhausted, stressed, sleeping too little and rushing too much. They began to ask whether the prolonged ill health and dementia suffered by their parents was their inevitable future too - could they do anything to avoid requiring their own children to care for them in old age? Thus began The Age-Well Project. 

Sophie and Andrew are looking for relief from the daily grind - if not each other - so when a friend puts them in touch with William and Beth, newlyweds looking to swap houses for the summer, it sounds like a great idea. They find themselves in a stylish Connecticut home, while William and Beth take over their lived-in family house in London. The weeks away work an unexpected magic for Sophie, who begins to find a sense of happiness, but Beth has no such luck and grows increasingly miserable.

What makes parents happiest, according to influential new research, is good relationships with their adult children. This audiobook is one of the first to offer much-needed guidance on developing a strong and enduring bond with children in the decades after they’ve left home. It’s a crucial slice of family life which hopefully lasts much longer than the twenty or so years it takes to raise a child. Yet surprisingly it’s rarely discussed.

Every summer Bea, Marissa and Emma meet at Seastone, Emma's family home on the remote Suffolk coast, to retreat from their daily lives and take comfort in their friendship. Over the years, their paths have not been easy. For Bea, the aftermath of a broken-hearted love affair influences the decisions she makes. For Marissa, the fear that her traumatic past will catch up with her haunts her still. And, for Emma, the sacrifices she has made for her family leave her full of longing and regret.

Following retirement, Marigold Darwin returns to her home village determined to purchase a house. She meets two young boys, Mark and Steve, who hang around the Willows, where old Tom Morton lives. His housekeeper Ivy sometimes babysits Mark, although this may be a mistake. Neither boy is in the least concerned about others, regarding casual deception and theft as just part of everyday life. The same is true of their two friends, who have a seriously disturbed mother. Marigold is gradually drawn into the lives of all.

Twenty-four favourite festive songs and carols for children and the whole family to enjoy - and join in with!

Few kidnap victims grow up to become police officers - but this is exactly what Nina Foster did. Following a frenzied stabbing she is drafted into her first murder investigation. With former rescuer DCI Stan McGuire as her mentor and John ('Wingsy') Wing as her partner, she thrives on the pace and banter that go with the job. As the body count increases and the force's biggest-ever manhunt gets underway, Nina is determined to find the murderer.

Why did the medieval Church bless William of Normandy's invasion of Christian England in 1066 and authorise cultural genocide in Provence? How could a Christian army sack Christian Constantinople in 1204? Why did thousands of ordinary men and women, led by knights and ladies, kings and queens, embark on campaigns of fanatical conquest in the world of Islam? The word 'Crusade' came later, but the concept of a 'war for the faith' is an ancient one.

When Janine and Dougie fell in love they thought it would be forever. Fifteen years later their relationship is well and truly over, their daughter Stevie their one remaining connection. Stevie is on the cusp of adulthood. At sixteen, she's not quite a child, but not quite grown up: a dangerous age. But it's only during a birthday celebration in Spain, when she gets too close to one of Dougie's best friends, that her parents realise just how dangerous.

It’s 1969, and free-spirited artist Elin Morgan has left Wales for a sun-drenched Greek island. As she makes new friends and enjoys the laidback lifestyle, she writes all about it in her diary. But Elin’s carefree summer of love doesn’t last long, and her island experience ultimately leaves her with a shocking secret.... Twenty-two years later, Elin’s daughter, Alexandra, has inherited the diary and is reeling from its revelations. The discovery compels Alexandra to make her own journey to the same island, following in her mother’s footsteps.

There are some things we’d rather not face—and midlife is definitely one of them. Who wants to look in the mirror and see their mother? But when our minds feel foggy and pressures mount, we need to pause rather than panic. Dealing candidly with the struggles of midlife and menopause, Sarah Allen offers a refreshing biblical perspective to changing emotions, bodies and lives.

A marriage of dynasty: that is what is expected of Mary Sidney. A marriage to Sir Henry Herbert, earl of Pembroke, to be precise. But Mary’s sharp mind longs to work on her writing and translation projects and perhaps learn more of the alchemical arts at the elbow of the dazzling Walter Raleigh. Rose Commin, a young country girl with a surprising talent for drawing, is desperate to shrug off the slurs of witchcraft which have tarnished life at home. The opportunity to work at Wilton House, the Herbert’s Wiltshire home, is her chance.

July, 1916. In the Rhymney Valley, young mother Violet Jones is caring for four-year-old Clarice and baby Benjy on her own, while husband Charlie fights on the Front Line. When tragedy strikes, Violet’s life becomes even harder. Violet takes in a relative to help make ends meet. As the Great War takes its toll on the nation, Violet faces her own battle. Can she protect her children? And will she ever find joy out of the depths of despair?