Showing results by narrator "Deryn Edwards" in All Categories

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...

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.

Everyone that meets Kat Keating is mesmerised. Beautiful, smart and charming, she is everything a good girl should be. Her sister Eleanor, on the other hand, knows she can't compete with Kat. On the awkward side of tall, clever enough to be bullied, and full of the responsibilities only an older sibling can understand, Eleanor grows up knowing she’s not a good girl.

As the wife of a coal miner, Elin Edwards is no stranger to poverty, but when her husband squanders their last few savings at the betting tables, Elin's world begins to crumble. Determined to pay off her husband's debts, she finds herself making a deal with one of the worst sorts. The agreement is innocent, Elin's baking services to reduce the money owed, but the minute she steps into Morgan Griffin's pub, she fears trusting this man.

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.

It's August 1917, and WW1 continues to take a toll. The villagers of Dorcalon try to keep hope alive, but every day brings fresh tragedy as more are killed on foreign battlefields. Elizabeth Meredith, daughter of mine manager Herbert, enjoys a privileged position in the village, but she longs to break free of society's expectations. Falling in love with miner Gwilym Owen brings more joy to her life than she's ever known...until she's forced to choose between her love and her disapproving family.

After 20 years of contentedly playing the role of home-maker and mother, Frances Copeland's life is shattered by the sudden death of her husband. With no career to fall back on and her son and daughter leaving home, the solitude of bereavement hits particularly hard. When new love beckons, in the form of a handsome young man 15 years her junior, Frances is torn. She longs to open her heart again but does not dare to trust her feelings. Turning to her closest friends for help, she is met by a wall of judgemental attitudes and envy.

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.

Spring 1919. WW1 might be over, but the inhabitants of Dorcalon in the Welsh Valleys still feel the pain of the war that took so many of their men. Polly Smith is trying to survive her own battle at home. After her abusive husband, Gus, was finally jailed, Polly has been raising her two-year-old son alone. But being a single mother isn't easy, and Polly finds it harder still as Gus's criminal activities leave her with a bad reputation. Lonely and struggling for money, Polly retreats as she becomes the subject of cruel gossip.

Creating personal ritual in our lives allows us to bring the presence of the sacred into the everyday. The rituals in this book have been designed as symbolic acts providing a framework for anyone to use to create positive change in their lives. The seven morning rituals are designed to help you 'wake with determination', the seven afternoon rituals focus on 'living on purpose' and the seven evening rituals are about 'retiring with satisfaction'.

The Fourth Shore: the sliver of fertile land along the Tripoli coast, the 'lost' territory Mussolini promised to reclaim for Italy. Which is how, in 1929, seventeen-year-old Liliana Cattaneo arrives there from Rome on a ship filled with eager colonists to join her brother and his new wife...

Become a better leader by accessing the source of your professional influence. Viewing them as 'touchy feely', intangible and invisible, most leaders separate their personal lives from their professional lives. Diana Jones, an executive coach for 30 years, argues that this is unwise. In fact the 'soft side' of leadership - empathy, compassion, and authentic communication derived from personal experience - is both powerful and essential to enhancing executive presence, influencing others and achieving results.

What would you do if you woke up and didn't know who you were? Chloe Daniels regains consciousness in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. She doesn't recognise the strangers who call themselves family. She can't even remember her own name. What if your past remained a mystery? As she slowly recovers, her parents and sister begin to share details of her life. The successful career. The seaside home. The near-fatal car crash.

Poachers and dealmakers, the Griffiths family have always managed to scrape by on the edge of the law. As rationing finally draws to an end, the tight-knit community finds itself coming to terms with a new world in which social boundaries are being eroded and opportunities are growing for all. Heartache remains a constant though, with Caroline Griffiths trapped in a sham marriage to Barry Martin, and Rhiannon Lewis still mourning their broken engagement.

Bloomsbury presents Sink or Swim by Susannah Fisher, read by Deryn Edwards The world needs to adapt to climate change – but how? What are the key problems and hard choices that lie ahead for the global community? This book reveals all. Heatwaves, wildfires, hurricanes and flooding caused by...

When Megan discovers that her young daughter is missing, she thinks that her ex-husband is to blame. But was it someone else entirely? Someone out for revenge? Someone with a grudge? As DI Laura Kesey begins her investigation, she discovers that the case is infinitely more wicked than she could ever have imagined. The clock is ticking. But will Kesey find Lottie before it’s too late? It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. The greater the evil, the deadlier the game.

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.

One year ago, the shadows shifted and began to show something different - not people's shapes, but their real selves. Now, on the first anniversary of the event, teenage friends Teddy, Betsy and Effie plan to risk all and watch the winter sun rise over Copperwell, in defiance of the Shadow Order. But from their hidden vantage point they witness a mysterious woman shout a dire warning, before being arrested, beaten and dragged away in handcuffs.

1941. Annie Beynon has just become the first stable girl for the most powerful family in her Welsh village. Whilst her gift for working with horses is clear, there are some who are willing to make her life very difficult simply for being a girl. There are other secret ways Annie is defying conventions though, and as the war rages, it seems that it's only a matter of time before Annie's secret is exposed. It's 1963 before Annie is able to face up to the secret she chose to keep over 20 years before.

Eleven-year-old Emily doesn't think Badger Cottage - where she's had to move with her vet father after her mum died - will ever be home. But there is something out there that needs her: a bright pair of eyes in the darkness. In the middle of a fierce battle between a conservation project to re-wild the lynx in the woods and the local farmers, Emily tries to shield a baby lynx she calls Lotta, afraid it will be killed by the person who shot its mother. Can Emily work out who the illegal hunter is in time? Who can she trust?