Showing titles in Friendship

Set against the colourful boho backdrop of London's Camden in the 1990s, Craig Revel Horwood's first novel, Dances and Dreams on Diamond Street, tells the story of an unlikely family of friends who each rent a room in a ramshackle six-bedroom, four-storey townhouse. Like any family, the residents of Diamond Street sometimes fight and often act up, but when the chips are down, they're there for each other in an instant - usually brandishing a cheap bottle of booze and the offer of an impromptu kitchen disco.

Gabriel has returned to the island of Jersey after ten years abroad to help his aging showbiz parents revive their failing Art Deco hotel, The Encore. This proves to be something of a challenge, especially as his singer father and actress mother are more concerned with staying in the limelight than keeping track of the cash-flow. It looks like Gabriel isn’t going anywhere fast. Meanwhile, he’s stunned to find that the hotel’s new receptionist is Daisy, the girl he fell in love with years earlier in Vietnam, and falling in love with someone who is tied to Jersey is the last thing she wants.

Lexie Dunbar is a book lover. And her favourite place in the world is her local bookstore, Book Ends. So when she hears that it’s going to be sold, Lexie decides she needs to do something to help. Lexie’s plan to save the ailing shop is fully underway until gorgeous-but-grouchy artist Tobias Black arrives on the scene determined to turn the bookstore into an art gallery. Lexie is horrified, the last thing the quaint town of Bracken Way needs is a pretentious artist, even if he does seem to charm everyone but her.

Double Blind follows three close friends and their circle through a year of extraordinary transformation. Set between London, Cap d'Antibes, Big Sur and a re-wilded corner of Sussex, this thrilling, ambitious novel is as compelling about ecology, psychoanalysis, genetics and neuroscience as it is about love, fear and courage.

Victoria is looking for a life away from the dangers of wartime London for herself and two orphaned children. Her search takes her to Churchwood in Hertfordshire which looks ideal, but the village residents are already dealing with their own problems . . .With so much trouble and uncertainty in the village, can Victoria and her little family find the safe haven they crave?

Innocent Phoebe has only known a life of privilege. Street-smart Paula has had to make her own way in the world. When the two girls meet as teenagers, they form a deep sisterly bond, recognising in one other a yearning for love and for lives that are different from the ones into which they were born. But when they each suffer a personal trauma, they are torn apart and set out on very different paths.

Social media influencer Crystabel Hughes is determined her wedding to Giles Preston Smythe will be the talk of the town. No matter the cost or the upset, nothing will stop this wedding! But for Alexi Ellis and the rest of the staff at Hopgood Hall, Crystabel’s demands are becoming increasingly extreme. And when Alexi spots the groom getting up close and personal with one of the bridesmaids, she fears trouble is only a bouquet toss away.

Best friends George and Charles have been commuting to work together for 15 years. Then, one fateful day, they both find out that they're being laid off. For a while, they keep the news secret and carry on as normal, but eventually they have no choice but to admit the truth. It's time to take action and find alternative employment—but how?

When duty calls, East End girl Minnie Wolton isn’t afraid to do her bit. She’s excited to be joining the ATS girls and although she knows life at the barracks will be tough, she’s not one to quit! She just hopes the other girls are all good sorts. With her husband away fighting, Eileen Ruffel is glad of the break from her unhappy marriage. She just wants to make a success of the ATS girls and maybe find happiness too. Along with the other girls, Minnie and Eileen strike up a firm friendship. The training is hard, but they are determined to prove they are the best new recruits.

Sid wears her independence like armour. So when she strikes up a rare connection with unlucky-in-love Finn, they are both determined to prove that men and women can just be friends. Marin has the perfect home, attentive husband, two beloved children - and a secret addiction to designer clothes. She knows she has it all, so why can't she stop comparing herself to other women? Bea believes that we all have one love story - and she's had hers. Now her life centres around her son, Luke, and her support group of fierce single women. But there's something that she can't tell anyone.

Three strangers are thrown together in one Manhattan apartment: a solitary writer; a Gen Z college drop-out; and a spirited parrot named Eureka. The Vulnerables reveals what happens when strangers are willing to open their hearts to each other and how far even small acts of caring can go to ease another's distress. Smart, funny and provocative, Sigrid Nunez's novel explores the nature and purpose of friendship, love and art in our complicated current times.

For Tabitha Walker, her grandmother’s old adage, “Black girls must die exhausted” is becoming all too true. Discovering she’s pregnant—after she was told she may not be able to have biological children—Tabitha throws herself headfirst into the world of “single mothers by choice.” Between her job, doctor’s appointments, and preparing for the baby, she’s worn out. And that’s before her boss at the local news station starts getting complaints from viewers about Tabitha’s natural hair.

When Lin, Josie and Minnie left Miss Hamilton’s class at Middleton Ferris County Primary School, sixty years ago, they could only dream about what the future had in store for them. The one thing they knew for certain was that their friendship would thrive. Years later and life hasn’t always been kind. Josie is still mourning the loss of her beloved husband Harry a year after his sudden demise. Lin is hoping to celebrate her fiftieth wedding anniversary with husband Neil, but he’s suddenly keeping secrets and telling her lies, so she’s suspecting the worst.

Keshav has set up an investigation agency with his best friend, Saurabh. Can the two amateur detectives successfully solve another murder case that affects them personally? And where will it leave their friendship?

A tragic accident leaves the tight-knit book club in the small seaside town of Fairweather reeling. Then stranger Tom McLysaght arrives in the community, and the members of the club find their lives changing in ways they never could have imagined. None of them realise that Tom is hiding a secret. On the surface, his move to Fairweather was to escape his highflying life in London and to put some much-needed distance between him and his ex-fiancée - but deep down Tom knows that there are some things he cannot run from.

May 1945 – VE Day. After battling against the odds, the three friends are uncertain of their futures. With a new dawn, there are high hopes and boundless dreams. Can the Tobacco Girls unite once more to overcome life’s troubles and find the happiness they so deserve?

After a whirlwind year, Tabitha Walker’s carefully organized plan to achieve the life she wanted—perfect job, dream husband, and stylish home—has gone off the rails. Her checklist now consists of diapers changed (infinite), showers taken (zero), tears cried (buckets), and hours of sleep (what’s that?). Don't get her wrong, Tabby loves her new bundle of joy and motherhood is perhaps the only thing that's consistent for her these days. When the news station announces that they will be hiring outside competitors for the new anchor position, Tabby throws herself into her work.

1990. Harriet is a journalist. Her job takes her to dangerous places, where she asks questions and tries to make a difference. But when she is sent to Romania, to the state orphanages the world is only just learning about, she is forced to rethink her most important rule. 2018. Ellie is a gardener. Her garden is her sanctuary, her pride and joy. But, though she spends long days outdoors, she hasn’t set foot beyond her gate for far too long. Now someone enters her life who could finally be the reason she needs to overcome her fears.

Housewife Theresa wants to get fit; she also wants a few precious minutes to herself. So at sunrise each day she strikes out past the waves. From the same beach, the widowed Marie swims. With her husband gone, it is the one constant in her new life. Elaine takes to the sea having recently moved from England, while Leanne is 25 years old and has only herself to rely on.

Housewife Nancy never dreamed that she’d end up in Vickers steelworks factory, but when husband Bert is called up to serve, she needs to put food on the table for her two young children. Betty’s sweetheart, William, has joined the RAF Reserves, so she can’t sit around and do nothing - even if it means giving up her ambitions to study law at night school. Young Patty is relishing the excitement the war brings. But this shop-girl is going to have to grow up quickly, especially now she’s undertaking such back-breaking and dangerous work in the factory.