Showing results by narrator "Jennifer Ness" in All Categories

There is clearly something weird going on in their quiet corner of Cornwall. There's been some obscene vandalism in the kitchen. A dog is kidnapped. And when a cat is killed, Joan knows there's evil afoot. Then Sister Joan goes to visit Mrs. Pearson. She's met with a horrifying scene. Are these crimes just practical jokes gone horribly wrong? Or does someone have a dangerous obsession with the occult? Sister Joan teams up with Detective Sergeant Mill to get to the bottom of things. But can they stop anyone else getting hurt?

Nellie Melba is remembered as a squarish, late middle-aged woman dressed in furs and large hats, an imperious Dame whose voice ruled the world for three decades and inspired a peach and raspberry dessert. But to succeed she had to battle social expectations and misogyny that would have preferred she stay a housewife in outback Queensland rather than parade herself on stage. She endured the violence of a bad marriage, was denied by scandal a true love with the would-be king of France and suffered the loss for more than decade of her only son, stolen by his angry, vengeful father.

Karen, Eleanor, and Bea have been best friends since childhood. They know everything about each other’s lives, or at least they think they do. Now in their thirties, though their lives are beginning to diverge: Eleanor is a young wife and mother who is struggling; Bea is happy being single - or so she lets people think; and Karen is a psychiatrist who, despite the secrets in her past, considers herself the anchor of the group. But when she takes on a new patient with issues she just can’t quite put her finger on, she begins to realize she may have put her dearest friends in danger.

Poppy Brookes receives a troubling letter. A decade after her sister Isobel eloped with an artist, she pleads with Poppy to visit their neglected country estate a few miles from the ancient and beautiful city of Siena. When Poppy arrives, she finds a disturbing undercurrent in Isobel and husband Kit’s relationship, then accidentally uncovers a terrible secret. Against the backdrop of a verdant 1920s Tuscany, Poppy’s own journey into love is overshadowed by the insanity of a war long ended and a desire for revenge that, with tragic consequences, inevitably damages the innocent.

A body has been uncovered in a mudslide just outside the village of Andwiston. In the pub they talk of murder, but Dan - sometime mechanic, constant drunk - is finding it hard to sift through his jumbled memories. Watching him from the dark is Lorna, a lost soul living in the woods, haunted by ghosts and a vision from her childhood: a cold boy standing alone in Gallinger's field.

In a cottage in Normandy, Lina Rose is writing to the daughter she abandoned as a baby. Now a successful if enigmatic author, she is determined to trace her family’s history through the two world wars that shaped her life. But Lina can no longer bear to carry her secrets alone, and once the truth is out, can she ever be forgiven?

There's a lot of angst around these days. This heightened sense of fear, concern, insecurity and uncertainty can be overwhelming. Bestselling author of The Book of Overthinking and The Book of Knowing Gwendoline Smith explains what angst is and the ways in which deep anxiety can manifest. Gwendoline then drills down into social anxiety, which is often underdiagnosed but is one of the most common of the anxiety family. Using simple, clear language and humorous illustrations, Gwendoline gives detailed step-by-step advice on how to cope.

The Book of Feeling Blue offers hope to those experiencing depression, explaining the nature of the condition and the many different forms it can take at different life stages, and offering straightforward advice about how to manage it. Written in a chatty, reassuring tone, chapters cover all aspects of the condition, including how to support a family member or friend who may be suffering from it, providing a therapist's evidence-based, practical toolkit for dealing with this widespread and debilitating mental-health problem.