Showing results by narrator "Grainne Gillis" in All Categories

An apocalyptic cult member carries out a gas attack on a rush-hour metro, but what links him to a jazz buff in downtown Tokyo? Or to a Mongolian gangster, a woman on a holy mountain who talks to a tree and a late night New York DJ? Set at the fugitive edges of Asia and Europe, Ghostwritten weaves together a host of characters, their interconnected destinies determined by the inescapable forces of cause and effect.

From Sheila O'Flanagan, the number-one best-selling author of Someone Special and Things We Never Say, comes an unpauseable, heart-searching new novel for every woman who still remembers her first love.... Carlotta O'Keefe is happily engaged, and the wedding plans are coming together. She's clear about her future path, both personally and in her busy career. Maybe Chris doesn't make her heart race every time she sees him, but you can't have that feeling forever. Can you?

One winter morning, in contemporary Dublin, a middle-class woman wakes up next to her husband in her suburban home, and without conscious purpose, walks out the front door to begin a journey that ultimately leads to profound transfiguration. She travels first by car and then train to Rosslare, from where she takes a ferry to Fishguard in Wales. Along the way, she finds herself in service stations, shopping centres, train stations, ferry terminals; recalling her youth, earlier fantasies of suicide and reminiscing about those people who have come in and out of her life.

Still traumatised by her brush with a psychopath, Detective Cassie Maddox transfers out of the murder squad and starts a relationship with fellow detective Sam O'Neill. When he calls her to the scene of his new case, she is shocked to find that the murdered girl is her double. What's more, her ID shows she is Lexie Madison - the identity Cassie used years ago as an undercover detective.

Iona Brannock has always been impatient. Not one to hang around, she married her gorgeous husband just months after meeting him, and they have lived happily ever since. Now all she needs is a baby, and her life will be perfect. Sally Harper has been blissfully married for almost 20 years. She has a beautiful daughter, a loving husband and a great job. Her life is complete. But a surprise pregnancy is about to change everything.

Hilary and Colette O'Mahony have been friends since childhood. But when irrepressible Jonathan Harpur breezes into Hilary's life and goes into business with her, Colette is not best pleased. After their first encounter, Colette thinks he's a "pushy upstart" while he thinks she's "a snobby little diva". And so the battle lines are drawn, and Hilary is bang in the middle.

Inspired by the true story of Sheila's grandmother, The Woman on the Bridge is a riveting novel of love, rebellion and families torn apart by war. Dramatic, shocking, and full of insight into women's lives, this is a powerful, haunting and unforgettable listen.

At once epic and intimate, the story of Lilly Bere unfurls as she tries to make sense of the sorrows and troubles of her life and of the people whose lives she has touched. Spanning nearly seven decades, from Dublin at the end of the First World War to Lilly's life in the new world of America, it is a novel of memory, war, family ties, and love.

Can the sisters, Dolores and Genevieve, finally break free from their mother’s powerful personality? Can Larissa learn to embrace the endurance test that is the Office Christmas Party or will this year’s be a finger buffet too far? Can Alice open her home and her heart to the one visitor that she doesn’t want this Christmas? And when mysterious Madame Lucia sets up shop with her crystal ball above a travel agent’s, will the staff be convinced that fate really can play a hand? Relax and unwind in front of a roaring fire and indulge yourself in these, and many other humorous and uplifting tales.

1958: In a small town like Athenry, people talk. Everyone’s noticed that the injury which stopped Annie Fagan’s father from working doesn’t prevent him from hitting his wife. But a man’s home is his castle, and no one is going to intervene. Until Annie runs into Arthur ‘Sketch’ Talbot. Sketch is determined to help Annie, and the two soon fall in love. But Annie’s father won’t give his daughter up lightly, and Sketch’s attempts to save her will have devastating consequences....

It's been 20 years since Lindsey has seen her best friend Rachel. Twenty years since she has set foot in Thornbury Hall - the now crumbling home of the Bagenal family - where they spent so much time as teenagers. Since Patrick Bagenal's 18th birthday party, the night everything changed.

All children have imaginary friends. It's perfectly normal. But when Georgina's young son, Cody, tells her about his 'New Granny', a mysterious friend from the park, the words send shivers down her spine. Georgina's beloved mother died only months ago. Her husband, Bren, is certain the woman is an invention, Cody's way of grieving for his grandmother, but there's something in the way Cody talks about his new friend that feels so real.

Actress Jodi Ludlum returns home to Ireland to raise her young son in the leafy South Dublin village of Bakers Valley - even if coming home means leaving her husband and waking old ghosts. Meanwhile Francine Hennessy, queen of the coffee mornings, was born and raised in Bakers Valley. She takes pride in juggling her children, her beautiful home and her high-powered career.

Twenty essays on Irish women, historical and contemporary, who have defied cultural norms around femininity and achieved great things. The subjects include Irish women from Queen Medb to Eileen Gray, from Constance Markievicz to Sonia O’Sullivan, covering stateswomen, artists, writers, activists and rebels of all kinds. Written by multi-award-winning author and first Laureate na nÓg (Irish Children’s Laureate) Siobhán Parkinson. Perfect for use in schools as well as for leisure listening, this collection celebrates the role of women in Ireland’s changing society.

The Sugar Loaf Lodge welcomes you in to warm yourself by the fire as the snow falls softly down. You'll find yourself immediately at home, bathed in the magic of this romantic hotel as it reveals the secrets and dreams of its guests. Sheila O'Flanagan's Christmas with You - originally published as A Season to Remember - is ideal festive listening for fans of Veronica Henry, Carole Matthews and Marian Keyes. These enchanting linked stories from the number one best-selling author bring to life one unforgettable Christmas full of surprise twists, life-changing moments...and love.

Love is not a singular concept. In this collection, seven award-winning authors explore seven concepts of love: from philautia (self-love) to agape (love for humanity) and from storge (a natural affection for family) to mania (a frenzied, obsessive love).

Sisters Ella and Roberta O’Callaghan live in separate wings of their crumbling Irish mansion. They haven’t spoken for decades, torn apart by a dark family secret from their past, and communicate only through the terse notes they leave for each other in the hallway. Debbie, an American, is searching for her birth mother, hoping to discover who she really is and what happened to her. With the bank threatening, Ella tries to save the family home by opening a café in the ballroom, much to Roberta’s disgust.

A young PR girl has the night of her life at a glitzy work event and finds more than just her face splashed across the newspapers the next day. Two women listen in on each other's phone calls and learn more about themselves than they ever expected. And a wife faces up to the truth that her husband isn't a man she feels safe with. Everyone aboard this train is on a journey - and they all have stories to tell....

Ireland is about to be torn apart by the War of Independence. Hannah O'Donovan helps her father hide rebel soldiers in the attic, putting her family in great danger from the British soldiers who roam the countryside. An immediate connection between Hannah and O'Riada, the leader of this hidden band of rebels, will change her life and that of her family forever....

What is the key ingredient to a happy, successful life? Endless self-help approaches claim to have the answer. It's important to be mindful, we are told, and to stay in the moment. Sometimes, we are advised to keep going no matter what, to be 'gritty'. Others tell us that adopting a 'growth mindset' is key. However, the truth is that there is no one size fits all solution to dealing with life. Elaine Fox, one of the world's leading psychologists and performance coaches, has witnessed this time and again.