Showing results by narrator "Susie Riddell" in All Categories

On the morning of Lily's 25th birthday, it's time to open the very last letter written to her by her beloved mother, who died when she was eight. Learning more about the first and only real love of her mum's life is a revelation. On the same day, Lily also meets Eddie Tessler, a man fleeing fame who just might have the ability to change her world in unimaginable ways. But her childhood friend, Dan, has his own reasons for not wanting Lily to get too carried away by Eddie's attentions.

Liverpool, 1956. With the shadow of the war looming over them and bomb craters littering the surrounding streets, hope feels far away for the residents of Victory Street. When they learn that the queen has chosen to visit them on a tour of Liverpool, the delighted neighbors bring back the wartime spirit. Can they possibly get the street ready in time?

Fed up of friends claiming to care about the provenance of their food, Louise Gray decides to follow the argument to its logical extreme. Starting small, Louise shucks oysters and catches fish. Gradually she gets to know countrymen and women who teach her how to shoot pigeons and rabbits. As she begins to reconnect with nature and her own upbringing in the countryside, Louise starts to question modern attitudes to the meat we eat.

Discover the beguiling history of witchcraft, magic and superstition through the centuries and across the world in this stunningly audiobook. A History of Magic, Witchcraft and the Occult charts the extraordinary narrative of one of the most interesting and often controversial subjects in the world - from ancient animal worship and shamanism, through alchemy and divination to modern Wicca and the resurgence of the occult in 21st-century literature, cinema and television.

Batpants the orangutan is completely, wildly HAIRY. She loves swinging through trees and apple crumble. But most of all, she loves her family, the Loveharts, and all their madcap adventures. Mrs Lovehart is a stuntwoman, and so the whole family is off to watch her latest film. But someone on set has an EEEEVIL plan and things could turn nasty - will it be Batpants to the rescue?

On a cold February afternoon, Stella catches sight of a man she hasn't seen for many years, but instantly recognises. Or thinks she does. At the same moment on the other side of the globe, in the middle of a crowd of Chinese New Year revellers, Jake realises that things are becoming dangerous. They know nothing of one another's existence, but both Stella and Jake flee their lives: Jake in search of a place so remote it doesn't appear on any map, and Stella for a destination in Scotland, the significance of which only her sister, Nina, will understand.

In the face of hardship, Bella Harrison is determined to see the bright side. She is back recording songs with her singing trio The Bryant Sisters, and against all odds, Bella and her husband Bobby are finding ways to muddle through life as newlyweds whilst raising little Levi; Bella’s child with black American pilot Earl Franklin Junior.

Molly lives a quiet, contained life in London. Naturally risk averse, she gains comfort from security and structure. Every day the same. Her identical twin, Katie, is her exact opposite: gregarious and spontaneous. They used to be inseparable, until Katie moved to New York a year ago. Molly still speaks to her daily without fail. But when Molly learns that Katie has died suddenly in New York, she is thrown into unfamiliar territory. Katie is part of her DNA. As terrifying as it is, she must go there and find out what happened.

Church minster village - picturesque, quaint, sleepy - OR NOT...A place where women know exactly what they want, and it's not cream tea with the vicar. A place where anything can happen . . . so be careful what you wish for. And a place where the men had better behave . . . because the ladies won't take it lying down (well, not unless they want to!)

Carrying just a suitcase and an old laundry bag filled with clothes, Kasienka and her mother are immigrating to England from Poland. Kasienka isn't the happiest girl in the world. At home, her mother is suffering from a broken heart as she searches for Kasienka's father. And at school, Kasienka is having trouble being the new girl and making friends. The only time she feels comforted is when she's swimming at the pool. But she can't quite shake the feeling that she's sinking. Until a new boy swims into her life....

Despite a childhood in the care system, Anna Price has beaten the odds and built for herself the perfect life, complete with beautiful seaside home, devoted husband and a job she loves. Then a policeman appears at Anna’s door: her estranged brother Henry is a wanted serial killer, and the police need Anna’s help to catch him before he strikes again. When an envelope turns up on her doorstep, Anna suddenly finds herself caught in a sick game. One that she remembers all too well from childhood – one that, this time, she must win at all costs.

Liverpool, 1943. For Bella Rogers, life is looking up. She loves performing with The Bryant Sisters, the trio of singers who have become the country’s sweethearts, putting a smile on the faces of the brave boys fighting the Nazis. But then tragedy strikes when a telegram arrives: Bella’s beloved father has been killed in France. 

When the eight-year-old daughter of an Oxford College Master vanishes in the middle of the night, police turn to the Scottish nanny, Dee, for answers. As Dee looks back over her time in the Master's Lodging - an eerie and ancient house - a picture of a high achieving but dysfunctional family emerges: Nick, the fiercely intelligent and powerful father; his beautiful Danish wife Mariah, pregnant with their child; and the lost little girl, Felicity, almost mute, seeing ghosts, grieving her dead mother. 

Liverpool, 1939. Bella Rogers thought her life was just starting; she can’t wait to get married to her childhood sweetheart, Bobby. But when war is declared and Bobby is called up, his letters stop, leaving Bella heartbroken and alone. Then her family is torn apart by tragedy when her angelic 5-year-old sister dies from a terrible illness. They can barely afford a funeral, but the church is packed with the entire community, devastated for their loss. Grieving for her sister and lost love, Bella finds a job at the Bryant and May factory, making matches.

1946, Liverpool. Bella Harrison cannot believe the devastating war that stole the lives of her father and sister is truly over at last. She wonders how they will ever rebuild Victory Street with the city in ruins, and half their neighbors gone. But for now, she and her childhood sweetheart, Bobby, are happy newlyweds, doting on Bella’s little son, her child with Black American pilot Earl Franklin Junior. 

There’s nothing to trace Anna back to her old life. Nothing to link her to the ‘incident’. At least that’s what she thinks...until the whispers start up again. As time begins to run out on her secrets, Anna finds herself irresistibly drawn to the tale of Maggie, a local girl accused of witchcraft centuries earlier. A girl whose story has terrifying parallels to Anna’s own.... The compelling YA debut from Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project and best-selling author of Girl Up.

Beth has always known there was something strange about her daughter, Hannah. The lack of emotion, the disturbing behaviour, the apparent delight in hurting others...sometimes Beth is scared of her and what she could be capable of. Luke comes from the perfect family, with the perfect parents. But one day he disappears without trace, and his girlfriend, Clara, is left desperate to discover what has happened to him. As Clara digs into the past, she realises that no family is truly perfect and uncovers a link between Luke’s long-lost sister and a strange girl named Hannah....

This is not the happy family you think. The fire crackles, my son smiles, the man jokes whilst I pour drinks. But my husband has disappeared. The man is a stranger. My skin crawls every time he brushes my hand. He says if I don’t play along, he has photos that will destroy my family. What happened the night before my husband disappeared - the night I don’t remember?   

The village of Blackrig in the Scottish Highlands was shocked when seventeen-year-old Ailsa Cummings went missing five years ago. While a recent pandemic has stirred up old tensions and sparked an animosity in the small community towards outsiders. Angry that the local estate is to reopen its luxury ‘party house’ to tourists results in an angry mob causing damage to the property’s hot tub, only to unearth the buried body of the missing girl in its foundations. The discovery ignites old suspicions among the villagers, especially the men, who’d known Ailsa.

Lily has always had a simple dream: to be happy like her parents were. But their love story was cut tragically short when - after a devastating battle with cancer - Lily’s mother died. Lily was heartbroken, but also desperately worried about her grieving dad, not to mention five-year-old Emma. So, Lily is shocked and concerned when he suddenly decides to remarry. It’s only Lily who can’t trust her. Who won’t trust her. And when Emma goes missing - could Lily be right? What if the greatest danger to them all is the woman now living in their family home?