Showing results by narrator "Katy Sobey" in All Categories

Eleven-year-old Shelley only leaves her bedroom for two minutes, but when she gets back, there's a real, true-life, lavender-eyed baby on her bed. It's far too noisy, smelly and heavy to be a ghost baby - so whose is it? It can't be her mum's - Shelley would have noticed - but it's not like she's around for Shelley to ask, anyway. She's too busy trying to get her horrible ex-boyfriend Scott ('the Toadstool') back, who Shelley definitely does NOT like as much as her mum does. But someone's got to look after the baby, and give her a name.

Orphan Edie is sent by her art-dealer guardian to Knight's Haddon School, on a secret mission to find out whether Anastasia, a Russian princess, is being persecuted by the other girls. But what Edie uncovers instead is a dangerous mystery that only the girls themselves can solve.

As chief bridesmaid, Libby knows she should be having the time of her life at her best friend’s snowy Christmas Eve wedding. But she’s at the mercy of three bossy little flower girls and she’s not looking her best in an enormous fuchsia dress. Which is a shame, as it is the first time she’s going to see her ex Rufus. The man she was supposed to marry. The man who left her alone at the altar....

Dive into this rich historical narrative, complete with a special audio-exclusive author's note by Fiona, and experience a story of resilience, passion, and triumph. Botanical artist Jane Saville is devastated when her manipulative mother banishes her to the countryside to protect someone else's...

Sammy Woodhouse was just 14 when she met Arshid Hussain. Ten years older, he promised to take care of her. Sammy thought she was in love, but in reality she was being groomed by a ringleader of Britain's most notorious child sex ring. Just A Child tells the heartbreaking story of how a young girl from Rotherham was abused by her drug-dealing 'boyfriend', eventually giving birth to his baby, right under the nose of the very authorities who were meant to protect her. When reality dawned, Sammy realised she was one of countless vulnerable child victims - many of whom were trafficked around the north of England.

As Liverpool and its residents begin to heal from the wounds and memories of World War I, life on Weaver Street in 1924 is blessedly peaceful. But as the Depression begins to bite, and the arrival of the Muller family on Weaver Street signals the worrying drumbeats of conflict coming from Germany, the fragile happiness and peace Liverpool has been enjoying looks destined to end. And as the neighbours pull together in the toughest of times, the women on Weaver Street face the prospect of waving their menfolk off to war.

In this brand new adventure, Isadora is going to be a bridesmaid at her aunt's wedding, and she's so excited! But with a mischievous older cousin and a bored baby sister to deal with, getting through the special day isn't exactly going to be a piece of cake. Can Isadora make sure there's a happy ending ...?

In December 2012, something happened that would turn Hannah Russell's world upside down. A promising young rider with two horses of her own, Hannah recently had been given the devastating news that she would never ride again. That morning in December, local Shetland pony breeder pulled up and asked Hannah if she wanted another horse. The woman said she had a six-month-old Shetland pony she couldn't keep. Without a moment's thought, Hannah said yes.

Severine Kassel is asked by the Louvre in 1963 to aid the British Museum with curating its antique jewellery, her specialty. Her London colleagues find her distant and mysterious; her cool beauty the topic of conversations around its quiet halls. No one could imagine that she is a desperately...

Brought to you by Penguin. New stories are being written at The Little Penguin Bookshop… Carrie Anderson’s business selling books at her local train station is thriving and, with her beloved Mike returned from war, everything feels as though it is falling into place. That is, until Mike is...

Ava Thomas knew leaving was the right decision. Trapped and manipulated in her relationship, and after yet another violent beating whilst she was pregnant, Ava was helped to a women's refuge with her children. Listening to the stories of other women there, Ava began thinking back to where it all started to go wrong. Brought up by a mother who never loved her, Ava sought that missing care and warmth elsewhere. Running away to her father's home as a teenager, she thought she might finally be safe. But after being abused by her own brother, she was thrown out onto the streets.

One hot summer's day, two-year-old Jessica Preston disappears from the beach. The police are convinced she drowned, but Sandra Preston won't give up hope that her daughter is still alive. How can she? Twenty years later, another child goes missing, and Sandra is approached by a young journalist who raises questions about what really happened to Jessica Preston all those years ago.

For fans of Gillian Flynn, Laura Lippman, and Paula Hawkins comes Holly Seddon's arresting fiction debut: an engrossing thriller full of page-turning twists and turns, richly imagined characters, and gripping psychological suspense. Some secrets never die. They're just locked away. Alex Dale is lost. Destructive habits have cost her a marriage and a journalism career. All she has left is her routine: a morning run until her body aches, then a few hours of forgettable work before the past grabs hold and drags her down.

Gabriela, a senior negotiator in the FCO’s Counter-Terrorism Unit, runs a small and powerful team based in Whitehall. She is tenacious, hard-working and the family breadwinner. Her husband, Tom - a freelance architect - looks after their two small children. When Gabriela returns from a seven-month stint in Moscow, something doesn’t seem right. Isobel is a journalist working for the local paper in Camden. Walking home from a party one night, she witnesses a horrific attack. But someone has seen her and is making themselves known in increasingly frightening ways.

Brought to you by Penguin. It’s been several years since Kitty Cavanagh’s life was turned upside down when her family made the perilous journey across the Irish Sea to Blackburn and she became a widow. After facing near destitution she’s finally making enough to put food on the table and...

Matriarch Kitty Conlon is missing her son Patrick, proud but fearful of the fate of his Spitfire, while spinster Mavis welcomes a new lodger, WAAF Anna Carswell who is delighted by the Weaver Street welcome after a loveless childhood. At number nine, Maggie Stubbs worries nightly as her daughter Lily patrols the streets to protect the neighbours during air raids in her role as ARP Warden, and when an unexploded bomb is discovered at the allotment, danger comes terrifyingly close to Weaver Street.

Isadora is special because she is different. Her mum is a fairy and her dad is a vampire and she's a bit of both. Isadora can fly and do magic, but there's one thing she has never tried, and that's riding a bike. Luckily, her mum and dad and best friend, Zoe, are eager to help.

Brought to you by Penguin. The rise of the mills is about to change everything. Lancashire, 1826 When Jennet and Titus Eastwood are forced to move from their idyllic cottage into the centre of Blackburn to find work in the cotton mills, their lives are changed in ways they could never have...

Kitty Marchland has always known that her family isn't like others. But when her father uproots them to a remote cottage in the woods, she realises that her parents are keeping secrets from her - secrets that could unravel everything. Years later, Kitty starts to question what really happened out in the forest. When the police revisit a suspicious death, she must examine her most painful memories - and this time, there’s nowhere to hide.

Considering herself unsuitable for any other contribution to the war effort, Monica Dickens opts for nursing, imagining herself gliding through the wards, serene in a pure white halo cap. On enrolment, however, she is promptly stripped of all illusions. Intelligent and headstrong, Monica struggles to submit to the iron rule of the Matron and toils over the mountains of menial work that are a trainee's lot. But there are friends among the staff and patients, night-time escapades to dances with dashing army men and her secret writing project to keep her going.