Showing results by narrator "Penelope Rawlins" in All Categories

To her friends, Amber leads the perfect life with her successful marriage, her powerful job in London and her immaculate style. But as more of her friends fall pregnant, and her best friend, Dylan, announces his decision to adopt a baby with his gay lover, Amber's carefully structured world begins to fall apart. Intricately crafted and sensually evocative, Something I'm Not is a sharp, contemporary novel that discusses the way the psychological scars of the past pass through the generations of a family.

Robotics scientist Rachel Prosper has created a top-secret humanoid android. When she dies suddenly, her family take the robot, which looks just like Rachel, into their home as part of an experiment. The After Wife is the story of a family ripped apart by grief who are given a second chance to reconnect with the woman they loved and lost.

At 23 Alice Hare leaves England for New York. She becomes fixated on Mizuko Himura, a Japanese writer living in New York, whose life story has strange parallels to her own and whom she believes is her "Internet twin". What seems to Mizuko like a chance encounter with Alice is anything but - after all, in the age of connectivity, nothing is coincidence. Their subsequent relationship is doomed from the outset, exposing a tangle of lies and sexual encounters as three families across the globe collide.

They say there's no place like home. It's where the heart is....Meet the little boy who believes in miracles. Meet the mother who loves to bring babies home from the newborn aisle of her supermarket. Meet the husband who carves a longed-for baby out of ice as a gift for his wife. Meet the widow who is reminded of romance whilst standing at the kitchen sink. In this prize-winning short story collection, Carys Bray weaves together moments of joy, heartache, sadness and unwavering love as told through 17 very different notions of home.

‘Shocking, tender and funny… as gripping as a thriller’ Miranda Sawyer Mind-boggling, heart-rending and darkly comic, this is the full story for the first time, from the writer of the Guardian column Midlife Exwife…. When her husband fell in love with someone else, Stella Grey thought...

Sophia Beaumont-Brown was an 'it' girl. But now she's in the papers for all the wrong reasons. She's single, sofa surfing and not speaking to her family; only her grandmother has any faith left in her. From her hospital bed, Tilly Beaumont sends Sophia letters about her life: dispatches about wartime England, about family secrets and, finally, about the most beautiful thing she ever owned - a necklace of the most incredible pearls. If Sophia's prepared to listen, she'll unlock the secret story of generations of incredible women.

You shared your life online. Now how will you get it back? Twitter. Facebook. WhatsApp. Google Maps. Every day you share everything about yourself - where you go, what you eat, what you buy, what you think - online. Sometimes you do it on purpose. Usually you do it without even realising it. At the end of the day, everything from your shoe size to your credit limit is out there. Your greatest joys, your darkest moments. Your deepest secrets. If people want to know everything about you, all they have to do is look. But what happens when someone starts spilling state secrets?

On her 10th birthday, Hattie B is swept into the magical Kingdom of Bellua, where she meets a little pink dragon who needs her help. Evil King Ivar of the Imps has stolen the dragon’s magical voice, and Hattie is the only one who can help her get it back.

In the tradition of Rachel Cusk's A Life's Work or Maggie O'Farrell's The Hand That First Held Mine comes a complex, tender and gorgeously written novel of parenthood, love and marriage that is impossible to put down. Cambridge 1963. Charlotte struggles to reconnect with the woman she was before children and to find the time and energy to paint. Her husband, Henry, cannot face the thought of another English winter.

Haunting, compelling, this psychological thriller will have you hooked. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl and Daughter. Best friends are there for each other through thick and thin. You trust them with your life. At least that's what Emma, Daisy, Leanne, and Al think. But all that changes when they embark on a trip of a lifetime together. When they return home, only two of them are left alive, and the group has been torn apart by lies and deception. Many years later, when the dust has settled and life has moved on, one girl receives a threatening letter.

The whole of society knows there isn’t a redeemable bone in Riordan Barrett’s sinfully sexy body. Suddenly Riordan finds himself not only an earl…but father to two young wards! His only experience is in the art of irresponsibility. This rake needs help--and hiring a pretty young governess won’t be such a hardship! Sweet, innocent Maura Caulfield is seemingly unaware of Riordan’s disreputable ways. But it won’t stay like that for long. He’ll show her just how much fun sinning can be…

Paul and Elaine have two boys and a beautiful home, yet they find themselves thoroughly, inexplicably stuck. Obsessed with 'making things good again', they spin the quiet terrors of family life into a fantastical frenzy that careens well and truly out of control. From a hilarious encounter in the pantry with a Stepford Wife neighbour, to a hostage situation at the school, Homes lays bare the foundations of marriage and family life.

The second, edge-of-your-seat prequel novel based on Showtime’s hit series, HOMELAND, ‘the best thriller on American television’ New York Post Damascus, Syria, 2009. Carrie Mathison is leading an operation to capture or kill al Qaeda terrorist, Abu Nazir. But arriving at the compound where...

FBI Agent Ren Bryce finds herself entangled in two seemingly unrelated mysteries. But the past has a way of echoing down the years and finding its way into the present. In the end, the truth will find you… When Special Agent Ren Bryce discovers the body of a young woman in an abandoned car...

Twenty-five-years ago, four-year-old Justin Manning disappeared. Two months later his body was found in a shallow grave in the woods, shocking the small town of Dove Point. Janet Manning has been haunted by her brother’s death since the day she lost sight of him in the park. Now, a detective and a reporter are asking questions, raising new suspicions and opening old wounds. But if the man jailed for the murder is innocent, who did kill Justin?

Patsy Cline is becoming best friends with another girl! It looks like Penelope is going to lose Patsy to Vera Bogg...forever. So Penelope starts a secret museum full of things that remind her of the people she loves, in case she loses them, too. Lizzie Maple, who loves adventures, is on board to help.But other people seem to think 'taking their things for a museum' is the same as 'stealing'... and Penelope is suddenly in a whole lot of trouble!

The most ambitious and daring novel novel yet from Booker Prize-shortlisted Philip Hensher. ‘A novel that's almost fizzy to the touch … A performance of extraordinary flair and majesty from a writer who seems capable of anything’ Guardian An astonishing novel, ‘The Emperor Waltz’ draws...

Maisie Mae and her best friend Bethany-next-door like pink, unicorns, and heart-shaped cushions. Maisie Mae's five stinky brothers like worms, football, and chaos!

When Maisie Mae is asked to be a bridesmaid it's a dream come true! Because weddings mean flowers and cake and, most importantly, beautiful dresses. But things never run smoothly in Maisie's house and disaster is followed by more disaster! This time, Maisie might not even be able to blame her five stinky brothers. Maisie is probably the unluckiest bridesmaid in the history of forever....

Some interesting facts about Penelope Crumb... She has: A brother so awful he must be an alien. A mum who draws body parts (ewww!). Her grandpa's nose...but no grandpa.

Her family haven't seen him since her dad died. So Penelope and her friend Lizzie Maple set off across town to find Grandpa Felix, skipping school, taking trains and calling every F. Crumb in the phone book. But what if Grandpa Felix doesn't want to be found? One last fact about Penelope: She doesn't take no for an answer.

How do you know where you belong? In June 1988, Elizabeth Kelly's parents think she belongs at home in Ireland. Her boyfriend is certain of it. Unwilling to settle down just yet, she decides to spend the summer in Boston with her college friends. But the next four months change all of them, especially Elizabeth. Quiet and dutiful at home, she surprises herself and everyone else by falling for Danny Esposito, a restless charmer with a troublesome family.