We have spent decades optimizing our waking hours, but what about the precious hours after we doze off (or try to)? As the most active time for our brains and the most important element to a calmer, happier life, sleep has become the topic of our times. Drawing on the success of Calm, the #1 app for sleep...
Ian Holm's Iago is simply wonderful! It is very easy to play him as completely evil but this can remove the humanity from the character. Ian Holm's performance makes the listener think and question themselves... A brilliant production of this heavily studied play.
A Genius Performance by Martin Jarvis! This book is based on Martin Jarvis's experiences during 2001 when he played Jeeves on Broadway. This is basically the diary he kept of that tour. It includes all the wonderful confusion of a touring actor plus the pathos of arriving on Broadway just before 9/11. A great listen for anyone interested in any of the theatrical arts!
Kate Malvern never expected to see this kind of splendour again. After her father's death, Kate was left an orphan, striving to make ends meet as a governess until her Aunt Minerva rescues her from poverty. Kate hardly knows what to expect at the grand house of Staplewood. Her uncle lives in one wing, while her handsome, moody cousin, Torquil, occupies another; guests are few and far between, but even family dinners are rigidly formal. And, over it all, Minerva's word is law.
These six cassettes contain a Radio 4 dramatization of Dickens's darkly comic novel. Jonas and Martin Chuzzlewit are cousins whose characters and destinies form a stark contrast. Jonas descends into a life of unrelenting evil, while Martin, by sheer good fortune, escapes a similar fate.
Filling the gaps left between his previous memoirs, as well as highlighting new episodes, Backcloth explores the patterns of pleasure and pain that have made up Bogarde's extraordinary life. Based on personal letters, notebooks and diaries and covering many aspects of a celebrated life, we share experiences...
After completing work on Visconti's Death in Venice, the celebrated actor seeks a refuge from 20 years of 'continual motion'. This dream of a peaceful retreat materialises itself in the form of a neglected farmhouse in the South of France. However, before he is rewarded with the calm he craves, he is forced to...
When their plans for a private and romantic honeymoon are disrupted by the untimely murder of their estate's former owner, newlyweds Lord Peter and Harriet Vane are baffled by the strange clues that they discover.
Like her sisters Emily and Charlotte, Anne Brontë published under a male pseudonym, yet still this novel was scorned by many for its exposure of the abusive male chauvinism that was concealed, like all things sexual, during the Victorian Era.
Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century drama. Described by its author as a chronical play, it presents the memorable story of the Maid of Orleans. This Bernard Shaw at his very best!
The hotly-anticipated next novel from NUMBER ONE bestselling author, David Walliams, with audio hilariously read by the author himself! Jack’s Grandpa… *wears his slippers to the supermarket *serves up Spam à la Custard for dinner *and often doesn’t remember Jack’s name But he can still take to the skies in a speeding Spitfire and save the day… An exquisite portrait of the bond between a small boy and his beloved...
Fanny Hill, one of the most popular novels of the 18th century, traces the rise of its heroine from prostitution to middle-class respectability. Condemned in its own time on grounds of indecency, the book was the subject of several law suits until as recently as the 1960s. For today's listener, the work holds as much fascination as when it was first published, not only as the foremost example of English erotic fiction, but...
According to Amy Sedaris, it's often been said that ugly people craft and attractive people have sex. But in her new book SIMPLE TIMES she sets the record straight, doing for crafting what she did so brilliantly and successfully for entertaining in her bestseller I Like You. Demonstrating that crafting is one of life's more pleasurable and constructive leisure activities, Sedaris shows us that anyone with a couple of hours to kill...
Roald Dahl - the grand master of the short story - turns his pen to anything, twisting everyday life into powerful, and sometimes terrifying fantasies. Seven superb stories, full of Roald Dahl's usual magic, mystery and suspense: meet the boy who can talk to animals, the man who can see with his eyes closed, and find out about the treasure, buried...
The third story in Enid Blyton's much loved Magic Faraway Tree series - read by Kate Winslet. The Folk of the Faraway Tree is the third enchanting story in the Faraway Tree series by the world's best-loved children's author, Enid Blyton. When Joe, Beth and Frannie move to a new home, they discover an Enchanted Wood just outside their doorstep.
Born of a forbidden, mixed-blood litter and an outcast after her mother is exiled, spirited young she-wolf Kaala is grudgingly permitted to join the Swift River wolf pack where she must fight to prove herself and survive against the odds. But when Kaala rescues a human child from drowning, she breaks the first...
A Wayne in a Manger includes some wonderfully funny and touching nativity play anecdotes, including children forgetting their lines, ad-libbing, faliing of the stage, picking their noses and showing their knickers. One hilarious anecdote tells of an innkeeper who generously say's there's plenty of room for Mary...
Captain Thomas Forsyth’s second tour of Afghanistan is cut brutally short when he’s badly wounded by a roadside bomb. Tom’s world is torn apart by the injury – the Army is his life. The thought of never rejoining his regiment is a terrifying prospect and one that he is not willing to entertain. Tom returns...
When Gervase Frant, Seventh Earl of St Erth, returns at last from Waterloo to his family seat at Stanyon, he enjoys a less than welcome homecoming. Only Theo, a cousin even quieter than himself, is there to greet him - and when he meets his stepmother and young half-brother he detects open disappointment..
The three great-nephews of cantankerous Mr Penicuik know better than to ignore his summons, especially when it concerns the bestowal of his fortune. His freakish plan is that his fortune will be his step-daughter's dowry.
David Beckham is one of the world's foremost media icons, his popularity transcending sport and cultural divides. This is his own in-depth account of his career to date, for Manchester United and England, and of his childhood, family and personal life.
THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER. YOU DON'T KNOW HER. BUT SHE KNOWS YOU. Rear Window meets Gone Girl, in this exceptional and startling psychological thriller Gripping, enthralling - a top-notch thriller and a compulsive read' S J WATSON, bestselling author of Before I Go To Sleep.
Julie Walters has been described as the nation's most popular actress and comedienne. She has been delighting us on screen and on stage for over 25 years and we have taken her to our hearts. Now she tells us her own story, in her own words.
We are going,' said Annie, 'on a great cosmic journey. So listen up, Savers of Planet Earth, and prepare to meet the Universe.' George's best friend Annie needs help. Her scientist father, Eric, is working on a space project - and it's all going wrong. A robot has landed on Mars, but is behaving very oddly. And now Annie has discovered something wierd on her dad's super-computer. Is it a message from an alien?
The first in the Jessica Daniel series. They think they are safe at home. Someone knows better. When a body is found in a locked house, Detective Sergeant Jessica Daniel is left to not only find the killer but discover how they got in and out. With little in the way of leads and a journalist that seems to know more about the case than she does, Jessica is already feeling the pressure—and that’s before a second body shows...
When a close colleague is brutally attacked, Inspector John Rebus is drawn into a case involving a hotel fire, an unidentified body, and a long forgotten night of terror and murder. Pursued by dangerous ghosts and tormented by the coded secrets of his colleague's notebook, Rebus must piece together the most complex and confusing of jigsaws. But not everyone wants the puzzle solved - perhaps not even Rebus himself...
Many of the cast of the original BBC Radio 4 series have been reunited for this new six-part dramatisation of Douglas Adams's book Life, the Universe and Everything. Amongst the returning cast are Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Susan Sheridan as Trillian ....
Shortlisted for the 2006 Costa Novel Award. Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2006 January. 1982. Thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor - covert stammerer and reluctant poet - anticipates a stultifying year in his backwater English village. But he hasn't reckoned with bullies, simmering family discord, the Falklands War, a threatened gypsy invasion and those mysterious entities known as girls. Charting thirteen months in the black hole between childhood and adolescence...
The Narnia Chronicles, first published in 1950, have been and remain some of the most enduringly popular children’s books ever published. The best known, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, has been translated into 29 languages!
Originally written for Dickens' weekly magazine, Household Words, this short novel follows the fate of Sissy Jupe, a warm-hearted circus child, and the family that adopts her. Deserted by her ailing father, Sissy is taken into the cold household of the Gradgrind family, which operates a school. The "eminently...
When Elisabeth Sladen debuted as journalist Sarah Jane Smith in the 1973 Doctor Who story ‘The Time Warrior’ she had no idea the character would become one of the most popular in the series’ history.
A LONG-LOST LIBRARY. A PRICELESS MANUSCRIPT. A DEADLY SECRET ... About to depart on his first vacation in years, Edward Wozny, a hot-shot young banker, is sent to help one of his firms most important and mysterious clients. When asked to un-crate and organise a personal library of rare books, Edward's indignation turns to intrigue as he realises that among the volumes there may be hidden a unique...
Six years ago, the Assassin in White, a hireling of the inscrutable Parshendi, assassinated the Alethi king on the very night a treaty between men and Parshendi was being celebrated. So began the Vengeance Pact among the highprinces of Alethkar and the War of Reckoning against the Parshendi. Now the Assassin is active again, murdering rulers all over the world of Roshar, using his baffling powers to thwart...
The action-packed second book in the Night Angel series, from international bestseller Brent Weeks - an astonishing and epic tale of magic, violence and revenge. Kylar has rejected the assassin's life. In the wake of the Godking's violent coup, both his master and his closest friend are dead. His friend was Logan Gyre, heir to Cenaria's throne, but few of the ruling class survive to mourn his loss.
Logan Gyre is king of Cenaria, a country under siege, with a threadbare army and little hope. He has one chance—a desperate gamble, but one that could destroy his kingdom. In the north, the new Godking has a plan. If it comes to fruition, no one will have the power to stop him. Kylar Stern has no choice. To save his friends—and perhaps his enemies—he must accomplish the impossible: assassinate a goddess.
Eamonn Lynch stares at the letter announcing the imminent arrival of his father, Dermot. His first thought is: I’ll make an excuse, I’ll put him off. But it is too late. Dermot is already here, in southern Spain, and soon he’ll discover that Eamonn lives in an unfinished building site; that Laura’s left him; and that it’ll be just the pair of them for two long, hot weeks. Eamonn doesn’t seem to know what to make of his father’s arrival.
Under the watchful eye of Detective Chief Superintendent James Langton, Anna is given her first case. But is it a full-blown murder investigation or purely a missing person's case? An ominous pool of blood and no victim lead Anna on a desperate hunt for a man who has disappeared without trace.As Anna becomes obsessed with seemingly irrelevant details, Langton fears that she is losing control of the case.
Bill, (Lord) Rowcester was well and truly in the gumbo. With the benefit of hindsight he could see that setting himself up as a Silver Ring bookie might not have been his smartest move ever. Particularly when being down on his dibbs threatens his oncoming nuptials with the sterling Jill Wyvern. Lucky for Bill he had the land-lease of Jeeves. Lucky indeed that the fish-fed mastermind's formidable genius was at liberty to take...
Collected and edited by Arthur B. Reeve In the introduction to this selection of tales of the macabre, anthologist Arthur Reeve writes: "What is the fascination we feel for the mystery of the ghost story? Man is incurably fascinated by the mysterious. If all the ghost stories of the ages were blotted out, man would invent new ones. For, do we not all stand in awe of that which we cannot explain, of that which, if it is not...
John Dewey was America's most influential philosopher. Dewey's views are known as pragmatism, which emphasizes action and results. He believed that knowledge and ethics, as well as art and religion, live only in the daily practice of one's life. Philosophy isn't a system of beliefs but a practical, empirical method of inquiry. It is one with education, which continually develops and renews the capacity for new habits.
Rebecca was Daphne du Maurier's most famous and best-loved novel. But what happened next? Married to the sophisticated, wordly-wise Maxim, the second Mrs de Winter's life should be happy and fulfilled. But the vengeful ghost of Rebecca, Maxim's first wife, continues to cast its long shadow over them. Back in England after an absence of over ten years, it seems as if happiness will at last be theirs.
Habit 3: Put First Things First is about the day-in, day-out, moment-by-moment doing it-the difference between managing time and managing ourselves. After becoming proactive (with Habit 1) and defining goals (with Habit 2), Dr. Stephen R. Covey teaches listeners how to master self-management by developing integrity and intention based on those goals. This habit explains the importance of becoming...
At any one time, hundreds of thousands of people feel stuck professionally and don't know what to do to get out of their rut. In today's complex business world, the brutal reality is that there are no guarantees for success. Surprisingly, many of us are unconsciously conditioned to fail although, ironically, it's not all that difficult to dramatically reverse the odds. John Assaraf has developed a unique and amazing formula...
Originally published as part of a contest between Mary Shelley, her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron,Frankenstein has since captured countless imaginations. When Dr. Victor Frankenstein learns the secret of imparting life to inanimate matter, he is eager to test his theories. The bones he collects to construct his human subject become a gruesome, frightening creature, endowed with supernatural size...
Random House presents the audiobook edition of Texas Ranger by James Patterson, read by Christopher Ragland. Texas Ranger Rory Yates fights for his life, and his freedom, as he investigates his ex-wife's murder in this stunning thriller Officer Rory Yates is called home to settle deadly scores. His skill and commitment to the badge have seen him rise through the ranks in the Texas Ranger division, but it came at a cost...
David Sedaris's remarkable ability to uncover the hilarious absurdity teeming just below the surface of everyday life is elevated to wilder and more entertaining heights than ever in this new book of stories. Sedaris proceeds from bizarre conundrums of daily life - the etiquette of having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a fellow passenger or how to soundproof your windows with LP covers against...
A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice Finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize In the wake of Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election, a deeply reported look inside the conservative movement working to undermine American democracy. Donald Trump is the second Republican this century to triumph in the Electoral College without winning the popular vote. As Zachary Roth reveals in...
For years, the Stranger House has stood in the village of Illthwaite, offering refuge to travellers. People like Sam, a brilliant young mathematician, who believes that anything that can't be explained by maths isn't worth explaining. And Miguel, a historian running from a priests' seminary, who sees ghosts. Sam is an experienced young woman, Miguel a 26-year-old virgin. But both want to dig up bits of the past that...
The Number One international bestselling author of Jurassic Park, Congo and Sphere takes on global warming in this gripping and critically acclaimed thriller. In Paris, a physicist dies after performing a laboratory experiment for a beautiful visitor. In the jungles of Malaysia, a mysterious buyer purchases deadly cavitation technology, built to his specifications. In Vancouver, a small research submarine is leased for use in...
From the 11th storey of a Los Angeles high-rise, Nate looks out on the city - the traffic, the trees and the beach beyond. He breathes deeply. And then he moves one foot off the ledge and into thin air. But before he can jump, gunshots ring out from within the building. A robbery is in progress. And Nate, with nothing to lose but the life he was about to give up, decides to intervene. What happens next plunges Nate into...
When the bizarrely mutilated body of a young woman is found near the tiny isolated Norfolk village of Manham, it isn't just the fact that she was a friend that disturbs Dr David Hunter. A one-time high-profile forensic anthropologist, he was once all too familiar with the different faces of death, until a devastating personal tragedy made him abandon his former life and career. Now hidden away as a country...
Jack Parlabane is an investigative journalist who is not averse to breaking the law for a good story. Scottish parliament is in catatonic shock after experiencing its first dose of Westminster sleaze and the Catholic Church of Scotland is taking advantage of the politicians' discomfort. Behind the scenes the truth is obscured. Aware he's missing out on a great story; Parlabane discovers that contacts and a way with words...
Best-selling novelist and award-winning audiobook narrator Alison Larkin changes the gender of Dicken’s most famous character in this dazzling new recording of Great Expectations. It's still the same thrilling story of youthful innocence, unexpected escape from cruel poverty, an old woman jilted at the altar, a beautiful, haughty, damaged young woman, and a mysterious financial gift that transforms the life of a...
At the dawn of the French Revolution, the men, women, and children of Paris have one hope to escape the guillotine: the masked and mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel. But who is this daring swordsman and quick-thinking master of disguise? London’s privileged, self-obsessed Sir Percy Blakeney. When his estranged wife, Marguerite, falls prey to French envoy Chauvelin’s blackmail, she unwittingly exposes the Pimpernel...
Wealthy and old, Martin Chuzzlewit, Sr. is surrounded by greedy relatives hoping to obtain a portion of his estate upon his death. Of his two descendants, born and bred in the same heritage of selfishness, one, Martin Jr., has the good fortune to transform, while the other, Jonas, does not and receives a fatal penalty. Naxos
Remembrance of Things Past is one of the monuments of 20th century literature. Neville Jasons widely praised 36 CD abridged version has rightly become an audiobook landmark and now, upon numerous requests, he is recording the whole work unabridged which, when complete, will run for some 140 hours.
Meet Agatha Raisin, high-flying public relations boss turned village sleuth. After her many years of bullying and cajoling others, her early retirement to a picture-perfect village in the Cotswolds is a dream come true.
A Genius performance by Penelope Keith! After time away, Agatha Raisin returns to her beloved Cotswold village of Carsely - and to her handsome neighbour, James Lacey. True, James seems less than thrilled to see her, but Agatha is soon distracted by a sensational murder.
The morning of Agatha's marriage to James Lacey dawns bright and clear. But her luck runs out in the church when Jimmy, the husband she had believed long dead, turns up large as life and twice as ugly. Agatha has a go at strangling him. James breaks off the engagement. So when Jimmy is found murdered next...
He was a vicar to die for - and he did! Agatha is going through a man-hating phase and so is unmoved by news of the captivating new curate. But when she meets the golden-haired, blue-eyed Tristan Delon, she is swept off her feet . . . along with every other female in the village. She is positively ecstatic when he invites her to dine with him but the next day Agatha is left with a hangover from hell - and his cold...
At the dawn of the French Revolution, the men, women, and children of Paris have one hope to escape the guillotine: the masked and mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel. But who is this daring swordsman and quick-thinking master of disguise? London's privileged, self-obsessed Sir Percy Blakeney. When his...
Puffin audio presents brand new recordings of the one and only Worst Witch, read by Gemma Arterton. Mildred Hubble is the worst witch at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches - she's always getting her spells wrong. But she manages to get by until she turns Ethel, the teacher's pet, into her deadly enemy . .
A classic tale of love, intrigue, adventure and the natural world, set on a beautiful isolated Hebridean island, by beloved novelist Mary Stewart. When Rose Fenemore takes a desperately needed holiday to an isolated cottage on the Scottish island of Moila she doesn't expect much in the way of adventure - just a...
few quiet weeks of writing, walking and bird-watching. And then, late one night during a wild storm, two young men appear in her doorway, seeking shelter from the wind and rain. Neither man is quite who he claims, and the question of who to trust will put Rose in grave peril....
Magnus Pym, counsellor at the British Embassy in Vienna, has suddenly vanished, believed defected. The chase is on for a missing husband, a devoted father, and a life-time secret agent.
Pym’s life, it is revealed, is entirely made up of secrets. The race is on to find the perfect spy.
It is the third summer of perestroika. Niki Landau, philanderer and travelling rep, attends the first Moscow audio fair and is asked by beautiful young Katya to take a parcel back to England.
It’s addressed to Barley Blair, jazz-player and drinker, and contains information vital to the defence of the West. But times and heroes are changing. And Barley Blair is a man who makes his own rules of engagement.
Dante Alighieri's poetic masterpiece is a moving human drama, an unforgettable visionary journey through the infinite torment of Hell, up the arduous slopes of Purgatory, and on to the glorious realm of Paradise-the sphere of universal harmony and eternal salvation. One of the greatest works in literature, Dante's story-poem is an allegory that represents mankind as it exposes itself, by its merits or demerits, to the...
An ingeniously witty novel about the risks - and rewards - of opening your life to new people by Amazon Charts bestselling author Camille Pagán. No new people: that's Annie Mercer's vow. It's bad enough that her boss sabotaged her chemistry career and her best friend tried to cure her with crystals. But after her fiancé, Jon, asks for space while he's gallivanting around Paris, Annie decides she needs space too...
The third book in Arthur Ransome's wonderful series for children, Peter Duck takes intrepid explorers John, Susan, Titty, and Roger Walker and fearless Amazon pirates Nancy and Peggy Blackett onto the high seas. Under the command of the infamous Captain Flint (Nancy and Peggy's Uncle Jim), the children brave a real-life pirate and his cutthroat crew, fog, sharks, and the ravenous crabs of Crab Island in search of...
The anti-white racism of the political left remains one of the few taboo subjects in America. In this book, David Horowitz, a former confidante of the Black Panthers, lays bare the liberal attack on whiteness, the latest battle in the war against American democracy.Horowitz acknowledges that America's political culture is the creation of white, European, primarily Christian males. But it is these very men and their heirs...
These easy-to-follow guided meditations involve beautifully crafted stories with music and natural sound effects. Each track will ease you into a deep state of relaxation, where you can tap into the restoring power of meditation. Track 1 - Deep Recharge: in the sanctuary of a desert oasis Track 2 - Inner Peace: is yours in a beautiful secluded valley Track 3 - Pure Relaxation: on a hammock in your secret garden...
Millions of years ago, the Ice Warriors fled to Deimos to sit out the death throes of their home planet, and it is now a popular tourist attraction. But it seems that the Ice Warriors are far from extinct...
October 1930. His Majesty's airship, the R101, sets off on her maiden voyage to the farthest-flung reaches of the British Empire, carrying the brightest lights of the imperial fleet. Carrying the hopes and dreams of a breathless nation. Not to mention a ruthless spy with a top-secret mission, a mysterious passenger who appears nowhere on the crew list, a would-be adventuress destined for the Singapore Hilton...and a...
Jonathan Hughes, an anthropologist specialising in social stereotyping, is determined to re-examine this case. There were alarming disparities in the evidence and Hughes has little doubt that there has been a terrible miscarriage of justice. But there is also something else pushing this half-Iranian, half-Libyan outsider to reach for the truth . . . This is more than a mere expose of corruption, it is a dark tale of solitude...
This is the fiscally chaotic tenth series of the popular BBC Radio 4 comedy, written by Lou Wakefield and Carole Hayman and starring Prunella Scales and Patricia Routledge. The Ladies are having to tighten their belts in this latest collection of Letters. Karen and St John have put the Bothy up for sale, and together with their children, have invaded Vera's Coach House. But very soon things become totally intolerable...
The fourth series of the popular Radio 4 show, finds the Ladies of Letters co-hosting their own cable TV programme: and it's pushing their friendship to the edge once more. "Irene, I will take the advice to 'break a leg' in the spirit which, I'm sure it was intended. Though frankly, in those ridiculous high-heeled bootys you're wearing, I think it's more likely to be you. Anyway, good luck and DO KEEP STILL.
One of the best-known Irish playwrights, John Millington Synge premiered The Playboy of the Western World in 1907. It immediately provoked controversy, eventually resulting in the infamous Playboy riots. It has been recorded and adapted many times, but this timeless recording stars the Irish actors who made it a classic, including Siobhan McKenna and Cyril Cusack.
Can she be a supermodel and a super-sister? She finds her answer in just one look. Two sisters, both beautiful in different ways: Fifteen-year-old Ted has got "The Look." That's what the scout for the modeling agency tells her, and she can't believe her luck. But just as Ted's jet-setting off on her new career, Ava is diagnosed with cancer. Can Ted be a supermodel and a super-sister? Or will she have to choose...
My name is Zelah Green and I’m a cleanaholic. I spend most of my life running away from germs. And dirt. And people. And I’m just about doing OK and then my stepmother packs me off to some kind of hospital to live with loads of strangers. It’s stuck in the middle of nowhere. Great. There’s Alice who’s anorexic. Caro who cuts herself. Silent Sol who has the cutest smile. And then there’s me. It’ll be fine, I say to myself.
** This set includes the audio on Cassette, Audio CD and Paperback book ** About a man with the nickname spider, gets his girlfriend pregnant, he knows lots about trivia, she has a dangerous family who doesn't accept him, he plays in a quiz game to try and win 1 million euro to support the baby.
The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass (Aged 37 3/4) began its public life in Christian Family Magazine, progressed to live performances at Christian holiday weeks and has grown to a best-selling book which will leave listeners helpless with laughter yet moved by the genuine affection which holds together Adrian, his family, and his assorted fellow-believers. The Diary is a must for anyone who has ever thought that some...
Go anywhere in the world today and you'll see or hear English in some form. It may not necessarily be the Queen's English that you're hearing, but it is, nevertheless, a form of universally recognised English - it is Globish. In his wonderfully witty and informative new book, Robert McCrum explores the curious history, vivacity and endurance of English and ponders why, while British and American empires have waxed...
To celebrate the launch of Quick Reads in 2006, The Sun ran a short story competition called 'Get Britain Reading' in order to find the hidden talent among its ten million readers.It was judged by Sun columnist and bestselling author Jane Moore.The Sun Book of Short Stories contains a selection of the winning entries.They may make you smile, laugh or cry - but all of them are sure to entertain you.
Stephen Gordon is an ideal child of aristocratic parents - a fencer, a horse rider and a keen scholar. Stephen grows to be a war hero, a best-selling writer and a loyal, protective lover. But Stephen is a woman, and her lovers are women. As her ambitions drive her, and society confines her, Stephen is forced into desperate actions.
In the small southern town of Chin-kiang, two young girls from very different worlds collide and become inseparable companions. Willow is hardened by poverty and fearful for her future; Pearl is the daughter of a Christian missionary who desperately wishes she was Chinese too. Neither could have foreseen the transformation of the little American girl embarrassed by her blonde hair into the Nobel Prize-winning writer...
When Judith Summers' husband and father both died within the space of two weeks, she found herself floundering. Life for her and her eight-year-old son, Joshua, seemed relentlessly bleak. Then George bounced into their lives. A loving Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with film-star looks, George reawoke their joie de vivre.
DI Rebus is buried under a pile of paperwork but an escalating dispute between the upstart Tommy Telford and Big Ger Cafferty's gang gives Rebus an escape clause. Telford is known to have close links with a Chechen gangster bringing refugees into Britain as prostitutes. When Rebus takes under his wing a distraught Bosnian call girl, it gives him a personal reason to make sure Telford goes back to Paisley and pronto.
Mark never heard the Mauser shot for the bullet came ahead of the sound. There was only the massive shock in the upper part of his body, and then he was hurled backwards with a violence that drove the air from his lungs.The earth opened before him, and as he fell, there was a sensation of being engulfed in a swirling vortex of blackness and he knew for just a fleeting instant of time that he was dead'
Have you ever wondered why there is a light in your fridge but not in your freezer? Or why 24-hour shops bother having locks on their doors? Or why soft drink cans are cylindrical, but milk cartons are square? The answer is simple: economics. For years, economist Robert Frank has been encouraging his students to ask questions about the conundrums and strange occurrences they encounter in everyday life and to try...
Agatha Raisin, retired PR supremo, has been spurned at the altar by the man of her dreams, her attractive neighbour James Lacey. So temporarily deserting the sleepy Cotswold village of Carsely, she pursues her fleeing fiancé to north Cyprus where, instead of enjoying a romantic honeymoon, they witness the killing of an obnoxious tourist in a disco. Can the duo forget their differences and resume their...
In the delightful Cotswold village of Carsely, the air is heady with romance. Agatha Raisin is convinced that the new vet has taken a shine to her. But before she can get anywhere, handsome Dr Paul Bladen is accidentally killed while attending to Lord Pendlebury's horse. So was it really an accident? All the evidence points that way, but the circumstances are decidedly suspicious.
Adopted as a child into a privileged family, Philippa Palfrey fantasizes that she is the daughter of an aristocrat and a parlor maid. The terrifying truth about her parents and a long-ago murder is only the first in a series of shocking betrayals.
Latest in Ruth Dudley Edwards’s hilarious crime series lampooning the British Establishment: ‘I fear it will make you laugh out loud on public transport’ Evening Standard When the chairperson of the prestigious Knapper-Warburton Literary Prize dies in suspicious circumstances, Robert Amiss (the token sane member of the judging panel) wastes no...
Back in 1964, tragedy had struck when Peter Redburn and his friends were playing together. Now an adult, Peter has never been able to escape his feelings of guilt. A funeral forces him to confront the rivalries and secrets of the past
With talented parents comes the burden of continuing the line of accomplishment, as Maria, Niall and Celia know all too well. The siblings subsequently formed a bond so profound that their lives constantly have a tremendous impact on those around them, this includes Maria's husband, Charles - a...
Our Man in Havana, set in Cuba under the Batista regime, was published in 1958 - one year before Castro's revolution in 1959. This comedy thriller focuses on Havana-based vacuum cleaner salesman James Wormold, an Englishman. The story revolves around Wormold's reluctant role in the...