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Hester (1883) is a dramatic story of female power and family tensions within Victorian society. Using her own money, Catherine Vernon manages to save the family bank from collapse after her cousin John absconds with some of its money. As the matriarch of Redborough, Catherine is used to commanding authority, but this is challenged with the arrival of John’s strong and capable teenage daughter, Hester. Ignorant of her father’s conduct, Hester takes against Catherine and a mutual antipathy soon sets in. A masterpiece of domestic realism, the novel is one of Mrs Oliphant’s most admired works.

Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Edinburgh for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they've arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic—leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible. When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other.

The setting is the beginning of an Amish settlement in colonial America in the forests of eastern Pennsylvania. There, a young Amish couple, Hans and Kate Zug, are in their ninth year of marriage, still waiting to have a child. Then, one April morning, Kate finds a Native infant, wrapped in deerskin and placed next to the spring where she went to fill her water bucket.

Bloodstains & Breakthroughs is a true crime and trauma-healing podcast hosted by former Crime Scene Investigator Christina Hester. This podcast takes listeners behind real crime scenes to explore forensic science, biohazard cleanup, and the emotional impact of working trauma.Through anonymized real-life stories, forensic education, and trauma-informed insight, Christina reveals what TV gets wrong — and what really happens after the crime scene tape comes down. Each episode blends true crime storytelling with mental health awareness, CPTSD recovery, and personal growth.

Nona McKinley raised three boys in the Hester Gardens section of Medford, Michigan, an impoverished community divided by those who follow their faith in God and those who turn to crime to survive. With her drug dealer husband behind bars and her eldest son shot to death at eighteen, Nona has devoted herself to ensuring her other children escape their brother’s fate. Her second son Marcus is on the right path. He's a valedictorian heading to an Ivy League school. He can get out. But then, strange things start happening to Nona and other residents.

When Melissa is made unfairly redundant from her job at an estate agents' office, she decides it's time for a change. Instead of working for other people, Melissa will go into business for herself: using her organisational skills to whip the lives of London's socially and romantically challenged men into shape. Then Melissa meets Jonathan, and suddenly she must decide if she can mix business with pleasure....

Two women. A history of witchcraft. And a deep-rooted female power that sings across the centuries. Once there was a young woman from a well-to-do New England family who never quite fit with the drawing rooms and parlors of her kin. Called instead to the tangled woods and wild cliffs surrounding...

Running The Little Lady Agency, Mel has one goal and one goal only: Make Men Better. But when her grandmother asks her to take on the case of a lifetime - Prince Nicolas of Hollenberg, Europe's most notorious of playboys - has she bitten off more than she can chew? Despite his good breeding, Nicolas is completely set on leading Melissa astray. Can Mel rise to the challenge? And has her own fairy-tale ending been there all along?

Every girl should know what the finishing touches are. When 21st-century girl Betsy is called in to rescue an exclusive finishing school from financial ruin, she knows she must change the school drastically. So it's out with debutante decorum and in with modern manners. But with hunky bursar Mark and her gorgeous friend Jamie on the scene, she will have to remind herself that in the modern world, you don't have to rely on old school feminine wiles to get what you want....

As her alter ego, Honey, Melissa is the go-to woman for improving men's dating lives. But when her American boyfriend, Jonathan, invites her to New York for a holiday, he has one condition: the blonde wig stays at home. This is easier said than done, and before long Mel finds herself juggling a rude rising star who just happens to be an ex, Jonathan's manipulative ex-wife, an unruly terrier and escalating crises back at the agency. Can Melissa put the manners back into Manhattan? Or is this a challenge only the Little Lady Agency can handle?

Amy Wilde is tired of the idiots her glamorous flatmate Jo keeps foisting upon her - she'd much rather be digging in the garden with her dog Badger at her side than trying to find the man of her dreams. That is, until she meets Leo Wolfsburg. Handsome, polite and funny, Leo is everything Amy could want in a boyfriend. Best of all, the attraction seems mutual. But Leo's lifestyle is a world away from her own. Private planes, charity balls, exclusive members' clubs - Amy begins to realise that her simple existence is being turned upside down. Is that what she wants?

When Evie Nicholson is asked to visit Kettlesheer Castle in Scotland to archive the family heirlooms, she jumps at the chance. Evie's passion for antiques means that, for her, the castle is a treasure trove of mysteries just waiting to be uncovered. But in each heirloom lies a story, and in the course of her investigations Evie stumbles upon some long-buried family secrets. Add handsome, gloomy heir Robert McAndrew and a traditional candlelit gala to the mix, and Evie's heart is sent reeling with an enthusiasm that may just extend beyond the Kettlesheer silver....

Lemon, poppy seed, sun-warmed sand. These visions convince Aoife to quit her job, leave her manipulative boyfriend, and escape to the isolated shores of the Farmstead commune. There, among its charismatic and hedonistic residents, Aoife finds everything she’s been missing: a community that adores her, the freedom to indulge, and the promise to be a part of something miraculous. But darkness underpins her airy new way of life. A disappearing cave looms above an ocean no one dares step foot in, mysterious crying fills the night hours, and a rot is spreading across the island.

Born a Native American but brought up Amish, Hester Zug, at age 20, flees her Amish home. Her father's too-tender care of her has made her stepmother wildly jealous, and so Hester sets off, knowing only that she can't stay. Hester's natural instincts for navigating the forests in colonial Pennsylvania, along with the book of medicines and remedies given to her by an aged Native American woman, allow her to survive until she gets sick from drinking river water.

The Bonneville Hotel is the best-kept secret in Mayfair: its art deco suites and glittering ballrooms a former home-away-from-home for royalty and movie stars alike. Recent years haven’t been kind, but thanks to events manager Rosie, the Bonneville is reclaiming some of its old cachet as a chic retro-glam wedding venue. While Rosie’s weddings are the ultimate in romance, Rosie herself isn’t; she’s focused on the details, not the dramas.

Finding Hester explores the untold story of Hester Leggatt, a woman who helped trick the Nazis, and is a fascinating listen for fans of West End musical Operation Mincemeat and anyone with an interest in women’s war stories.

Wallet Activism challenges you to rethink your financial power so can feel confident spending, earning, and saving money in ways that align with your values.

"Weaves a spell of darkness that’s mysterious and magical, and binds it with a knot of deathless love." —New York Times bestselling author Susanna Kearsley on A Lullaby for Witches In post–World War I England, a young woman inherits a mysterious library and must untangle its powerful...

Set in the waning days of the Dutch Golden Age, this enchanting, lush reimagining of The Little Mermaid is perfect for fans of Jesse Burton’s The Miniaturist and Leigh Bardugo’s The Familiar. The Dutch Republic, 1650. One fine spring day in Friesland, twenty-year-old Clara van Wieren is...

"Betrayal, loss, love, redemption, and justice collide in this masterpiece of a novel. You won’t want to miss The Book of Thorns." —Paulette Kennedy, author of The Devil and Mrs. Davenport A spellbinding tale of secrets, betrayal, and magic from the author of The Heir to Blackwood Library!...