Showing results for "Phyllida Nash" in Literature & Fiction

Georgette Heyer remains an enduring international best seller, read and loved by four generations of readers and extolled by today's best-selling authors. Despite her enormous popularity, she never gave an interview or appeared in public. Georgette Heyer wrote her first novel, The Black Moth, when she was 17 in order to amuse her convalescent brother. It was published in 1921 to instant success, and 90 years later it has never been out of print.

From MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Judy Leigh 'Judy’s done it again. Every woman over a certain age should read this wonderful book' Jennifer Bohnet It has been a long and lonely year for neighbours Vivienne, Mary and Gwen. All ladies of a ‘certain age’, their lockdown experience has left them...

A BRAND NEW feel-good read from MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Judy Leigh, perfect for fans of Dawn French and Caroline James! ✨ You’re never too old to fall in love…again! Cecily Hamilton is months away from her ninety-second birthday. She’s lived life to the full, choosing work over romance...

Let MILLION COPY bestselling author Judy Leigh whisk you off to the French sunshine for a BRAND NEW story of friendship and fresh starts. 💖🥂 Sixty-one-year-old Maxine Sweet has a new life stretching in front of her. Her longed-for retirement is finally here and she’s ready to enjoy it...

Fairacre is a village of cottages, a church and the school - and, at the heart of the school, its head mistress Miss Read. Through her discerning eye, we meet the villagers of Fairacre and see their trials and tribulations, from the irascible school cleaner Mrs Pringle, to the young school children, with their scraped knees, hopeful faces and inevitable mischief.

Mrs Gladden uses similar methods to her male counterparts - she enters scenes of crime incognito, tracking down killers while trying to conceal her own tracks and her identity from others. She does much physical detective work, examining scenes of crime, looking for clues and employing all manner of skill, subterfuge, observation and charm to achieve her ends. Characteristic of the casebooks of the time, Forrester's book features various cases narrated by Mrs Gladden, including murder, fraud and the sale of a baby.

Among the cobbled streets of the Somerset town of Frome, Lou is embarking on the start of something new. After the death of her beloved mother, she takes a deep breath into the unknown and is opening her own vintage clothes shop. In Upstate New York, Donna has just found out some news about her family that has called into question her whole upbringing. The only clue she has to unlock her past is a picture of a yellow dress and the fact it is currently on display in a shop in England.  

From MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Judy Leigh ‘Brilliantly funny, emotional and uplifting’ Miranda Dickinson Now in his seventies, Robert Parkin is stunned to find himself the unlikely sex symbol of the village gardening club. Living in happy solitude with his cat Isaac Mewton in the Devon village...

In The Darcy Connection, Mr. Collins of Pride and Prejudice is now the Bishop of Ripon, living with his wife Charlotte and their two daughters, who have reached marriageable age. The elder, another Charlotte, is extraordinarily beautiful, and her parents hope her looks and connections will ensure a brilliant marriage. Her sister Eliza, while not as handsome, possesses a lively intelligence that, in Mr. Collins's opinion, is too like her godmother Mrs. Darcy.

A BRAND NEW life-affirming, joyful and inspiring tale of second chances and new beginnings from MILLION COPY bestselling author Judy Leigh. Time to step out of the shadows and seize the day. Sixty-five-year-old Francie Molloy is stuck in a rut. Divorced and quietly running her beloved...

Let MILLION COPY bestselling author Judy Leigh whisk you off to the beaches and beauty of Brittany. Warmhearted, funny and uplifting. Sixty-nine-year-old Fliss has lived a life! A career running her own successful business, a beautiful home, a wardrobe full of designer clothes – Fliss has...

A werewolf video leaves Micky terrified of dogs. Mum decides the only answer is to get Mickey a pet of his own. To everyone's surprise -including Micky's - she chooses a werepuppy. But Wolfie turns out to be a very special pet - and a real joker!

From MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Judy Leigh ‘Brilliantly funny, emotional and uplifting’ Miranda Dickinson In the imposing Glen Carrick House overlooking Scotland’s famous Loch Ness, lives eighty-eight-year-old Mimi McKinlay, cared for by her three adult sons. Hamish has inherited his...

From MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Judy Leigh 'Judy’s done it again. Every woman over a certain age should read this wonderful book' Jennifer Bohnet Deep in the Somerset countryside, the Combe Pomeroy village library hosts a monthly book club. Ruth the librarian fears she’s too old to find love...

Bloomsbury presents The Throwaway Children by Diney Costeloe, read by Phyllida Nash. Gritty, heartrending and unputdownable – the story of two sisters sent first to an English, then an Australian orphanage in the aftermath of World War II. Rita and Rosie Stevens are only nine and five years...

1817. As a young woman, clever, self-reliant Lydia Templeton scandalised society by rejecting Lewis Durrant, the county's most eligible batchelor.

Ten years later, Lydia has no regrets and, having concluded that matters of the heart need no longer trouble her, she is quite happy to remain unwed. But others still seek Lydia's advice on their love lives.

When Amy consults her doctor about her increasing mood swings, she is advised to keep a diary as an outlet for her bursts of irritation. And her life obligingly becomes eventful enough to provide interesting reading. But it is the tantalising allusions to Amy's past - so at odds with her appearance as the stereotypical retired schoolmistress - that intrigues, delights, and eventually reveals a woman of surprising qualities.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a husband. So say the friends and family of impoverished widow Octavia Darcy when she unexpectedly inherits a fortune, but she has a different view and looks forward to a new life of independence.

Jess Penhaligon is on her way to Devon to receive an award for her botanical painting. Hosting her will be Kate, who gladly welcomes her into her home. Jess's own family fell apart several years ago, so she is grateful for Kate's friendliness - and her close unit of extended family and friends, who embrace Jess just as warmly. As this group begins reminiscing on their pasts and sharing their stories with Jess, it becomes apparent that her family history may be linked with theirs.

Throughout her career prize-winning novelist Jane Gardam has been writing glorious short stories, each one hallmarked with all the originality, poignancy, wry comedy, and narrative brilliance of her longer fiction. Passion and longing, metamorphosis and enchantment are Gardam's themes, and like a magician she plucks them from the quietest of corners: from Wimbledon gardens and cold churches, from London buses and industrial backstreets.