Showing results by narrator "Helen Stern" in All Categories

1842: London is preparing for Christmas, but Isabelle Burdett wants nothing to do with the world. Grieving her husband, she has withdrawn from work, family, and even her daughter. Yet as Christmas Eve draws to a close, an unexpected arrival at her door shatters her carefully built solitude – and brings a choice that could change everything. Present day: Emily, a history lecturer still mourning her father, is called to a crumbling house in Cheapside, where developers have discovered a stack of old notebooks. They tell the story of three ghostly visitors on a Christmas Eve long ago.

When Sarah’s summoned by her godmother to remote Norfolk, she doesn’t want to go. Crossing the bridges where the two rivers meet, said to be haunted by the ghost of a little boy, a large Tudor house looms in front of her. And Sarah’s instantly reminded her of the summer when she last visited. The summer she would like to forget. Which left her unable to ever move forward… Can a person ever recover from the loss of a sibling?

Two timelines. One queen. A secret history that refuses to stay buried. Now: When Jenna arrives at Winterhill House, she’s instantly transported back… to the priory that stood there before, the life she lived before, and the secret she kept in her past life for the fourth queen of a despotic king. 1539: King Henry VIII is intent on destroying the Catholic church, and with the dissolution of the monasteries, beautiful young prioress Marris is about to lose everything.

Hanna’s world is crumbling. An unimaginable crime has been committed, and everyone’s looking for someone to blame. Her loved ones are under suspicion. Now Hanna must work out who is threatening her family – before it’s too late. No one could have seen this coming.

Somewhere in Africa, more than a million years ago, a line of apes began to rear their young differently than their Great Ape ancestors. From this new form of care came new ways of engaging and understanding each other. How such singular human capacities evolved, and how they have kept us alive for thousands of generations, is the mystery revealed in this bold and wide-ranging new vision of human emotional evolution. Mothers and Others finds the key in the primatologically unique length of human childhood.

Raised at the court of King Henry III as a chamber lady to the queen, young Joanna of Swanscombe's life changes forever when she comes into an inheritance far above all expectations, including her own. Now a wealthy heiress, Joanna's arranged marriage to the king's charming, tournament-loving half-brother, William de Valence, immediately stokes the flames of political unrest as more established courtiers object to the privileges bestowed on newcomers.

'Fascinating, poignant and beautifully written. A story of love and the sorrow of war' CAROL MCGRATH 'An enthralling insight into the Wars of the Roses seen through the eyes of two powerful women. A superb read' CLARE MARCHANT 'A fascinating story of two powerful women on opposing sides of the...

'Superb and timely' KATE MOSSE 'Impressive, important, deeply moving' SARAH WATERS 'Brilliant' ANTHONY HOROWITZ What role could music play in a death camp? What was the effect on those women who owed their survival to their participation in a Nazi propaganda project? And how did it feel to be...

Paris, 1940: Madeline tries to scream, but she can’t breathe. A German soldier is working to free her from the rubble–but if he reaches her, he will find the books hidden beneath her clothes… When the Germans seize Paris, its peaceful streets fill with terror overnight, and nowhere is safe. Desperate to help her friends, Parisian bookseller Madeline Valette turns her bookshop into a sanctuary for those in hiding, but she knows it’s only a matter of time before she’s found out.

Paris, 2011: Lily Tremaine’s hands shake as she opens the envelope addressed in her mother’s hand. The faded letter inside reveals the long-buried family secret that her mother had a twin she was separated from during the Second World War. A tear slides down Lily’s cheek, knowing the loss of a sister caused her mother so much heartbreak. And now, after all these years, her mother needs Lily to find her…

When Paige returns to her ancestral family home, Woodham Hall, she's nursing an unbearable heartbreak. The man she'd thought she loved has told her the most terrible lie, one she feels she'll never recover from. The only thing that seems to be able to hold her interest is the story of a poisoning that once supposedly happened in the house – depicted in brutal detail in a painting by an unknown artist…

Working in a museum under a false identity is Brigitte’s only hope. Until she meets Isabelle Valette, who confides in hushed tones that she is part of the Resistance. And when her new friend tells her of a train leaving Paris that can take children to safety, Brigitte knows her daughter must be on it, even if it breaks her heart. But getting Sophie onto the train is dangerous. If they are caught smuggling a Jewish child out of Paris, they will be killed. And with the enemy closing in, can Brigitte get her beloved daughter to safety before it is too late?

When the Nazis invade Paris, Antoinette Valette’s world shatters overnight. In an instant, she goes from being a celebrated violinist, to fearing for the life of her Jewish husband and son. With nowhere to flee, hiding in plain sight is her family’s only choice.

'An intricate, moving novel... Quinn's best book to date' Observer 'Every sentence he produces is a joy' Metro 'Opens up timeless themes of family, success and love' New Statesman 'Truly magnificent... this is Quinn's masterpiece' The Tablet 'Quinn is an intelligent analyst of the uncertainties...

'Brimming with warmth, whimsy and slow-burn charm' Jessica Gadziala, My Big Fat Vampire Wedding Welcome to The Magical Spice Tea Shop, where your wildest dreams can come true with just a pinch of cinnamon . . . ~ Cosy romantasy ~ Rivals to lovers ~ Grumpy x sunshine ~ He falls first and he falls...

‘A truly major work, both deeply moving and incredibly powerful. A masterpiece of research, structure and writing . . . unforgettable’ - Sir Antony Beevor, bestselling author of Stalingrad 'Painful, profound, prescient . . . a magisterial work' - Sonia Purnell, internationally bestselling...

1665: When Margery arrives in Saltmarsh looking for her mother, she finds silence, secrets, and backs turned. But she is not the only thing that has arrived. As the Plague falls on the village, leaving almost no man, woman or child alive, rumours circulate – about a demon dog, about lights floating above the waters, about voices in the dark… And about a girl, one who has brought a curse.

The first chapter of a manuscript arrives on Publisher Marina’s desk. She assumes it’s just another novel by another aspiring writer. As the chapters arrive one by one, Marina is convinced they are about her past. There’s only one person who can know everything about the scandal, the trial, and the trauma that nearly broke her. This is one story that should never be told, and Marina is so desperate she will do anything to stop it getting out.

When a heartsick Maggie is sent on an errand by her mother to Cannes, she is keen to get it over with as quickly as possible. She has been tasked with collecting a treasured box of photos from her late grandmother Elizabeth’s best friend, the impossibly glamorous Allegra Morgon who is desperate to tell Maggie all about the year she and Elizabeth spent in Paris. The sixties were in full swing, the air hummed with jazz, artists and students made the streets their own, and the City of Love was weaving its magic.

Over twenty years of marriage to Max, Prue has remained a busy, contented mother and stepmother. Now, Prue's stepdaughter, Violet, has returned with her new husband from New York and, suddenly, Prue is precipitated into a secret life. As she moves between a sleepy village in Hampshire and buzzing London, Prue finds herself crossing the boundary between innocence and knowledge, exploring the line between the gluttony and surrender of desire and facing the stark realities that result.