Showing results by narrator "Sarah A." in All Categories

What drives someone to keep reaching for all that glitters, no matter the price? It’s easy to believe that more is better: more acclaim, more control, more wealth. But when dreams are fueled by greed, they can quickly twist into nightmares. These six propulsive short stories explore what happens when the true cost of ambition comes due.

Magic exists. I know - it’s in my blood. Unfortunately, not all people from magical bloodlines have powers, and at 22, I’m several years past the age they usually appear. So, I’ve resigned myself to a boring, magic-less life. Then, something strange happens. I get stuck in the middle of a bar fight, and instead of just punching the guy back, I blow a hole in the wall.

Three fantastic series of the satirical radio panel game from 2014 In these 26 episodes, we turn the clock back to 2014 - the year when Scotland said 'no' to independence, Ukrainians ousted their pro-Russia president in the Maidan Revolution, and the European Space Agency's Philae probe made its...

SOON TO BE THE TV SERIES 'THE SERPENT QUEEN', STARRING SAMANTHA MORTON The bestselling revisionist biography of one of the great women of the 16th century Orphaned in infancy, Catherine de Medici was the sole legitimate heiress to the Medici family fortune. Married at fourteen to the future...

A TOP 10 CHILDREN’S FICTION BESTSELLER Enter an extraordinary magical adventure about family, fate and finding the courage to be truly yourself – perfect for fans of Nevermoor, Lemony Snicket and The Swifts. ‘An adventure overflowing with magic’ Beth Lincoln, author of The Swifts ‘A...

Sandi Toksvig, 'probably the funniest person in the English-speaking world' (The Guardian), is our host for these 25 episodes of the perennially popular comedy news quiz, first broadcast between New Year's Eve 2010 and 4 November 2011. Joining her to poke fun at stories big and small are a panel of illustrious players including Roisin Conaty, Dominic Lawson, Richard Herring, Tom Wrigglesworth, Henning Wehn, Imran Yusuf, Julia Hartley-Brewer, Laura Solon, Sarah Millican and Paul Sinha.

The man they sent to rescue me looks more dangerous than my captors. Bodhi Lennox hasn't spoken a full sentence since he arrived, just watches me with dark eyes and growls at anyone who gets too close. He's massive, barely speaks, and is supposedly here to protect me until my brother pays his debt. But the way he looks at me? Like I'm already his. Like he'd tear apart anyone who tries to touch me.

Sarah Polley's work as an actor, screenwriter and director is celebrated for its honesty, complexity and deep humanity. She brings all those qualities, along with her exquisite storytelling chops, to these six essays. Each one captures a piece of Polley's life as she remembers it, while at the same time examining the fallibility of memory, the mutability of reality in the mind, and the possibility of experiencing the past anew, as the person she is now but was not then. As Polley writes, the past and present are in a “reciprocal pressure dance”.

BE PREPARED TO PUT YOUR LIFE ON HOLD FOR THIS ADDICTIVE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING THRILLER - WITH A TWIST THAT YOU WILL NEVER SEE COMING. 'A jaw dropping last line twist' Lisa Jewell, #1 bestselling author of The Family Upstairs 'Impossible to put down' Independent 'Will grasp you...

The brilliantly observed, witty and heart-warming new book club read from Richard & Judy bestseller Linda Green, for fans of Clare Pooley, Mike Gayle and David Nicholls!✨ 'Wonderfully executed, unique, clever and hilarious... Linda Green is absolutely at the top of her game. An absolute gem of...

In Enid Blyton's best-selling school series, Elizabeth Allen is sent away to boarding school and makes up her mind to be the naughtiest pupil there's ever been. In book 10, Elizabeth is overjoyed to be appointed monitor again. But one of the second-form boys is turning all the other boys against her, starting with a nasty note in her desk and ending with a false tip-off about a midnight pillow fight in the boys' dormitory. Can she find out who has a grudge against her - and why?

Seven days. Four deaths. One chance to catch a killer. Sixteen-year-old Robert arrives home late. Without a word to his dad, he goes up to his bedroom. Robert is never seen alive again. The discovery of a body on the coast of the Scottish Highlands plunges Detective Inspector Monica Kennedy into a murder investigation that won't begin and end with one death. Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Nichol has been missing for seven days. His last message was to social worker Michael, who can't quite shake the suspicion that something is terribly wrong.

Natalie is a girl who should be going somewhere. Beautiful, bright and ambitious, she's stuck in a dead-end job in the accounts department of Nu-Line Telecommunications, living her life through wild weekends and yearning for something more. When she sees a chance to change her life, she takes it. After all, it's only a minor crime. Nobody's going to get hurt. But other people do get hurt, because Natalie's actions do have consequences – tragic consequences.

May 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan. She's been invited there by the Japanese government ruling the island, though she has no interest in their official banquets or imperialist agenda. Instead, Chizuko longs to experience real island life and to taste its authentic cuisine.

The adventure continues in the final instalment of the New York Times bestselling series from the fantasy author who is a legend herself: Tamora Pierce. A powerful classic that is more timely than ever, the Protector of the Small series is about smashing the ceilings others place above you. Duty...

I sit little Mila down at my kitchen table with a glass of milk and a plate of cookies. She smiles shyly at me and I reach out to ruffle her hair. Leaving her alone for a moment, I dash upstairs, closing my eyes as I take a deep breath. What have I done? Mila isn’t my child. I should never have taken her home. But what choice did I have? Painting a smile on my face, I head back down to the kitchen.

Jane Bell had dreamt of playing in the casinos of Monte Carlo, but in her punk phase she got herself pregnant, and now she’s 46. She's a grandmother, her dreams as dry as the dust her Dyson sucks up from her hall carpet. Then her son, Ross, a researcher working for an arms manufacturer, is forced to disappear and to part with the secrets of his research. Jane will finally get the adventure she’s always wanted but at a price....

Sit Happens! Back of Book BlurbSit Happens! Puppy Training & Beyond is your gentle, practical guide to raising a confident, well-mannered puppy—even if this is your first dog. If you’re overwhelmed by conflicting advice or worried about “doing it wrong,” this book brings clarity and calm. Author Summer Fitchley shares simple, positive training routines that work in real homes, with real schedules. Learn how to housebreak without stress, make the crate a cozy safe space, prevent biting and chewing, teach leash manners, and quiet barking through connection—not correction.

My name is Sarah Shaw. I’m a nurse. I’m working at the hospital on my usual night shift when I receive an urgent call from the nurse’s station. As I rush down the brightly lit corridor, I see two police officers. And I know it’s terrible news.... The words blur together as the officer standing in front of me tells me that my husband, William, is dead. We were only married for a few short months. Our life together hadn’t even started. Now I’m 30 years old and a widow. As the investigation begins, all eyes are on me: the young wife.

Emmeline Ashworth has never known real want. As the grocer’s daughter, she has warm meals, a solid roof, and a father who dotes on her. She’s always understood she is luckier than most, but nothing prepares her for the day a half-starved young woman runs into the shop, desperate for help. The girl – Lily - is bruised and ragged from the slums that sprawl at the edge of town and opens Emmie’s eyes to the harsh realities of life for some in Wakefield.