Showing results by narrator "Bea Holland" in All Categories

Exploring the dichotomy between one's inner and outer self is central to Behind Her Eyes. When a vulnerable woman is drawn into the lives of an enigmatic couple, she finds it hard to differentiate between reality and what truly lies beneath a seemingly perfect exterior.

You thought they were just staying for the weekend. They looked harmless enough - with only two suitcases and a cat in a wicker box. But soon things turn very, very dark. It happens slowly, yet so extraordinarily quickly. Now you and your sister must find a way to survive....

London. Early morning, June 2019: on the foreshore of the river Thames, a bag of bones is discovered. Human bones. DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene and quickly sends the bag for forensic examination. The bones are those of a young woman, killed by a blow to the head many years ago. Also inside the bag is a trail of clues, in particular the seeds of a rare tree which lead DCI Owusu back to a mansion in Chelsea where three people lay dead in a kitchen. Four deaths. An unsolved mystery. A family whose secrets can't stay buried for ever.

Parents, friends, teachers, relatives, and even work colleagues - from the people close to us to those we never even meet - other people are constantly shaping who we are. The mirror neuron is a part of the brain that has shaped each and every one of us throughout our lifetimes. It is the very essence of what makes us human, but most of us have never even heard of it. Mirror Thinking explores how the mirror neuron has defined us through the role models we observe and interact with.

Sally never meant to cave her husband's head in with a skillet. Or at least she didn't until suddenly, she did. But Sally isn't the only woman in town being pushed to breaking point. When coincidence brings four strangers together, a surprising solidarity is formed. So can they find the best way to bury their husbands - and get away with it?

The gripping multimillion-copy best seller charting the rags to riches story of Emma Harte. In 1905 a young kitchen maid leaves Fairley Hall. Emma Harte is 16, single and pregnant. By 1968 she is one of the richest women in the world, ruler of a business empire stretching from Yorkshire to the glittering cities of America and the rugged vastness of Australia. But what is the price she has paid?

The play date started well. The children happy in one room while their mothers relaxed and drank wine in another. But then the stranger appeared at the window. And then he was inside the house. And then he grabbed the knife... Alice only means to stop him. She doesn't mean to hit him so hard. She didn't mean to kill him.

Anna’s aunt has always warned her of the dangers of magic. Its twists. Its knots. Its deadly consequences. Now Anna counts down the days to the ceremony that will bind her magic forever. Until she meets Effie and Attis. They open her eyes to a London she never knew existed. A shop that sells memories. A secret library where the librarian feeds off words. A club where revellers lose themselves in a haze of spells. But as she is swept deeper into this world, Anna begins to wonder if her aunt was right all along.

Annabel is in the thick of sandwich generation territory. Widowed for nearly a decade and bringing up two teenagers alone, she now faces the dilemma of what is best for her ageing mother. Her strong-willed sisters, Ginnie and Clarissa, have already mentally sold her mother’s London house, mentally spent the proceeds, but Annabel isn't sure what her mother will think of their plan.

In the aptly named borough of Foulsham, Grandfather Umbitt Iremonger has found a way of making everyday objects assume human shape, and turning real people into objects. Lucy Pennant has been discarded as a clay button, abandoned in the Heaps. Meanwhile, Clod has been turned into a gold coin and is being passed as currency through the town. Everywhere people are searching for Clod, who, it is believed, has the power to bring the mighty Umbitt down.

The characters in Samanta Schweblin's wildly imaginative new novel, Little Eyes, reveal the beauty of connection between far-flung souls but they also expose the ugly truth of our increasingly linked world. Trusting strangers can lead to unexpected love, playful encounters and marvellous adventures, but what if it can also pave the way for unimaginable terror? Schweblin has created a dark and complex world that is both familiar but also strangely unsettling, because it's our present and we're living it - we just don't know it yet.

Paula has had Robert's back since they got together as drama students. She gave up her dreams so he could make it; now he's one of the nation's most popular actors. But Paula's just discovered he's having an affair. Now, she's going to break his heart like he broke hers. It will be her greatest acting role ever. Revenge is sweet.... Isn't it?

After Jimmy's shocking departure, Nellie Castle is feeling bereft. And with Rodney being elusive, she's determined to do all she can to help her youngest son Bert get back on his feet following the terrible injuries he sustained in the bombing. Plagued by guilt and nightmares, the last thing Bert wants is to return to the café - being there only makes his guilt over Gladys's death worse. His relationship with nurse Vi is helping somewhat, but when he receives a formal summons to the trial of the woman who tried to kill him, he is plunged back into the depths of despair.

Maisie Winters has everything she could ever want. She lives in the idyllic Cornish town of Port Karadow, has a jammy job in her dad's shop, adores her rescue mutt, and has time to take the landscape photos she loves. While her best friend and sister left the town to chase big dreams in London and New York, Maisie stayed – she wouldn't leave her favourite place for anything…or anyone. When her long-time crush, Colm Caffrey, returns from a decade abroad, old feelings start to resurface. Maisie begins to ask herself if there might be one big thing missing after all?

Ollie Spencer has started a new life in the idyllic Cornish seaside town of Port Karadow. Throwing herself into her job at the town’s bookshop, A New Chapter, is one way to make friends. The shop is glitzing up for first Christmas and Ollie hopes her inspired ideas will give the shop the edge it needs to dazzle the town. But far from being the Sugar Plum fairy the place needs, Ollie is fast becoming its Christmas pudding. With the bookshop’s success at stake, Ollie turns to twinkly-eyed café owner Max for help.

The first book offering support for parents and carers of children and young people with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), this guidebook explains the condition as well as the impact that it may have in education settings, family life and socialisation. The guide begins by explaining how and why BDD emerges, before moving onto an exploration of how the mental health condition presents itself emotionally, psychologically, physically and behaviourally.

Louise has had to watch her husband, Andrew, start a new family in the four years since he left her. The ‘other woman’ is now his wife - but Louise isn’t ready to let Caz enjoy the life that was once hers or to let go of the man she still loves. As Louise starts to dig into Caz’s past, the two women’s pretence of civility starts to slip. But in trying to undermine each other, they discover more about the man they both married. And when Andrew is murdered at a family party, both women are found standing over the body. It’s always the wife. But which one?

Emma Harte is now 80 years old and ready to hand over the reins of the vast business empire she has created. To her favourite grandchild, Paula McGill Fairley, Emma bequeaths her mighty retailing empire with these heartfelt words: ‘I charge you to hold my dream.’ A towering international success, this is the powerfully moving tale of one woman’s determination to ‘hold the dream’ which was entrusted to her, and in so doing find the happiness and passion which is her legacy.

Set in Yorkshire, Hong Kong and America, this remarkable novel continues the story of an unorthodox and endlessly fascinating family. As the spirit of Emma Harte lives on in her granddaughter, Paula O’Neill, an engrossing drama is played out in the glamorous arena of the wealthy and privileged, underscored by a cutthroat world of jealousy and treachery. Paula must act with daring and courage to preserve her formidable grandmother’s glittering empire from unscrupulous enemies - so that Emma’s precious dream lives on for the next generation.

A hilarious, heartwarming listen perfect for fans of Shirley Valentine and You've Got Mail. Could the worst thing that's ever happened to Hannah Pinkman also turn out to be one of the best? She and her husband, Dan, have reached the end of the line. Bored with the same gripes, the same old arguments - in fact, bored with everything - they split up after a trivial row turns into something much more serious. Now Hannah has to make a new life for herself, but that's not easy.