Showing results by narrator "Charlie Sanderson" in All Categories

Barbara was 12 when she was admitted to the psychiatric hospital Aston Hall in 1971. From a troubled home, she'd hoped she would find sanctuary there. But during her stay, Barbara was systematically drugged and abused by its head physician, Dr Kenneth Milner. Somehow, eventually, she started to campaign for answers. This is a shocking account of how vulnerable children were preyed upon by the doctor entrusted with their care.

Gracie Thompson has a job, a loving family, a twin brother who drives her insane and a great friend. A chance meeting introduces her to the love of her life. But the storm clouds are gathering, Europe is teetering on the verge of war and threatening to destroy everything Gracie holds dear. When war arrives her family are split up, her younger siblings evacuated, her brothers join up to serve, her boyfriend, Charlie, is in daily danger and her life is threatened.

Travel to Charing Cross Road in London and join sales assistant Jemma, bookshop owner Raphael and Folio the cat in three spellbinding cozy mysteries.

Sarah Forsyth has spent most of her life in fear. After overcoming the hurt and heartbreak of a horrific childhood, Sarah managed to build a new life for herself as a nursery nurse. Then, one day, she spotted a newspaper advert for a job in a crèche in Amsterdam. Excited by the prospect of a fresh start abroad, she eagerly signed up. But within minutes of stepping off the plane in Amsterdam her life began to fall apart.... There was no crèche and no job. That night, at just 19 years of age, her life - her real life, her life as Sarah Forsyth - ended.

She'd kill to be a mother. Darkford General Hospital is deeply shaken when its star midwife, Sarah, is arrested for trying to steal a baby. In the ensuing shock, midwives Erica and Sue rally to reassure Darkford’s patients, including Leila – an expectant mother whose trust has been broken before. Leila reluctantly accepts the hospital’s support – after all, she isn’t getting enough of that at home. But when Sarah is released from custody, Leila’s paranoia escalates.

At long last Lottie and Daniel are an official couple and everything seems to be going super well (except for Amber being increasingly mean and jealous, but what's new there?). Amber decides it's ludicrous that Lottie has a boyfriend and she doesn't so she decides to hand out applications forms at school and audition the most eligible Bachelors for the role. Jess also decides to reveal to the rest of the group that she might be gay, and that she might also have a crush on someone at school.

The trip of a lifetime! Rosie Lewis has her life together. A swanky job as a Michelin-starred sous chef, a loving husband and future children scheduled for exactly January 2021. That’s until she comes home one day to find her husband’s prepacked bag and a confession that he's had an affair. Heartbroken and devastated, Rosie drowns her sorrows in a glass (or three) of wine, only to discover the following morning that she has spontaneously invested in a bright pink campervan to facilitate her grand plans to travel the country.

After a summer of meeting handsome French boys and getting a tiny bit sunburnt. OK, fine - a lot sunburnt, Lottie's heading off on a week-long residential school trip. A whole week away from embarrassing parents and Toby's tasty air biscuits! But the trip soon turns into a total disaster. The other girls staying at the camp are MEGA-MEAN, best friend Jess is spending all her time with new girl Isha, and Lottie's diary gets stolen! Who knew a school trip could cause so much DRAMA?!

After losing everything in a devastating house fire, the cracks in Justin and Megan's marriage are starting to show. A move to the country should be the fresh start they desperately need, but the old lodge on the Treloar estate, with its crooked chimneys and dark foreboding walls, is more sinister than Megan ever imagined. She tries to make the best of it for her husband's sake, but the house is haunted by the secrets of Justin's past.

Bronte Mettlestone is 10 years old when her parents are killed by pirates. This does not bother her particularly: Her parents ran away to have adventures when she was a baby. She has been raised by her aunt Isabelle, with assistance from the butler, and has spent a pleasant childhood of afternoon teas and riding lessons. Now, however, her parents have left detailed instructions for Bronte in their will. (Instructions that, annoyingly, have been reinforced with faery cross-stitch, which means that if she doesn't complete them, terrible things could happen!)

London, 1765. Lady Isabella Gerard, a respectable member of Georgian society, orders her maid to take her new golden gown and destroy it, its shimmering beauty tainted by the actions of her brutal husband the night before. Three months later, Lord Gerard stands at the shoreline of the lake, looking down at a woman wearing the golden gown. As the body slowly rolls over to reveal her face, it’s clear this was not his intended victim…

Warwickshire, 1840s: boys are destined for the pit and girls for the mill. Despite this, Maryann is happy there - until her mother dies. Her family collapses, leaving Maryann exhausted, and Toby, the boy she is set on marrying, insists they wait. Then Maryann is offered a position as nanny to the daughter of the mill owner, Wesley Marshall, who Maryann grows unexpectedly close to. But their relationship doesn’t go unnoticed, threatening to unleash a world of problems on them all....

A shaky upbringing has left Rosie Stevens craving safety and security. She thinks she knows exactly what she needs to make her life complete - the stable job and perfect house-sit she’s just found in Magnolia Creek. The only thing she wants now is for her long-term boyfriend, Adam, to leave his overseas job and come home for good. Owen Harrison is notoriously nomadic, and he roars into town on his Ducati for one reason and one reason only - to search his parents’ house while they’re away to find out what they’ve been hiding from him his entire life.

On 7 August 1985, Nevill and June Bamber, their daughter, Sheila, and her two young sons, Nicholas and Daniel, were discovered shot to death at White House Farm in Essex. The murder weapon was found on Sheila's body; a Bible lay at her side. All the windows and doors of the farmhouse were secure, and the Bambers' son, 24-year-old Jeremy, had alerted police after apparently receiving a phone call from his father, who told him Sheila had 'gone berserk' with the gun. It seemed a straightforward case of murder-suicide, but a dramatic turn of events was to disprove the police's theory.

Tara Babcock awakes the morning after her 30th birthday with a hangover that could kill an elephant - and the knowledge she is still no closer to achieving closure on her marriage breakup. Things go from bad to worse when she discovers that, not only is her ex-husband engaged to her cousin - Tash, the woman he left her for - but that Jake is also running for Lord Mayor of Sydney.

Christmas is complete chaos this year! The whole Brooks family are visiting for the festive break, there's a Secret Santa to organise AND Lottie has to prepare for her big performance in the Christmas play as the back-end of a reindeer. Will she survive the festivities intact?

Lottie Brooks is 11 ¾, and her life is already officially over - not only is she about to start high school without any friends or glamorous swooshy hair, she's just discovered she's too flat-chested to wear a bra! She might as well give up now and go into hibernation with her hamsters Sir Barnaby Squeakington and Fuzzball the Third.

Molly wants to fight Hitler by using her skills as a pilot. But the USA says no to female pilots. America is at war and Molly, a qualified pilot, is determined to use her skills in the air against the Nazis. The American Air Force isn't ready to admit female pilots just yet but the British are desperate for pilots following their devastating losses in the Battle of Britain.

The third volume in the best-selling Wideacre trilogy. Set in the 18th century, they launched the career of Philippa Gregory, the best-selling author of The Other Boleyn Girl and Three Sisters, Three Queens. Meridon, a desolate Romany girl, is determined to escape the hard poverty of her childhood. Riding bareback in a travelling show while her sister, Dandy, risks her life on the trapeze, Meridon dedicates herself to freeing them both from danger and want.

1850. When Opal Sharp finds herself and her younger siblings suddenly orphaned and destitute, she thinks things can get no worse. But soon three of them - including Opal - are struck down with the illness that took their father from them, and her brother Charlie is forced to make an impossible decision. Unable to afford a doctor, he knows the younger children will not survive. So, unbeknownst to Opal, Charlie takes their younger siblings to the workhouse, where he knows they will at least be fed and have a roof over their heads. Opal is heartbroken and struggles to forgive him.