Rural Life

It’s been more than a decade since Charlie Trewin left her sleepy Cornish fishing village for the dazzling lights of London, vowing never to return. But when shocking news of her father’s death forces her back to Carncarrow, she’s confronted with everything she thought she’d left behind: the tragic loss of her mother, her father’s obsessive hoarding—and her own unresolved emotions about them both.

Martha ist eine beeindruckende Frau, die es aus ärmsten Verhältnissen zu bescheidenem Wohlstand gebracht hat. Aber die Erinnerung an die Entbehrungen ihrer Kindheit als »Verdingkind« bei einer Bauernfamilie im Berner Umland lässt sie nie los: Keine Schwäche zeigen. Arbeiten ohne Unterlass. Hart sein zu sich und anderen. Das prägt auch ihre Söhne, die es in der Nachkriegszeit unbedingt zu etwas bringen wollen. Und ihre Enkel, die dagegen rebellieren und es erstmals wagen, sich ein anderes, ein freieres Leben zu erträumen.

The Dunwhitty family is flying high until their carefully choreographed life falls apart during the 2008 Great Recession. Lisa's firm goes belly-up while Michael's shuts down after selling faulty heart valves. Desperate, Lisa insists they regroup by seeking refuge in rural Central Texas on land she inherits from a distant relative she barely knows.

Als Anneloes Beekman ontdekt dat haar rijke en succesvolle echtgenoot vreemdgaat, verlaat ze hem en hun luxe ­leventje in Wassenaar. In een opwelling koopt ze een ­vervallen huis met blauwe luiken in midden-Frankrijk om er een chambres d'hôtes in te beginnen. Maar na de eerste euforie loopt ze tegen de harde werkelijkheid aan: het huis moet intensief verbouwd worden, en zelf kan ze amper een schroef van een spijker onderscheiden. Gelukkig maakt ze gemakkelijk vrienden. Met hulp van de Nederlandse klusjesman Sjoerd, de Franse kokkin Georgette en nog meer kleurrijke streekgenoten weet ze een nieuw bestaan op te bouwen.

Als ich noch der Waldbauernbub war: Kindheits- und Jugenderinnerungen Peter Roseggers. Ein Alternativtitel ist Waldheimat. Erzählungen aus der Jugendzeit. Peter Rosegger wurde am Kluppeneggerhof in Alpl als das Älteste von sieben Kindern des Waldbauern Lorenz Rosegger und dessen Ehefrau Maria geboren. Da in Alpl kein Schulzwang bestand, gab es viele Analphabeten. Auch sein Vater war Analphabet, so lernte der Bub viel von der Mutter. Er erfuhr nur einen beschränkten Schulunterricht.

Ein unerwartetes Erbe führt Henriette Hohnhold und ihre Familie 1903 nach Timmendorfer Strand: Die Villa Sommerwind, die nun den Hohnholds gehört, soll nach dem Willen von Vater Eberhart ein exquisites Hotel werden. Vom ersten Tag an ist Henriette die rechte Hand ihres Vaters und stürzt sich begeistert in die vielfältigen Aufgaben. Doch eines Morgens macht sie eine Beobachtung, die zu einem heftigen Streit zwischen Vater und Tochter führt. Aufgelöst läuft die junge Frau davon und findet sich schließlich in Niendorf wieder, wo sich Ole, der Sohn eines Fischers, rührend um sie kümmert.

The Llewelyn family's livelihood largely depends on the ferry, run by Siona Llewelyn, the kindly yet rugged head of the family. The family is large but close knit, held together by their mother Emily—a hard-working woman made old before her time having borne seven sons, and now with child once again. As the boys grow into young men, tensions flare in the family unit, made worse by a web of rivalries and ambitions. When a death shocks the family to its core, it will take the intervention of a special person to remind them of what they have lost.

When Frank Woods at number 79 Primrose Square comes home to a surprise birthday party thrown by his wife and adoring children, it is his guests who get the real surprise. Finding himself alone, he befriends the cantankerous Miss Hardcastle, who hasn't left her home for decades, and Emily Dunne - fresh out of rehab and desperate to make amends. As gossip spreads through Primrose Square, every relationship is tested, and nothing in this close-knit community will ever be the same again....

Klasický román anglické autorky o hledání pravého životního partnera je půvabným, pomalu plynoucím líčením života členů střední třídy v Anglii, jejich zájmů, zábav a citů. Román pro všechny, kdo si oblíbili hrdinky Jane Austenové obdařené inteligencí, vtipem a morální pevností. Tento půvabný skvost psala autorka na sklonku své literární dráhy a vložila do něj všechen svůj tvůrčí um i ohlédnutí za vlastním životem s otázkou, zda ji něco v životě neminulo. Spisovatelka se těší z každého slova, pečlivě je váží, místy jen naznačuje, aby nenarušila jemné předivo vyprávění o vztazích mezi rodiči a dětmi, mezi sestrami i mezi mužem a ženou.

Co je v životě nejdůležitější? Partnerství, mateřství, naše kořeny, které nemůžeme vyrvat, vazby, které nelze zpřetrhat? Lucie, mladá žena, které se drolí dosavadní život pod rukama, se vrací do rodných míst na pomezí Jeseníků a Rychlebských hor. Útočiště hledá ve starém domě obklopeném vzácnými jeřáby, kde žije její teta, člověk jí nejbližší. Přítomnost Lucie naruší křehkou rovnováhu života místních obyvatel, kteří pod vlivem jejího návratu začali přehodnocovat své dosavadní životy.

Thirty-eight-year-old Posey Jarvis is the self-appointed “empress” of rural Spark in Cooke County, Tennessee. She spends her days following every word about her idol and look-alike Jackie Kennedy, avoiding her stalwart husband Vern, and struggling to control her newly defiant daughter Callie Jane—all while sneaking nips of gin. When Posey unexpectedly inherits a derelict mansion from her quirky old aunt Milbrey, she finagles her way into hosting her high school’s twentieth reunion there.

On the surface Natasha and Mitchell live an idyllic life in the Adelaide Hills with their two daughters and kelpie cross. While both have busy careers, they ensure time is spent with family and friends. Natasha, an aspiring interior designer, has started her own homewares shop and is excited to develop her business further. Mitchell, on the other hand, is becoming more withdrawn. Is he pressured by work, having a mid-life crisis or hiding something from his family?

In the peaceful Wiltshire valley of Essington St Mary, architect Corin Drayton stumbles upon a ghastly new building development that is set to destroy the tranquil atmosphere and Edwardian features of this quiet neighbourhood. He is horrified. For only recently has he inherited - and spent his life savings on renovating - a home for himself and his newly pregnant wife Lucia in Larch Tree Lane. From the cottages and farms to the local shop, pub and old manor house, residents' lives are set to intertwine, relationships bloom, and both romance and heartache lie ahead.

Edward Jenkins dreams of opening a sports shop in the Welsh town of Pendragon Island. Then his ambitions become a possibility through his and his sister Margaret's inheritance, but Margaret has plans of her own. Can Edward stand up to her for the very first time? Rhiannon and Charlie Bevan want to start a family, but her father Lewis is living with them, refusing to accept the happiness of their marriage. If only they could find a way to reunite him with her mother Dora, they could finally have the home they've dreamed of.

When Maisie Vasey leaves her husband and brings her daughter to live on Pendragon Island, she causes unrest within more than one family. Underneath the happy surface of this Welsh seaside town, relationships can seem fragile and easily destroyed. When Maisie comes to work for Edward Jenkins at Montague Court, he soon makes his intentions clear, but she has very different ideas about where their friendship is heading. Lewis and his fiery wife Dora continue to row with each other, even though they both know that love still binds them together.

Janet and Hywel Griffiths dream of seeing their son Frank happily married, but Mair, the daughter of the local police constable, does not seem to be the wisest choice. And anyway, she is far more interested in the secretive Carl Rees, who refuses to even be seen with her in public. Elsewhere in Pendragon Island, Jennie Francis must rethink her life as she is forced to say goodbye to her business and her marriage. All she ever wanted was to run a successful shop, but now she will have to start again. How can she manage if she is completely alone?

Poachers and dealmakers, the Griffiths family have always managed to scrape by on the edge of the law. As rationing finally draws to an end, the tight-knit community finds itself coming to terms with a new world in which social boundaries are being eroded and opportunities are growing for all. Heartache remains a constant though, with Caroline Griffiths trapped in a sham marriage to Barry Martin, and Rhiannon Lewis still mourning their broken engagement.

Journalist Sadie is home for the first time in fifteen years, staying in her small childhood bedroom as she deals with her estranged father’s death and her surprising inheritance. When Sadie meets Rebecca, the reclusive new owner of the solitary cottage at the edge of nearby Whisper Lake, she’s taken aback by the older woman’s request for help: ‘I need to find my family. Will you help me?’. She’s even more surprised when afterwards, Rebecca acts as if she never made the plea.

The summers spent at Roseland, the sprawling ancestral home of her best friend, Eloise, were among the happiest of Cathy's life. Tucked away on the Cornish coastline and brimming with history, Roseland seemed to belong to another century. Cathy has barely been back since Eloise's death a decade ago. So she is shocked when Jack, the love of Eloise's life and father of her children, announces that he is getting married, and that the wedding will take place at Roseland.

Pendragon Island is the perfect place for holidays, with a stretch of clean golden sand and a glorious funfair nearby. Yet for one local family, the happy holiday atmosphere risks becoming a cruel joke, as the unusually named Lewis Lewis's affair with close friend Nia Martin threatens to tear his marriage apart. The irritation of Lewis's wife Dora is channelled towards their daughter, Rhiannon, who works at Nia's sweet shop, Temptations.