Showing results by narrator "Gabrielle Glaister" in All Categories

Leaves rustle underfoot in a dark wood: two middle-aged women walk into a forest, as they did when they were girls, confronting their fears and memories and the strange thing they saw in their childhood - or thought they saw - so long ago. A distinguished obstetrician and young woman artist find they have sharply contrasting ideas about body parts, birth and death; an innocent member of an evening class harbours unexpected view on 'raw material'. The stories in this marvellous collection are by turns funny, spooky, sparkling and haunting. 

When bigotry and power mania take control, disaster always follows for subjugated persons - even when the power is wielded by the Church. Witchcraft was viewed as devil-worship. Between 1450 and 1750, 100,000 people were accused, subject to the most bestial tortures and usually executed. Witches examines the wildfire-spread of witch-hunting across Europe and America, revealing the disturbing and brutal realities of these witch hunts and their roots in misogyny and religious persecution.

It’s 1953 and the nation’s favourite street is preparing to celebrate Elizabeth II’s coronation. As the street swoons over the beautiful young queen and her handsome Prince, tensions simmer beneath the surface. Can the street put their troubles behind them and make Coronation Day a celebration to remember?

In his job as the county's spook, 17-year-old Thomas Ward is used to battling boggarts, witches, and other creatures of the dark. But now he and his apprentice, Jenny, must team up with former rivals and enemies to fight the evil Kobalos warriors intent on destroying the county. The fight has cost the life of a strong ally, Grimalkin, the witch assassin. Determined to end the war with the demons, Tom leads Jenny and Alice to Pendle for one last epic clash. Loyalties will be tested, alliances will be broken, and not everyone will survive.

Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she'd ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing—the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes. Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her house cleaner, often knows. She’s an invisible presence in many of the houses in town, but she sees and hears everything.

A wonderful Christmas gift full of nostalgia and charm. Elsie Grimshaw lives in one of the worst streets in Weatherfield and is desperate to escape from life at home with a brutal father and the drudgery of working at the local mill. Grabbing at the slim chances that come her way, Elsie goes through the heartbreak of first love and her marriage to bad boy Arnold Tanner at only 16 years old and emerges, if not much older, then certainly wiser.

Chickens are a fantastic addition to a garden or outdoors space - you don't have to live in the back of beyond to have a few clucking around and giving you fresh eggs. They come in all shapes and sizes: some are layers, some are just born to strut. Mark Diacono begins at the basics, showing how you can raise chickens from eggs, and look after them once they start laying their own.

Baking is the most comforting and entirely satisfying of the culinary arts - making a cake is not only a sumptuous process in its own right but the end result is entirely delicious. Say goodbye to sinking sponges and brittle brownies with this comprehensive guide to the heavenly world of cake making, introduced by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Ceylon, 1935. Louisa Reeve, the daughter of a successful British gem trader, and her husband, Elliot, a charming, thrill-seeking businessman, seem like the couple who have it all. Except what they long for more than anything: a child. While Louisa struggles with miscarriages, Elliot is increasingly absent, spending much of his time at a nearby cinnamon plantation overlooking the Indian ocean.

Something is terrorizing the villages of the county. People are dying - covered in blood, their faces frozen in fear. But with not a wound on their bodies. Battling creatures of the dark is the job of the local spook, but 17-year-old Thomas Ward never finished his apprenticeship. It will be no easy task to earn the trust of the villagers and to defeat a monster that no one has ever seen. Yet Jenny - a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter - knows an awful lot about this new evil. And she's willing to share what she's learned with Tom…if he takes her on as his apprentice.

This year Christmas will be PERFECT. This is the year when all dreams come true, carol singers will carol the Wassail would Wass, or possibly Sail, children will frolic, extended family will get on and behave normally and not fall out and just eat the effing mince pies without questioning their organic/ gluten free/ vegan/ fairtrade status. Everyone will be delighted by their thoughtfully chosen presents and not surreptitiously rifle through the wrapping paper looking for the gift receipt, and the dogs will give the impression that Ellen is in charge of them and not the other way around.

Nothing beats a really good cheese. These days you can buy great dairy products locally, made using high-quality ingredients and with a unique flavour of their own. The next step is to try your hand at making yoghurt, labneh, mozzarella and even delicious matured cheeses yourself. With an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, this book is the indispensable guide to crafting and enjoying cheese and other dairy products.

Vera Sharples, the over-protected daughter of Ena Sharples, longs for independence, and while her mother wants to marry her off, she isn’t keen on Bob Lomax, Vera’s own choice for matrimony. Her friend, Lily Longhurst, has found herself on the wrong side of a doomed romance and decides it’s high time that she and Vera take their lives into their own hands. With Ena unable to deny her daughter the chance to do her bit for King and Country, the girls sign up for the Land Army, where life is very different from the familiar cobbles of Coronation Street.

Marie owes Michka more than she can say - but Michka is getting older and can't look after herself any more. So Marie has moved her to a home where she’ll be safe. But Michka doesn’t feel any safer - she is haunted by strange figures who threaten to unearth her most secret, buried guilt, guilt that she’s carried since she was a little girl. And she is losing her words - grasping more desperately day by day for what once came easily to her.

It's 1940, and Annie Walker is the formidable landlady of the Rover's Return in Weatherfield. Her husband, Jack, has received his call up papers, and Annie must run the Rovers on her own while juggling one baby and another on the way. Manchester has been severely bombed, and Weatherfield has already lost some of its residents and houses. Everyone is just about muddling through.

Fran loves Will with all her heart. They had a whirlwind romance, a perfect marriage and a wonderful life. Until everything changed. Now Fran needs to find her way again, and teaching a yoga retreat in Spain offers her just that. Leaving behind a broken marriage, she has some very important decisions to make. Will needs his wife. He needs her to open up to him if they're to ever return to the way things once were. But he may have damaged any possibility he had of mending their relationship, and now Fran is in Spain, and Will is alone.

The sinking of the Titanic on her maiden voyage in 1912 is one of the most dramatic stories in maritime history. The largest passenger steamship in the world, fitted with more advanced safety features than any of her rivals, she was proclaimed to be virtually unsinkable. Just how and why the Titanic foundered on such a beautiful April evening is the subject of this fascinating book.

Once upon a time, a fairy tale went very wrong! This new twist on a traditional children's story is packed with fun. In this whale of a tale, the Big Bad Shark is looking for a tasty snack...when he comes across three delicious-looking narwhals! The loveable, pointy-horned creatures—show-off Spike, arty Spiral, and shy Stubby—discover a sunken pirate ship, and are using the parts to build their own homes. Now they are out of their depth, locked in a battle of wits with the munching, crunching villain.

A woman's body is found on a frozen lake, bearing the marks of grisly torture. Inspector Anna-Maria Mella knows she needs help with the case - the woman was a key player in a mining company whose tentacles reach across the globe. Lawyer Rebecka Martinsson is desperate to get back to work, to feel alive again after a case that almost destroyed her both physically and emotionally.

The class of ’72, Sara, Ally, Jo and Mitch were as close as sisters, then life intervened and the four friends lost touch. Now in her 60s, Sara has realised - late in the day - that those women were the best friends she’d ever had and is determined to get the gang back together. Ally is facing a huge turning point in her life and Jo, after years of being chief cook and bottle washer, needs to put herself first after a wake-up call. None of them know what happened to Mitch.