検索キーワード： 制作 "Soundings" 大衆小説

London, 1940. After her fiancé breaks off their engagement, Evelyn decides to do her part for the war effort by signing up for construction work on Waterloo Bridge. Grieving after her little boy dies in an air raid, Gwen is completely lost when her husband sends their younger children to the countryside for safety. Enlisting as a construction worker, she is partnered with cheerful Evelyn. The two women strike up a heartwarming friendship.

London, 1910. Lily is 10 years old when she realises her grandmother, a washerwoman, is seriously ill. She's determined to do what she can to help and keep her grandmother's illness a secret - even from her beloved twin, Artie. When tragedy strikes and the twins are faced with the prospect of a workhouse or an orphanage, a benefactor offers to take Artie in and educate him. All Artie's needs will be taken care of - but the gentleman has no use for a girl. As the orphan twins grow up and take different paths, their new lives are beyond anything they could have imagined.

Thea's loathsome stepbrother is trying to trick her out of her inheritance of her parents' beautiful house in the seaside town of Brighton by means of a will which Thea believes to be forged. Anna is pregnant and grieving, her fiancé lost at sea. Her violent father drives her from the family home in the backstreets of Bermondsey, and her fiancé's upper-class relatives cruelly reject her. Daisy is in search of independence, running from a man she doesn't want to marry. Together the three girls set up Thea's home as a guest house and embark on a mission to outwit her stepbrother.

In the aftermath of the General Strike, times are tough for coal miners and their families. When Cally loses her beloved mum, she hopes her father will comfort her. But instead she soon acquires a cruel stepmother, and Cally begins to fear that she is on her own. Through uncomfortable years in service, to a terrifying brush with the streets, through hard work and determination, Cally finally finds a place for herself. She even trusts enough in the future to create her own family, despite being abandoned by her own.

In the drab Yorkshire town of Garsthwaite, Lacey Barraclough works hard in the textile mill, determined to fight for improvements to the dismal working conditions. But she hadn't reckoned on falling in love with the boss' son, Nathan. Before Nathan and Lacey can make a life together, World War I breaks out and Nathan enlists to fight. When Nathan heads off to the Front, Lucy must find a new way to face the future. As hard times come to Garsthwaite, will there be a home for the returning heroes to come back to?

Soundings and Choc Lit present the audio edition of Christmas at the Little Beach Café. Five years ago at Christmas, solicitor Justin Sadler made the decision to leave his comfortable existence behind and move to the coast. Since then, he’s tried his best to ignore the festive season and, as he sits in the little beach café and reflects on that fateful night when his life was turned upside down, he expects his fifth Christmas alone to be no different to any of the others since he made his escape.

It’s the 1960s, and Jennifer Howells is a young woman with the world at her feet, just on the cusp of leaving her Welsh village for an exciting life in the city. Then the contents of an inconspicuous brown envelope turn Jennifer’s world upside down. But Jennifer’s experience with the excesses of '60s culture leaves her no closer to her true identity. She soon realises she’ll have to travel further - first to Cardiff, then across the ocean to Sicily - if she wants to find out who she really is....

Advertising executive Chloe Walsh thought she was visiting her friend Roisin to get away from it all, but little does she know her kooky friend has a plan to breathe some life into her sleepy seaside village through a new wellness retreat - and she needs Chloe’s skills. So starts a community effort to put the retreat, Serenity Bay, on the map. But Chloe strikes gold almost too soon, attracting the attention of a major production company.

It’s 1969, and free-spirited artist Elin Morgan has left Wales for a sun-drenched Greek island. As she makes new friends and enjoys the laidback lifestyle, she writes all about it in her diary. But Elin’s carefree summer of love doesn’t last long, and her island experience ultimately leaves her with a shocking secret.... Twenty-two years later, Elin’s daughter, Alexandra, has inherited the diary and is reeling from its revelations. The discovery compels Alexandra to make her own journey to the same island, following in her mother’s footsteps.

As if everyday life in London's slums wasn't hard enough for Jane Roberts and her three children, the day that ne'er-do-well husband Bert walks out on his family as rent day draws near is a particularly dark time. In the wake of his desertion, the family pulls together to find their way forward, and Jane takes the steps she needs to get a divorce and free them all from Bert in the future. With help from a neighbour who is not all she seems, a lucky break and fresh opportunities, the road ahead starts to look more promising.

Karen Slocombe isn’t sure why she visited SuperFare that day - as a committed member of the Food Chain group and a regular stallholder at local farmers’ markets, it’s a place she would normally avoid. Luckily for Karen, she leaves moments before a bomb explodes. Only a few days later, Karen finds herself in the midst of another horrific crime. When friends from the Food Chain group start warning Karen not to tell the police certain details, her suspicions are instantly aroused. Could the two events be linked?

With Peaceful Repose Cemetery, Drew Slocombe is determined to revolutionise the entire death industry. Unfortunately, Drew’s Gravedigger has just discovered that their cemetery has one too many corpses when the body of an elderly woman is found. The police seem to think that the body is that of a vagrant, but for Drew things don’t add up. The mystery deepens when Genevieve Slater turns up at Drew’s door. As a man looking to escape both money worries and marriage problems, Genevieve proves impossible to resist.

When the body of a herdsman is discovered in a farm building, Detective Sergeant Den Cooper is more than happy to cast local farmer Gordon Hillcock in the role of chief suspect. After all, it is a well-known fact that there was no love lost between Gordon and the victim. And besides, Den has a little grudge of his own - Gordon is currently dating his ex-fiancée, Lilah. However, Den did not plan on Lilah’s determination to protect her new lover....

When irascible Farmer Guy Beardon meets a very dirty death in his own farmyard, it seems like an accident initially - despite the fact that he was widely disliked. Only his daughter, Lilah, is prepared to defend his memory. And when, slowly, Lilah begins to suspect foul play, no-one is eager to help her investigate. Suspicion becomes certainty when two more deaths occur - and both of them are unmistakably murder. There is certainly no shortage of suspects, and it falls to local Policeman Den Cooper to investigate the mysterious deaths.

Cassie Bell is used to mess. Her cleaning business, Bluebell Cleaning, is well known in the Cumbrian village of Red Moss. However, now it’s almost Christmas and Cassie has a slightly messier situation to deal with than she’s used to. She’s been hired to help Stefan Lambert, an injured army helicopter pilot who’s staying at the local Belthorn Manor whilst he recovers. Stefan resents Cassie’s interference and is definitely not looking for Christmas cheer. But Cassie prides herself on sparkling surfaces - so, can she bring some festive sparkle to Stefan’s life too?

Wannabe author Jane Solomon is expecting an uneventful Christmas in her Cornish village of Little Penhaven. But then super fit American gym owner Hal Muir comes to town, and suddenly the holiday season looks set to be far more interesting. Hal is keen on embracing every British tradition on offer, from mince pies to Christmas pub quizzes - and perhaps some festive romance, too....

Soundings and Choc Lit present the audio edition of Christmas on the Isle of Skye. The Isle of Skye is a magical place, especially at Christmas, and there’s no place Zac Fallon would rather be. But whilst Zac has everything he needs on Skye, there’s still something missing - and that something is a somebody called Ivy McFarlane. Ivy used to work with Zac but then spread her wings and moved to Glastonbury. Now it’s almost Christmas and Zac realises that the Ivy shaped hole in his life is too big to bear.

Daisy Kirk is a sucker for a love story, which is why she opened up her gift shop - because there’s nothing that makes Daisy happier than when she’s helped someone find the perfect Christmas gift for their loved one. And she does not just sell 'soppy presents and frilly pants', as her brother’s best friend, Eli, is fond of suggesting. But whilst Daisy is helping others with their love lives, hers is nonexistent. But when unusual circumstances take Daisy and Eli on a road trip from London to rural Wales, will she finally get the happily ever after to her own Christmas love story?

Jessie Tempest has two main interests: reading books and selling books. Her little bookshop in the seaside town of Staithes is a cosy hideaway from the chilly Yorkshire wind, but it’s also Jessie’s sanctuary from the outside world. When writer Miles Fareham and his son Elijah arrive to stay in the holiday apartment above the shop, it’s a test for Jessie who has always felt clueless when it comes to kids. But as she learns the story of the single father and the inquisitive eight-year-old, Jessie realises that first impressions aren’t always the right ones.

Jess and Nancy, nursing in France during the Great War, are very different girls with much in common. Both have lost their lovers in the trenches, so when the war is over, they return to a bleak future, nursing in Liverpool. Very soon, however, their paths diverge. Nancy marries an Australian and goes to live in the Outback whilst Jess marries a Liverpudlian. Both have children; Nancy's eldest is Pete, and Jess has a daughter, Debbie.