検索キーワード： ナレーター "Julia Franklin" すべてのカテゴリー

Ella Norton has opted for the simple life. Gone are the power suits, the high earnings and the high stress of city life - and instead she's got her own cottage, a course in horticulture and a crush on her dynamic tutor, Matt. But life isn't all rustic paradise. Ella has two lodgers - gorgeous, worldly Miranda and unglamorous, naïve Faith - who can't stand each other. And then there's the matter of Matt's wife and the fact that something dodgy and possibly illegal seems to be going on next door.

Manchester today. A dead baby. A missing mother. A cradle of secrets. Has the woman killed her child? Is she at risk to herself? Someone in the neighbourhood of old terraced streets has the answers. But Detectives Donna Bell and Jade Bradshaw find lies and obstruction at every turn, in a community living on the edge, ground down by austerity and no hope. A place of broken dreams. Of desperation. And murder. When a stranger crashes into Jade's life, her past comes hurtling back, threatening to destroy her and the world she has carved out for herself.

How far would you go to protect your child? Can you really keep them safe? What if who they are puts them at risk? And what if they have blood on their hands?Teenager Allie Kennaway heads off for prom night, cheered on by dad Steve and her little sister, Teagan. But Allie never comes home, beaten to death in an apparent hate crime because of her transgender identity. As police investigate the brutal murder, a crime that has appalled the country, one parent is at her wits' end with her son's behaviour. Are his outbursts and silences hiding something dark?

Jenny loves to house-sit, looking after a stranger's enviably perfect home and pretending to be someone else - just for a bit. Her latest booking is a beautiful, disheveled old rectory in the Home Counties owned by the uber-successful Lewis family. Freed of teaching duties for the summer, and her own teenagers spending time with her objectionable ex, Jenny readies herself for a life of walk-in larders and sparkling water taps.

Cassie Smith has been out of work for a while but she has an idea. Drawing on her love of Christmas, she begins charging for small things: wrapping presents; writing cards; tree-decorating. She's soon in huge demand and Cassie's business, Calling Mrs Christmas, is born. Carter Randall wants to make Christmas special for his children, so he enlists Cassie's help, and his lavish requests start taking up all her time. Thank goodness she can rely on her loving partner Jim to handle the rest of her clients.

At the beginning of a long journey in time and fortune we meet Juliette who as a young woman was a beautiful and wayward prostitute. She became an artist’s model for Edgar Degas and became his famous Femme Assise, a much admired sculpture that was later cast in bronze by master bronze caster, Didier. Now she is an old, raddled and homeless woman. She can’t believe her eyes when she comes face to face with her young and beautiful self – bronze, shining and standing in the front window of Didier’s house.

This wonderful short story collection was first released in print in 2009 by Salt publishing. Robert’s stories are a close, intimate look at friendship, marriage, relationships and the problems and joys that come with the territory. They look at men and women in and out of love and the way we yearn for what was and can never be.

This is a beautiful and subtly written story told in the best traditions of an Old Norse tale. It is poetic and delicate and at the same time suspenseful and dramatic. There are dangers and discoveries, adventure and sadness as Tar follows her quest. Will the forces of good keep her safe from her enemies as she follows her destiny?

Steaming and frothy......the perfect novel to listen to while you stretch out on a squashy sofa in a corner of your favourite coffee shop nursing a long coffee and maybe something chocolate and indulgent. Cappuccinos weaves together the stories of 6 people whose lives are all touched by an upmarket bistro called Cappuccinos.

Poor Viv has begun to look like the sofa she sits on most of the time.... This is a debut novel from actress and audiobook reader Julia Franklin. ‘I’ve read somewhere between 300 and 400 novels as audio books over the last 25 years,’ she says, ‘so I thought it was time to have a go at a novel of my own.’ The result is Turn Up for the Book, a romantic comedy that begins with the breakup, one Christmas, of a marriage.

In theory, nothing could be better than a summer spent basking in the French sun. That is until you add in three teenagers, two love interests, one divorcing couple, and a very unexpected pregnancy. Admittedly, this isn't exactly the relaxing holiday Leah Beaumont was hoping for - but it's the one she's got. With her sister Michele's family falling apart at the seams, it's up to Leah to pick up the pieces and try to hold them all together.

Summer 1918. After their experiences on the front line of battle, young couple Amy and Edmond Derwent have now settled back in England. The Great War rages on, and Edmond, still struggling with the effects of the injury he sustained at Ypres, feels the guilt of remaining at home. But life at Larchbury is not without its own problems - food becomes scarce, and the Spanish Influenza causes deaths throughout England. Can Amy and Edmond keep their love strong?

Kitty learned early on in her marriage that her husband, Bill Dunbar, isn’t reliable with money. So when they inherit the Dunbar family hotel at the start of the war, she's hopeful that their financial worries are over… until the bailiffs turn up! With Bill away fighting, it’s up to Kitty to turn things around for her family, or risk ruin. Lily worked as a chambermaid at Dunbar’s before the war. She met Daniel there, but their relationship was complicated by class differences and the disapproval of Daniel’s mother.

Set in the picturesque town of Askham, near Ullswater, the story opens with the funeral of Humphrey Craig, the builder who converted Simmy's new house in Hartsop. The following day, when Simmy goes back to look at the grave and the flowers on it, she meets two women, Lindsay Wilson, an academic in her late twenties who is writing a thesis on Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son, and Pauline Parsons, a local matriarch aged 90. Just 24 hours later, Mrs Parsons is found dead on Askham Fell and Simmy is summoned to Penrith police station.

With harvest approaching, land girl Daphne is busier than ever as she ploughs the fields and tends to the animals with her friends Sal and Charlie. All three girls enjoy the relative peace of Goodwill House…but war is never far away.

Richard and Christine Clay have been married for decades. Their relationship has stood the test of time despite Christine appearing passive while her husband is unmistakably dominant - at times bullying and controlling. Nurse Florence Shaw has seen Christine at the surgery a number of times with minor complaints over the past year, none of which has led to a serious diagnosis. But when Florence hears that the couple appear to have entered into a suicide pact, she is shocked, though not surprised that Richard has survived.

June 1998. Elodie Marshall has committed a terrible crime. But when she’s deemed unfit to plead, she is sentenced to living within the confines of a mental health facility. Present day. Sleuthing librarian Pru Pearce and her friends from the Winterbottom Women’s Institute are about to embark on their annual getaway. The 1960s Butlins style Harmony Hollows Resort has caught their attention for a few reasons: the northern ballroom championships and the unsolved double murder from 1983.

January 1941. As the residents of Goodwill House feel the hard bite of winter, land girl Charlie Somiton is still glad of the warm friendships she has made there. Not just her fellow land girls, Daphne and Sal, but also dashing local G.P. Dr James Willoughby who looked after Charlie when she was injured at work. Charlie likes Dr Willoughby, but she fears that there can never be more between them than just friendship. Because despite her upper-class background, Charlie carries with her a terrible secret that she can never share with James.

Born into poverty and hardship, Ruby Skinner's decision to approach the unscrupulous East End villain, Donald McCoy, for help, ends in disaster. In a desperate bid to move her ailing mother to the fresh air of the countryside, she realises that she has made a huge mistake, which will shape the rest of her life. Robert Thornton, a wealthy business man, also had the misfortune of suffering from the under hand dealings with McCoy, and when curiosity forces him to pursue Ruby Skinner, the barriers which divide the social classes of the 19th century are put to test by the power of love.

Gabriella Jacques, is happy to be back in her childhood home, Villa Espoir in the South of France ready to embrace fresh experiences with friends new and old and to heal some deep family scars. Recently widowed Harriet Rogers, hopes to rebuild her family life and reconnect with Elodie, the daughter she abandoned into her mother Gabby’s care to follow her heart. But when an acquaintance from the past seeks her out, Harriet fears a secret from her past will ruin her plans. Elodie Jacques, adores her new life in her Grandmothers old home as a freelance journalist.