Résultats lu par "Carole Boyd" dans Toutes les catégories

Florence Stanville is a woman with a past. When she moves to Guisethorpe on the east coast of England, the townsfolk are intrigued by the glamorous and mysterious stranger, with her flame-red hair and abrupt manners. Florence doesn’t care about the gossips—she’s drawn to the peaceful seaside town by the pull of her childhood, when she lived for a brief but happy time with her beloved late mother. The riddle of those days remains, and now Florence can only snatch at half-remembered memories and shadowy figures in her dreams.

The story of Villette is told in flashback by Lucy Snowe, who tells of the trials of her young self first in England, and then in Belgium. Charlotte Bronte does not paint a romantic picture of an unsupported woman's life - her heroine has to endure straitened circumstances, insecurity and humiliation. However, despite everything that happens to her, Lucy is a warm and courageous character who makes the most of the opportunities that occur.

Catherine Dessin, a young French girl living in Paris during the occupation, falls for an older, married German officer. The novel examines the tensions this causes within her family of patriots and resistance workers. Meanwhile Klaus, the German officer, who is Oxford educated and a professed Anglophile, faces his own moral dilemma as he comes to realise, through his love for Catherine and a tragedy in his own family, the true nature of the regime he is serving.

In this rich and memorable evocation of the fictional South Riding of Yorkshire are the lives, loves and sorrows of the central characters. There is Sarah Burton, fiery young headmistress; Robert Carne of Maythorpe Hall, a councillor tormented by his own disastrous marriage; Jo Astell, a socialist fighting poverty and his own illness; and Mrs Beddows, the first woman Alderman of the district (like Winifred’s own mother).

Miss Read heard about the sale of Tyler's Row from the always well-informed Mrs Pringle - and before long Fairacre was alive with rumours. Why were the present owners selling?

Set in 1952, this story begins when three people meet in a churchyard. One is a local farmer, Ben Morris, walking through the churchyard from his farmhouse. The other two, Lucy and Eileen Baker, are mother and daughter, bringing flowers to lay at the resting place of a man by the name of Barney Davidson. There is an air of mystery about them that greatly intrigues Ben.

Maureen Bancroft has never learned the art of putting herself first. As a widow with a gentle temperament and humble ways, she’s been easy to take advantage of. All that changes when an unexpected windfall comes her way. Determined to make up for lost time, she decides to take a holiday and, needing a companion, looks up her friend Barbara Hayle. Glamorous, and with a successful career on the stage, Barbara seems to be everything that Maureen is not. But things aren’t as they seem, and what starts out as a nostalgic trip between friends becomes something different altogether.

The pretty Arnold sisters have grown up on their father's farm and yearn for something more out of life than drudgery and toil. Ellen, loyal and honest, is her father's favourite, but Georgina is impulsive and unreliable, and can't please a father who has never shown her love.The big house, Grindle Hall, offers them both a chance of betterment, but while Ellen follows the steady path, Georgina takes a darker road and soon, her actions will have fateful consequences for them all. Only Ellen can help them, but will a sister's love be enough?

In the middle of the night, Evie is torn away from her beloved home and close-knit community as her family run away to the south. Her father's luck has finally run out, but what should mark a hopeful new beginning is just the start of young Evie’s troubles. With the weight of her family's future on her shoulders, Evie has no one to turn to. Her mother, worn down by life, runs off with a new man, and with her grandmother's sight failing, it's left to Evie to earn their keep and run the house. Holding her family together is only made harder when tragedy strikes at its heart.

1611, after 10 years in the Orient, Celia Lamprey and her husband Paul Pindar have returned to England, bringing with them a legendary diamond despite the curse that surrounds it. An army of carpenters, gardeners and footmen have been summoned to restore Pindar's great house Bishopsgate to its former splendour, but all is not as it seems.

This is a collection of Marie Joseph's most outstanding short stories, previously published in magazines in the 1960s and 1970s. There is the young mother who eventually discovers nothing can compare with Christmas at home with her husband and children; a couple who are brought together again with unexpected help from a feline source; and a younger sister's wedding which brings faint misgivings and memories from the past. With compassion, insight and humour these stories explore the themes of love....

Although she's surrounded by a loving family, Marie feels lost: living with a lie can be very lonely. Marie has been carrying a secret for years, one that could ruin the lives of those she loves most, and the guilt she feels weighs heavily. Her granddaughter, Cathy, is a most cheerful young woman, and in the first flush of love. The secret Marie is about to tell her will not only change her future but rewrite her past. Cathy now has a dangerous choice to make that could change her life forever.

Jane Eyre, an orphan, has to suffer appalling conditions when she is sent away to a correctional school. She lands on her feet, or so it seems, when she becomes adult and obtains a job working for Mr Rochester, a brooding and formidable man who initially scares her, but whom she begins to warm to. At the same time, strange things are happening in the house. What is Adele, his ward, afraid of? And what are the strange banging noises coming from the attic at night time?

One of the most passionate novels of its time, Jane Eyre derives its strength from the honesty and directness of its heroine. The first person narrative involves us right from the start, letting us into Jane’s thoughts as she matures from rebellious child to passionate woman. Notice how social snobbery is condemned – particularly in the character of Aunt Reed and the conditions at Lowood ‘Orphans Asylum’.

From best-selling novelist Marie Joseph - a collection of heartwarming, life-enchancing stories that show her at her very best. In them Marie Joseph explores the many aspects of love as it was in the sixties and seventies - its nostalgia, tendernesses, pitfalls and moments of never-to-be-forgotten happiness.

It’s 1954 and Adam Carter is 12 years old, an only child with no friends nor any self-confidence. His father Edward is a bully of a man. A successful and ruthless businessman, he breeds fear into the heart of his family. Adam’s mother Peggy is too cowed to protect her son, so Adam’s only support comes in the shape of Jake Wallis, the school bus driver. One particular afternoon, when Adam is his last drop of the day, Jake decides to accompany him along the darkening wood land to his house.

>No-one thought she had the courage.… Those looking in from the outside think Lucy Lovejoy's life is like any other, but at the centre of her family there is a big empty hole where all the love and warmth should be. Over the years, her children have watched while their father chipped away at Lucy's self-confidence. Now the children are following their own paths, and Lucy has never felt more alone. When tragedy strikes at the heart of the family, it's a wake-up call for Lucy. Everyone has taken a little piece of her, and she isn't sure who she is anymore.

It is New Year's Eve 1936 when Wesley Battersby leaves his pretty wife Amy to go and live with Clara Marsden. Ashamed and frightened, Amy struggles with loneliness and hardship while Wesley is spending his money on buying the love of the flighty Clara. But Amy's warmth and vitality win her friends who give her renewed courage and confidence.

This is a story from the Classic Women's Short Stories collection.

Polly married Harry Pilgrim out of love. A love, she believed, that would meet every test that life could make. But a girl in love cannot always see what the future will bring...She had never had an easy life. But then when it seemed that the worst must be over, Harry lost his job and was forced to move down south to look for work. Leaving Polly to discover that loneliness and poverty could drive her into the arms of another man...