Showing results by narrator "Janine-Cooper Marshall" in All Categories

Emily has always felt like an outsider, so when a family friend takes her under his wing she is delighted. But soon it becomes clear that his motives are not all they seem. At the age of 11, Emily is groomed into being a ‘county lines’ drug trafficker. It is the beginning of a vicious cycle that sees her become prey to one abuser after another, involving a huge child-sex-trafficking gang. The scale of the abuse—at the hands of hundreds of men—is sickening, and at times it feels like there will never be an escape. But then, in the darkest of moments, a ray of light shines.... 

Wales, 1883: Young Ruth Owen, a talented musician with a scholarship to a prestigious music school, has a sparkling career ahead of her. But after a run-in with her mysterious tutor, she flees to London, leaving everything and everyone behind. Fourteen years later, Ruth, now married with two children, finds herself struggling for money and a place to live. Left with no other option, they decide to return to Wales and live on a canal boat. Life on the canals may seem idyllic, but what troubles await her return? And can the past ever truly be forgotten?

Banking on It is the firsthand account of one woman's quest to rebuild Britain's broken banking system. After a lengthy career at the top of some of Britain's leading banks, Anne Boden had become disillusioned with the status quo - the financial crash had broken trust in the whole sector, but there seemed to be little appetite to make the most of emerging technologies to revolutionise customer experience. Increasingly frustrated with the inertia within the industry, she decided to shake things up herself by doing something totally radical - setting up her own bank.

When Izzy Grant’s newborn daughter disappears, her world shatters around her. Despite an extensive search the police find no trace of the missing girl, but Izzy refuses to give up hope that her daughter will be found. Then a note is pushed through her letterbox, warning her off. For Izzy it’s a ray of hope, another lead for the police to follow. For DC Gaby Darin it’s another piece of the puzzle that just won’t fit. But as a long-lost friend returns to Izzy’s life with a shocking secret, Gaby realises the truth of who took Izzy’s daughter from her might lie in the past.

Hometown Tales is a series of books pairing exciting new voices with some of the most talented and important writers at work today. Some of the tales are fiction and some are narrative non-fiction - they are all powerful, fascinating and moving, and aim to celebrate regional diversity and explore the meaning of home. In this audiobook on Wales, you'll find two unique tales: a captivating exploration of migration by Tyler Keevil, an award-winning writer originally from Canada now living in Wales, and one more tale to be found through open submissions.

Sophie Crockett spent most of her childhood suffering from crippling anxiety. Diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, she became a virtual prisoner in her own home, afraid to venture outside. After battling with depression, eating disorders and self-harm, Sophie had the courage to re-enter society in her late teens. 

About to go travelling with her high-flying friend Kat, Vicky comes up with a plan: if she isn't married at 30, she'll marry her geeky best mate, Mikey. Having just been dumped on her 30th birthday, Vicky, now Vee, tracks down Kat and Mikey. Mikey, now Murphy, is a successful app designer driven by his tragic upbringing. Kat, or Kate, hides a shocking secret, which threatens the happiness of all three.

As a teenager, Sarah D'Villez famously escaped a man who abducted and held her hostage for 11 days. The case became notorious, with Sarah's face splashed across the front of every newspaper in the country. Seventeen years later, Sarah's attempt to build a normal life for herself in London has failed. When she hears of her kidnapper's impending release from prison, fearful of the media storm that is sure to follow, she decides to flee to rural Wales under a new identity, telling nobody where she's gone.

A girl with no home, a house in need of love... A beautiful romance set in the breathtaking Welsh mountain. Lark has been wandering the country for many years, with no real place to call home. Until she meets Matthew Williams, a Canadian who has inherited a run-down hill farm in North Wales. Young and enthusiastic, Matthew has no knowledge of farming and no experience of living in the countryside.

This tale is set in the year 1810 and follows hot on the heels of the story recounted in Sacrifice. An ex-slave is shipwrecked on the shore of Skomar Island, and two strange objects found on his person end up in the possession of Mistress Martha Morgan of Plas Ingli. This leads her to involvement in the anti-slavery movement and into very grave personal danger, as her own enemies have to be rescued from a man who has a very sinister mission.

Those who are familiar with the Angel Mountain Saga series will find some characters and settings that they know and love; but this story ranges far more widely, leaving West Wales behind and taking in episodes set in the industrial districts of Merthyr Tydfil, and in Paris. It is a strange story of an elderly lady who calls herself Susanna Ravenhill and who lives far more dangerously than is recommended for someone of her age. She has a dark secret to hide and she is pursued relentlessly by a group of armed men. One day they will catch up with her.... 

Swifts live almost entirely in the air. They eat, drink, sleep, mate and gather their nesting materials on the wing, fly thousands of miles across the world, navigating their way around storms, never lighting on tree, cliff or ground, until they return home with the summer. Sarah Gibson has written a fascinating story of discovery, exploring what is known about these mysterious birds, their ancient ancestry and how they have been regarded through history.

In the Wild West of Wales, in the year 1808, a shepherd is ambushed and left in the roadway, more dead than alive, with three stripes carved across his chest. A note, written in his own blood, is pinned to his skin. It reads, 'For Rhiwallwn. From Gruddnei'. Four sinister men who call themselves surveyors are clearly responsible for this crime and others that follow. It emerges that there is a 'campaign of retribution' against selected individuals. Mistress Martha Morgan, a young widow with five children, is at the top of the hit list.

It is 1845, and Martha Morgan, mistress of Plas Ingli, is feeling her age. She receives warnings that she should 'take care'. Her beloved estate collapses, and she has to call upon her deepest reserves of strength in order to survive. But her misery is lessened when she meets a travelling evangelist on the summit of Angel Mountain. It turns out that the fate of minor prophet Amos Jones is inextricably bound up with her own. A single indiscretion in Tycanol Wood splits the community and tests the loyalty of friends and family to the limit. 

The third novel in the best-selling eight-volume Angel Mountain Saga, about the life and times of the incorrigible, passionate and very imperfect heroine Martha Morgan. Martha Morgan, the Mistress of Plas Ingli, has a premonition of grave danger to come. As the effects of poverty and starvation afflict the neighbourhood, Martha tries to influence the corrupt Turnpike Trusts, who are compounding the miseries of the poor by building new and illegal toll gates and rigorously collecting tolls.

The year is 1807, and Martha is in the process of recovering from the murder of her husband, David. The murderers have been brought to justice, and now she looks forward to a happier future in the company of Owain Laugharne, the new love of her life. Plans for the marriage are far advanced when Owain disappears without a trace.  

In 1796, Martha becomes the mistress of the struggling Plas Ingli estate, at only 18 years old. She is pregnant and suicidal. Though she loves her husband, David, dearly, she is desperately lonely in a strange house, and her quick wit and cutting humour make her as many enemies as friends. There are mysteries surrounding the great fire that devastated the estate, but Martha's questions about it remain unanswered. Nobody else seems to realise that their haughty servant, the disinherited son of the local squire, is not as trustworthy as the rest of the family would like to think.

She looked like she’d drifted off to sleep, curled up in her white dress, blonde hair floating in the breeze. They called it the Angel Murder. Eighteen-year-old Angelica Brock is found dead at a local beauty spot, dressed in a pure white nightgown, her white-blonde hair arranged around her. For years her death is a mystery, her killer the one who got away for a whole generation of police.

A dead woman. An impossible crime. Christine De Bertrand wakes up to her worst nightmare: rather than the man she went to bed with, lying beside her is her housemate, Nikki - dead. With no memory of the night before, Christine can’t explain what happened, and the police are baffled. For DC Gaby Darin, newly arrived from Swansea after her last case ended in tragedy, it’s a mystery she’s determined to solve. 

Amber Tate is about to lose her job at a London publishing house. And it’s nearly Christmas. Her boss gives her one last chance. Sadly, it’s the impossible task of obtaining the rights to the popular Lund Collection of fairy tales. The rights to the fairy tales are held by the author’s granddaughter, Emilia Lund, who lives a reclusive life in Sweden and has steadfastly refused to talk to anyone about the rights for the last several years.