Showing results by publisher "Zaffre" in Literary Fiction

Nuri is a beekeeper, his wife, Afra, an artist. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo - until the unthinkable happens. When all they care for is destroyed by war, they are forced to escape. But what Afra has seen is so terrible she has gone blind, and so they must embark on a perilous journey through Turkey and Greece towards an uncertain future in Britain.

Fleetwood Shuttleworth is 17 years old, married and pregnant for the fourth time. But as the mistress at Gawthorpe Hall, she still has no living child, and her husband, Richard, is anxious for an heir. When Fleetwood finds a letter she isn't supposed to read from the doctor who delivered her third stillbirth, she is dealt the crushing blow that she will not survive another pregnancy. Then she crosses paths by chance with Alice Gray, a young midwife. Alice promises to help her give birth to a healthy baby and to prove the physician wrong.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on the true story of Lale and Gita Sokolov, two Slovakian Jews who survived Auschwitz. When Lale, given the job of tattooing the prisoners, saw Gita waiting in line, it was love at first sight. In that moment he determined to keep them both alive.

For some people, trouble just finds them. Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer. Now, he's been released from prison and is back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California. Not everyone is pleased to see him. Like Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend and sister of the girl he killed. Duchess Radley, Star's 13-year-old daughter, is part-carer, part-protector to her younger brother, Robin - and to her deeply troubled mother.

1976. Loo and her sister Bee live in a run-down cottage in the middle of nowhere, with their artistic parents and wild siblings. Their mother, Cathy, had hoped to escape to a simpler life; instead the family find themselves isolated and shunned by their neighbours. At the height of the stifling summer, unexplained noises and occurrences in the house begin to disturb the family, until they intrude on every waking moment....

Joe Lynch is just an ordinary happily-married man - until one split-second decision throws his life into crisis. When Joe sees his wife having a confrontation with family friend Ben, it's the first hint that she's been lying to him - about everything. And when he steps in to protect her, a harmless shove knocks Ben to the ground. And he's not moving... Gripping, unputdownable and packed with twists and turns from the first page to the very last, this stunning psychological thriller will make you question: can we ever really trust the ones we love . . .

Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. Into her refuge - the York book emporium where she works - come a poet, a lover, a friend, and three mysterious deliveries, each of which stirs unsettling memories. Everything is about to change for Loveday. Someone knows about her past and she can't hide any longer. She must decide who around her she can trust. Can she find the courage to right a heartbreaking wrong? And will she ever find the words to tell her own story?

Robin Wilde is an awesome single mum. She's great at her job. Her best friend Lacey and bonkers Auntie Kath love her and little Lyla Blue to the moon and back. From the outside, everything looks just fine. But behind the mask she carefully applies every day, things sometimes feel... grey. And lonely. After 4 years (and 2 months and 24 days!) of single-mum-dom, it's time for Robin Wilde to Change. Her. Life! A little courage, creativity and help from the wonderful women around her go a long way.

Tall Oaks is an idyllic small town, until the disappearance of a young child throws the tight-knit community into crisis. Jess Monroe, the boy's distraught mother, is simultaneously leading the search and battling her own grief and self-destructive behaviour. Her neighbours watch on, their sympathy masking a string of dark secrets. This is a small town where nothing is as it seems, and everyone has something to hide. And as the investigation draws towards a climax, prepare for a devastating final twist.

AD 79. Parthia is gripped by civil war. One King vying for the throne, desperate for help, welcomes an alliance from an unlikely source: a man claiming to be Nero, the dethroned Roman Emperor. Meanwhile, young Gaius wishes he could spend his summer on the Bay of Naples amongst his books. Instead Pliny, the famous Admiral, has sent him to befriend the nephew of Ulpius, the mysterious blind Senator from Spain. A man Pliny does not trust.

Two lonely women. An unlikely friendship. And one big life lesson: never be ashamed to ask for more. After a major life upheaval on the eve of her 40th birthday, a reluctant Kate Parker finds herself volunteering at Lauderdale House for Exceptional Ladies. There she meets 97-year-old Cecily Finn. Cecily's tongue is as sharp as her mind but she has lost her spark, simply resigning herself to the Imminent End.

Ailsa Rae is learning how to live. She's only a few months past the heart transplant that - just in time - saved her life. Life should be a joyful adventure. But.... Her relationship with her mother is at breaking point, and she wants to find her father. Have her friends left her behind? She's felt so helpless for so long that she's let polls on her blog make her decisions for her. She barely knows where to start on her own. Then there's Lennox. Her best friend and onetime lover. He was sick too. He didn't make it. And now she's supposed to face all of this without him. But her new heart is a bold heart. She just needs to learn to listen to it....

When a body is found in one of London's poorest districts, the coroner's report identifies the victim as young, black and female, but impossibly anonymous. One thing is clear to Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison about this victim - that news of her murder will tear apart a city already cracking with racial tensions, hurling Scotland Yard and Tennison herself into a maelstrom of shocking accusations and sudden, wrenching violence.

Scrooge feels he is doing Christmas right. He is decorating his house, buying gifts, entertaining his neighbours and planning a Benevolent Feast for the Poor. So when a lucrative business opportunity comes his way he jumps at the chance to make some quick money... to give to the poor, obviously. But maybe just keep some - OK, most - of it for himself. But then Scrooge sees her. Another ghost, silent and terrifying. And in order to be free of this haunting he must solve her murder.

Margaret Smith is at the beach. It is a summer day unlike any other Margaret has ever known. The Smith family have left the town where they live and work and go to school and come to a place where the sky is blue, the sand is white, and the sound of the sea surrounds them. An ordinary family discovering the joy of getting away for the first time. Over the course of the coming decades, they will be transformed through their holiday experiences, each new destination a backdrop as the family grows and changes, love stories begin and end -- and secrets are revealed.

After his daughter overdosed and died, William Thomas Knox brutally murdered billionaire Skip Buchanan, patriarch of the family most responsible for the American opioid epidemic. One year later, veteran Harper Scott is out of work and just desperate enough to take a job protecting members of the hated Buchanan family. Then, as the online mob grows and death threats against the Buchanans reach a fevered pitch, another Buchanan is murdered and Harper is thrown into a race to find the killer.