Showing results by narrator "Clare Corbett" in All Categories

It is 1740 and when Louise Fletcher is offered work as a maid in the bustling port of Harwich she leaps at the chance. Fifteen-year old Luke is in a Harwich tavern when it is raided by His Majesty's Navy and he is press ganged and sent to sea on board the warship Essex. The worlds they find are more dangerous and more exciting than they could ever have imagined…

It's 1960 in Birmingham and Lella Florence is looking for women to help with trials of the contraceptive pill. Married women in a certain age and weight bracket are required.Three very different women decide to take part. Ditsy June's fed up with being under the influence of her overbearing in-laws and would rather save up for a new bathroom than for another baby. Glamorous Jeanette wants to avoid another agonising labour and to keep her wealthy husband happy. And Isobel has her own secret reasons for signing up. All three women couldn't guess the ways their lives will be changed....

Elise loves the farm that is her home; she loves playing with beetles and chameleons in the garden, buying sweets from the village shop and listening to the stories of spirits and charms told by her nanny, Beauty. As a young white girl in 1990s Zimbabwe, her life is idyllic. Her clothes are always clean and ironed, there is always tea in the silver teapot, gin and tonics are served on the veranda, and, in theory at least, black and white live in harmony.

Carol married young - to philandering Phil - and became a mother young to highly-strung Jaz. Carol put up with Phil’s infidelities: suffer in silence and keep the family together was her mantra.Not so Jaz. The moment she discovers her own husband’s errant ways - with a woman he barely knew - she throws him out of the house, changes the locks and bans him from seeing their toddler son Matty...

Meet feisty Hannah and rebel-boy Jit, posh girly Grace, sporty Imtiaz, model student Suky, and last but not least, Dean - the "rapper MC". Together they take on the daily trials of Devana High School and win. Well, sometimes... Dean is giving Grace earache. He's forever moaning about being last in the lunch queue - like it's her fault! Still, Dean's got a point. Nobody likes soggy sarnies and concrete chips...and he's got a plan, too. If they can pull it off, Dean and Grace are on first lunch for the rest of their sweet school lives!

Emily loves to skate and when she is whisked away to a magical ice-skating school she can’t believe her luck. But some of the girls aren’t very friendly. Can Emily be brave and skate her way to happiness – and win the prized pair of wonderful white skates?.... All the girls at ice-skating school want to be the best skater and win the pair of dazzling violet skates. But when they have to perform in pairs, problems begin.

Swallowing Grandma traces the struggles of 18-year-old Katherine as she attempts to break free from her demanding grandmother and discover the truth about her dead father and absent mother.

What happens when a high-flying barrister faces the trial of her life outside the courtroom? On the eve of her 39th birthday, top barrister Ophelia Dormandy decides she is going to treat her husband, Patrick: after months of working late, she's going to cook a special supper. But Patrick announces he is having an affair, and leaves. Before long she's broke and falling for a client of questionable guilt.

When pretty, talented and very ambitious Amina Mir manages to land a newspaper work experience placement she thinks it might just be making coffee and following-up tame stories. But then she's sent to interview Ivor MacMorris, a veteran of the war in Sinnostan who's just won millions on the lottery but bizarrely hasn't spent a penny. Things start to get interesting... and dangerous.

"What is my dad thinking? He's planning to sing AT MY SCHOOL in a fund-raising concert! It's even worse for Eddie. His dad is an Elvis impersonator. Eddie's life might just as well be over. And when Eddie's dad gets together with my dad, my life will be over too!"

When Maggie accepts one last commission before retiring from journalism, she’s given twenty-four hours on a remote tropical island to interview former Hollywood heart-throb Ed Cavanagh. There are just two problems: firstly, Ed doesn’t want anything to do with Maggie’s exclusive, and secondly, he’s the only man who ever broke her heart…

After twelve years of marriage to English explorer James Cook, Elizabeth has yet to spend an entire year with her husband. In their house by the Thames, she moves to the rhythms of her life as a society wife, but there is so much more to her than meets the eye. She has the fortitude to manage the house and garden, raise their children, and face unbearable sorrow by herself - in fact, she is sometimes in thrall to her own independence.

Jolted from sleep by the ringing of the telephone, Imogen stumbles through the dark, empty house to answer it. At first, she can't quite understand the man on the other end of the line. Surely he can't honestly be accusing her of killing her husband, Ivor, who died in a car crash barely two months ago. As the nights draw in, Imogen finds her home filling up with unexpected guests, who may be looking for more than simple festive cheer. Has someone been rifling through Ivor's papers? Who left the half-drunk whiskey bottle beside his favourite chair?

Award-winning author Jill Paton Walsh was well known for her four Lord Peter Wimsey novels that continued and completed Dorothy L. Sayers's much-loved series. These two cosy crime dramas introduce her own sparkling creation, Imogen Quy, a college nurse and amateur sleuth who investigates foul play in academia.

Based on the extraordinary true story of the female stonemason who carved a queen's tomb, The Stone Rose traces the life of fierce, self-destructive Isabella of France. Wife to a weak king, Isabella finds herself facing enemies from the wild North, in a war with Scotland, and from within her own family: her uncle Lancaster, whose attempts to rein in royal power cause a rift between them. But Isabella soon comes to realise that this is a love story. And the threat to the kingdom is a threat to her marriage—and to her own life....

Hannah Davidson has a dementia-stricken father, an estranged TV-star brother and a mother whose death opened up hidden fault lines beneath the surface of their ordinary family life. Now the same age that Jen Davidson was when she was killed, Hannah realises she bears an uncanny resemblance to her glamorous mother, and when her father begins to confuse them, she is seriously unnerved. Determined to uncover exactly what happened to her mum, Hannah begins to exploit her arresting likeness, but soon the boundaries between Hannah and her mother become fatally blurred.

Eighteen-year-old Emma has loving parents and a promising future ahead of her. So why, one morning, does she leave home without a trace? Her parents, Cath and Jim, are devastated. They have no idea why Emma left or even whether she is still alive. A year later, Cath and Jim are still tormented by the unanswered questions Emma left behind and clinging desperately to the hope of finding her. Meanwhile, tantalisingly close to home, Emma is also struggling with her new existence—and with the trauma that shattered her life. For all of them, reconciliation seems an impossible dream.

Kat Maddox has had her fair share of terrible relationships. And after discovering that her latest boyfriend has been hiding an entire other life from her, it's time for a fresh start. Accepting a job on the Cornish coast, Kat begins a new chapter in Fowey. She is immediately drawn to the beautiful Cornish landscapes and swiftly an old feeling begins to emerge. Ever since she was young, Kat's had a 'gift'—when her paintbrush touches canvas, she's able to see the history of her subject as if by magic.

One of Britain's leading contemporary playwrights, Howard Brenton is well known for his controversial state-of-the-nation plays, dark comedies and powerful political satires. He has written over 50 works for the theatre and numerous screenplays, including 13 episodes of the hit TV series Spooks. Included here are some of his most acclaimed dramas, including the award-winning Pravda, co-written with David Hare.

Bird is a woman on the run. One minute, she's in a meeting in her office in Birmingham - the next, she's walking out on her job, her home, her life. It's a day she thought might come, and one she's prepared for - but nothing could prepare her for what will happen next. As she flees north using multiple disguises, Bird has to work out who exactly is on her trail, and who - if anyone - she can trust. Like many people, she has fantasised about escape for a long time, but now it's actually happening. Is her greatest fear that she will be hunted down, or that she will never be found?