Showing results by narrator "Helen Keeley" in All Categories

A teenage Ella sat around a bonfire drinking with her future husband and her oldest friend, Cole. As Ella wandered away from the group, she found herself leaning against a derelict archway before passing out. The next day, Ella remembered fractured images of a conversation with a woman in a green coat and red scarf but dismissed it as a drunken dream. Twenty-three years later, with her marriage to Will in trouble, and Cole spiralling out of control, Ella opens a gift which turns her life upside down: a green coat and red scarf.

A trip to the fairground turns into a rescue mission when Fliss finds herself in a strange forest. She watches an owl and three owlets by a stump, what must once have been a tall tree housing their nest. The mother gathers her chicks and flies away—but the smallest can't quite manage to leave the ground, and is left behind! Fliss knows she has to save the abandoned owlet. But with night drawing in and dangerous creatures all around, Fliss is going to need her tiny friend's help as much as it needs hers.

When Fliss volunteers to help at her cousin's birthday party in a jungle gym, she doesn’t expect to end up in the rainforest in India! And, if that wasn't exciting enough, she soon makes a new friend - a tiny tiger cub, left behind when its family fled from a flood. The little tiger is bursting with energy, and Fliss can't believe her luck - playing with an actual tiger cub! But as the floodwater rises, the time for games is running out. To save her stripy friend, Fliss must face monsoons, dangerous creatures and the darker side of nature.

A marriage of dynasty: that is what is expected of Mary Sidney. A marriage to Sir Henry Herbert, earl of Pembroke, to be precise. But Mary’s sharp mind longs to work on her writing and translation projects and perhaps learn more of the alchemical arts at the elbow of the dazzling Walter Raleigh. Rose Commin, a young country girl with a surprising talent for drawing, is desperate to shrug off the slurs of witchcraft which have tarnished life at home. The opportunity to work at Wilton House, the Herbert’s Wiltshire home, is her chance.

On the cusp of World War II, a young mother is faced with an impossible choice. Vera is a Russian Jewish émigré to France, newly wed - but her marriage cannot protect her or her four-year-old daughter, Lucie, once the Nazis occupy the country. After receiving notice that all foreigners must report to an internment camp, Vera must decide: does she subject Lucie to the horrid conditions of the camp or put Lucie into hiding with her beloved and trusted governess, safe until Vera can retrieve her? Surely the war will end soon.

When Ada’s eccentric godmother gifts her with an exclusive gap-year art history trip to Italy, Ada finally finds herself amongst the kind of people she aspires to be: sophisticated, cultured, privileged. Over the course of two dazzling months, Ada does everything in her power to prove she is one of them. But it is only when Mallory, the least popular member of the group, dies in suspicious circumstances that Ada spots an opportunity to permanently bind herself to the lives of her companions.

Emily Jones is a new mum: she's bought the swank buggy, planned her labour soundtrack, read the books. Then her little girl actually arrives and Emily realises: she has all the gear, no idea - and only 12 months of maternity leave to figure it out. Lonely but not alone, it's the women Emily befriends in this first year who really see her through to the other side.

Anna knows what lies look like. She can see untruths spill from heads and turn the air bright orange. Only her sister knows about Anna's synaesthesia and how she can read a person's emotions - even when they're trying to hide them. When she gets a job as a Mother's Help to a family whose niece, Lily, is missing, Anna is given the lost girl's room, and the mystery around Lily begins to haunt her.

In this fantastical collection of stories, a king hides a terrible secret under his crown, a marvellous dream inspires an epic journey and a clever girl outwits the king! This collection of three lovely tales from Julia Donaldson are an ideal first step for children embarking on a lifelong journey through the wonders of stories.

Lord Goth is throwing a music festival at Ghastly-Gorm Hall, with performances from the finest composers in the land. Ada can't wait, but it's quite distracting when her grandmother is trying to find her father a fashionable new wife, there's a faun living in her wardrobe and Maltravers is up to his old tricks. Ada must make sure everything goes to plan...and luckily, help is at hand from a very interesting houseguest.

Hollywood, 1975: Tragedy sends troubled film star Vivien Lockhart into the arms of Giovanni Moretti, and it seems her fortunes have finally changed. Until she meets his sister and learns that dark shadows haunt her new husband's past.... Tuscany, present day: Everyone in London is searching for Lucy Whittaker - so Lucy needs to disappear. But her new home, the crumbling Castillo Barbarossa, is far from the secluded paradise it seemed.

In the middle of a snowball fight, aspiring vet Fliss is whisked away to the Antarctic! Surrounded by penguins, Fliss marvels at the sight of these beautiful animals huddling together to keep warm. Then a snowstorm blows in, separating a chick and its injured mother from the group. Fliss is determined to return her feathery friends to their colony, but the icy waters are full of dangerous creatures, and Fliss isn't used to the harsh environment. It's going to take a lot of quick thinking, and waddling, to reunite them.

How to Make a Difference is a practical road map to modern-day activism created by the powerful and imaginative minds behind the world's biggest campaigns, including Colin Kaepernick, Emma Watson, Sir Bob Geldof, Fatima Bhutto, Black Lives Matter, Cher, Matt Damon, Rakesh Kapoor and Gina Miller; collectively they combine the latest models of thinking, their real-life experiences, radical techniques and effective advice in order to help incentivise everyone and anyone who has ever wondered, how can I help?

Fliss loves animals and will do anything to save them! Join her on her adventures to save wild animals in danger. A swimming lesson takes an exciting turn when Fliss is magically whisked away to the Indian Ocean! There she finds a young dolphin in trouble and she knows she has to help. But she's scared of deep water, and who knows what other animals might be out there! Can Fliss face her fears and save her new friend?

Vic is from a family of pirates, and they are preparing to enter the Race to Hornswaggle Rock, the hardest, most dangerous pirate contest in the country. But the dastardly Captain Guillemot has stolen their ship and thrown their parents overboard. Together with siblings Bert and Maud, and annoyingly resourceful friends Arabella and George, Vic must come up with a plan to steal the ship back from their arch-enemy, join the race and win victory....

Join Fliss on her magical adventures to save wild animals in danger all around the world. When Fliss finds a lost little lion cub in the Serengeti, she is determined to reunite it with its family. But although the plains are beautiful, they can also be dangerous - for both the cub and Fliss. Is she ready to face the wild and help the cub find its pride?

Nancy Jansen is the beating heart of her family. She is the centre around whom many lives turn. Mother. Therapist. Daughter. Sister. Wife. But now Nancy has a new role: lover. Everybody can be happy, Nancy believes, so long as they can be kept apart. But when these lives start to overlap, collision becomes inevitable, with consequences for all....

Not everyone deserves a second chance. The morning after a terrible storm, a woman turns up in a remote Cornish village. She calls herself Charlie, but it's a name she's had for only a few days. She keeps herself to herself, reluctant to integrate with the locals. Because Charlie has a secret. Charlie was in prison for providing a false alibi for a murderer. But Lee Fisher wasn't a murderer to her; he was the man she loved. Convinced of his innocence, Charlie said she was with him the night a young woman was killed.

A heart-warming and uplifting story about love, loss and finding the strength to say goodbye, from the author of The First Time I Saw You. Jennifer Jones' life began when her little sister, Kerry, was born. So when her sister dies in a tragic accident, nothing seems to make sense any more. Despite the support of her husband, Ed, and their wonderful children, Jen can't comprehend why she is still here while bright, spirited Kerry is not.

Two girls. One chance. When Lizzie's car crashes with her two daughters inside, she faces a terrible choice. And when she recovers from her injuries, she has to deal with the impact of that tragedy as well as the police investigation into it. As Lizzie and her family struggle to come to terms with the events of that night, things take an even darker turn. Just what did happen on that remote country road? Who is responsible? And can the family get through this together...or will the truth finally tear them apart?