Showing results by narrator "Kristin Atherton" in All Categories

Svenja’s beautiful, aloof grandmother Inge never spoke about the past. All her family knew was that she had grown up in a city that no longer exists on any map: Königsberg in East Prussia, a footnote in history, a place that almost no one has heard of today. But when Svenja impulsively visits this windswept Baltic city, something unlocks in Inge and finally, she begins to tell her story. It begins in the secret jazz bars of Hitler’s Berlin. It is a story of passionate first love, betrayal, terror, flight, starvation and violence.

At a run-down brothel in Caudal, Spain, the prostitutes are collecting stray dogs. Each is named after a famous male writer: Dante, Chaucer, and Bret Easton Ellis. When a john is cruel, the dogs are fed rotten meat. To the east, in Barcelona, an unflappable teenage girl is endeavouring to trace the peculiarities of her life back to one woman: Alba Camb, writer of violent short stories, who left Caudal as a girl and never went back.

Brazilian-born doctor André Cabral is living in London when one day he receives a letter from his home country, which he left nearly 30 years ago. A letter he keeps in his pocket for weeks but tells no one about. The letter prompts André to remember the days of his youth - torrid afternoons on Ipanema beach with his listless teenage friends, parties in elegant Rio apartments, his after-school job at his father's plastic surgery practice and, above all, his secret infatuation with the daughter of his family's maid.

Welcome to Make-Believe. You create the fantasy, they control your mind. Cassie worked at Imagen, the tech giant behind the cutting-edge virtual reality experience Make-Believe™, and she got to know the product well. Too well. Her dream job now seems to be part of a larger nightmare, and Imagen is not done with her yet. With Imagen holding all the cards, and personal and public freedoms at stake, how far will Cassie go to end the deception?

Lydia has eloped with a young actor, Harry Roxby, and following her disinheritance, the couple has been living in poverty in London. Harry has become embroiled with a criminal gang and is in terrible danger after allegedly losing something very valuable that he was meant to deliver to their leader. The desperate and heavily pregnant Lydia has a week to return what her husband supposedly stole, or he will be killed. She knows there are few people who she can turn to in this time of need, but the sisters agree to help Lydia, beginning a race against time to save Harry's life.

This debut collection movingly explores how women and girls are looked at, look at one another and look at themselves, and how living as an object can shape their passions, fears and joys. With a clear eye and dark humour, Danielle Pender considers sex, parenting, grief and class as lenses for the ways in which the world watches women—and how women are always watching back.

Join the super cutes for a super fun time at a very special school! Days at the Adventure School are all about learning to look after the natural world—and in the fantastical world of super cute, this means learning about some very special creatures from the giant hug whales to the cuddly mer-kitties. But there's ONE animal who doesn't want to look after anyone or anything else…Clive the spoilt chihuahua!

When Jane Douglas returns to the Shetland Islands, she thinks she has escaped the dark shadows of her childhood. She carves out a simple life on the bleak, windswept island, working at the salmon fishery and spending quiet evenings at home. And for the first time in her life, she’s happy. Then the body of Jane’s long-missing mother is found in a flooded quarry. Her mother disappeared when Jane was a teenager, following the death of Jane’s baby brother.

When pastry chef Twilight Wilson was a young girl, she would hide from school bullies up in the treehouse at the bottom of her garden in her family home in Sussex. It was her special place, and even as an adult she still loves it. So when her family tell her they can’t afford to live there any more, Twilight is devastated. Not only will they lose their home - but the treehouse, too! She comes up with a plan to save the family home - she’ll start up a cafe in the treehouse!

It’s that time of year again, snowflakes are fluttering and the countdown to Christmas has begun! Twenty-seven-year-old Holly Devine has just had her heart well and truly broken. Hurt by the two people she loves the most, she flees to her eccentric Aunt Clara’s cosy cottage to hide away over the winter season. But kind, impulsive Aunt Clara has other ideas... She’s not about to see her favourite niece wallowing in sadness during the most wonderful time of the year. So, with the help of her close circle of friends and plenty of gin, she creates a handmade advent calendar for Holly.

How do you cope with stress, anxiety, procrastination or moments of crisis? Do you wait for the 'perfect' solution, avoid the situation or blame yourself? If so, it's time to break the cycle: when panic strikes, listen to this book instead. Cambridge University mental health researcher Dr Olivia has spent the last decade uncovering how to maintain good mental health. In this short, no-nonsense book, she shares practical tips based on her cutting-edge research to help you fight the patterns and moods that hold you back.

Nick and Amber Miller are splitting up and selling their Devon family home. But despite the desirable location, the house isn’t moving. Not a single viewing so far. When their estate agent suggests an open house event, Amber agrees, even as she worries about their gossiping neighbours attending and snooping around their home.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Beautiful Mutants by Deborah Levy, read by Kristen Atherton. Levy's surreal and artful first novel introduces Lapinski - the manipulative and magical Russian exile who summons forth a number of urban pilgrims in a shimmering contemporary allegory about broken dreams and desires.

When Poppy’s boyfriend Harrison proposes the week before Christmas and gives her 12 days to decide, she doesn’t know what to do. With the festive season in full swing, it’s make or break time for the couple, and the clock is ticking.... Meanwhile, Poppy’s best friend Erin is desperate for the pair of them to fulfil their dream of setting up a dinner party catering company - and when an opportunity arises at a luxury log fire cabin, the girls take their chance to impress. But they hadn’t bargained on the owner of the cabin being quite so attractive....

Growing up in the Polish village of Tarnogrod on the fringes of a deep pine forest gives Mala the happiest childhood she could have hoped for. But, as the German invasion begins, her beloved village becomes a ghetto and her family and friends are reduced to starvation. She takes matters into her own hands and bravely removes her yellow star, risking sneaking out to the surrounding villages to barter for food.

Andy believes that she has left her past far behind her. But when she gets a call from Peter's mother to say he's gone missing, she finds herself pulled into a search for answers. Bored and restless after their final school exams, Andy, Peter, Em and Marcus broke into a ruined manor house nearby and quickly became friends with the boy living there. Blond, charming and on the run, David's presence was as dangerous as it was exciting.

Prepare to enter a whole world of cute! Funny bunnies who perform acrobatics, mini pigs wearing multi-coloured wellies, sushi mice that sleep curled up in the middle of sweet-smelling flowers. The world of cute is the most adorable place ever...but the friends you’re about to meet like to cause chaos in this world of cuteness! Sammy is the most un-sloth-like sloth that you'll ever meet! He is always busy and excited but today he can hardly contain himself.

Once upon a time, Gil and Rudy lived simple lives. Ingold brought them across the Void, where an evil known as the Dark threatened to devour civilisation whole. Civilisation’s hopes rested on an infant prince, and to protect him, Gil and Rudy had to draw on newfound powers - she as a warrior, he as a wizard. With Ingold’s help they escaped the Dark and led a hardy band of survivors to a far-away keep, where humanity could be safe for a time. But now that time is past, they have been found, and there is nowhere to hide from the Dark.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of This Secret We're Keeping by Rebecca Done, read by Kristin Atherton and Oliver Chris. A pupil and a teacher. Is it ever right to break the rules? Jessica Hart has never forgotten Matthew Landley. After all, he was her first love when she was 15 years old. But he was also her school maths teacher, and their forbidden affair ended in scandal, with his arrest and imprisonment.

Several years ago, your husband, and the father of your young son, disappeared. Since then, you’ve dreamed of his return; railed against him for leaving you alone; grieved for your marriage; and, finally, vowed to move on. One morning, the phone rings. When you answer, a voice at the other end tells you your husband’s on a plane bound for home, and that you’ll see him tomorrow. You’ve imagined this reunion countless times. Of course you have. But nothing has prepared you for the reality.