Dora O'Brien had a good start in life, but things went bad when she began to mix with the wrong company. Pregnant by her gangster lover, she found herself on the streets and then in the grips of a bent copper called Donny Maguire. When her daughter Angel is born, Dora is already under the influence of drink and drugs, and handed around to Donny's mates. Growing up in the shadow of her mother's abusive relationship, Angel is nothing like her mother,...

A mother comes to visit her daughter in hospital after having not seen her in many years. Her unexpected visit forces Lucy to confront her past, uncovering long-buried memories of a profoundly impoverished childhood; and her present, as the facade of her new life in New York begins to crumble, awakening her to the reality of her faltering marriage and her unsteady journey towards becoming a writer. From Lucy's hospital bed, we are drawn ever more...

Felix is at the top of his game as Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival. His productions have amazed and confounded. Now he's staging a Tempest like no other: not only will it boost his reputation, it will heal emotional wounds. Or that was the plan. Instead, after an act of unforeseen treachery, Felix is living in exile in a backwoods hovel, haunted by memories of his beloved lost daughter, Miranda. And also brewing revenge. After...

Two women from different worlds. And a secret that will change everything . . . London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London's Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst - that Clara has died in care - the last thing she expects to hear is that her daughter has already been reclaimed - by her. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has...

A young woman has arranged a holiday with her mother in Japan. They travel by train, visit galleries and churches chosen for their art and architecture, eat together in small caf�s and restaurants and walk along the canals at night, on guard against the autumn rain and the prospect of snow. All the while, they talk, or seem to talk: about the weather, horoscopes, clothes and objects; about the mother?s family in Hong Kong, and the daughter?s own...

Years after the death of her cruel and complicated mother, Erika?s house is still full of the things Michiko left behind: an onigiri basket, a Wedgwood tea set, a knotted ring from Okinawa. In defiance of Japanese tradition, Erika has also kept the urn containing Michiko?s ashes, refusing to put her memory to rest. Erika throws herself into working as a chef at a high-end London restaurant and pretends everything is fine. But when a cousin announces...

I am Sofia. I am searching for my daughter, born in Korydallos prison, Athens, 1November 1972. Can you help me? On the beautiful beaches of Crete, an old woman is handing out this handwritten note. Sofia, 85 years old and unable to speak, is desperate to find a daughter she has never known. Following a tragic childhood in Athens and a soaring career as a singer, the man she loved was tortured by a tyrannical regime, forcing her to give up her newborn...

It had felt a bit like being haunted, being pregnant. Unexpected thumps, and moments when she would be reminded that there was a little person living inside of her. For a while afterwards, sometimes it would feel like she was still inside, and Kate would tap her stomach, or say something to the baby before she remembered that she was alone. In this dark, glittering collection of short stories, Deirdre Sullivan explores the trauma and power that reside...

Then: Ellie Mack was many things. She was 15. She was the youngest of three. She was her mother's golden girl. She was heading towards a perfect post-exams summer holiday, with her whole life ahead of her. And then, she was gone. Now: Laurel Mack is living in the past. It's been 10 years since Ellie disappeared, and Laurel's never given up hope of finding her daughter. But now, she no longer has a choice in the matter. It's time to let go. And then...

You lost your daughter. You will never forgive yourself. And now someone is determined to make you pay ? Seventeen years ago, something happened to Jess?s daughter Beth. The memory of it still makes her blood run cold. Jess has tried everything to make peace with that day, and the part she played in what happened. It was only a brief moment of desire ? but she?ll pay for it with a lifetime of guilt. To distance herself from the mistakes of the past,...