Suffolk, 1925. At only 16 years old, May Moon travels to West Wick, Suffolk to become the local Punch and Judy girl. Determined to fulfil her dead father's wishes, and to continue his business, May has her work cut out for her during her summer on the beach. Staying with a local family, she not only enjoys the silvery sand and sunshine, she also experiences first love, partings and reunions. And, before long, realises that performing might be in her...

A girl can get into all kinds of trouble just by going back to work . . . Henrietta Tate gave up everything for her husband Marcus and their kids. But now that the children are away at school and she's rattling round their large country house all day she's feeling more than a little lost. So when a friend puts her in touch with Laurie, a historian in need of a PA, Henrietta heads for London. Quickly, she throws herself into the job. Marcus is - of...

My mother, a house that is slowly collapsing, a bridge dancing to a tremor.' It started when she could no longer remember the word for 'book'. Then her mind, her language and her identity began to slip away. This is Erwin Mortier's moving, exquisitely observed memoir of his mother's descent into dementia, as a once-flamboyant woman who loved life and pleasure becomes a shuffling, ghostlike figure wandering through the house. Piecing together the fragments...

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...

When Helen meets Swift and Ava Havilland at an art gallery opening, her life is at an all-time low. A DUI conviction caused her to lose her driver?s license and custody of her eight-year-old son, Oliver. Now she sees Ollie on Saturdays for bowling and laser tag and meals in fast-food restaurants, where his eyes stay glued to the screen of his portable gaming device. He hasn?t forgiven his mother for messing up their life. She?s got a dead-end job...

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,...

Julia doesn't understand what is happening to her daughter, but she thinks she knows what's causing it. She is terrified for Lily, and for herself, but what scares her more is that no one believes her. If she is going to help Lily, she will have to find the answers alone, embarking on a search that will take her to the shadowy back streets of Venice. There, Julia uncovers a heartbreaking, long-buried tale of tragedy and devastation - a discovery that...

Rage. That's the feeling engulfing the car as Ellen's mother swerves over to the hard-shoulder and orders her daughter out onto the roadside. Ignoring the protests of her other children, she accelerates away, leaving Ellen standing on the gravel verge in her school pinafore and knee socks as the light fades. What would you do as you watch your little sister getting smaller in the rear view window? How far would you be willing to go to help her? The...

Meredith Stratton, at forty-four the owner of six elegant international inns, is about to celebrate her daughter?s engagement. At this seemingly happy time in her life she begins to suffer from a strange illness that baffles everyone. Her doctor cannot find a physical cause for her debilitating symptoms, and, desperate for answers, she seeks the help of a psychiatrist. Through therapy Meredith peels back the layers of her life to discover the truth...

A crumbling stone soldier sits on a bench in the park. Only Owen understands how important he is. At home, Owen and his mum are struggling and there's nobody he can talk to. Hidden away in the park, Owen feels free to be himself. When the war-weary soldier is listening, his worries slip away. But nobody else cares about the soldier, and the town council want to tear him down. Owen's the only one who can save him but can he find the courage to speak...