Showing results by narrator "Rebecca Macauley" in All Categories

Eleven-year-old Allegra shuttles between her grandmothers, who live next door to one another but couldn't be more different. Matilde works all hours and instils discipline, duty and restraint. She insists that Allegra focus on her studies to become a doctor. Meanwhile free-spirited Joy is full of colour, possibility and emotion, storing all her tears in little glass bottles. She is riding the second wave of the women's movement in the company of her penny tortoise, Simone de Beauvoir, encouraging Ally to explore broad horizons and live her 'true essence'.

In a small country town during one long, hot summer, the Bloom family begins to unravel. Marital secrets, new and long hidden, surface - with devastating effect. Martha is straining against the confines of her life, lost in regret for what might have been, when an old flame shows up. In turn, her husband, Mike, becomes frustrated with his increasingly distant wife. While teenagers Tilly and Ben are about to step out into the world, nine-year-old Ada is holding on to a childhood that will soon be lost to her. When Ada discovers an abandoned well beneath a rusting windmill, she is drawn to its darkness and danger.

1854, Ballarat, Victoria: When Nell Amberton's husband is shot dead by a bushranger, there are few who grieve his passing, and Nell least of all. How could she miss the monster who had abused her from the day they wed - the man who had already killed his innocent first wife? But his death triggers a chain of events that seem to revolve around the handsome bushranger who murdered him - a man to whom Nell, against her better judgement, is drawn.

1895, Renmark, South Australia: Maggie O'Rourke has always had a hard head. No man was going to tie her down to a life of babies and domestic slavery, even if that man was as good (and as annoyingly attractive) as Sam Taylor. Maggie is happily earning her own way as a maid in a house on the Murray River when disaster strikes. Forced to defend herself and a friend from assault by an evil man, she flees downriver on a paddle steamer. With death at her heels, Maggie begins to realize that a man like Sam might be just who she wants in her hour of need.

1898, Geelong, Victoria. Stella Truehart is all alone in the world. Her good-for-nothing husband has died violently at the hands of an unknown assailant. Her mother is dead, her father deserted them before she was born, and now her kindly Truehart grandparents are also in their graves. Private detective Bendigo Barrett has been tasked with finding Stella. He believes his client's intentions are good, but it is evident that someone with darker motives is also seeking her.

When Elsa Goody's father and brother, George, die in quick succession, she and her sister, Rosie, are in trouble. Pursued by an unpleasant suitor with dubious motivation, Elsa leaves for Victoria on the hunt for a fortune in gold coins that her brother has hidden. If Elsa can find it, she will be able to save Rosie and herself from married slavery. Their quest leads them on a cross-country journey to find the last man who saw her brother alive, Ezekiel Jones. But Elsa is not the only one looking for buried treasure.

Food stylist Cara, corporate lawyer Alex and stay-at-home mum Beth couldn't be more different. If it wasn't for the fact they live next door to each other in Cuthbert Close, they'd never have met and bonded over Bundt cake. The Close is an oasis of calm and kindness. The kind of street where kids play cricket together and neighbors pitch in each year for an end of summer party. But no one told Charlie Devine. When she roars straight into the party with her huge removal truck and her teenage daughter with no care or regard for decades-old tradition, the guacamole really hits the fan.

Lisa Wheeldon has a lovely life. Wife to a gorgeous husband, Scott, and a devoted mother to two small daughters, the former accountant has everything she wants—except a third child. But the universe has a strange way of providing. On the surface, Ava's fifth birthday party seems the ideal opportunity for Lisa to meet her daughter's new kindergarten friends—all 32 of them! But from beginning to end, the day is a complete nightmare, capped off by the discovery of a little girl hiding in the Wheeldon's backyard. At first, Lisa reasons that Ellie's mum is running late.

A fresh and poignant novel of family, journeys, past decisions...and dresses. Four women, one dress, and the secret that binds them all. When the fates of these four women intertwine in an unexpected and powerful way, none of their lives will ever be the same again.

Ketty Clift's couture dressmaking business is thriving but the same can't be said for her staff. Lately, cracks have appeared in the team's harmony, testing relationships and causing issues with customers. Worse, the rumour that Ketty has lost her touch is circulating. So when Ketty's old friend Carlos suggests a holiday by train—on the iconic Ghan, no less—Ketty decides to take her surprised staff with her in the hope of fixing what ails them. But it's not turning out to be the cure-all Ketty had hoped for.

Both grande dames think they know what's best, but with equal amounts of stubbornness on both sides, peace looks unlikely. Then a relationship between Alice's rebellious great-niece and a teenage acrobat sets the two communities on a collision course. But when the bakery starts making patisseries over lamingtons, the battle lines are truly drawn....

Hettie Burbrook is the first to admit she's happiest when flying solo through the outback skies. After her hobby of photographing farmers lands her a book deal, it provides the ideal cover story to visit small-town Bundilla. But every photograph brings her closer to uncovering the answers behind why she is really in the mountains...

Once there was a gypsy queen who wore on her wrist a chain of six lucky charms. The queen gave each of her six children one of the charms as their lucky talisman, but ever since the chain was broken, the gypsies had been dogged with misfortune.Having acquired the first three charms in the quest to secure their family's freedom, Luka and Emilia flee into Sussex with soldiers hot on their heels, in company with a Royalist duke, a Catholic priest, a highwayman and young Tom Whitehorse.

"Flap your wings, Rascal," says Ben. But Rascal's wings don't work. What else can he use?

These endearing characters and funny stories, from bestselling author Paul Jennings, will amuse and delight children and their parents. Great for boosting the confidence and interest of beginner readers when used in conjunction with the print edition. Includes: Rascal and the Hot Air Balloon, Rascal at the Show, Rascal and Little Flora, Rascal and the Cheese.

Luka and Emilia must travel to the New Forest to find the Wood tribe, whose charm is a rue flower, the herb of grace. Its power is that of plants and herbs - which can both heal and poison. On the way, the two children tangle with an impoverished widow, the thief-taker Coldham, a highwayman, and a witch, and find themselves caught up in a Royalist plot to restore King Charles II to his throne.

Here in the Weald, the Smith tribe are working for Parliament, making cannons and weaponry. They have prospered under Cromwell's rule, and have no interest in old gypsy charms. Amidst the smoke and noise of the Horsmonden foundry, Emilia and Luka run into old friends - and old enemies.

Emilia and her cousin Luka have the gypsy crown, and are travelling with their menagerie in search of the Hearne tribe. They hope that this family, to whom they will soon be related, will surely help release their kin from gaol. Luka and Emilia find the Hearnes horseracing on the Downs above Epsom. But Emilia must compete to win their support. Will she have to give up her beloved mare in exchange for the Hearne family's charm - a small silver horse? And can they escape Coldham again?

Once there was a gypsy queen who wore on her wrist a chain of six lucky charms - a golden crown, a silver horse, a butterfly caught in amber, a cat's eye shell, a bolt of lightning forged from the heart of a falling star, and the flower of the rue plant, herb of grace. The queen gave each of her six children one of the charms as their lucky talisman, but ever since the chain of charms was broken, the gypsies had been dogged with misfortune.

This is the story of two sisters, Mary and Grace. As small children, growing up at their property called Abyssinia, they played with their dolls' house together, side by side, always. Grace loved Mary, and Mary loved Grace. But inseparable bonds in life can be unexpectedly shattered. When this happens to Grace, she is plunged into a dark and mesmerizing world, a world full of bells and the ringing sky, of odd little children, strange events, and frighteningly bizarre grown-ups.