Tommy the street musician is murdered in a London shop doorway one bitterly cold December night in 1882. One hundred and thirty years later his troubled spirit befriends a young violinist, Tamara, granddaughter of Polish refugees and encourages her to help him answer the questions "Who?" and "Why?". In doing so she confronts her own problems with the world. The story is vibrant and funny showing twenty-first century life through the eyes of a Victorian street urchin. The themes are occasio...

Tamara's in serious trouble. The young violinist is held captive in a New York hotel room and, deeply scared, she pleads for help from the only person in the world who can help her. But Tommy is the ghost of a Victorian street urchin. He knows nothing about the world outside the streets of Stepney in the East End of London and certainly nothing about the 21st century which appears so alien to him. But, by using all his ingenuity, he embarks on an extraordinary journey that involves getting...

Charity Stratton's bleak childhood is changed for ever when both her parents are killed in a fire. Separated by the authorities from her younger brothers and sister, Charity is sent out to work as a skivvy in a boys' boarding school. Her loneliness and misery are eased when she falls deeply in love with the dashing but fickle sixth-former, Hugh Mainwaring, but when she discovers she is pregnant with Hugh's baby she soon realises just how alone she really is.Determined to be reunite...

As a woman lies at death's door in hospital, her touching story, encapsulated in her diaries, springs back to life.In Miss You Forever, Josephine Cox writes a spell-binding saga of hidden lives and lost loves. Perfect for fans of Rosie Goodwin and Dilly Court.One winter's night, in the coal-hole in her yard, Rosie finds that a woman sheltering there has been severely beaten by thugs. At a glance, Kathleen looks like an unkempt, age...

A beautifully written piece of Canadian classic children's literature. The author, well known for her Green Gables bestsellers, tells the story of young Jane who finds out that her father is not dead and tries to reunite the family ...

Her husband was killed in the Great War. His wife is dead. Why not journey to the other side of the world and start again from scratch? What does it matter if they don't know each other, they will in time, after all? Norah thinks it is the most stupid idea she has ever heard. But Andrew needs no persuading. His kids are without a mother, he lives in a Lancashire town with no prospects: he can't wait to build a new life for himself in Australia. The government will even give ex-servicemen a...

A wonderful selection of 22 fantastical summer stories to read and share by one of the world's best-loved children's authors, Enid Blyton.School's out! So go on a picnic in the woods, visit the seaside or take a trip on a magic aeroplane in this enchanting collection of stories perfect for summer holidays.Enid Blyton has been delighting readers for more than seventy years with her endless summers of magic, fun and adventure. Enid's best-loved characters inc...

London, 1945 and as the end of the war is declared and the troops start returning home, the nurses of the East End are joining in the celebrations.For Nurse Connie Byrne the end of the war signals the beginning of a new chapter and as the revelries go on around the city, Connie's mind is on another celebration that she'll be able to arrange - the wedding to her sweetheart, Charlie, set to take place as soon as he arrives home. But when Connie meets Charlie off the train at London B...

"A picaresque novel to stop them all. Lusty, violent, wildly funny, it is a rigadoon of rascality, a bawled-out comic song of sex." (Dorothy Parker, Esquire)First published in Paris in 1955, and originally banned in the United States and Ireland, J. P. Donleavy's debut novel has since been recognized around the world as the masterful portrait of a charming and shameless American abroad.Meet Sebastian Dangerfield: husband, father, and American law s...

So you want to be a stand-up comedian? Well, here it is, folks. With the jokes you find in this little book you can be guaranteed far more rotten eggs than accolades. You might get away with it with the family, but not in public!

A timeless classic dealing with the complexity and hardships of relationships, addiction and faith.Judith Hearne, a Catholic middle-aged spinster, moves into yet another bed-sit in Belfast. A socially isolated woman of modest means, she teaches piano to a handful of students to pass the day. Her only social activity is tea with the O'Neill family, who secretly dread her weekly visits.Judith soon meets wealthy James Madden and fantasises about marrying this lively, debonair ...

A level 3 Oxford Bookworms Library graded reader. This version includes an audio book: listen to the story as you read. Retold for Learners of English by Clare West. Christmas is humbug, Scrooge says - just a time when you find yourself a year older and not a penny richer. The only thing that matters to Scrooge is business, and making money. But on Christmas Eve three spirits come to visit him. They take him travelling on the wings of the night to see the shadows of Christmas past, present...