There was a delicate tracery of gold foil on the back of the dress. How strange that such a consummately made garment should be worn for this one day only. But, as every girl growing up understood, her wedding day was the most significant she would know: a woman's crowning glory.Catherine Havisham was born into privilege. Handsome, imperious, she is the daughter of a wealthy brewer, and lives in luxury in Satis House. But she is never far from the smell of hops and the arr...

All three series of Ronald Frame’s acclaimed drama set in a luxury hotel in the Scottish Highlands, plus ten spin-off storiesThe Carnbeg Hydro is a high-class spa resort set amidst the scenic wooded foothills of the Grampians. Over 100 years old, it’s a grand country hotel in the old tradition – but times have changed, and the Hydro must change with them. Following her husband’s death in a speedboat accident, Fee Drummond has taken over as managing director, and is...

Mariel Baxter, a famous American soprano, has suddenly cancelled all her recitals and flown to Vienna. In the 1980s she came to the city to study the art of lieder singing with the reclusive Ursule Kroll, one of the brightest stars of the Nazi era and a favourite of the Führer himself. The two haven't communicated since Mariel's unexpected departure over twenty-five years ago. So why has Mariel come back? As Ursule and Mariel play a dangerous cat-and-mouse game, terrible revelations about ...

Ronald Frame’s BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation starring Forbes Masson as the detective Allan Pinkerton, originally broadcast in the 'Afternoon Play' slot on Tuesday 2 March 2010.In the new immigrant community of 1840s America, Scotsman Allan Pinkerton turns detective when an influx of counterfeit dollars threatens the local economy. With Forbes Masson as Allan Pinkerton, Rachel Ogilvy as Joan Pinkerton and Sam Dale as John Craig. Also starring Marcella Riordan, Robert Jezek, Alison Pet...

A BBC Radio full-cast drama which tells a story of love and deception set during the Cold War. Written by Ronald Frame for BBC Radio Scotland and broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of the 'Drama on 3' collection in September 2008. Throughout the period of the Cold War in the late 1960s and early 1970s, 'romeo spies' were operating, targeting bright and susceptible young women. Alice Reeves, a young secretary from London, unwittingly becomes romantically involved with Otto Hanhart - an East G...

A collection of three comic tales from BBC Radio 4, ‘The Greengrocer’s Apostrophe’, inspired by those hand-written signs offering ‘Apple's and Banana's’ which can be found in every town in Britain. Originally broadcast in the ‘Afternoon Reading’ slots from 28-30 September 2010. ‘Penny's from Heaven’ by Anneliese Mackintosh: James Anthony Pearson reads a quirky story about the apostrophe that ends a relationship. Produced by Eilidh McCreadie. ‘Alice, Hanging in There’ by Ronald Frame: When ...

Fresh, funny crime series for fans of Jasper Fforde and M.C. Beaton.'Delightful and original... A series that could well become a cult' DAILY MAIL.125 Gower Street, 1882.Queen Victoria may sit on the throne and Robert Peel's bobbies walk the street, but London is still haunted by the spectre of Spring-heeled Jack.The demons of vice and poverty rule the capital: ruffian gangs, pickpockets, prostitutes ...

‘Addictively compelling’ The Times‘A joy to read’ Maggie O’FarrellAs she watched, the darkness unfolded itself, stood and took the shape of a young black woman, barefoot, in a yellow dress. Now Honor must actually do something, though she did not yet know what.Honor Bright is a sheltered Quaker who has rarely ventured out of 1850s Dorset when she impulsively emigrates to America. Opposed to the slavery that defines and divi...

MESTRA -THE NEW SHORT STORY BY MADELINE MILLER OUT 29 SEPTEMBER**OVER 3 MILLION COPIES SOLD**WINNER OF THE ORANGE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTIONTHE INTERNATIONAL SENSATIONA SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'Captivating' DONNA TARTT'A book I could not put down' ANN PATCHETT'Ravishingly vivid' EMMA DON...

**A fascinating biographical novel of America's must successful bank robber, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Tender Bar.★ "Electrifying." —Booklist (starred review)**Willie Sutton was born in the Irish slums of Brooklyn in 1901, and he came of age at a time when banks were out of control. Sutton saw only one way out and only one way to win the girl of his dreams. So began the career of America's most successful bank robber. Durin...

The phenomenal number one bestseller and a major BBC TV series.A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick.Winner of the Specsavers National Book Award and Waterstones Book of the Year.**Beautiful, intoxicating and filled with heart-pounding suspense, Jessie Burton's historical novel set in Amsterdam, The Miniaturist, is a story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution.'Completely immerses the reader in ...

Now a major TV series Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2012 Winner of the 2012 Costa Book of the Year Shortlisted for the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction‘Simply exceptional…I envy anyone who hasn’t yet read it’ Daily Mail‘A gripping story of tumbling fury and terror’ Independent on SundayWith this historic win for Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel becomes the first British author and the first woman to be aw...