It was curious that the aerial bombardment of London, which had ennobled so much that was normally sordid, should only debase a love affair between two people who had managed for three years to overcome the threat to their relations implicit in all such. To die together would be simple. It would not be so simple to be dug out still alive from the same collapsed building.Elizabeth Simpson is a secretary having an affair with her married boss. Her father is an air raid warde...

Bloomsbury presents Frankie & Stankie by Barbara Trapido, read by Amy Noble.Dinah and her sister Lisa are growing up in 1950s South Africa, where racial laws are tightening. They are two little girls from a dissenting liberal family. Big sister Lisa is strong and sensible, while Dinah is weedy and arty. At school, the sadistic Mrs Vaughan-Jones is providing instruction in mental arithmetic and racial prejudice. And then there's the puzzle of lunch break. "Would you rather ...

Bloomsbury presents Temples of Delight by Barbara Trapido, read by Amy Noble.Jem McCrail is a fantastical godsend to the timid young Alice Pilling. "Like a dropped acorn," she appears halfway through the week, halfway through the term, and halfway through Miss Aldridge’s Silent Reading Hour. Through the doorway she barely clears, wearing clothes like the urchin she encountered in her favorite P. G. Wodehouse story, Jem leads the stammering Alice into a world of culture, tr...

Bloomsbury presents The Travelling Hornplayer by Barbara Trapido, read by Amy Noble.Stunning and difficult, Stella Goldman is programmed for maximum nuisance capacity, but when she discovers both her father’s affair and her boyfriend’s infidelity on the same day, she flees into the arms of kindly Pen, who speaks as though he’s stepped out of Brief Encounter.Meanwhile, her friend Ellen struggles to come to terms with the death of her sister, Lydia, whose gh...

Bloomsbury presents Juggling by Barbara Trapido, read by Amy Noble.Sparky Christina and her saintly adopted sister Pam couldn’t be more different. Raised in New York, they are sent to boarding school in England where they meet the similarly mismatched friends Jago and Peter. The four embark on a dazzling series of pairings and partings, outrageous coincidences, and eleventh-hour entrances. Their camaraderie is interrupted one disastrous Halloween when schoolboy revelry tur...

Tired of the same old tourist traps?Whether you're a visitor or a local looking for something different, Vermont Off the Beaten Path shows you the Green Mountain State with new perspectives on timeless destinations and introduces you to those you never knew existed.Ski fresh powder at Smugglers Notch, Okemo, and dozens of other resortsSavor the best in locally produced food--from Cabot Creamery to Long Trail Brewing CompanyLearn about the state's s...

Lonely Planet's Finland is our most comprehensive guide that extensively covers all the country has to offer, with recommendations for both popular and lesser-known experiences. Relax in a traditional Finnish sauna, meet reindeers in Lapland and admire creative design in Helsinki; all with your trusted travel companion.Inside Lonely Planet's Finland Travel Guide:Lonely Planet's Top...

Bloomsbury presents Noah's Ark by Barbara Trapido, read by Amy Noble.________________________‘There is no mistaking Trapido's narrative talent: racy, vibrant and witty’ – Guardian‘Reading it is rather like being bombarded with sequins’ – Observer________________________Ali Bobrow is a single parent with a fraught nine-year-old daughter, a malevolent ex with a grabby new wife, and an underused artistic talent. A pushover when it comes to needy neighbou...

The most striking thing about Much Dithering was its peacefulness. The few people who saw it from charabancs on morning or evening or circular drives said: "Isn't it peaceful?" or "Isn't it quiet?". And some said they thought it was a lovely place to be buried in, but while they were alive they preferred a place with more life, if you knew what they meant.The unlikely heroine of this delightful comedy of manners is Jocelyn Renshawe, young widow of the local squire, "a spec...

I wonder how many women today are back in their pre-war ruts. For how many was the war merely a temporary disarrangement and for how many others has it meant complete re-adjustment, an entirely new set of circumstances? This is a stupid thought for me to have when, even in my own case, I don’t know the answer.Helen Townsend and neighbour Laura Watson are unlikely friends as a result of serving together in the ATS. Helen is married to the local doctor, but has spent much of...

“It’s awful to think that there are nine of us here to-day at this table and in six months’ time we may all be dead,” said Miss Purbeck. “There were thousands killed last night, so the bus conductor told me.”“You certainly are our little ray of sunshine,” said Elsie scornfully.Marjorie Wilenski’s only novel, as biting and funny as Barbara Pym at her crankiest, follows an office of women translators at the fictional Ministry of Foreign Intelligence in Londo...

“I don’t mind being alone at all. I was often here alone in the blitz, and I was so frightened of the bombs that I quite stopped being frightened of burglars.”World War II has ended, residents are flooding back to London, and the housing shortage creates strange bedfellows. Elinor MacFarren—middle-aged spinster, botanical writer, and collector of prints and objets d’art—decides to rent part of her house to Antonia Bankes, whose American husband is with the Occupation Force...