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Books > Fiction > True stories > General
The Puppy that Came for Christmas and Stayed Forever is Megan Rix's
bestselling memoir. When Megan and Ian got married, they wanted to
start a family. But their desire to be parents ended up bringing
one furry bundle of fun after another into their lives. At the same
time as embarking on difficult and traumatic fertility treatment,
Megan and Ian became involved with a charity which provides helper
dogs to people with disabilities. And into their home one day came
Emma, a soft, sweet-natured puppy with whom they fell instantly in
love. However, after six months Emma had completed her training and
was given to someone in need. To get over their broken hearts,
Megan and Ian took in another pup: Freddy. And fell in love all
over again . . . only for Freddy to move on too. Megan and Ian
didn't know if they could keep taking in these adorable puppies and
giving them away later. It was getting too hard, too painful. But
then, one Christmas, little Traffy came along . . . If you liked
Marley and Me then The Puppy that Came for Christmas but Stayed
Forever is for you. Megan Rix's heart-warming seasonal story will
have everyone yearning for a bit of puppy love in their lives.
Megan Rix lives in England with her husband, and their adorable
dogs, Traffy and Bella. She is a Sunday Times best-selling author,
and her other books include The Great Escape, and a host of
children's books written under the pen-name Ruth Symes.
After leaving the Merchant Navy Kevin Cooney started out on his own
with a humble back-garden engineering shop. A chance encounter led
him to specialise in manufacturing stainless steel components for
yachts, and it wasn't long before he caught the sailing bug
himself. Thanks to ingenuity, determination and a great deal of
hard work, Kevin managed to pilot Cooney Marine successfully
through the difficult decades of British industrial strife and
build it into the largest independent supplier of stainless steel
rails and fittings in the UK. Now semi-retired and with his son at
the helm, Kevin is free to indulge his passion by sailing the
oceans and even crossing the Atlantic several times. This book is
based on the diary he has been keeping for more than 40 years.
John Birmingham is a master of good writing and funny lines. He has
written a thousand stories, some true, some not so much. These are
the best ones and they're so good, and so funny, there has been no
barrel-scraping involved. Really, this book could have been much
longer. The pieces contained within these pages run the gamut from
the early felafel days to the shiny age we live in where Donald
Trump is the President of the USA. And it does not shy away from
the greatest controversy of our age: potato cake vs potato scallop.
These hilarious pieces cover a wide range of topics from food to
fitness and politics to pork, in all its glories. And, of course,
fashion. Ever the equal opportunist, John Birmingham skewers them
all. Sales Points John Birmingham has 60,000 twitter followers and
a devoted blog following. Local and International fans of John
Birmingham's blog will jump on this hilarious collection.
Extraordinarily diverse collection of pieces ends up being more
than a sum of its parts. He can be politically-charged one minute
and make observations about home life that will make readers
grimace and guffaw at once. The book will appeal to Gen-X readers
as well as those - older and younger - who are into Richard Glover,
Benjamin Law, David Sedaris, Amy Schumer. Pieces are both timeless
(yes to a '90s revival) and timely (imagine Paul Keating on the
phone to Donald Trump). Quite a few of them will make you snort
coffee through your nose from laughter. Really. The title 'Stranger
Thingies' is inspired by the popular TV series Stranger Things,
binge-watched by millions, but stands on its own.
Schaefer shares the individual stories of seven people-rancher,
sheepherder, homesteader, town settler, soldier, miner, and
cowboy-in this collection. He tells the tales as they can only be
told: in the open spaces of the Old West. In these memorable
narratives Schaefer depicts the unique conflicts of settler life
and captures the spirit of the resolute, willful, determined, and
broken characters found on the Western frontier.
In her acclaimed 1993 book Denying the Holocaust, Deborah Lipstadt
called David Irving, a prolific writer of books on World War II,
"one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial." The
following year, after Lipstadt's book was published in the United
Kingdom, Irving filed a libel suit against Lipstadt and her
publisher. She prepared her defense with the help of a first-rate
team of solicitors, historians, and experts, and a dramatic trial
unfolded. Denial, previously published as History on Trial, is
Lipstadt's riveting, blow-by-blow account of this singular legal
battle, which resulted in a formal denunciation of a Holocaust
denier that crippled the movement for years to come. Lipstadt's
victory was proclaimed on the front page of major news- papers
around the world, such as The Times (UK), which declared that
'history has had its day in court and scored a crushing victory.'"
Amazing and inspirational stories from Jacky Newcomb show us that
our beloved pets can communicate with us from the other side. Our
pets are our family, our best friends and letting go of them is
hugely difficult. In this collection of stories and real-life
experiences, angel and afterlife expert Jacky Newcomb explains that
we will be reunited with them again. Here are wonderful, uplifting
stories of times when beloved pets communicated with their loved
ones from the other side. In dreams and visitations, best friends
come back from the other side to protect, support and help us.
Family is not always a place of safety. Kathleen was just eight
years old when her mother was tragically killed in a car accident.
And when her father remarries it is to the bitter and resentful
Irene who has two children of her own and no space in her heart for
another. Irene goes out of her way to make Kathleen's life as
miserable as possible and will stop at nothing to get her out of
their lives... When Kathleen is sixteen, a shocking incident rocks
the family, and life takes a darker turn. Among this darkness,
Kathleen finds a glimmer of hope in an older man, but Irene is
ruthless in her mission to destroy her. Can Kathleen find happiness
or is she destined for tragedy?
Have you ever wondered what goes on behind closed doors at a
psychic reading? Meet 'Selfridges Psychic' Jayne Wallace who reads
for over 100 international clients every week - from CID officers
to media moguls, housewives to royalty and celebrities. Now she
opens her client casebook to share the most shocking, touching and
simply amazing readings that will make you laugh and cry - and
leave you in no doubt that the spirit lives on. Jayne is renowned
for getting straight to the point, with no preamble - she has seen
spirits since the age of five and connects quickly to a person's
loved ones who have passed, bringing important messages and
healing. In My Psychic Casebook, Jayne tells the stories exactly as
they happened, and explains the techniques she uses to link with
her clients. Just like a good novel, you'll be instantly engrossed
- except that all these stories are true. As the only department
store medium in the world, in this short story, Jayne offers a
unique insight into the work of a top clairvoyant, as well as
shining a light on the remarkable truths behind the questions that
concern us all.
As a single 51-year-old woman, Elizabeth McDonnell had given up
hope of ever becoming a mother. When she was approved to adopt
ten-year-old Lara, a sweet and caring girl, it was a dream come
true. Elizabeth knew that that her new daughter had had a difficult
past but when she found out that Lara had been abused, the extent
of her emotional damage became clear. By the age of twelve, Lara
was often out of control, hanging out with drug dealers in Oxford,
disappearing for days. For the next five years Elizabeth put
herself in danger to rescue her daughter time and time again, while
battling the authorities who failed to give Lara the help she so
desperately needed. She had no idea that her daughter was being
trafficked by a sex ring. Because she refused to give up on Lara,
today Elizabeth and Lara have a close and loving relationship.
Deeply moving, You Can't Have My Daughter is the story of a mother
determined to keep her promise to her daughter: 'I will always be
there for you, whether you want me to or not'.
Our pets are our family. They love us, comfort us and make us laugh
- so it's no wonder that letting them go is so hard. But amazing
and inspirational true stories from Jacky Newcomb show that we will
be reunited with them again. From dreams to visitations, there have
been numerous accounts of furry friends appearing to their owners
from heaven. Old dogs have been rejuvenated to puppies, injured
cats restored to their former selves, and there have even been
stories of horses being cared for by loved ones who have gone ahead
before us. Magical, comforting and truly incredible, Dogs in Heaven
reveals the uplifting truth behind your prayers.
Have you ever wondered where we go when we cross through the light
at the end of the tunnel? Or what - and who - is waiting for us on
the other side? Angel expert Jacky Newcomb brings light where there
was darkness with more unique and incredible true stories from the
world beyond the veil. Through the miraculous accounts of those
brought back from the brink of death, and the astonishing stories
of those who've experienced visits from loved ones who've passed
on, Jacky shares with us the glimpses of heaven we could only
imagine until now - and the life changing effects they have had on
those lucky enough to experience them. Beautifully told and
compelling in nature, "Touching Heaven" is as beguiling as it is
revealing.
Behind the notorious Hudson men who dominated the Canterbury Estate
for over 30 years were the girls, and my mam Shirley. Whether
marrying into or determined to escape from it, the third instalment
of this gritty series recounts the incredible stories of the
unflinching women behind the legendary Hudson family. The
Canterbury Estate in Bradford during the '50s and '60s was a
tight-knit community reared on poverty, crime and violence, and at
the top of the heap were the infamous Hudson family. But it wasn't
just the boys who had a story to tell: from matriarch Annie, who
gave birth to 13 children, to daughters Margaret and Eunice, who
married up and out, each had a personality as indomitable as the
last. Then came Shirley Read, who was just 17 when she fell in love
with Keith, one of the Hudson lads. To Shirley, the only child of
affluent parents, the poverty of the unruly estate was as exciting
as it was mysterious; newspapers for tablecloths, jam jars for
cups, and, even by that time, no electricity. But it was a
friendship forged with Annie and June, the younger Hudson sisters,
that would teach Shirley not only to how to survive,
Canterbury-style, but would also give her the strength to overcome
an unexpected personal tragedy that would soon become a nightmare
for women across the world... Eye-opening and warm, this is the
vivid account of the 'Tucker' girls; the resourceful women at the
helm of a notorious Bradford family who will never be forgotten.
If you lived on the notorious Canterbury Estate in the '40s and
'50s, then you knew there was one man you did not want to cross:
Charlie Hudson. A solitary man, feared and respected by the
gangsters of the time, Charlie was a boxer who never lost a fight,
in or out of the ring - the most infamous of The Canterbury
Warriors. My Uncle Charlie, the second title in the explosive
series unravels a story of debauchery, crime and self-destruction.
Charlie Hudson was a born leader. The eldest of eight brothers and
four sisters and with a boxer for a father, fighting was in his
blood. And as the young protege of local Italian gangster, Mr
Cappovanni, Charlie not only learned to knock every opponent out,
he also learned the tools of the crime and extortion trade well;
emerging into adulthood in the middle of the war years as a natural
heir: running cons, illegal books and a band of prostitutes. But
when Charlie met Betty, a sweet, caring girl, he was determined to
be a better man for her. He'd still deal with 'business' but no
more would he bed his working girls, and the birth of their baby
girl, Elizabeth, sealed it: he knew life could not get any better.
But for a man who had only ever lived in the belly of the
Canterbury Estate underworld, it could definitely get worse...
Gritty and engrossing, book two of the Hudson family saga delves
deeper into history of the infamous Canterbury Warriors; the true
story of one man's ascendancy to power, and the tragedy that
brought it all crashing down.
On 16 August 2012 the most shocking carnage in South Africa’s
recent history occurred in the platinum mining town of Rustenburg:
the Marikana shooting that left 34 striking miners dead. This book
tells the story behind the newspaper headlines. Who was involved?
Where did the miners, mostly migrant workers, come from and what
were their personal circumstances? The authors explore the
realities of their lives and also tells the story of “the man in
the green blanket”, who became a symbol of the strike. The broader
context is investigated: what was the role of the mines – Lonmin in
particular – and the competing unions, NUM and Amcu? What role did
traditional beliefs play – did a witch doctor aggravate the
situation? A striking photo section of mostly unpublished photos
also chronicles the events from a different angle. Through incisive
investigative journalism the events and parties involved are
identified and their role analysed. The findings of the Marikana
commission will also be included.
'It's not me then?' she says. A little bit of my heart breaks, and
I struggle to swallow down the lump in my throat. 'No Jane, it's
not you. You were right.' Why won't he ever let you use his phone?
Why is he always going on about that girl from work? Is he cheating
on you? There's one way to find out - ask him. Then (when he lies)
call Rebecca Jane, founder and owner of the Lady Detective Agency.
The Agency is one of the UK's most successful female private
detective services. It exists for one purpose: to find the truth.
Whether that means trailing a transsexual prostitute through the
streets of London, following suspected cheats on stag parties,
tracking down someone's beloved pet ferret or uncovering famous
people's affairs, Rebecca and her elite team will help. Whatever it
takes. Their extraordinary dedication stems from first-hand
experience of deception. Here Rebecca not only reveals her clients'
fascinating stories, but her own rollercoaster journey too - from
early success to crushing failure, scandal, abuse and affairs, and
ultimately to finding true love. At times heartbreaking, hilarious
and eye-opening, this vibrantly-written compilation of stories
introduces us to a sparkling and witty new voice in Rebecca and her
crack team of female detectives who are always ready to solve any
case, no matter how big or small. For the first time, the Agency is
opening its doors and revealing its secrets. Guilty consciences
beware.
Hospital Babylon is an in-depth, amusing and highly insightful
expose of the extraordinary world of modern medicine. It will take
the reader on a journey through the various departments and wards
where babies are made, thighs are reduced, noses straightened and
spare kidneys are flown in from the Indian subcontinent. We will
meet doctors who sleep with nurses. Doctors who sleep with
patients. Doctors who fiddle their insurance forms. Doctors who
suck fat, pump up breasts, plump lips and lengthen penises. The
doctor who specialises in flatulence. The doctor who shoots up
before he operates. Doctor Feelgood who will give you anything and
everything you need. As well as the doctor who makes a fortune
doing buttock enlargements in the Caribbean. En route, we will
discover what touches them, what amuses them and quite how
obsessively insane you have to be to make it to the top. Why does a
private room cost over GBP1000 a night? Who are the people changing
your bedpan? Holding your hand as you go to sleep? What do they do
to you while you're out cold? Why are drugs so expensive? How easy
is it for the pharmaceutical companies to grease the good doctor's
palm? Who exactly is profiting from your illness, embarrassing
affliction or brand new nose? And, of course, what happens when it
all goes wrong? Packed with true stories, anecdotes and
revelations, Hospital Babylon is a riveting, entertaining and
shocking look at 24 hours in the life of a hospital. Both amusing
and appalling, it will make you question whether you should sign
that consent form after all...
Tales of Hardship, Love and Happiness in Tate & Lyle's East End
Factories. The Sugar Girls went straight to No.10 in the Sunday
Times Bestseller List, spending five weeks in the top ten. 'On an
autumn day in 1944, Ethel Alleyne walked the short distance from
her house to Tate & Lyle's refinery on the shining curve of the
Thames. Looking up at the giant gates, Ethel felt like she had been
preparing for this moment all her life. She smoothed down her
frizzy hair, scraped a bit of dirt off the corner of her shoe and
strode through. She was quite unprepared for the sight that met her
eyes ...' In the years leading up to and after the Second World War
thousands of women left school at fourteen to work in the bustling
factories of London's East End. Despite long hours, hard and often
hazardous work, factory life afforded exciting opportunities for
independence, friendship and romance. Of all the factories that
lined the docks, it was at Tate & Lyle's where you could earn
the most generous wages and enjoy the best social life, and it was
here where The Sugar Girls worked. Through the Blitz and on through
the years of rationing The Sugar Girls kept Britain sweet. The work
was back-breakingly hard, but Tate & Lyle was more than just a
factory, it was a community, a calling, a place of love and support
and an uproarious, tribal part of the East End. From young Ethel to
love-worn Lillian, irrepressible Gladys to Miss Smith who tries to
keep a workforce of flirtatious young men and women on the straight
and narrow, this is an evocative, moving story of hunger, hardship
and happiness. Tales of adversity, resilience and youthful high
spirits are woven together to provide a moving insight into a lost
way of life, as well as a timeless testament to the experience of
being young and female. www.thesugargirls.com
Memoirs of an Albanian emigrant in Australia.
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