I Ve Had A Good Innings

Joan started writing in 1973 at a time when she was desperate, alone and faced with life-changing decisions. She started scribbling down her feelings on scraps of paper, and never stopped writing for the next 40 years. Her scribbling turned into her autobiography. An ordinary woman from London's East end, Joan lived an extraordinary life, becoming the youngest Mayoress ever. The first person to set up a computer dating service, she became a successful business-woman and a psychic counsellor, all whilst battling with the then-unknown problem of dyslexia. "I wrote my life-story from my gut, not my brain. I've never read a book in my life, and go to pieces when I have to write a letter." Joan did not have an easy life, but after painful loss and much sorrow and illness, she finds peace and fulfilment in dance. An inspiring life told with humour and a forgiving spirit.

Can love survive the worst betrayal of all? From the moment Elizabeth Nugent arrives to live on his family’s farm in Shropshire, Richard Wilde is in love with her. And as they grow up, it seems like nothing can keep them apart. But as the Second World War rages, Richard is sent to fight in the jungles of Burma, leaving Elizabeth to deal with a terrible secret that could destroy his family. Despite the distance between them, though, Richard and Elizabeth’s love remains constant through war, tragedy and betrayal. But once the fighting is over, will the secrets and lies that Elizabeth has been hiding keep them apart for ever?

Celebrating the work of one of Ireland's most daring theatre companies, this anthology gathers five plays by established and emerging playwrights. They include vibrant new adaptations of the world classics Peer Gynt and Phaedra alongside vital new dramas that explore issues of urgent contemporary concern, such as sex and sexuality, emigration and climate change. With contributions from Hilary Fannin and Ellen Cranitch, Arthur Riordan, Sonya Kelly, Morna Regan, and Shane Mac an Bhaird – as well as a foreword from Booker Prize-winning novelist Anne Enright - this book is an exciting snapshot of contemporary Irish playwriting. The book operates as a showcase of outstanding new Irish playwriting, blending work by established and emerging playwrights, and also acts as a celebration of one of Ireland's most important theatre companies. And it includes new plays that demonstrate Rough Magic's consistent willingness to push the boundaries of Irish theatre, both formally and thematically, in plays that cover such topics as sex and sexuality, emigration and climate change. This edition contains a foreword by Anne Enright, Booker prize winner and Laureate of Irish Fiction.

A delightful new series set in a quaint old bookshop, for fans of Lucy Diamond and Jenny Colgan. Where happy ever after is only a page away...

The fate and happiness of a family rest on the shoulders of two young sisters... Mersey Maids by Anne Baker depicts a family's battle against poverty, and two sisters' struggles in life and love. Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Lyn Andrews. When widower Henry Knell loses his glove-making business to the Dransfields his life is well and truly ruined. With his six young daughters, he moves into rented rooms in a Merseyside back street. Meanwhile, Hattie and Maggie, the eldest girls, are trying to hold the family together. Sophie Dransfield's husband, Daniel, takes pity on the poverty-stricken Knells and offers Maggie a job as a maid in the Dransfields' nursery. Maggie's beautiful blonde hair soon catches the eye of Sophie's brother Tom, whose dashing brother, Luke, is equally enchanted by Hattie when she joins the household as a lady's maid. But the fortunes of the two sisters do not run according to plan... What readers are saying about Mersey Maids: 'One of her best!... An absolute blinder' 'I could not put the book down - it was just like you were there'

The Story book The Magic Phone. Stan and ‘Arry’ have a chance to talk about their mistakes in life, set records straight and say ‘Sorry’. What could possibly go wrong?The Contest. Brass Bands and a peaceful domestic life with Isabella just don’t go together. Tim is unambitious in a macho world and just wants a quiet life. But what about Jenny?The Great Pretender. This can’t be true! Or can it? The creation of a world acclaimed classic by the biggest band of the seventies or a nightmare?Waiting. What do men think about when women are shopping? TRANZYSN. ‘A change is gonna come but still everything remains the same.’ All Rudyard Millard's problems can be solved by money. Well not actually ‘money’ folk stopped using that a long time ago.The Gun. Reg Moorcroft is safe and reliable. His world is one of Magnolia Emulsion and grey gloss paint. Familiar holidays to France, mowing the lawn and washing the garage door. And then--.