Joanna Trollope

Susie Moran is a success. She has founded and run her own highly profitable company, and now her three daughters are all involved in the business. But can the needs of a family business override the needs of the family itself? In wanting to preserve her business, will Susie lose something much more precious?

Gina and Laurence have been the best of friends ever since they were teenagers. They have never been in love - just friends. When her husband leaves Gina and their teenage daughter, she turns for emotional support to Laurence, her dearest friend. And as Laurence gives comfort, so his own marriage and the stability of his children edges towards destruction …

At thirty-eight, with a husband, home, family and a part-time job, Alice feel she should be happy. Instead a secret is gnawing away at her - she cannot read. With the help of a strange companion, the book boy, she embarks on a journey to learn.

Natalie and David are brother and sister who have always been close, even though they have both been adopted. They have always insisted that this didn't matter, but when Natalie feels the urge to trace her roots, she insists that David do the same. She eventually discovers that answers can sometimes be harder to live with than questions.

Aldminster Cathedral faces financial problems and the fate of the choir hangs in the balance.

The engagement of Julia to Richard Beaumont is the event of the year at the Hampshire estate of Julia's parents in 1814. But for Eliza Stanhope, Julia's cousin and childhood companion, it is a matter for scorn not congratulations. Surely one should marry for love and not for social advantage? However, Richard's presence brings the unexpected consequence of meeting his younger brother, Francis. Francis is newly returned from the Peninsular war, accompanied by a delightful fellow officer and friend, Pelham Howell. In the first of these new acquaintances Eliza meets a spirit as fierce as her own, in the second a charm and devotion she never thought to receive.

Friday nights, the best night of the week, the night they all looked forward to more than they cared to admit - talking, drinking, laughing and crying together. They were six female friends, different in age and circumstances, but with one common need: the warmth and support of their Friday nights. It was a time to share secrets and fears, triumphs and tragedies and, above all, to feel safe in the company of women friends. But things never stay the same forever, especially when a man is introduced into the mix...

For the children of sixties swingers life offers infinite opportunities.The men can't commit and the girls can't reconcile independence with motherhood. Bedevilled by indecision, they find that time is slipping away!

Bestselling author Joanna Trollope has been described as one of the most insightful chroniclers and social commenters writing fiction today. Her books have been translated into over 25 languages, and several have been adapted for television. This collection comprises the BBC Radio dramatisations of her historical novel Parson Harding's Daughter (written under the nom de plume Caroline Harvey) and two of her most popular contemporary novels, A Spanish Lover and Second Honeymoon, as well as an edition of the literary chat show The Book Cafe.

Parson Harding's Daughter - 1775, and Caroline Harding's only suitor has disappeared to India without her. A plain, impoverished rector's daughter, she is left with few prospects - so when tragedy strikes, she has no choice but to sail to Calcutta, bound for marriage to a man she hasn't seen for eight years... Rebecca Egan stars in this engaging love story, winner of the 1980 Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

A Spanish Lover - Lizzie and Frances are twins, but while Lizzie appears to have everything, Frances' life seems to lack romance. But when Frances impulsively jets off to Spain, everything changes. While Frances discovers excitement and adventure, Lizzie's world begins to fall apart...Starring Jemma Redgrave as Frances, with Caroline Langrishe as Lizzie.

Second Honeymoon - When Edie's youngest son leaves home she tries to come to terms with the empty nest, but her husband's thoughts turn to the second honeymoon that is about to begin. Or so he thinks... Starring Christine Kavanagh as Edie and Sam Dale as Russell.

Guy Stockdale, High Court Judge, had slipped easily into an affair with Merrion Palmer, a barrister half his age. After seven years Guy announced that he was divorcing his wife to marry Merrion. This decision had unseen consequences for his whole family.

It's been twenty-five years since Gus and Monica left England to start a new life in Spain, building a vineyard and wine business from the ground up. However, when Gus suffers a stroke and their idyllic Mediterranean life is thrown into upheaval, it's left to their three grown-up children in London to step in . . . Sebastian is busy running his company with his wife, Anna, who's never quite seen eye-to-eye with her mother-in-law. Katie, a successful solicitor in the City, is distracted by the problems with her long-term partner, Nic, and the secretive lives of their three daughters. 

And Jake, ever the easy-going optimist, is determined to convince his new wife, Bella, that moving to Spain with their eighteen-month-old would be a good idea. As the children descend on the vineyard, it becomes clear that each has their own idea of how best to handle their mum and dad, as well as the family business. But as long-simmering resentments rise to the surface and tensions reach breaking point, can the family ties prove strong enough to keep them together?

When Caro Meredith dies, some well-kept secrets emerge which throw her family into disarray. It takes an outsider to help them come to terms with the revelations, but first they have to face up to some painful truths.

Chrissie always believed that Richie loved her and their three daughters and their happy, lively existence. But he had never given her the security of marriage. And then, suddenly, Richie is no longer there, and the one fact she had always tried to keep from her daughters threatens to overwhelm them. For Richie had still been married to his first wife, with a son that he had abandoned in Newcastle. And now, with Richie gone and wills to be sorted out, it is finally time for the two families to face each other ...

For eight-year-old Rufus life has become complicated. His parents, Josie and Tom, have divorced and are setting off on separate paths. But now, other people have become involved, like his mother's new husband Matthew and his father's new friend Elizabeth. Rufus secretly prefers to be with his father, in his peaceful flat in Bath, where he realises that he doesn't actually hate the idea of a stepmother But where other people's children are concerned, neat solutions seldom occur ...

When Archie Logan’s father brings his charming mistress to stay with his son and wife, their lives are turned upside-down.

Anna Bouverie is the Rector's wife. She irons his surplices, delivers the parish newletters, and scrimps to get by on the pittance the Church pays while keeping up appearances for the gossipy villagers. As she watches her children suffer from lack of funds, and her husband withdraws into his work. Anna comes to realize that she's willing to do whatever it takes to save herself...

At twenty-two Ben is moving out, leaving his mother distraught. His father meanwhile is looking forward to reclaiming his wife after years of family life. But as ben, and his siblings' lives get more complicated they retreat to the safety and simplicity of home!

The Dashwood sisters could hardly be more different. Elinor, an architecture student, values discretion above all. Her impulsive sister Marianne dreams of going to art school. When the family are forced out of Norland Park, their beloved home, their values are severely put to the test. Part of ‘The Austen Project’, where renowned authors adapt Austen’s novels for the present day.

Lizzie and Frances are twins and very close. Lizzie has everything, family and successful career, whereas Frances leads a solitary life. When Frances announces she is going to Spain instead of coming to Lizzie’s for Christmas it seems like a threat to their unity.

Rose Woodrowe has just got engaged to Tyler Masson - a wonderful, sensitive man who is head-over-heels in love with her. The only problem? This isn't the first time for either of them, and their five grown-up children have strong opinions on the matter . . .  Like Rose's daughter, Laura, who remembers her parents' painful divorce and doesn't want to see her mother hurt again. Or the twins, Emmy and Nat, who simply don't trust the man their mother has fallen for.

Then there's Tyler's children: Seth, too busy with his San Francisco sourdough bakery to get to know his father's new partner; and Mallory, the aspiring actress, who is still wrestling with the issues of her own childhood. Who to listen to? Who to please? Rose and Tyler are determined to get it right this time, but in trying to make everyone happy, can they ever be happy themselves?

A love affair between two young women shocks and divides a village in rural England.

Julia Hunter and Kate Bain both have partners considerably older than themselves. They are both supremely happy but when Kate’s partner knocks a fiercely independent spinster from her bicycle a chain of unsettling events is unleashed and fuels the discontent in both girls.