Clare Francis

There can be a lot of understandable fear and worry when a loved one receives a diagnosis of dementia. Whilst the stigma of dementia can be powerful it should not restrict a person from finding meaning and purpose in life. Psychologists Dr Michelle Hamill and Dr Martina McCarthy believe that a holistic and relationship-centred understanding of dementia can help to acknowledge the challenges of the condition, whilst enabling people to live with dignity.

This book provides insights and ideas to improve quality of life for both you and your loved one, drawing on the experiences of people who are caring for a person with dementia from our services.

Whilst every situation is unique, this book will give you the confidence and advice you need to help you support your loved one.

Emma and Agathe are sisters. They grew up together yet are very different. Agathe, the youngest, messy, and ardent, has always taken up all the space in the bath, in the bedroom, and in Emma's heart

After five years of unexplained silence, Emma arranges to meet Agathe in the family's holiday home. After their beloved grandmother passed away, the place must be emptied, and the memories revisited

The two sisters have a week to tell each other everything and make up for the time they spent apart. Will they be able to fix the past in the beauty of the summer in the Basque Country, where their childhood is knocking at the door?

At midsummer the Cornish villagers of Trevennick dance around bonfires and make offerings to the river. It's not the sort of thing that appeals to Audrey Delaney, who is very much a city mouse. But when her (sort of) boyfriend Noah whisks her away on a surprise trip to the West Country, she's determined to do the best she can to enjoy herself, if that's what it takes to remove the question mark from their relationship.

Then their first night ends in tragedy, and Audrey finds herself embroiled in a police enquiry and unsure who to trust. She'll have to untangle the mysteries of this insular community quickly, though, because people are dying fast. 

Pearl and Ellen work at top-secret codebreaking HQ, Bletchley Park.

Pearl is the youngest. A messenger at sixteen, she's untidy, lively, bright, and half in love with the wrong boy, Richard. Her circle of friends overlaps with his - the dashing young men on their motorcycles who courier the secrets that Bletchley deciphers.

Ellen is a codebreaker. Reserved, analytical and beautiful. She never expected to get close to a girl like Pearl - or fall for a chap like Dennis.

But when tragedy strikes, their logical world is upended, with both friends caught in a spy plot that rocks the very heart of the war effort. Who can they turn to now? Who can they trust? And above all, can they unmask the traitor in their midst before it's too late?

As resonant with social and political themes as 'The Golden Notebook', Lessing returns to the realism of her early fiction with the wisdom and experience of maturity.

The diaries introduce us to Jane, an intelligent and beautiful magazine editor concerned with success, clothes and comfort. But her real inadequacy is highlighted when first her husband, then her mother, die from cancer and Jane feels strangely removed. In an attempt to fill this void, she befriends ninety-something Maudie, whose poverty and squalor contrast so radically with the glamour and luxury of the magazine world. The two gradually come to depend on each other - Maudie delighting Jane with tales of London in the 1920s and Jane trying to care for the rapidly deteriorating old woman.

England, in the mid-fifties. Meg Bailey has always aspired to live a respectable life. With her best friend, Roxane, she moves from secondary school to an un-bohemian art college in Oxford. Under the watchful eye of Roxanne's mother, Mrs Wheeler, the two girls flourish in Oxfordian society. But Meg constantly longs for more. Not content to stay in Oxford, she finds a job in London. Roxane stays behind and marries Dick, a man of Mrs Wheeler's choosing.

As Meg's independence grows, Dick suddenly appears in London for work. A connection to her past, Meg and Dick's friendship flourishes, blurring the lines of loyalty between what is and what was in a way that changes life for these three friends forever.

Discover this brooding collection of short stories from one of Britain's finest writers. A world where everyday life crackles with the electricity sparking between men and women, between parents and children, between friends.

A son confesses to his mother that he is cheating on his girlfriend; a student falls in love with her lecturer and embarks on an affair with a man in the pub who looks just like him. Young mothers pent-up in childcare dream treacherously of other possibilities; a boy becomes aware of the woman, a guest at his parents' holiday home, who is pressing up too close against him on the beach.

Hidden away inside the present, the past is explosive; the future can open unexpectedly out of any chance encounter; ordinary moments are illuminated with lightning flashes of dread or pleasure. These stories about family life are somehow undomesticated and dangerous.

Jane Austen famously lived a 'life without incident'. But with new research and insights, Lucy Worsley reveals a passionate woman who, far from being a lonely spinster, in fact had at least five marriage prospects, and in the end refused to settle for anything less than Mr Darcy.

If you're trying to hunt down a top grade, you're on the right track. This brilliant Text Guide contains everything GCSE English students need to write simply marvellous essays on J.B. Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls'.

It's packed with crystal-clear, easy-to-read notes on the plot, characters, themes, writer's techniques and context - plus quick warm-up activities, in-depth exercises and realistic exam-style questions at the end of sections, alongside challenging questions for students aiming for Grades 8-9.

First book of the Balkan Trilogy. Newly married Guy and Harriet Pringle arrive in Bucharest in the autumn of 1939, where Guy is to teach English at the university. They find a city of contrasts, peopled with a cast of sometimes eccentric characters and overshadowed by the tension of war.

Though from very different backgrounds, Daphne and Daisy move as one – living in the same apartment, pursuing writing careers and attracted to the same man. Rose Macaulay brings her customary satirical wit to a novel about identity and deceit, drawing on sharp observations of the print press’s attitude to women, and prefiguring the age of social media with our fixation on how we appear to others.

Jennifer and her family are starting their new life in a small village in Brittany. It’s their first family Christmas in the village and Jennifer decides to throw a party for some of the other expats.

But before the festivities can really get started, they realise estate agent Adam is missing… Jennifer and Pippa are horrified to find him face down in the fish pond. A tragic accident... or something more sinister?

Adam’s death shakes the whole community. All the Brits in the area bought their homes from him. Who would want to hurt him?

The French police are making slow progress. So Jennifer and Pippa start doing some digging. Can they solve the mystery before anyone else dies?

Book 1 in the Brittany Murder Mystery series.

Catherine LeVendeur is a young scholar come to conquer her sin of pride at the Convent of the Paraclete, famous for learning, prayer, and its abbess, the fabled Heloise. When a manuscript the convent produced for the great Abbe Suger disappears, rumors surface saying the book contains sacrilegious passages and will be used to condemn Heloise's famous lover, Peter Abelard.

To save her Order, and protect all she holds dear, Catherine must find the manuscript and discover who altered the text. She will risk disgrace, the wrath of her family and the Church, and confront an evil older than Time itself--and, if she isn't careful, lose her immortal soul.

The young women of Nightingale House are there to learn to nurse and comfort the suffering. But when one of the students plays patient in a demonstration of nursing skills, she is horribly, brutally killed. When another student dies equally mysteriously, it is up to Adam Dalgliesh to unmask a killer who has decided to prescribe murder as the cure for all ills.  Book 4 of series.

Hannah Olsen and her husband Lars are struggling to protect their wildlife and land from poachers and corrupt officials. But the developing relationship between their daughter and a young African boy with a terrifying legacy tests the strength of their family.   Book 3 of series.

Jersey 1885. On the beautiful island of Jersey, Florence Rowe lives a quiet life working in her father's bookshop. Life for the Rowe family is good, but Florence can't help yearning for more…

When Jesse Boot, the successful owner of Boots the chemist, arrives on the island, Florence is immediately captivated by his tales of life in a busy, bustling city on the mainland. For the first time ever, Florence imagines a life away from the constraints of Jersey society, of being someone more than just a shopgirl.

Until her parents reveal the shocking news they will refuse any marriage proposal from Mr Boot. Can Florence find a way to be with the man she loves and make a new life for herself?

As the wife of esteemed businessman, Jesse Boot, Florence's position in society is much changed from her quiet life as a shopkeeper's assistant. Now a lady of means, Florence is expected to act in a way society demands.

And whilst Florence is more than happy to be a dutiful wife and a doting mother, as the Boots empire continues to grow, there is so much more to her than simply being Mama or dearest. Helping the staff and customers who rely on her and the business gives Florence an added purpose.

Can she show society that a woman can have it all…?

Malcolm Hardy, the new partner at Taviscombe's veterinary practice, is not a popular man; but without his money the surgery would have to close. Within a few weeks of starting his new job he seems to have upset most of the town: firing one of his long-serving colleagues; installing his girlfriend as veterinary assistant at the surgery; refusing to treat stray animals for free; accusing another colleague of malpractice as well as being seen out with a married woman. As far as Sheila Malory is concerned there is little to like about the new vet. But despite his unpopularity it is still a shock when Hardy collapses and dies at the surgery. And when the post-mortem reveals that his death was unnatural, suspicion instantly falls on his former colleagues. Could somebody at the practice be a killer? Or might the thoroughly unpleasant Malcolm Hardy have other enemies with murder in mind?

Titan of the Hong Kong law courts, Old Filth QC, his clever, misunderstood wife Betty, and their friends tell a tale of love, friendship, grace and the bittersweet experiences of a now-forgotten Empire and the disappointments and consolations of age.

A gentle, down-to-earth book for addressing the things that can cause children to be anxious and worried. Mindfulness expert Paul Christelis expertly explores everyday situations in picture book form, helping children to recognise signs of worry and giving them reassurance and simple suggestions on how to cope with any worries.

Sir Hubert Handesley's extravagant weekend house-parties are deservedly famous for his exciting Murder Game, but when the lights go up this time, there is a real corpse with a real dagger in the back. All seven suspects have skilful alibis - so Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn has to figure out the whodunit…

What is our modern concept of penance? Is it giving up chocolates for Lent or is it a lasting state of the awareness of sin? Penance in art, penance in literature, penance in history, penance in the Bible are all examined in an important and thoughtful meditation on the concept of penance in the 21st Century.

The story of a quiet cathedral town, of an orphan who finds a new home, of two people who fight to separate themselves from the ghost of a man whose mystery has cast a spell that only his return can break, and of a dream that can only end with a new dawn.

The author recounts the severities and pleasures of her school days in Victorian London.

Orphaned at a young age, Eva Trout has found a home of sorts with her former schoolteacher, Iseult Arbles. From a safe distance in London, her legal guardian, Constantine, assumes that all's well. But Eva's flighty, romantic nature hasn't entirely clicked with the Arbles household, and Eva is plotting to escape. When she sets out to disappear without a trace, she unwittingly leaves a paper trail for her various custodians–and all kinds of trouble–to follow.

For Emily Pool, India is a magical place where she has the freedom to escape her mother's suffocating influence. But as the cracks in Emily's family home are papered over, and the Pools strive to maintain an outward impression of respectability, it is through the Nikolides that Emily discovers that nothing in the town is quite as it seems . . .

Tracy Quinn, daughter of a screen star and raised on film sets around the world, returns to her adored family home, a country house named China Court. Her grandmother's recent death has set in motion events that threaten Tracy's future and the very existence of China Court.

Adeline, an impulsive bride with an Irish temper, and her husband, Captain Whiteoak, select Lake Ontario as the site of their new home. With the trials and tribulations of the building of the house, the swimming and skating parties, and the jealousies and humourous events that arise, Jalna not only becomes a symbol of their love, but a heritage for generations to come.  Book 9 of series.

Emily the spider seems exactly the same as all her brothers and sisters, until she races for the Spider Sports, when they discover she has ten legs instead of eight. They accuse her of being a cheat, and she is catapulted from the web. After being swallowed by a vacuum cleaner, she meets another spider, James, who befriends her.

Set in New York City at the beginning of the American Revolution, this is the story of Isabel and her five-year-old sister sold as slaves to a cruel Loyalist family. Isabel hopes to gain her freedom and becomes a spy for the rebels.

Driven from their homes by danger and cruelty, two teenagers take refuge in a neighbouring friary and convent, only to find new danger when a series of grisly murders occur. Set in 14th century Italy.

Hal Treherne is a young and dedicated soldier. When he is transferred to the Mediterranean, his wife Clara and their baby daughters join him. But action changes Hal and he soon becomes more and more distant.

During the annual Sherlock Holmes festival in Meiringen, Switzerland, novelist Gustav Slavorigin is murdered. None of the festival guests are above suspicion. Even amateur sleuth Evadne Mount is unprepared for the twists and turns of the investigation which climaxes at Meiringen’s principal tourist attraction, the Reichenbach Falls.

An unloved teenager escapes from her unhappy home life to live in a wood. Here she makes a new life for herself, learning the skills that will help her to survive. Inevitably though, the outside world encroaches, and she has to face tragedy.

Wendy Cope set out to prove that misery doesn't have all the best lines, and in this anthology she proved it. These poems are about love, life, places, the natural world, food, drink, books, music, company and solitude, but they are all unashamedly happy.

When Rachel Johnson was appointed editor to The Lady she faced an uphill struggle to drag it into the modern age and dramatically increase its readership. This is her frank and very funny account of her first year in the job.