Gill Hornby

It''s the start of another school year at St Ambrose. But while the children are in the classroom colouring in, their mothers are learning sharper lessons on the other side of the school gates. Lessons in friendship. Lessons in betrayal. Lessons in the laws of community, the transience of power... and how to get invited to lunch.Beatrice - undisputed queen bee. Ruler, by Divine Right, of all school fund-raising, this year, last year and, surely, for many years to come.Heather - desperate to volunteer, desperate to be noticed, desperate just to belong.Georgie - desperate for a fag.And Rachel - watching them all, keeping her distance. But soon to discover that the line between amused observer and miserable outcast is a thin one.Wickedly funny and brilliantly observed, The Hive is a fascinating and subtle story about group politics and female friendship. From the joys and perils (well, mainly perils) of the Lunch Ladder, to the military operation that is the Car Boot Sale, via the dos and don''ts of dressing your child as a Dalek, all human life is here.

The small town of Bridgeford is in crisis. The high street is half empty, businesses are closing and the idea of civic pride seems old-fashioned to the commuters rushing home from work. Somehow, it seems to have lost its heart. But there is one thing that might just bring the town together: music. The Bridgeford Community Choir has a chance of winning the county championship. First though, the small band of singers must find a lot of new members and a whole new sound. Enter Tracey - one of life's soloists, and hiding a secret past; Bennett - a church choir refugee, baffled by the modern world. And Jazzy - who sees her voice as her passport straight out of town to a future of fame and fortune. Can they really fit in with dependable old regulars like Annie? Can they learn to work together, save their singing group and maybe even their community? All Together Now is a funny, sharply observed and moving novel about the joys of singing, about living in harmony, about falling in love...and about the importance of finding your own, true voice.

The Bridgeford Community Choir is in crisis. Numbers are down. The choir leader is in hospital. The tea urn is behaving in an ominous fashion. Something must be done.New joiners Tracey Leckford and Bennett Parker might just be able to save the day. But Tracey is hiding a huge secret about her past. And Bennett - while equipped with a beautiful singing voice - is entirely baffled by the world and everything in it. Can they really fit in with dependable old regulars like Annie?As the choir suffers through fights, feuds and the perils of the school fair, it becomes clear that their struggles are not just about music, but the future of their community. In order to save their singing group and their town, the Bridgeford Singers will have to find a way to work together - in harmony.

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Welcome to St Ambrose Primary School. A world of friendships, fights and feuding. And thats just the mothers...

A wonderfully original, emotionally complex novel that delves into why Cassandra burned a treasure trove of letters written by her sister, Jane Austen - an act of destruction that has troubled academics for centuries. 1840: twenty three years after the death of her famous sister Jane, Cassandra Austen returns to the village of Kintbury, and the home of her family's friends, the Fowles. She knows that, in some dusty corner of the sprawling vicarage, there is a cache of family letters which hold secrets she is desperate should not be revealed. As Cassandra recalls her youth and her relationship with her brilliant yet complex sister, she pieces together buried truths about Jane's history, and her own. And she faces a stark choice: should she act to protect Jane's reputation? Or leave the contents of the letters to go unguarded into posterity … Based on a literary mystery that has long puzzled biographers and academics, Miss Austen is a wonderfully original and emotionally complex novel about the loves and lives of Cassandra and Jane Austen.

Early evening, 1804: Anne Sharpe arrives at Godmersham Park in Kent.Alone and desperately in need of an independent income, she is to become a governess to twelve-year-old Fanny Austen.But her new role in this large household where she is neither a servant nor a member of the family is an awkward one, and Anne is keenly aware that one wrong move may result in her instant dismissal.Then dashing Henry Austen and his younger sister Jane come to stay.Both take an immediate interest in the pretty, clever governess, and Anne quickly becomes drawn into the above-stairs life of the Austen family.Soon, and despite her best efforts, she finds she is falling in love.But has her survival at Godmersham Park just become a good deal more precarious?

Throughout her lifetime, Jane Austen wrote countless letters to her sister. But why did Cassandra burn them all?1840: twenty three years after the death of her famous sister Jane, Cassandra Austen returns to the village of Kintbury, and the home of her family's friends, the Fowles.She knows that, in some dusty corner of the sprawling vicarage, there is a cache of family letters which hold secrets she can never allow to be revealed.As Cassandra recalls her youth and her relationship with her brilliant yet complex sister, she pieces together buried truths about Jane's history, and her own. And she faces a stark choice: should she act to protect Jane's reputation, or leave the contents of the letters to go unguarded into posterity?Based on a literary mystery that has long puzzled biographers and academics, Miss Austen is a wonderfully original and emotionally complex novel about the loves and lives of Cassandra and Jane Austen.

1820. Mary Dorothea Knatchbull vive bajo la tutela de su padre viudo, sir Edward, un hombre de estrictos principios y profundos valores morales. Cuando se casa con la señorita Fanny Knight, de Godmersham Park, Mary descubre otra vida: su madrastra proviene de una familia numerosa, feliz y sociable, asi que las hermanas de Fanny se convierten en sus primeras amigas. Su tia, la señorita Cassandra Austen, de Chawton, te parece especialmente amable. Y los hermanos de su madrastra son divertidos, guapos y encantadores. Con el tiempo, Mary Dorothea empieza a convertirse en una preciosa joven; y hay uno de los muchachos Knight que le gusta en particular. Los dos son de buena familia y se conocen de hace años. ¿Quien querria entonces oponerse a esa relacion?

Godmersham Park, Kent, 21 de enero de 1804. Anne Sharp llega a la casa para trabajar como institutriz. No tiene experiencia en el puesto ni tampoco en casas como esa, pero su madre ha muerto y no tiene adonde ir. Para su pupila, Fanny Austen, de doce años, todo es novedad y emocion. Sin embargo, para ella un puesto como ese significa no ser ni miembro de la familia ni formar parte del servicio. Un solo movimiento en falso puede significar el despido.Cuando la familia del señor Edward Austen llega a la casa para quedarse, ella se hace inmediatamente amiga de Jane. Escriben juntas y juntas disfrutan de largas charlas. Durante ese tiempo, Anne demuestra ser no solo bonita, sino tambien encantadora, competente e inteligente. Hasta la despistada y complaciente señora de la casa se da cuenta.

Recreando las cartas desaparecidas de Jane Austen, Cassandra Austen vuelve a la vida y lo hace para contar su historia, tan cautivadora como desconocida. Inglaterra, 1840. Cassandra Austen ha vivido mas de dos decadas tras la muerte de su querida hermana Jane. Ha pasado el tiempo visitando a amigos y parientes y trabajando en silencio, determinada a mantener la reputacion de su hermana. Con mas de sesenta años y una salud fragil, decide irse a vivir con los Fowle de Kintbury, la familia del que fue su prometido, fallecido hace muchos años, cuando ambos eran jovenes. Quiere encontrar las cartas que Jane Austen dejo, esquivando a su anfitriona y a una criada entrometida. Cuando finalmente las halla, se enfrenta a los secretos que guardan, no solo sobre su hermana Jane, sino sobre ella misma. ¿Las guardara y legara su historia a futuras generaciones o las entregara a las llamas?

Ha empezado un nuevo curso en la pequeña localidad de St. Ambrose. Mientras los pequeños están en clase, las madres, como cada año, se reúnen a la entrada y la salida del colegio. Hay que decidir cómo o, mejor dicho, quien organizara el mercadillo de este año.En esta comunidad todas las relaciones cuentan, y ninguna cara nueva pasa desapercibida. Bea y su pequeño corrillo de desesperadas seguidoras no estan dispuestas a que ninguna recien llegada consiga el protagonismo. Aqui solo hay sitio para una reina de la recaudacion de fondos anual, y este curso hay demasiadas candidatas.

Por que a irmã de Jane Austen quis tanto queimar as cartas que a autora escreveu para familiares e amigos? Baseado neste mistério do universo literário, Srta. Austen, de Gill Hornby, recria a saga de