Mother Island

**NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING HARRY STYLES**<BR><BR>This love is all-consuming<BR><BR>It is in 1950s' Brighton that Marion first catches sight of the handsome and enigmatic Tom. He teaches her to swim in the shadow of the pier and Marion is smitten - determined her love will be enough for them both.<BR><BR>A few years later in Brighton Museum Patrick meets Tom. Patrick is besotted with Tom and opens his eyes to a glamorous, sophisticated new world.<BR><BR>Tom is their policeman, and in this age it is safer for him to marry Marion. The two lovers must share him, until one of them breaks and three lives are destroyed.<BR><BR>'A sensitive, sweeping novel' VOGUE<BR><BR>'Tense, romantic, smart...I loved it. Devoured it!' RUSSELL T. DAVIES<BR><BR>'A powerful story of forbidden love, regret, and living as your true self' VANITY FAIR<BR><BR>'A moving story of longing and frustration' OBSERVER

Marion ist hingerissen von Tom, dem großen Bruder ihrer besten Freundin, einem unverschämt gutaussehenden jungen Mann mit blonden Locken und blauen Augen. Gleich bei der ersten Begegnung, da sind sie noch Teenager. Für sie ist er der Mann ihres Lebens, und so übersieht sie alle Zeichen, jeden Hinweis, dass Tom sich nicht für sie interessiert. Nicht für sie als Frau. Trotzdem hofft sie auf einen Heiratsantrag, und als er ihn endlich macht, ist sie glücklich. Ihre Liebe wird für sie beide reichen. Aber Tom hat ein anderes Leben, ist in andere Gefühle verstrickt. Sein ganzes Interesse gilt Patrick, dem Kurator des Museums in Brighton, der sich in Tom verliebt hat und ihm eine völlig neue Welt eröffnet. Für Tom ist die Ehe das sichere Versteck in einer Zeit, in der Homosexualität gesellschaftlich und gesetzlich geächtet ist. So teilen ihn die beiden Liebenden, bis einer es nicht mehr aushält und drei Leben ruiniert. Bethan Roberts erzählt diesen Roman aus Marions und aus Patricks Perspektive, zärtlich und mit großer Empathie. Es ist eine Geschichte verschwendeter Jahre, unmöglicher Liebe und durchkreuzter Hoffnungen in den 60er-Jahren, als sich die radikale Veränderung, wie man lebt und liebt, schon ankündigte, aber noch lange nicht lebbar war.

**NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING HARRY STYLES**<BR><BR>This love is all-consuming<BR><BR>It is in 1950s' Brighton that Marion first catches sight of the handsome and enigmatic Tom. He teaches her to swim in the shadow of the pier and Marion is smitten - determined her love will be enough for them both.<BR><BR>A few years later in Brighton Museum Patrick meets Tom. Patrick is besotted with Tom and opens his eyes to a glamorous, sophisticated new world.<BR><BR>Tom is their policeman, and in this age it is safer for him to marry Marion. The two lovers must share him, until one of them breaks and three lives are destroyed.<BR><BR>'A sensitive, sweeping novel' VOGUE<BR><BR>'Tense, romantic, smart...I loved it. Devoured it!' RUSSELL T. DAVIES<BR><BR>'A powerful story of forbidden love, regret, and living as your true self' VANITY FAIR<BR><BR>'A moving story of longing and frustration' OBSERVER

'A beautiful, moving read' Prima<BR>'A tangled tale of maternal inheritance... A must' PATRICK GALE, author of Notes from an Exhibition<BR><BR>A tender story of mothers, daughters and breaking family patterns<BR><BR>When Winnie is happy, Lillian is happy, too. <BR><BR>It's the mid-1960s and Lillian Wells is a clever teenager with a daring pixie cut, tangerine mini-dress and new boyfriend, Jim, who works at the brewery. Even better, he lives across the road, so she's never far from her bee-hived, high-heeled single mother Winnie, who is prone to attacks of the nerves. But Lillian harbours secret dreams of going to art school in London. When she gets in, how will she tell her mother - and Jim - that she's leaving Abingdon - and them?<BR><BR>Forty years later, Lillian's own daughter Rachel is heading off to university, but Lillian is not sure either of them are ready. She sees herself and Winnie in Rachel, who is ambitious and intelligent, but also prone to nervous habits. As Lillian tries to bite her tongue about Rachel's symptoms, she is reminded of what everyone in Abingdon used to say: It's a short road to Longbrook... the local institution for the mentally ill. Lillian knows this is all too true, but in a family where secrets run through generations like the rushing waters of the local river, can she bring herself to break the cycle and tell Rachel the truth about her past?<BR><BR>'Roberts is an exceptionally tender and empathetic writer' GRAZIA<BR>'Profoundly moving and utterly comepelling' JAKE ARNOTT, author of The Long Firm

Now a motion picture starring Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, and David Dawson, an exquisitely told, tragic tale of thwarted love. "Stunning...fraught and honest." --New York Times Book Review It is in 1950's Brighton that Marion first catches sight of Tom. He teaches her to swim, gently guiding her through the water in the shadow of the city's famous pier and Marion is smitten--determined her love alone will be enough for them both. A few years later near the Brighton Museum, Patrick meets Tom. Patrick is besotted, and opens Tom's eyes to a glamorous, sophisticated new world of art, travel, and beauty. Tom is their policeman, and in this age it is safer for him to marry Marion and meet Patrick in secret. The two lovers must share him, until one of them breaks and three lives are destroyed. In this evocative portrait of midcentury England, Bethan Roberts reimagines the real life relationship the novelist E. M. Forster had with a policeman, Bob Buckingham, and his wife. My Policeman is a deeply heartfelt story of love's passionate endurance, and the devastation wrought by a repressive society.

What if your son was the King of Rock 'n' Roll?<BR><BR>From the moment she first holds him, Gladys Presley loves her son Elvis ferociously. She is the one by his side when his father is in the jailhouse; as they move from place to place skirting poverty; as Elvis's obsession with music grows and he begins his whirlwind rise to never-before-seen success. But while he brings audiences across the land to their knees and achieves unimagined wealth and fame, there is another story - of drinking and diet pills, loneliness and loss - and at the height of his power Elvis finds that even kings must go on alone.<BR><BR>'Roberts is an exceptionally tender and empathetic writer, and the story of Elvis Presley and his relationship with his mother is one ripe for her skills... both epic and intimate' Grazia