Spotlight: Meeting Lydia by Linda MacDonald

About the Audiobook

Author: Linda MacDonald

Narrator: Harriet Carmichael

Length: 8h 43m

Publisher: Essential Music⎮2016

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Release date: Nov. 17, 2016

Synopsis: “Edward Harvey. Even thinking his name made her tingle with half-remembered childlike giddiness. Edward Harvey, the only one from Brocklebank to whom she might write if she found him.”
Marianne Hayward, teacher of psychology and compulsive analyser of the human condition, is hormonally unhinged. The first seven years of her education were spent at a boys’ prep school, Brocklebank Hall, where she was relentlessly bullied. From the start, she was weak and frightened and easy prey for Barnaby Sproat and his gang. Only one boy was never horrible to her: the clever and enigmatic Edward Harvey, on whom she developed her first crush.
Now 46, when Marianne finds her charming husband in the kitchen talking to the glamorous Charmaine, her childhood insecurities resurface and their once-happy marriage begins to slide. Teenage daughter Holly persuades her to join Friends Reunited, which results in both fearful and nostalgic memories of prep school as Marianne wonders what has become of the bullies and of Edward Harvey. Frantic to repair her marriage, yet rendered snappy and temperamental by her plummeting hormones, her attempts towards reconciliation fail. The answer to all her problems could lie in finding Edward again... But what would happen if she found what she seeks?

Buy Links

Buy on Audible⎮Amazon

About the Author: Linda MacDonald

Born and brought up in the town of Cockermouth in the Lake District in England, Linda MacDonald has a degree in psychology from Goldsmiths’, London University, and a PGCE in biology and science. She retired in 2012 from teaching psychology in a 6th Form College in order to focus on writing, and has now published three print novels, the first of which is now an audiobook. She lives in Beckenham in Greater London, and travels to speak to various groups about the inspiration behind the ‘Lydia’ series and the psychology of internet relationships.

Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Goodreads⎮LinkedIn

About the Narrator: Harriet Carmichael

I've always loved doing voices. I grew up with Radio 4 being on constantly in the background. Somehow the voices and accents broadcast over the years soaked in. And now I do voices. Or if you ask my agent, I'm a "voice artist".

For the last seven years I've spent most of my days in front of a microphone: as myself; as seven-year-old boys; talkingbaboons; angsty teenagers (usually American); androgynous talking cats; Glaswegian Grannies; the cast of The Archers...

After university I trained at The Oxford School of Drama and then acted mainly with touring theatre companies - some brilliant, some not so... I had a lot of fun, but once I started doing voiceovers in warm studios with good coffee, being on the road lost some of its appeal.

And the voice can do much more than people think. Tone, timing, pitch and accent can all vary depending on the job. From commercials and corporates to cartoons, computer games and audiobooks, it's a brilliant job and, really, I owe it all to Radio 4.

The Mister Book Review

Goodreads synopsis: London, 2019. Life has been easy for Maxim Trevelyan. With his good looks, aristocratic connections, and money, he’s never had to work and he’s rarely slept alone. But all that changes when tragedy strikes and Maxim inherits his family’s noble title, wealth, and estates, and all the responsibility that entails. It’s a role he’s not prepared for and one that he struggles to face. But his biggest challenge is fighting his desire for an unexpected, enigmatic young woman who’s recently arrived in England, possessing little more than a dangerous and troublesome past. Reticent, beautiful, and musically gifted, she’s an alluring mystery, and Maxim’s longing for her deepens into a passion that he’s never experienced and dares not name. Just who is Alessia Demachi? Can Maxim protect her from the malevolence that threatens her? And what will she do when she learns that he’s been hiding secrets of his own? I will admit I did have some kind of salty...

Discussion #1 Sex in Y.A. Fiction

Working as a Young Adult Librarian, I get this questions about this topic asked a lot. These are some of the questions that I am asked. Most of the time it is the parents that come to me especially the ones that have a child that is transitioning from children's fiction to Y.A. I can understand a part of what the parent is trying to do because of the age of the child. Not all of my teens parents monitor what they read but the majority of them do. So I break it down for them 1.) Y.A. stands for Young Adult. It ranges from the ages of 12-18 but it is divided. 12-14 and 15-18. If the teen falls into the 12-14 bracket I take them to the middle school section in our childrens area because it is a lot easier to find some books that will appease both parent and teen. 2.) Not ALL Y.A. is explicit and have vulgar language. It may have a few curse words. The majority of it may have some type of high school slang or something around that area and mild language but not all Y.A. is the...

Discussion Post #3 When did you find your love for reading?

I have been an avid reader for a good while but I did not start out as one. In fact, I hated reading. I never gave it a chance and as I said in the previous discussion post anytime I am forced to read something it just makes me want to not read it even more. I was about 13 and I remember one of my best friends was reading Harry Potter and I asked her why was she reading it. She looked at me like I had grown an eye in the middle of my forehead. In reality all I was seeing was the length of the book. At the time, I was very intimidated by how long a book was. Fast forward a couple of years I went to a library program and they were showing Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets. Long story short....I loved the movie. The librarian told me if I loved the movie I would most definitely love the book. I checked them out and I totally understood why my best friend loved them. They were simply amazing and I so desperately wanted my letter to come in the mail. I went into a reading slump ...

HIGHWAY-Y.A.

Search This Blog