Julie Mayhew

"For seven months of the year, the remote island of Lark is fogbound, cut off completely from the mainland. Three strangers arrive before the mists fall: Ben Hailey, a charismatic teacher looking to make his mark, teenager Viola Kendrick, and her mother, both seeking a place to hide from unspeakable tragedy. As the winter fog sets in, the presence of the newcomers looms large in this tight-knit community. They watch as their women fall under the teacher's...

Liv Travers never knew real friendship until she met fellow mums Beth and Binnie. The three women become inseparable as they muddle through early parenthood together. Then along comes Ange... Ambitious, wealthy and somehow able to do it all. Under Ange's guiding presence, the group finds new vigour and fresh aspirations - bigger houses, better schools, dinners at exclusive restaurants. But Liv can't keep up and is increasingly edged out. When the...

"When her mother is knocked down and killed by a London bus, fifteen-year-old Melon Fouraki is left with no family worth mentioning. Her mother, Maria, never did introduce Melon to a "living, breathing" father. The indomitable Auntie Aphrodite, meanwhile, is hundreds of miles away on a farm in Crete and is unlikely to be jumping on a plane and coming to London anytime soon. But at least Melon has The Story: the Fourakis family fairy tale. A story...