Merlin: the very name evokes intriguing images
- magician wise man prophet adviser to Arthur counsellor of Camelot. The legend
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Dara Flood always says the most interesting thing about her life happened before she was born. Thirteen days before she came into the world her father walked up the road & never came back. Now in her twenties Daras life has a careful routine. She lives in Dublin with her mother & sister Angel. She has pizza with friends every Wednesday salsa class every Friday & sees her boyfriend every Saturday. Its safe & thats the way she likes it. Then Angel gets desperately sick & Daras ordered life falls apart. Neither she nor her mother is a compatible match for the kidney Angel needs. So Dara sets out to find the father who could be their last hope. But on the path to uncovering the truth about her father Dara learns that to let life
- & love
- in sometimes you just have to let go.. .

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Russell ' The Voice' Watson is a star with a real story to tell. While most stars of today find success early Russell was still working in a Salford factory at the age of 30. He spent the evenings singing in working men's clubs for extra cash to keep the bailiffs from his family's door. The chairman of Manchester United gave him his big break in May 1999: the opportunity to sing at Old Trafford. His extraordinary performance was quickly followed by a record deal & his phenomenal debut album. Despite his outward success Russell struggled with his health & family life. His rapid rise to fame led to a bitter divorce from his childhood sweetheart & his private life being splashed across the tabloids. Then last year he was struck down by a life-threatening brain tumor. This plunged Russell into a deep depression & it was only the thought of leaving his two children fatherless that kept him going. Just when it seemed he was fully recovered he collapsed again while recording & had to have emergency surgery on a second brain tumor that threatened his voice his sight & his life. Now in his own words Russell tells us the amazing story of his life. ...

Elkie Brooks is a genuine national treasure. Blessed with one of the richest & most distinctive voices in showbusiness she has been entertaining people around the world for the last five decades. Her professional debut at age 15 began a career that has spanned most musical genres & collaborations with some of the finest musicians of their generation making her a household name. Along the way she has recorded some of the most iconic songs in rock history including Lilac Wine Sunshine After the Rain Fool (If You Think Its Over) & her signature tune Pearls A Singer. But the road to stardom was never an easy journey. Along the way she has experienced hardships that would have daunted most & dealt with them with the same spirit grit & determination that colours the extraordinary emotional power of her singing. In Finding My Voice Elkie tells her remarkable story in her own unique voice laying bare the nuts & bolts of stardom & her commitment to the great passion of her life
- music.
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Last year The Voice UK changed Leanne Mitchell's life forever. This is the exclusive full story of that incredibly journey told in her own words. ' Half of me was overwhelmed to have won the show & the other half was scared stiff because I knew that from that moment on I really did have to prove myself. OK so I have just won The Voice! What the hell happens now?' The Voice UK was the unique opportunity Leanne Mitchell had been waiting for. She had been so close to success before including a record deal that took her to America but didn't work out. Leanne knew that this could be her last chance to realise her dream of becoming a recording artist & she had to give that dream one last shot. This is the story of a true vocal talent how she finally found confidence in herself & went on to win the first series of The Voice UK & a major record deal. ...

This is the second of three volumes of posthumously collected writings of G. A. Cohen who was one of the leading & most progressive figures in contemporary political philosophy. This volume brings together some of Cohens most personal philosophical & nonphilosophical essays many of them previously unpublished. Rich in first-person narration insight & humor these pieces vividly demonstrate why Thomas Nagel described Cohen as a wonderful raconteur". The nonphilosophical highlight of the book is Cohens remarkable account of his first trip to India which

Includes:: unforgettable vignettes of encounters with strangers & reflections on poverty & begging. Other biographical pieces include his valedictory lecture at Oxford in which he describes his philosophical development & offers his impressions of other philosophers & " Isaiahs Marx & Mine " a tribute to his mentor Isaiah Berlin. Other essays address such topics as the truth in "small-c conservatism " who can & cant condemn terrorists & the essence of bullshit. A recurring theme is finding completion in relation to the world of other human beings. Engaging perceptive & empathetic these writings reveal a more personal side of one of the most influential philosophers of our time."

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Meg Henderson grew up in Glasgow in the fifties & sixties as part of a large & often troubled family. The tenement block in which they lived suffered a major collapse & they were moved to the notorious Blackhill district where religious sectarianism gang warfare & struggles with hostile bureaucrats were part of daily life. Meg was born into a mixed-religion family where there was warmth & laughter as well as conflict. Her mother Nan & her mother's sister Peggy were two idealistic women who took on the troubles of the world. Together they shaped Meg's life shielded her from the effects of her father's heavy drinking & helped her to move on eventually from the slums of Glasgow. Peggy searched for a husband until late in her life & then endured a harsh unhappy marriage until she died tragically in childbirth. Her death devstated the family & destroyed Meg's childhood but it was only as an adult that Meg was able to uncover the shocking facts behind Peggy's untimely demise. ...

Have you ever wondered why everybody these days seems so busy? In FINDING SANCTUARY Father Christopher Jamison the Abbot from BBC TVs THE MONASTERY & THE SILENCE offers practical wisdom from the monastic tradition on how to build sanctuary into your life. No matter how hard you work being too busy is not inevitable. Silence & contemplation are not just for monks & nuns they are natural parts of life. Yet to keep hold of this truth in the rush of modern living you need the support of other people & sensible advice from wise guides. By learning to listen in new ways peoples lives can change & the abbot offers some monastic steps that help this transition to a more spiritual life. In the face of many easy assumptions about the irrelevance of religion today Father Christopher makes religion accessible for those in search of lifes meaning & offers a vision of the worlds religions working together as a unique source of hope for the 21st century. ...

On 19 February 2008 a little girl was reported missing. The same thing happens somewhere in Britain every day. Usually they turn up a few hours later unharmed having stayed with relatives or slept over at a friends house but a few do not. Shannon Matthews did not return & as the days & weeks went by her whereabouts & her fate became front page news throughout Britain & around the world. & when Shannon was eventually found 24 days later it was in circumstances that were more shocking & starling than the most lurid tabloid speculation. Now for the first time the inside story of the Shannon Matthews case is told by the one man granted access to the closed world of Shannons family & the Dewsbury Moor estate on which she lived. In Finding Shannon
- The Inside Story" Richard Edwards reveals the full inside story of the case that gripped the entire nation & also casts a searching light on what the often vicious media coverage of the estate & its inhabitants says about Britain today."
...

You have half our gifts I have the other.. . When English girl Sky catches a glimpse of bad boy Zed in her new American high school she can't get him out of her head. He talks to her with his thoughts. He reads her mind. He is the boy she will love for ever. Shadows stalk her past but a new evil threatens her future. She must face the dark even if it means losing her heart. Will Sky have the strength to embrace her power & be brave enough to control her own destiny or will the demons of her past prevent her from realizing her true potential? ...