The Telephone Box Library

Author: Rachael Lucas
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1760789925
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Book Description
Burnt out after ten years at the chalkface, Lucy's taken a sabbatical from her job as a history teacher to focus on some research. She moves to a tiny Cotswolds cottage that comes with a reduced rent in exchange for keeping a daily eye on Bunty, an extremely feisty ninety-something. She arrives at the cottage with boxes, bags and her faithful West Highland terrier Hamish, but Bunty claims to know nothing about the agreement - it's been arranged by Margaret, her interfering daughter-in-law. Lucy's only goal is to relax and focus on doing some research on the women of nearby Bletchley Park. But the villagers of Little Maudley have other ideas, and she finds herself caught up in the campaign to turn the dilapidated telephone box at the heart of the village into a volunteer-run library. In the process, she makes friends with treehouse designer Sam, and finds herself falling for the charms of village life. Bunty slowly warms to Lucy, and confesses that the telephone box has special memories for her - it's the place where she used to exchange secret messages with a Canadian airman stationed near by during the war. But that's not the only secret Bunty has been keeping for all these years . . . Meanwhile Lucy's new friend Sam is trying to get to the bottom of the sudden change in his teenage daughter Freya. He's hoping that Lucy might help him uncover what's going on and why she is keeping secrets of her own. As Lucy and Sam uncover Bunty's story and the sleepy village's part in the war, their friendship grows and grows . . .

The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden

Author: Heather Smith
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
ISBN: 145982105X
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 35

Book Description
★ “Smith spins a quietly moving narrative...Wada’s large-scale woodblock style illustrations are a perfect complement to the story’s restrained text...The graceful way in which this book handles a sensitive and serious subject makes it a first purchase."—School Library Journal When the tsunami destroyed Makio's village, Makio lost his father . . . and his voice. The entire village is silenced by grief, and the young child's anger at the ocean grows. Then one day his neighbor, Mr. Hirota, begins a mysterious project—building a phone booth in his garden. At first Makio is puzzled; the phone isn't connected to anything. It just sits there, unable to ring. But as more and more villagers are drawn to the phone booth, its purpose becomes clear to Makio: the disconnected phone is connecting people to their lost loved ones. Makio calls to the sea to return what it has taken from him and ultimately finds his voice and solace in a phone that carries words on the wind. The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden is inspired by the true story of the wind phone in Otsuchi, Japan, which was created by artist Itaru Sasaki. He built the phone booth so he could speak to his cousin who had passed, saying, "My thoughts couldn't be relayed over a regular phone line, I wanted them to be carried on the wind." The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the town of Otsuchi, claiming 10 percent of the population. Residents of Otsuchi and pilgrims from other affected communities have been traveling to the wind phone since the tsunami.

The Phone Box at the Edge of the World

Author: Laura Imai-Messina
Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre Ltd.
ISBN: 178658042X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 229

Book Description
'Absolutely breathtaking' Christy Lefteri, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo. We all have something to tell those we have lost . . . On a windy hill in Japan, in a garden overlooking the sea stands a disused phone box. For years, people have travelled to visit the phone box, to pick up the receiver and speak into the wind: to pass their messages to loved ones no longer with us. When Yui loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami, she is plunged into despair and wonders how she will ever carry on. One day she hears of the phone box, and decides to make her own pilgrimage there, to speak once more to the people she loved the most. But when you have lost everything, the right words can be the hardest thing to find . . . Then she meets Takeshi, a bereaved husband whose own daughter has stopped talking in the wake of their loss. What happens next will warm your heart, even when it feels as though it is breaking... The Phone Box at the Edge of the World is an unforgettable story of the depths of grief, the lightness of love and the human longing to keep the people who are no longer with us close to our hearts. Everyone is talking about The Phone Box at the Edge of the World 'A moving and uplifting anatomisation of grief and the small miraculous moments that persuade people to start looking forward again' Sunday Times 'Strangely beautiful, uplifting and memorable, it's a book to savour' Choice, Book of the Month 'A poignant, atmospheric novel dealing with love, coming to terms with loss and the restoration of one's self' Daily Mail 'A story about the dogged survival of hope when all else is lost . . . A striking haiku of the human heart' The Times 'Beautiful. A message of hope for anyone who is lost, frightened or grieving' Clare Mackintosh, Sunday Times bestselling author of After the End 'Incredibly moving. It will break your heart and soothe your soul' Stacey Halls, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars 'Mesmerising . . . beautiful . . . a joy to read' Joanna Glen, Costa shortlisted author of The Other Half of Augusta Hope 'Spare and poetic, this beautiful book is both a small, quiet love story and a vast expansive meditation on grieving and loss' Heat 'A perfect poignant read' Woman & Home

Wildflower Bay

Author: Rachael Lucas
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 1447265785
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Book Description
Escape into the Scottish Highlands in this delicious story of friendship, new beginnings and romance. Wildflower Bay is a feel-good story abut village life by Rachael Lucas. This little island has some big secrets . . . Isla has finally got her dream job as head stylist at the most exclusive salon in Edinburgh. But she has been so single-minded in her career that she has forgotten to have a balanced life. This fact completely passes her by – until disaster strikes. Out of options, she heads to the remote Scottish island of Auchenmor to help out her aunt who is in desperate need of an extra pair of scissors at her salon. A native to the island, Finn is thirty-five and reality has just hit him hard. His best friends are about to have a baby and everything is changing. When into his life walks Isla . . . 'Such a joy! Spending time within the pages of a Rachael Lucas book is like coming home' – Cathy Bramley, author of The Sunrise Sisterhood

The Lonely Phone Booth

Author: Peter Ackerman
Publisher: David R. Godine Publisher
ISBN: 1567925057
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36

Book Description
Remember the days when phone booths stood on every street corner? If you had to make a call, you'd step inside the little booth, lift the phone off the hook, put a coin in the slot, listen for the click, push the buttons, and hear it ring? And for only 25 cents, in the quiet of the booth, you could call your grandmother, or let the office know you were running late, or get directions for a birthday party. . . This is the story of one of the last remaining phone booths in New York City, the Phone Booth on the corner of West End Avenue and 100th. Everyone used it — from ballerinas and girl scouts, zookeepers and birthday clowns, to cellists and even secret agents! The Phone Booth was so beloved that people would sometimes wait in line to use it. Kept clean and polished, the Phone Booth was proud and happy . . . until, the day a businessman strode by and shouted into a shiny silver object, "I'll be there in ten minutes!" Soon everyone was talking into these shiny silver things, and the Phone Booth stood alone and empty, unused and dejected. How the Phone Booth saved the day and united the neighborhood to rally around its revival is the heart of this soulful story. In a world in which objects we love and recognize as part of the integral fabric of our lives are disappearing at a rapid rate, here is a story about the value of the analog, the power of the people's voice, and the care and respect due to those things that have served us well over time. With his delightful, witty, and boldly colored illustrations that evoke Miroslav Sasek's mid-century modern aesthetic, Max Dalton simply and elegantly captures the energy and diversity of New York City and its inhabitants. A beauty to behold and a pleasure to read, The Lonely Phone Booth is sure to be a favorite among children and parents alike, and the real Phone Booth, which is still standing at West End Avenue and 100th Street, is worth a field trip!

The State of Grace

Author: Rachael Lucas
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1250129990
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 175

Book Description
Whip-smart, hilarious, and unapologetically honest, Rachael Lucas's The State of Grace is a heartwarming story of one girl trying to work out where she fits in, and whether she even wants to. “Sometimes I feel like everyone else was handed a copy of the rules for life and mine got lost.” Grace is autistic and has her own way of looking at the world. She's got a horse and a best friend who understand her, and that's pretty much all she needs. But when Grace kisses Gabe and things start to change at home, the world doesn't make much sense to her any more. Suddenly everything threatens to fall apart, and it's up to Grace to fix it on her own.

The Village Green Bookshop

Author: Rachael Lucas
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1760987182
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description
The Village Green Bookshop is a heartwarming story of good books and good friends, by the bestselling author of The Telephone Box Library, Rachael Lucas. 'It is a warm, gorgeous hug of a book with all the feels. I loved it' Liz Fenwick, author of The Cornish House Frustrated that she spends all her time as either a mum to a football-obsessed teenager or a wife to a workaholic husband, Hannah wants something for herself. When the chance comes to take over the Post Office in Little Maudley, a charming Cotswold village, Hannah grabs it with both hands. She’ll have a career at last and also get her son Ben away from his trouble-making mates. But village life is not so picture-perfect after all: Hannah finds herself an outsider in this tight-knit community where the height of your hedge is a gossip-worthy subject. Even her idea to introduce a small bookshop to the Post Office causes a stir. At least Ben seems to have found his place as he joins the local football team, coached by ex-professional Jake Lovatt. But a shocking secret from their past threatens to uproot the new life they’ve made for themselves, and has drastic consequences... Set in the same village as The Telephone Box Library and featuring some of the same much-loved characters, this is a charming, big-hearted novel from bestselling author Rachael Lucas. Praise for The Telephone Box Library ‘Delightful’ Cathy Bramley, bestselling author of The Lemon Tree Café ‘Heartfelt’ Woman & Home ‘Transporting’ Woman

Improbable Libraries

Author: Alex Johnson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780226263694
Category : Curiosities and wonders
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
How do you use your local library? Does it arrive at your door on the back of an elephant? Can it float down the river to you? Or does it occupy a phone booth by the side of the road? Public libraries are a cornerstone of modern civilization, yet like the books in them, libraries face an uncertain future in an increasingly digital world. Undaunted, librarians around the globe are thinking up astonishing ways of reaching those in reading need, whether by bike in Chicago, boat in Laos, or donkey in Colombia. Improbable Libraries showcases a wide range of unforgettable, never-before-seen images and interviews with librarians who are overcoming geographic, economic, and political difficulties to bring the written word to an eager audience. Alex Johnson charts the changing face of library architecture, as temporary pop-ups rub shoulders with monumental brick-and-mortar structures, and many libraries expand their mission to function as true community centers. To take just one example: the open-air Garden Library in Tel Aviv, located in a park near the city's main bus station, supports asylum seekers and migrant workers with a stock of 3,500 volumes in sixteen different languages. Beautifully illustrated with two hundred and fifty color photographs, Improbable Libraries offers a breathtaking tour of the places that bring us together and provide education, entertainment, culture, and so much more. From the rise of the egalitarian Little Free Library movement to the growth in luxury hotel libraries, the communal book revolution means you'll never be far from the perfect next read.

The Winter Cottage

Author: Rachael Lucas
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781739804008
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
The Winter Cottage is a heartwarming, feel-good novel full of friendship, family secrets, and finding love where you least expect it...

The British Phonebox

Author: Nigel Linge
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781445663081
Category : Telecommunication
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The full story of one of the most iconic public symbols in Britain