This book explores why, in these post-feminist days, otherwise confident and assertive women spend hours waiting for the phone to ring when they meet a man they like. It reveals the effects this passivity in courtship and relationships has on women's sense of themselves, their self-image, concern with appearance, and their disgruntlement with men. Women's lack of sexual assertiveness, particularly early in relationships, is one of the few areas to remain relatively untouched by feminist ideology. Leroy shows that this passivity has an overwhelming effect on women's confidence which in turn has a bearing on their behaviour in all aspects of their lives. Looking at female fantasy, date rape, masochism, male responses and the media, and drawing on literature, interviews and research, she exposes hypocrisies, blows the lid on the women's magazine industry, and finally suggests ways in which women can take control of their courtship rituals, becoming more at ease and assertive not just...

Every once in a blue moon, a masterful writer dives into gothic waters and emerges with a novel that--like Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, Minette Walters's The Breaker, and Donna Tartt's The Little Friend--simultaneously celebrates and transcends the tradition. Welcome Margaret Leroy to the clan.What's the matter with Sylvie?Such a pretty girl. Four years old; well loved by her young mother, Grace. But there's something . . . "off " about the child. Her deathly fear of water; her night terrors; most of all, her fixation with a photo of an Irish seaside town called Coldharbour."Sylvie, tell me about your picture. Why's it so special, sweetheart?" My heart is racing, but I try to make my voice quite calm."That's my seaside, Grace." Very matter-of-fact, as though this should be obvious. "I lived there, Grace. Before."Grace doesn't know what to do with this revelation--she's barely scraping by as it is. A single...

Would you reveal a secret that might solve a murder but would ruin your life? Ginnie Holmes has found something she never intended to find - an overwhelming passion for a man she should not be with. And they have found somewhere to meet - an abandoned boathouse hidden on the riverbank of the Thames. Then, in a single terrifying event, the lovers' secret becomes a deadly catastrophe. A woman is found murdered at the river's edge, just near the river house. And Ginnie finds herself in the path of extraordinary danger, not only facing the exposure and grief that she has feared, but endangering herself and everyone she loves.

The Collaborator

Includes a Reading Group Guide and Author Q&A A novel full of grand passion and intensity, The Soldier' s Wife asks " What would you do for your family?" " What should you do for a stranger?" and " What would you do for love?" As World War II draws closer and closer to Guernsey, Vivienne de la Mare knows that there will be sacrifices to be made. Not just for herself, but for her two young daughters and for her mother-in-law, for whom she cares while her husband is away fighting. What she does not expect is that she will fall in love with one of the enigmatic German soldiers who take up residence in the house next door to her home. As their relationship intensifies, so do the pressures on Vivienne. Food and resources grow scant, and the restrictions placed upon the residents of the island grow with each passing week. Though Vivienne knows the perils of her love affair with Gunther, she believes that she can keep their relationship— and her family— safe....

What really goes on behind closed doors? Catriona has the life she's always dreamed of: a loving husband, a delightful step-daughter and her own precious little girl, Daisy. When Daisy begins to feel poorly, Catriona seeks help and, in doing so, is forced to look to the past and her own dark and fractured childhood. When Cat is accused of an unspeakable crime, she begins to realise that the life she has now is more fragile than she could ever have imagined. "Margaret Leroy writes like a dream" Tony Parsons "I was eager to find out what happened next. I dreaded the worst and I hoped for the best – and I won't tell you which happens" New York Times

When seventeen-year-old Stella Whittaker is offered the chance to study at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna it's a dream-come-true, made possible by old family friends, Rainer and Marthe Kraus, who offer her a room in their apartment. Seduced by the elegant beauty of the city, Stella explores the magnificent palaces, gardens and fashionable coffee houses, and after a chance meeting in an art gallery, falls in love with Harri Reznik, a young Jewish doctor. But as the threat of war casts a dark shadow over Europe, Stella soon discovers that both the household where she lives, and the city she has come to call home, are not as welcoming as they once seemed. And at the dawn of this terrifying new world, no one is safe.

Catriona Lydgate is a housewife with two children and an adoring husband. But beneath the surface of her seemingly perfect life are the dark secrets of the past she's tried to forget. Disturbing postcards begin arriving in the mail; she is recognized by a man who knew her from her past-an avalanche of small moments that will threaten everything she thought was real. When her youngest daughter falls ill with a mysterious illness, the doctors and even her husband suspect that she is deliberately making her child sick.As her marriage unravels, she comes dangerously close to the edge-and to losing everything that she loves-as the past she has fought so hard to bury becomes her witness and prosecutor.This is a haunting, heartbreaking novel-domestic fiction at its very finest.About the AuthorMargaret Leroy studied music at St. Hilda's College, Oxford, and has worked as a music therapist, play leader, shop assistant, and social worker. She is the author of numerous books and lives in London.