Search results for ""Author Laura Barnett""

Essential tips and advice from stars of stage and screen. Actors know the best source of advice on the profession is other actors. Nothing compares with the wisdom and practical know-how acquired through years of working in the business. Advice from the Players features a host of tips and guidance on every aspect of the actor’s craft, direct from some of the best-known stars of stage and screen, including Julie Walters, Lenny Henry, Harriet Walter, Simon Callow, Mark Gatiss, David Harewood, Jo Brand, Simon Russell Beale, Lesley Manville, Zawe Ashton and Mathew Horne, amongst many others. Drawing directly on their own personal experience, they offer essential advice on topics including: Applying to drama school Getting an agent Auditions The dos and don’ts of rehearsal Acting for camera Acting comedy Coping with stage fright Surviving the tough times Staying inspired, and much more… Candid, passionate, sometimes contradictory, often very funny – Advice from the Players is a book to turn to whenever you’re in need of guidance or inspiration, whether you’re a working actor, at drama school, or involved in amateur theatre. It is also an invaluable introduction for those considering a career in the performing arts, and a fascinating read for anyone who wants to know what it’s really like to be a working actor.

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A NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'The beautiful love child of David Nicholl's One Day and Kate Atkinson's Life After Life'The Times What if one small decision could change the rest of your life? Eva and Jim are nineteen, and students at Cambridge, when their paths first cross in 1958. Jim is walking along a lane when a woman approaching him on a bicycle swerves to avoid a dog: what happens next will determine the rest of their lives. As we follow three different versions of their future - together, and apart - their love story takes on different incarnations, as it twists and turns to the conclusion in the present day. 'A triumphant debut.. a thoughtful, measured book about the interplay of chance and destiny in our lives'Sunday Telegraph 'An utterly convincing love story about two people destined to be together somehow, no matter what'The Times 'Like Kate Atkinson's Life After Life or the film Sliding Doors, this fine debut offers multiple "what ifs"... Involving and poignant'The Sunday Times 'The tantalising "what if?" theme keeps all three stories going at a cracking pace'Daily Mail 'Truly enthralling... I simply adored this wonderful novel'Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist

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Although it is a natural and inescapable part of life, death is a subject that is often neglected in psychotherapeutic literature and training. In When Death Enters the Therapeutic Space Laura Barnett and her contributors offer us insights into working with mortality in the therapeutic encounter.Taking an existential perspective, the book brings together a variety of client groups, all of whom have experienced a confrontation with mortality, and encourages the reader to engage with and reflect upon the subject of death. Although this may initially evoke anxiety and distress, Barnett and her contributors introduce the reader to the 'vitality of death' (Koestenbaum): an energy and focus that can come from confronting our greatest fears and anxieties, including the anxiety aroused by our own mortality. Topics covered include: philosophical roots and principal approaches to existential therapy health related issues including cancer, HIV and Intensive Care surviving violent trauma creating a safe space for the client short prognosis and palliative care bereavement. When Death Enters the Therapeutic Space presents therapists with an understanding of what it means to experience such traumas and prepares them for helping the client. It will be useful for trainee counsellors and experienced therapists alike.

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'Barnett's well-crafted backlist is big on emotional acuity and this novel is no different, forging from Christina's grief an insistence that we think more creatively when it comes to happiness, and especially to the shapes that our families might take' OBSERVERAt forty-three, Christina Lennox thought her future was settled: marriage to Ed, children, a house of their own. But this is not that future: her marriage has ended, fractured by the stress of five rounds of IVF and two miscarriages. Overwhelmed by grief and disappointment, Ed has relocated to San Francisco and Christina's dream of becoming a mother rests on persuading him to let her go ahead with one final round of IVF, using the last frozen embryo they have stored at the clinic.But when Ed drops a bombshell that threatens to undo everything Christina has strived for, she is forced, once again, to realign her plans: is this the end of her dream, or an opportunity to consider a different - perhaps happier - version of her future?

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'Warm and uplifting storytelling: a delightful treat'Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures'If you're not in the Yuletide mood yet, you will be after this'Telegraph'An ode to the strange and wonderful time that is Christmas'Stylist'A novel that's sure to warm the heart of any Scrooge'Radio Times'Tender and moving, Gifts is infused with Christmas magic - that bittersweet mix of joy, yearning, sadness and hope that accompanies the festive season'Daily Mirror'A gorgeous festive tale... Beautifully written and highly emotionally intelligent'Daily Mail'I loved The Versions Of Us by Laura Barnett and her new novel is just as wonderful... The ideal warm, bittersweet read to get you in the festive spirit'Good Housekeeping'Full of warmth, poignancy and a huge dose of Christmas spirit'RedTwelve peopleTwelve giftsOne Christmas to rememberMaddy runs the bookshop on Market Square. She's struggling to choose a gift (a watch? a wine subscription? a weekend bag? all too much?) for her old school friend Peter, who's just moved back from London following a messy divorce.Peter doesn't have a clue what to get for his teenage daughter Chloe - furious with her mother, she's decided to up sticks and move to Kent with him, but he worries that he really doesn't know her at all.Chloe wants to buy something special for her grandmother Irene, who lives alone on the other side of town.Irene doesn't get out much these days, but she'd really like to find the right gift for Alina, who's so much more than a carer, really - always stops to chat for a bit, have a cup of tea, even if it makes her late.And Alina, meanwhile, has her eye on something for...From the no. 1 bestselling author of The Versions of Us comes a novel about how wonderful and sad and difficult and happy and strange Christmas can be. Stories to inspire, move and comfort.'He felt it: the lightness, the expansiveness, the anticipation, the sense that something good was coming. And it was, wasn't it - though the world was still licking its collective wounds and there was still suffering everywhere, suffering and loneliness and sadness. Despite all this, it was good: it was kindness, it was giving without thought of recompense, it was light in the darkness'

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'Barnett has that rare talent, like Curtis Sittenfeld or Kate Atkinson, of building up the mundane aspects of everyday life until they acquire meaning' THE TIMES 'Barnett excels herself in this mesmerising ballad of a book...Greatest Hits is not just about music, it's about people: their ambitions, friendships and flaws. An absolute must read' STYLISTIf you could choose just sixteen moments to define your entire life, what would they be? Cass Wheeler has seen it all - from the searing heights of success, to earth-shattering moments of despair. She has known passion, envy, pride, fear, and love. She has been a daughter, a mother, a singer, a lover. A musician born in 1950, Cass is now taking one day to select the sixteen songs in her repertoire that have meant the most to her. And behind each song lies a story - from the day her mother abandoned her, to her passionate first love, to the moment she lost everything. The dreams, the failures, the second chances. But what made her disappear so suddenly from her public life and, most importantly, can she find her way back?'The mother/daughter relationship is the most moving aspect ofthis excellent book...This engaging, emotionally charged novel about music,motherhood and mental illness deserves to be a hit' OBSERVERWhat readers are saying about GREATEST HITS:'A brilliant and unusual read...There is real emotional power to Cass's story and you really feel it in the narrative....It gives an unfiltered personal history, with joy, love, failures, regrets and all that it takes to live delivered beautifully' Goodreads 5 star review'Truly, truly wonderful in every way imaginable and I can't recommend it highly enough' Goodreads 5 star review'A triumphant second book to follow up to The Versions of Us which I also adored' Goodreads 5 star review'A truly unique and memorable novel. Definitely one of the best novels so far this year' Goodreads 5 star review'Filled with characters who burst from the page, dealing with almost unbearable sorrows and incredible highs, Greatest Hits is an absolute triumph. I loved every single page' Goodreads 5 star review

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WHAT IF THE FAMILY YOU WANT......ISN'T THE FAMILY YOU NEED?'It was up to her now; everything was up to her;she needed only to make a choice and step towards it, out from the shadows and into the light.' At forty-three, Christina Lennox thought her future was settled: marriage to Ed, children, a house of their own. But this is not that future: her marriage has ended, fractured by the stress of five rounds of IVF and two miscarriages. Overwhelmed by grief and disappointment, Ed has relocated to San Francisco and Christina's dream of becoming a mother rests on persuading him to let her go ahead with one final round of IVF, using the last frozen embryo they have stored at the clinic.But when Ed drops a bombshell that threatens to undo everything Christina has strived for, she is forced, once again, to realign her plans.Is this the end of her dream, or an opportunity to consider a different - perhaps happier - version of her future?

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In 1958 in their book Existence, Rollo May, Henri Ellenberger and Ernst Angel introduced existential therapy to the English-speaking psychotherapy world. Since then the field of existential therapy has moved along rapidly and this book considers how it has developed over the past fifty years, and the implications that this has for the future.In their 50th anniversary of this classic book, Laura Barnett and Greg Madison bring together many of today's foremost existential therapists from both sides of the Atlantic, together with some newer voices, to highlight issues surrounding existential therapy today, and look constructively to the future whilst acknowledging the debt to the past. Dialogue is at the heart of the book, the dialogue between existential thought and therapeutic practice, and between the past and the future. Existential Therapy: Legacy, Vibrancy and Dialogue, focuses on dialogue between key figures in the field to cover topics including: historical and conceptual foundations of existential therapy perspectives on contemporary Daseinanalysis the search for meaning in existential therapy existential therapy in contemporary society. Existential Therapy: Legacy, Vibrancy and Dialogue explores how existential therapy has changed in the last five decades, and compares and contrasts different schools of existential therapy, making it essential reading for experienced therapists as well as for anyone training in psychotherapy, counselling, psychology or psychiatry who wants to incorporate existential therapy into their practice.

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This book explores disciplinary teaching excellence through a diverse range of student-staff partnership research projects. Despite being a highly contested term, ‘teaching excellence’ is something that universities aspire to and are expected to have. However, the editors and contributors argue that not only are definitions of excellence often broad and generic, but they lack nuanced understandings of disciplinary excellence in higher education. This book begins by unpacking some of these contested definitions of teaching excellence, followed by a series of co-authored chapters produced by students and staff who have undertaken research projects where they examine teaching excellence in their respective disciplinary areas. These chapters demonstrate that teaching excellence may be better understood as a process of becoming that is achieved through partnership between teachers and students. This book will be of interest and value to students, educators, and policy-makers concerned about teaching excellence, as well as scholars of student-staff partnerships.

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