Gil McNeil books in order

Most people would think Annie Baker had it all: an idyllic life in the country and a fabulous job as a film producer. And so would she, if it weren't for the men in her life. Her six-year-old son Charlie gets traumatized if she buys the wrong kind of sausages. Her tempestuous boss Barney is a Great Director, but keeps getting stuck with dog food commercials, and as for Lawrence, well, he just wants to get her fired. And then she meets Mack...

Is it better to forgive and forget, or should you just get even? Is it possible to live in the country and not lose your mind completely? Do chickens really make good pets? And what exactly is a hardy perennial?

Alice Mayhew, part-time architect and full-time mother to Alfie, is to gardening what Alan Titchmarsh is to deep-sea fishing. So finding she's been volunteered to design a new garden for the village comes as a bit of a shock, because apart from anything else she's far too busy trying to convince Alfie that wearing green trousers doesn't make you Peter Pan, and that flying is best left to the experts. 

Molly O'Brien is finding it hard enough coping with Lily (aged four and likes washing up) and Matt (aged thirty two and doesn't) before she discovers she's pregnant. And then there's Lola Barker, who causes havoc wherever she goes, and brings a whole new meaning to the word high-maintenance.

Life just keeps getting more complicated for Annie Baker. Her sister Lizzie's pregnant and wants Annie to be her birth-partner - she's planning an active labour, in water, with lots of candles and music. Her partner Matt isn't too sure, although he's bought some new swimming trunks just in case. Annie's friend Leila has got a new man, Tor, and she's getting heavily into yoga, while Kate from the village has somehow ended up having an affair with her own ex-husband.

And as for the men in Annie's own life, it just gets worse. Her seven-year-old son Charlie is now officially Pagan, and desperate for his own pet pheasant. Boss Barney is building a bit of a reputation for TV commercials involving stunts, so if she's not lurching around the North Sea in a trawler, she's stuck up a crane. Then there's Uncle Monty to keep an eye on, a retired mole-catcher who collects bric-a-brac. 

He's eighty-three and a few sandwiches short of a picnic, and has just threatened the Meals on Wheels lady with a shotgun and refuses to leave the farm where he's lived all his life. And as if all that wasn't difficult enough, Mack comes back from New York, just when Annie was beginning to think she might be able to cope without him.

Life hasn't been a bed of roses for Londoner Molly Taylor lately. Newly divorced and struggling to find a new home and a way to support her three boys, she's stunned when her beloved Aunt Helena dies and leaves her Harrington Hall, a three-hundred-year-old manor house on the Devon coast, where Molly grew up. 

But does Molly really want to run a bed-and-breakfast in an old house where the only thing that doesn't need urgent attention is Aunt Helena's beautiful rose garden? Or care for Uncle Bertie, an eccentric former navy officer with a cliff-top cannon? Or Betty, his rude parrot that bites whomever annoys it? Yet Molly's best friend Lola is all for the plan. "My heart bleeds. Your very own beach, the beautiful house, and Helena's garden. All you have to do is grill a bit of bacon."

But with Molly's conniving brother running the family hotel nearby, the return of a high school flame with ulterior motives, and three sons whose idea of a new country life seems to involve vast quantities of mud, this is not going to be easy. And then Harrington Hall begins to work its magic, and the roses start to bloom...

Eighteen of Britain's most exciting authors have written brand new stories especially for this spellbinding collection, including Kate Atkinson, Celia Brayfield, Christopher Brookmyre, Lewis Davies, John O'Farrell, Sue Townsend, and Fay Weldon. 

Miracles, mystery, romance and humor—from Louisiana mud-swamps where enchantment is for sale to a bra-making workshop where dreams come true, this is British fiction at its fizziest, least predictable, and best. £1 for every copy sold will be donated to the National Council for One Parent Families' Magic Million Appeal.

This is a fantastic new collection of short stories and much more, with brand-new stories from 25 of Britain's favorite authors including Joanna Trollope, Jilly Cooper, John O'Farrell, Penny Vincenzi, Kathy Lette, Marika Cobbold, Marina Warner, and Toby Young. Totally Magic will raise funds for the charity PiggyBankKids, which supports fundraising efforts for a wide range of British charities who create opportunities for children and young people.

For every woman who has ever dreamed of starting over, or being a better mother, or just knitting a really nice scarf...

When her husband dies in a car crash -- not long after announcing he wants a divorce -- Jo Mackenzie packs up her two rowdy boys and moves from London to a dilapidated villa in her seaside hometown. There, she takes over her beloved Gran's knitting shop -- a quaint but out-of-date store in desperate need of a facelift. After a rough beginning, Jo soon finds comfort in a "Stitch and Bitch" group; a collection of quirky, lively women who share their stories, and their addiction to cake, with warmth and humor.

As Jo starts to get the hang of single-parent life in a small town, she relies on her knitting group for support. The women meet every week at the shop on Beach Street and trade gossip and advice as freely as they do a new stitch. But when a new man enters Jo's life, and an A-list actress moves into the local mansion, the knitting club has even more trouble confining the conversation to knit one, purl two.

NB: This book is also known as Divas Don't Knit.

Slip one...

Two weddings and a year after her husband's funeral, Jo Mackenzie is finally starting to get the hang of being a single parent. The boys are thriving, the yarn shop is doing well--thanks to Jo's improvements--and she's just about keeping her head above water.

Knit two together...

But a man from Jo's past and a new romance with the hunky local carpenter come along and make life a whole lot more interesting.

Cast off...

Can Jo cope when things get really complicated? Because if knitting really does keep you sane when life starts to unravel, Jo's going to need much bigger needles.

Knit one...

It's been a busy few years since Jo Mackenzie lost her husband. Life has brought adventure, surprises, unexpected pleasures, and, of course, lots of knitting. Jo's seaside yarn shop, with a brand new café , has taken off, keeping her busier than ever. And being a single mum to two boys and headstrong toddler Pearl is just as exhausting and enchanting as she thought it would be. 

On top of all that, celebrity diva Grace has a secret; Jo's firecracker best friend Ellen is launching a new television series; and lovable but hapless Martin continues his oft misguided attempts to woo Jo. Just when Jo thinks she has about all she can handle, Daniel, Pearl's globe-trotting dad, turns up out of the blue . . .

Purl one... 

But with a little help from her friends, and her beloved Gran, Jo is building a new life for herself by the sea, stitch by stitch.

Whether it's memories of childhood holidays or exotic fantasies of faraway places, a sea and its coast is the most evocative of landscapes. This is a unique collection of the finest, new writing from this water-bound nation of ours. Inside are accounts of adventures and encounters, short stories that will haunt and inspire. It is a literary tribute to the last frontier - the ocean.

This glorious celebration of motherhood features stories and personal recollections by popular writers. It is sprinkled with wonderfully touching and funny anecdotes from figures such as Jilly Cooper, Arabella Weir, and Jenni Murray and features cartoons by Posy Simmonds, Sally Ann Lasson, and illustrations by Shirley Hughes and Quentin Blake. This rich treasure trove reflects the many voices of motherhood from across the generations.

NB: Co-edited with Sarah Brown.

They may be your inspiration or your best friend, kind protectors or big on homework and manners, there for the first nappy change or always down the pub - but there is no one else quite like Dad.

In Dads, Britain's finest and funniest share their anecdotes and personal recollections about both what it is like to be a dad - from the shock of looking after a new born to the mixed blessings that are teenagers - and their changing relationships with their own fathers.

The phenomenal list of high-profile contributors includes Sir Richard Branson, Bill Bryson, Andrew Collins, Jilly Cooper, Richard Curtis, Sir Alex Ferguson, Anna Ford, Joanne Harris, Charlie Higson, Kathy Lette, Davina McCall, Fiona Millar, David Miliband, Anthony Minghella, John O'Farrell, David Puttnam, Ian Rankin, David Tennant, Alan Titchmarsh and Fay Weldon

NB: Co-edited with Sarah Brown.

Grandparents—what would we do without them? They come in all shapes and sizes but with their wise words and kind ways they can be a source of inspiration and encouragement like no other. Here Britain's national treasures share their personal anecdotes about grandparents. Some recollect fond childhood memories of their Granny or Granddad, while others share with us their own experiences of what it is like to be a grandparent. Both hugely entertaining and heart warming, this wonderful celebration is the perfect gift for a much-loved grandparent.

NB: Co-edited with Sarah Brown.