Historical Fiction Books

Book SynopsisFrom rags to riches…?Since her father's death, Emma Beech has supported her family by selling paper flowers to the theatre crowds in the West End. But when Emma meets street musician Theodore Barrington, she dreams of finally leaving poverty behind. Previously known as the Great Theodore on the London stage, Barrington turns Emma's head with tales of his former glory. But as Emma is captivated and eager to become his new assistant, she must face her mother’s disapproval over their secret rehearsals. Forced to make a difficult decision between staying loyal to her family and her roots, or pursuing fame and fortune, will she follow her heart or her head?...A gripping East End saga, perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Maggie Hope.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 BOOKER PRIZE'Masterful . . . [This Other Eden] has much to say to our times.' Guardian'A testament of love . . . so real it could make you weep.' Danez Smith, New York Times'A luminous, thought-provoking novel.' Esi Edugyan, author of Washington BlackSet at the beginning of the twentieth century and inspired by historical events, This Other Eden tells the story of Apple Island: an enclave off the coast of the United States where waves of castaways - in flight from society and its judgment - have landed and built a home.Benjamin Honey- American, Bantu, Igbo- born enslaved- freed or fled at fifteen- aspiring orchardist, arrived on the island with his Irish wife, Patience, and discovered they could make a life together there. More than a century later, the Honeys' descendants remain, with an eccentric, diverse band of neighbours. Then comes the intrusion of 'civilization': officials determine to 'cleanse' the island, and a missionary schoolteacher selects one light-skinned boy to save. The rest will succumb to the authorities' institutions or cast themselves on the waters in a new Noah's Ark.Full of lyricism and power, Paul Harding's This Other Eden explores the hopes and dreams and resilience of those seen not to fit a world brutally intolerant of difference.'Harding invites comparisons with authors such as William Faulkner, Robinson and even Elizabeth Strout . . . This Other Eden . . . begs to be widely read.' SpectatorTrade ReviewThe Pulitzer prize-winning author's gifts have found their fullest expression . . . [This Other Eden] impresses time and again because of the depth of Harding's sentences, their breathless angelic light * Observer *Masterful . . . This Other Eden is a story of good intentions, bad faith, worse science, but also a tribute to community and human dignity and the possibility of another world. In both, it has much to say to our times * Guardian *Harding's new novel is suffused with the tremulous imagery and soaring imagination that won him the Pulitzer Prize . . . Exquisite -- Financial TimesMasterful . . . This Other Eden is a story of good intentions, bad faith, worse science, but also a tribute to community and human dignity and the possibility of another world. In both, it has much to say to our times. * Guardian *Harding's new novel is suffused with the tremulous imagery and soaring imagination that won him the Pulitzer Prize . . . Exquisite. * Financial Times *Rich and full-bodied in its lyricism, Harding's novel, too, is part warning, part memorial, but perhaps above all, reinforces the power of art to bring us into sympathy with strangers' lives. * Daily Mail *Harding invites comparisons with authors such as William Faulkner, Robinson and even Elizabeth Strout . . . This Other Eden . . . begs to be widely read. * Spectator *This Other Eden is ultimately a testament of love: love of kin, love of nature, love of art, love of self, love of home . . . The humans he has created are, thankfully, not flattened into props and gimmicks, which sometimes happens when writers work across time and difference; instead they pulse with aliveness, dreamlike but tangible, so real it could make you weep. * New York Times *Powerful . . . a moving indictment of a shocking episode in America's past that is rendered in lyrical prose. * Mail on Sunday *[Harding] writes with the gravitas of a mythmaker . . . The pace of Harding's storytelling is stately, his descriptions, even of small events, gorgeous . . . This Other Eden is beautiful and agonizing. * Harper's *Beautiful . . . Perhaps the chief wonder of this novel is its vivid depictions of a community that is loving, longstanding, peculiar, full of surprises, filled with history, both dark and joyous and above all, functional and self-sustaining - until as has happened so many times and so many places, someone comes along to mess it up. * TLS *In boldly lyrical prose, This Other Eden shows us a once-thriving racial utopia in its final days, at a time when race and science were colliding in chilling ways. In the stories of the Apple Islanders - especially that of Ethan Honey, spared a destructive fate because of his artistic gifts and his fair skin - we are made to confront the ambiguous nature of mercy, the limits of tolerance, and what it means to truly be saved. A luminous, thought-provoking novel.A special book by a rare writer.Harding, who won a dark-horse Pulitzer Prize for Tinkers, again demonstrates his gifts for concision and compassion in a narrative that balances historical fact with fully drawn characters. . . . Sure to be a standout of 2023. * Los Angeles Times *There is no writer alive anything like Paul Harding, and This Other Eden proves it: astonishingly beautiful, humane, strange, interested in philosophy and the heart, stunningly written. It's about home, love, heredity, cruelty, and the very nature of art, so completely original it's hard to know how to describe it in a mere blurb, by which I mean: you must read this book.Tender, magical, and haunting, Paul Harding's This Other Eden is that rare novel that makes profound claims on our present age while being, very simply, a graceful performance of language and storytelling. Here is prose that touchingly holds its imagined island community in a light that can only be described as generous and dazzling. I have not read a novel this achingly beautiful in a while, nor one in which the fate of its characters I will not soon forget.An exquisite book which is both intimate and epic. The writing is polished, precise, luminous. A beautiful testament to people, and whole ways of life, which are have simply been removed from history, and leave hardly a trace behind.'A tragic tale beautifully told. * The Scotsman *

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Book Synopsis'A moving novel with unforgettable characters' - Closer 'A brilliant read' - BellaSometimes you have to fall apart to become whole again... Kate is a successful interior designer with two wonderful kids. Kate is also a recent widow, a grieving daughter and worrying about how to pay the bills. Her life might look perfect from the outside, but making things look better than they are is just how Kate copes. Her mother, Jean, worries about her - but she has her own problems. A mystery from the past has come back to haunt her, and she decides now is the time to put the pieces together. When romance makes an appearance in both their lives, can mother and daughter lay the past to rest - and begin again?'A great piece of storytelling - it swept me away' Sue Moorcroft on A Gift in DecemberTrade ReviewFabulously festive, swoonfully romantic and endlessly enjoyable - I loved it!A great piece of storytelling - it swept me awayUplifting, heartwarming . . . A feel-good festive debut that sparkles with wit, warmth, romance and mystery.

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Book Synopsis'Secrets and lies, poverty and elegance, old loyalties and new friendships all combine to make Eleni Kyriacou's debut novel a compelling page-turner' - Fiona Valpy, bestselling author of The Dressmaker's GiftOne of Woman & Home's Best Historical Fiction Reads of 2020In a city of strangers, who can you trust?London, 1952. Dina Demetriou has travelled from Cyprus for a better life. She's certain that excitement, adventure and opportunity are out there, waiting - if only she knew where to look.Her passion for clothes and flair for sewing land her a job repairing the glittering costumes at the notorious Pelican Revue. It's here that she befriends the mysterious and beautiful Bebba.With her bleached-blonde hair and an appetite for mischief, Bebba is like no Greek Dina has ever met before. She guides Dina around the fashionable shops, bars and clubs of Soho, and Dina finally feels life has begun.But Bebba has a secret. And as thick smog brings the city to a standstill, the truth emerges with devastating results. Dina's new life now hangs by a thread. What will be left when the fog finally clears? And will Dina be willing to risk everything to protect her future?A story of friendship, family, love and loss set against the grimy and glittering streets of fifties Soho. For fans of Kate Furnivall and Rachel Rhys.Further praise for SHE CAME TO STAY:'An atmospheric page-turner perfectly set in the smoke and glitter of a vanished world . . . gripping' - Erin Kelly, bestselling author of He Said/She Said'Compelling and beautifully observed. Kyriacou brilliantly evokes the violence and the grime beneath the sequins and surface glamour of 1950s Soho' - Rachel Rhys, bestselling author of Dangerous Crossing 'I absolutely loved it. A gripping, enthralling story . . . I was completely engrossed' - Laura Marshall, bestselling author of Friend Request 'An absorbing story of friendship, betrayal and resilience' - Sarah Maine, bestselling author of Beyond the Wild River 'A gripping, evocative story . . . well researched and utterly convincing. A real gem of a book' - Gill Paul, bestselling author of The Lost Daughter'An evocative page-turner full of memorable characters. A wonderful debut' - Jenny Quintana, author of The Missing GirlReaders are loving SHE CAME TO STAY, too!'I can highly recommend this book. You will be hooked from start to finish.' 5 STARS'A cracking storyline packed with secrets, as well as unexpected twists and turns make this, cliche or no, a proper page-turner.' 5 STARS'A brilliant read.' 5 STARS'The plot moves quickly and is gripping. I didn't want to put the book down but then was sorry to leave the characters and their London haunts behind when I got to the end.' 5 STARS'A really enjoyable read.' 5 STARSTrade ReviewShe Came To Stay is a gripping story about friendship, family and the meaning of home. An atmospheric page-turner perfectly set in the smoke and glitter of a vanished world. -- Erin KellySet in the dazzling world of 1950s Soho, She Came to Stay is an evocative page-turner full of memorable characters who stayed inside my head long after I had finished reading. Eleni Kyriacou has written a wonderful debut -- Jenny Quintana, author of The Missing GirlSecrets and lies, poverty and elegance, old loyalties and new friendships all combine to make Eleni Kyriacou's debut novel a compelling page-turner, following Dina as she struggles to escape her past in rural Cyprus and make a better life for herself in 1950s Soho. * Fiona Valpy, bestselling author of The Dressmaker's Gift *Compelling and beautifully observed. Kyriacou brilliantly evokes the violence and the grime beneath the sequins and surface glamour of 1950s Soho * Rachel Rhys, bestselling author of Dangerous Crossing *An absorbing story of friendship, betrayal and resilience amongst the immigrant community where the struggle for survival brings out the best - and the worst - in characters who choose conflicting, often dangerous, ways to get ahead in a post war London. * Sarah Maine, bestselling author of Beyond the Wild River *I absolutely loved it - a gripping, enthralling story with characters I loved (and hated!), and so atmospheric, I was completely engrossed in the world of 1950s SohoA gripping, evocative story of the dangers facing a young Cypriot girl in 1950s Soho. Even breathing the air is a risk as the great smog descends. The descriptions of the louche world of cafés and strip clubs are well researched and utterly convincing. It's a real gem of a book. * Gill Paul, bestselling author of The Lost Daughter *An intriguing tale that is supported by wonderful characterisation * Woman's Own *

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Book Synopsis'A splendid warm-hearted novel' - Rachel HoreLondon, 1944.Clara Button is no ordinary librarian. While the world remains at war, in East London Clara has created the country's only underground library, built over the tracks in the disused Bethnal Green tube station. Down here a secret community thrives: with thousands of bunk beds, a nursery, a café and a theatre offering shelter, solace and escape from the bombs that fall above. Along with her glamorous best friend and library assistant Ruby Munroe, Clara ensures the library is the beating heart of life underground. But as the war drags on, the women's determination to remain strong in the face of adversity is tested to the limits when it seems it may come at the price of keeping those closest to them alive. Based on true events, The Little Wartime Library is a gripping and heart-wrenching page-turner that remembers one of the greatest resistance stories of the war.Trade ReviewA heartwarming story of how friendship and the written word sustain us in the toughest times. Based on a little-known true story, Kate Thompson's meticulous research and love of libraries shine through. Perfect for fans of Dear Mrs. Bird. * Janet Skeslien Charles, author of The Paris Library *Gripping, emotional and uplifting * Gill Paul *A captivating tale about the power of libraries and how they connect us . . . Meticulously researched, readers will be entranced by this fascinating slice of history * Andie Newton, USA Today bestselling author of The Girls from the Beach *I was totally immersed in The Little Wartime Library. Kate has such a talent for bringing history to vivid life. Utterly transporting, vivid and fresh. * Iona Grey, bestselling author of Letters to the Lost *Books help win the day in this splendid warm-hearted novel of wartime resilience and romance, based on a true story * Rachel Hore, bestselling author of A Beautiful Spy *Remarkable . . . Heartbreaking and inspiring, this brilliantly researched book also captures the essence of the story through its evocative words and thoughtfully written characters * My Weekly *A perfect wartime tale of hope against the odds * My Weekly *A compulsive read . . . enthralling * Bishops Stortford Independent *Libraries create writers! And here's a book as wrapped up in libraries as it could be . . . * The Library Campaigner *Fascinating and heartwarming * Mail on Sunday *The almost furtive joy of being able to borrow books to read for free, and the emotional liberation and adventure this ability confers, suffuses every chapter of this novel. Thompson's research is full of love and levity, showing how reading provides succour and sustenance even in the darkest of times * Daily Express *An ode to books, libraries and the resilience of women. Uplifting and heartwarming. The strength of the human spirit shines through * Louise Fein *A fascinating forgotten underground library * East London Advertiser *Riveting * Prima *Remarkable * People’s Friend *My best book of the year. I loved the feeling this book gave me. The fact that this community, this love of books realty did exist and really did make a difference, was a wonderful thing to discover * The Book Trail *Warm and uplifting historical fiction, all made to feel so real because of the historical details seamlessly woven into the story * Portybelle Book Blogger *This is just the story we need right now - a tale of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to keep hope alive and to give a community adrift in wartime a sense of home. The Bethnal Green underground library might be the beating heart of the book's subterranean village, but Clara is the soul of this novel. She's the kind of character you cheer for, cry for, and dream for. Kate Thompson's passion, meticulous research and brilliant storytelling make The Little Wartime Library an utter delight to read * Natasha Lester, New York Times bestselling author of The Riviera House *Such a heart-warming story of camaraderie * Bishops Stortford Independent *A powerful, earth-shattering read * Woman's Own *The Little Wartime Library was such an immensely heartwarming read. I laughed and cried through the entire thing, completely enraptured. People who love books about books must read this gem! * Madeline Martin, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London *Captivating and remarkable, it reminds us that stories soothe and help us make sense of the chaos in our lives * The Toronto Star *

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Book SynopsisThe third book in the gripping and heartwarming new Jubilee Lake series, from multi-million-copy bestselling author Anna JacobsLancashire, 1895. Abigail Dawson has lived in fear of her father for thirty years. But when, after uprooting them to a grand new home in Ollerthwaite, he's found murdered in the street, her life is turned upside down.Alone and caught in a web of her father's secrets, Abigail needs someone to rely on - so when hardworking handyman Rufus promises her a new life, she's thrilled at the chance to have a family of her own. But as they grow closer, could it be more than a marriage of convenience? Meanwhile, the rebuilding of the Ollerton estate is bringing new life to the valley - but old grudges, and new threats, are disturbing the peace. With plans for the Diamond Jubilee approaching, can the whole village band together to protect their home?Readers love Anna Jacobs!'Amazing' - 5 STARS'Thank you, Anna, for the pleasure you give in all your books' - 5 STARS'Another brilliant, hard-to-put-down book' - 5 STARS'Can't wait for the next instalment' - 5 STARS'A real page turner, I can't wait to read the next one' - 5 STARS'Another triumph for Anna Jacobs' - 5 STARS'BRILLIANT READ' - 5 STARSBook 1 in the Jubilee Lake Saga, SILVER WISHES, is out now in hardback, eBook and audio***Have you discovered all of Anna Jacobs' wonderful series?For a story of romance, drama and family ties on Daisy Street, try the BACKSHAW MOSS series:A VALLEY DREAMA VALLEY SECRETA VALLEY WEDDINGFor a heartwarming and emotional saga set in a Lancashire valley, try the BIRCH END series:A DAUGHTER'S JOURNEYA WIDOW'S COURAGEA WOMAN'S PROMISE

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Book SynopsisThe third novel in the brand new Backshaw Moss series by beloved million-copy bestselling author Anna JacobsLancashire, 1936. With her son Gabriel finally married, and her youngest following his dreams of becoming a doctor, Gwynneth Harte finds herself with an empty nest - until a fire forces her to move in with Gabriel and his wife Maisie at their home on Daisy Street. Arthur Chapman has been at a low ebb ever since the death of his wife. Turning to drink in his grief, he lost both his job and contact with his grandchild, Beatie - but now the inheritance of a house from a distant relative is the fresh start he needs. When Beatie runs away from her cruel grandmother and takes refuge with Gwynneth, she and Arthur are thrown together - and find themselves growing closer. But trouble is brewing in the valley, from the ambitions of the bullying local landlord to rumours of a Fascist spy. Can the residents of Backshaw Moss band together to keep each other safe, and will there be wedding bells on Daisy Street?Readers love Anna Jacobs' heartwarming sagas! 'Amazing' - 5 STARS'Thank you, Anna, for the pleasure you give in all your books' - 5 STARS'Another brilliant, hard-to-put-down book' - 5 STARS'Can't wait for the next instalment' - 5 STARS'A real page turner, I can't wait to read the next one' - 5 STARS'Another triumph for Anna Jacobs' - 5 STARS'BRILLIANT READ' - 5 STARSTrade ReviewPRAISE FOR ANNA JACOBS:This is that rare thing, a pacy page-turner with a ripping plot and characters you care about . . . [Anna Jacobs is] especially big on resourceful, admirable women. Great stuff! * Daily Mail *Anna Jacobs' books are deservedly popular. She is one of the best writers of Lancashire sagas around * Historical Novels Review *[Anna Jacobs' books have an] impressive grasp of human emotions * The Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisThe gripping and immersive historical thriller from the author of Witchfinder, based on the true events of a scandalous blackmail plot hidden in the shadows...'A compelling story of power, passion and intrigue based on real events. A terrific read' NICK ROBINSON, BBC Today presenter'A wickedly entertaining tale of political chicanery' DAILY TELEGRAPH___________London 1929. Very much not a land fit for heroes. Frenchie knows his occasional work for MI5 serves only the ruling classes. But he needs to feed his children. Scruples died in the trenches.When Ramsay MacDonald, Britain's first Labour Prime Minister, is blackmailed by a former lover, Frenchie must go to Paris to buy her silence.It is clear there are many people who would see MacDonald fall - the Conservatives, their friends in the press, even some of his own colleagues. But his own secret service? When Frenchie hears the other side of the story, everything changes.___________'If le Carre needs a successor, Williams has all the equipment for the role' TIMES Literary Supplement Books of the Year'Spy tradecraft of the old school, with no computers, fast cars or mobile phones, but not a whit less exciting for that. Highly recommended as both a spy story and a piece of social and political history' Shots MagazineTrade ReviewA compelling story of power, passion and intrigue based on real events, The Prime Minister's Affair is a terrific read -- Nick RobinsonSpy tradecraft of the old school, with no computers, fast cars or mobile phones, but not a whit less exciting for that. Highly recommended as both a spy story and a piece of social and political history * Shots Magazine *Andrew Williams has fashioned a wickedly entertaining tale of political chicanery * Daily Telegraph *Williams blends reality and fiction in a tense and intricate story that shows politics has always been a brutal business * Sun *His new novel quietly ticks all the boxes . . . Albeit set in a period Le Carré never explored, this has all the trademark qualities of the Grand Master himself, an historical spy thriller which springs to life due to the complexity and humanity of its characters, both public and private -- Maxim Jakubowski * Crime Time *A must read for anyone with any interest in politics of the past or the present -- Edward WilsonCompelling and full of rich portrayals of both real and fictional characters from the period . . . A wonderful read -- Sarah Ward, author of the DC Childs seriesAn entertaining yarn * The Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisParis, 1900. Aileen Bowman arrives at the Exposition Universelle, where all the world has gathered to witness the birth of modernity. A journalist in her mid-thirties, unmarried and fiercely independent, she has been sent to cover the Exposition for the New York Tribune, and her arrival soon creates a scandal in the city of lights. But it seems the life she left behind on the distant Nevada plains may have followed her across the Atlantic, and before long Aileen finds herself caught in a deadly tussle between the old world and the new. The final volume in Antonin Varenne's epic historical trilogy, The Canvas of the World takes us to heart of Paris, from the emerging metropolis to the neighbourhood brothels, in a novel driven by passion and a yearning for freedom.Translated from the French by Sam TaylorTrade ReviewIntense and sparkling -- Nils C. Ahl * Le Monde *An epic - sensual and romantic -- Alexandra Schwartzbrod * Libération *[Varenne's] writing is always intelligent and thought-provoking -- Paul Burke * NB Magazine *

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Book SynopsisA warm and heartfelt WW2 saga of hope, love, and female friendship and how women pull together through good times and bad. Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Nadine Dorries.In 1940s Hampshire the war is settling into its stride bringing dark days for many. Connie Baxter has just moved in with her Aunt Gertie after the death of her mother. Gertie works as a cleaner at the Criterion Picture House in Gosport and she helps Connie to get a job there as an usherette. For Connie, it's the perfect place to work because she adores the movies with their glamorous, romantic stars. The only fly in the ointment is the Criterion's creepy manager with his wandering hands. But soon Connie is firm friends with Queenie, who sells ice creams and soon tells her how to warn him off. Charming Tommo Smith is a 'taxi-dancer'. For a fee he steers ladies of a certain age around the dance floor - and sometimes more besides which pays for his smart clothes. Connie's friend Queenie says he's a chancer, but his gorgeous blue eyes tell Connie something different. When suddenly he disappears, Connie accepts that Queenie may be right - he was too good to be true. As the war rages on and Connie struggles with the harsh realities of life and the turbulence of romance, she comes to realize that life isn't always like it is in the pictures.

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Book SynopsisA World War 2 saga to warm the heart. Three women become friends when working in their local picture house. When life is so tough for everyone, a trip to the pictures is the perfect way to escape, to dream of romance and hope for the good things peace will bring.

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Book Synopsis'A spellbinding read ... the glamour of early Sixties showbiz' LOUISE CANDLISH'Mesmerising and powerful ... an extraordinary sense of time and place' ELLY GRIFFITHS'A stylish and page-turning mystery' RACHEL HORE'Gripping ... her portrait of Sixties London is terrific' ELIZABETH BUCHANLONGLISTED FOR THE HWA GOLD CROWN AWARD 2021Set in Sixties London, a gripping drama of past secrets revealed, of manipulation and revenge for fans of Daphne du Maurier and noir movies like All About Eve and A Star is BornDelia Maxwell is an international singing sensation, an icon of 1950s glamour who is still riding high on the new 60s scene. Adored by millions, all men want to be with her, all women want to be her. But one woman wants it maybe a little too much...Lily Brooks has watched Delia all her life, studying her music and her on-stage mannerisms. Now she has a dream job as Delia's assistant - but is there more to her attachment than the admiration of a fan? Private investigator Frank is beginning to wonder.As Lily steps into Delia's spotlight, and Delia encourages her ambitious protegée, Frank's suspicions of Lily's ulterior motives increase. But are his own feelings for Delia clouding his judgement? The truth is something far darker: the shocking result of years of pain and rage, rooted in Europe's darkest hour. If Delia thought she had put her past behind her, she had better start watching her back.Trade ReviewMesmerising and powerful, with an extraordinary sense of time and place and characters you will never forget -- Elly GriffithsA stylish and page-turning mystery with dark secrets at its core * Rachel Hore *I loved this elegant and enthralling novel, with its clever shades of All About Eve and A Star is Born. Beneath the surface glamour of early-Sixties showbiz, the devastating personal histories of Delia, Lily and Frank continue to haunt and torment them. Who, if any, will triumph? A spellbinding read * Louise Candlish *Delia, the heroine of V.B. Grey's gripping and subtle novel is a fabulous study in ambivalence, guilt and yearning, and her portrait of Sixties London ... is terrific' * Elizabeth Buchan *A nuanced and moving portrait of ambition, manipulation, and the emotional havoc created by those unable to escape the past, set against the heady, soon-to-be-lost glamour of early 1960s showbiz * Laura Wilson *Tell Me How It Ends is a gorgeously written novel which evokes the atmosphere and glamour of old Hollywood while including utterly modern themes. Best enjoyed with a dry martini and some jazz on the (vinyl) record player * Sinead Crowley *With clear homages to film noir, this intriguing read will grip you from the start * Woman & Home *Takes elements of classic mystery novels with the glamour and pizzazz of celebrity and turns both on their heads. Captivating * Woman's Way *With obvious debts to both A Star is Born and All About Eve, this is the full-on book equivalent of a classic Hollywood "woman's picture" * Sunday Times Crime Club *Clever, generous and imaginative, this is an excellent crime novel * Literary Review *Inspired by women-centred narratives and the noir thrillers of the 40s and 50s, Grey invites readers into a glamorous, dark world of ambition, manipulation and revenge * Culture Fly *With clear homages to film noir, this intriguing and nostalgic read will grip you from the beginning * Woman's Own *Delia, the heroine of V B Grey's gripping and subtle novel, is a fabulous study in ambivalence, guilt and yearning, and her portrait of Sixties London - a melting pot for the war-damaged, the ambitious, as well as the decent - is terrific -- Elizabeth Buchan

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Book Synopsis Will she be able to keep her family together? 'A novel that reminds us that there is always hope in the face of darkness' Katie Fforde After their parents die unexpectedly, Connie, Dom, Leo and Pearl are forced to journey to Wolsingham, England, in search of the only family they have left.Hopeful of a warm welcome, the orphans are heartbroken to be turned away by their grandparents, Joshua and Flo Butler, and sent back out into the cold and unfamiliar countryside.But when Flo falls gravely ill, the Butlers have no choice but to ask for help from the grandchildren they abandoned. With the support of their new community, can the orphans repair what little family they have left . . .? 'Elizabeth writes such strong female characters, who never fail to succeed in the face of adversity. A compelling drama' Trisha Ashley </h4>Trade ReviewOriginal and evocative - a born storyteller * Trisha Ashley *A wonderful book, full of passion, pain, sweetness, twists and turns. I couldn't put it down * Sheila Newberry *Elizabeth Gill writes with a masterful grasp of conflicts and passions * Leah Fleming *An enthralling and satisfying novel that will leave you wanting more * Catherine King *

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When Rosalind West leaves her native Durham for a job in London with the Doxbridge Motor Company she is determined to escape her background and build a new life. London is excitingly different and tantalisingly glamorous - especially when she meets the handsome and aristocratic Freddie Harlington, a rally driver, and the son of a once-wealthy Northumberland landowner. Against her friends' better judgement Freddie and Rosalind begin a relationship. But Freddie's family have plans for him which do not include marrying a Durham miner's daughter. Turning to a close companion for consolation, Rosalind suddenly finds herself torn between two men, both of strong passions, and fierce ambition.Note: this book was previously published under the title Home to the High Fells.Praise for Elizabeth Gill'Original and evocative - a born storyteller' Trisha Ashley 'A wonderful book, full of passion, pain, sweetness, twists and turns. I couldn't put it down' Sheila Newberry 'Elizabeth Gill writes with a masterful grasp of conflicts and passions' Leah Fleming 'An enthralling and satisfying novel that will leave you wanting more' Catherine King'If you love Catherine Cookson then you will love Elizabeth Gill' Northern Echo

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Book SynopsisA READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK'A riveting mother-daughter tale' Elle'Beautifully gripping' Heat'A joy to read' Christina Baker Kline, author of The Exiles Ann Tran is already at a crossroads when she gets the call that her beloved grandmother, Minh, has died. Ann has built a seemingly perfect life. She lives in a beautiful lake house and has a charming professor boyfriend, but it all crumbles away with one positive pregnancy test. With both her relationship and carefully planned future now in question, Ann returns home to Florida to face her estranged mother, Hu'o'ng. Under the same roof for the first time in years, mother and daughter must face the simmering questions of their past, while trying to rebuild their relationship without the one person who's always held them together. Running parallel to this is Minh's story, as she goes from a lovestruck teenager living in the shadow of the Vietnam War to a determined young mother immigrating to America in search of a better life. And when Ann makes a shocking discovery in the Banyan House's attic, long-buried secrets come to light as it becomes clear how decisions Minh made in her youth affected the rest of her life and her family. Spanning decades and continents, from 1960s Vietnam to the wild swamplands of the Florida coast, Banyan Moon is a stunning and deeply moving story of mothers and daughters, the things we inherit, and the lives we choose to make out of that inheritance.'Heart-shatteringly beautiful' Nguyen Phan Que Mai, author of The Mountains SingTrade ReviewA riveting mother-daughter tale spanning two different timelines, and anchored by the magnetic pull of a Gothic home known as the Banyan House, Banyan Moon is author Thao Thai's beautiful debut * Elle, Best Books of 2023 *A beautifully gripping tale about motherhood * Heat *A beautifully written, page-turning novel . . . Banyan Moon is a celebration of life in all its forms and a joy to read * Christina Baker Kline, author of THE EXILES *Heart-shatteringly beautiful . . . a love letter to keepers of secrets, to motherhood, family and survival. Thao Thai is a major talent * Nguyen Phan Que Mai, author of THE MOUNTAINS SING *Pleasurably atmospheric . . . Banyan Moon is strongest when exploring the unique blend of contempt and fury that can exist between mothers and daughters . . . Thai renders these feelings with nuance and a familiarity that is sometimes difficult to bear * New York Times *Tender, gripping and heartbreaking. A haunting page turner that reexamines lineage, motherhood, and what it means to be a survivor . . . A welcome debut from a stunning voice who will forever impact the Vietnamese American canon * Carolyn Huynh, author of THE FORTUNES OF JADED WOMEN *An honest and aching exploration of the gulf between generations . . . A novel of hope, a story of forgiveness, a reminder that even though we can never fully know the people closest to us, it is worth the try * Tracey Lien, author of ALL THAT'S LEFT UNSAID *An intricately woven story of three generations of women, surviving and living each in their own way. This novel has everything you want: desire, betrayal, grit, tenderness, pride, love, and . . . the sacred secrets we make and keep to protect what we hold dear * Meng Jin, author of SELF-PORTRAIT WITH GHOST *Thao Thai captures the complexities of familial love with an unflinching, yet gorgeously lyric, eye. Banyan Moon is an ambitious and masterful debut! * Stacey Swann, author of OLYMPUS, TEXAS *A spellbinding and intricately layered story, Banyan Moon celebrates Vietnamese women * E. M. Tran, author of DAUGHTERS OF THE NEW YEAR *Haunting, a little spooky and occasionally heartbreaking, this sweeping debut novel follows three generations of Vietnamese women as they try to find their way in the world * Good Housekeeping, Best Books of 2023 *Powerful * Reader's Digest *Well worth reading * Vogue *

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Book SynopsisLondon, 1940When tragedy strikes, Libby Gilbert is left homeless and destitute, fending for herself on the capital's most dangerous streets.Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Libby is on the cusp of making a decision that could jeopardise her future when a local boy saves her from ruin.The kindness of this stranger sets her on a different path, and Libby heads to Liverpool with a determined mind and hope in her heart.There, she reconnects with long lost family - but will she be able to uncover the truth that tore them apart all those years ago?WHY READERS LOVE KATIE FLYNN:'Takes you on a journey of heartbreak and joy''Hard to put down''Her characters are like old friends''Heartwarming romance'

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Book SynopsisDestiny toys with us all, but Anita Garibaldi is a force to be reckoned with. Forced into marriage at sixteen, Anita feels trapped in a union she does not want. But when she meets the leader of the Brazilian resistance, Giuseppe Garibaldi, in 1839, everything changes. Swept into a passionate affair with the idolized mercenary, Anita's life is suddenly consumed by the plight to liberate Southern Brazil--a struggle that would cost thousands of lives and span almost ten bloody years. Little did she know that this first taste of revolution would lead her to cross oceans, traverse continents, and alter the course of her life--and the world. At once an exhilarating adventure and an unforgettable love story, The Woman in Red is a sweeping, illuminating tale of the feminist icon who became one of the most revered historical figures in South America and Italy.

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Book SynopsisWilla Cather's My Antonia is considered one of the most significant American novels of the twentieth century. Set during the great migration west to settle the plains of the North American continent, the narrative follows Antonia Shimerda, a pioneer who comes to Nebraska as a child and grows with the country, inspiring a childhood friend, Jim Burden, to write her life story. The novel is important both for its literary aesthetic and as a portrayal of important aspects of American social ideals and history, particularly the centrality of migration to American culture.The Broadview edition includes a rich selection of primary source materials: the revised introduction for the 1926 edition; Cather's Mesa Verde Wonderland is Easy to Reach Nebraska: The End of the First Cycle, Peter and her comments on the novel; contemporary reviews and photographs.Trade Review“Cather’s great novel is accompanied here by Joseph Urgo’s intellectually insightful and audacious introduction and by the best available collection of historical materials relevant to the work. This splendid edition will appeal both to those who are beginning and to those who are continuing their explorations of this masterpiece.” — Merrill Skaggs, Drew University“This edition is distinguished by its broad editorial attention to history: to the pioneering era that Cather’s novel describes and to the pre-World War I U.S. in which it was written. Most interestingly, the primary documents convincingly connect My Ántonia not only to Cather’s developing aesthetic theory but also to broad American cultural concerns of immigration, conservation, and national self-definition. This edition allows readers to see the novel as a complexly articulated response to the great issues and energies of America as it entered the modern age.” — John Swift, Occidental College, Los AngelesTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionWilla Cather: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextMy ÁntoniaAppendix A: Cather’s Revised Introduction to the 1926 Edition of My ÁntoniaAppendix B: Cather’s “Mesa Verde Wonderland is Easy to Reach”Appendix C: Cather’s “Nebraska:The End of the First Cycle”Appendix D: Cather’s “Peter”Appendix E: Interviews and Commentary by Cather on My Ántonia Latrobe Carroll, “Willa Sibert Cather,” Bookman, 3 May 1921 “A Talk with Miss Cather,” Webster County Argus, 29 September 1921 Eleanor Hinman, “Willa Cather,” Lincoln Sunday Star, 6 November 1921 Rose C. Field, “Restlessness Such as Ours Does Not Make for Beauty,” New York Times Book Review, 21 December 1924 Appendix F: Contemporary Reviews of the Novel Randolph Bourne, The Dial, 14 December 1918 H.W. Boynton, Bookman, December 1918 C.L.H., New York Call, 13 November 1918 A.L.A. Booklist, 1918 Book Review Digest, 1918 Independent, 25 January 1919 New York Times, 6 October 1918 Nation, 2 November 1918 The Globe and Commercial Advertiser, 11 January 1919 H.L. Mencken, The Smart Set, 17 February 1919 Appendix G: Photographs of Nebraska Primitive Dugout Sod House Threshing Scene The Pavelka Farm Anna Sadilek Blind Boone The University of Nebraska Appendix H: Immigration to and Migration Across America Nebraska Land Company, Czech Language Immigration Poster Welcome to the Land of Freedom Emigrants Coming to the “Land of Promise” Crossing the Great American Desert in Nebraska Appendix I: Music from My Ántonia “Oh, Promise Me” “O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie” Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisSusanna Haswell Rowson, a popular and prolific writer, actress, and educator in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, had a truly transatlantic life and career, moving twice from England to America and publishing extensively in both countries. A transatlantic sensibility informs her fictionalized “history” of America, Reuben and Rachel, which traces ten generations of an extended family, beginning with the marriage of Christopher Columbus’s son to a native Peruvian princess, moving through the Tudor succession crises and the colonial settlement of New England, and ending with the title characters, who leave England for America, renounce titles of nobility, and consider their children “true-born Americans.” In Rowson’s representation, the American character derives from fusion and hybridity, the results of intermarriage across racial, religious and national lives.Trade Review“Wrongly neglected for decades in favor of Rowson’s better-known Charlotte Temple, Reuben and Rachel is a fascinating story of ten generations of Christopher Columbus’s descendants, who experience colonization and captivity, seduction and sedition, and reframe American history as a richly complicated series of exchanges with unpredictable and unsettling results for national mythology. All readers interested in the transnational and interracial constructions of U.S. nationhood, in the expansion and shrinking of female agency, or in the various genres that comprise Reuben and Rachel will recognize the significant contribution Joseph F. Bartolomeo has made by bringing this captivating novel back into print and by highlighting its historical and literary importance with lucid notes, rich topical appendices, and a smart, well-crafted introduction that brings the novel into contemporary critical discussions with admirable clarity and insight.” — Christopher Castiglia, Pennsylvania State University“This edition of Rowson’s Reuben and Rachel is a most welcome resource for anyone seeking to understand how an eighteenth-century feminist conceived of gender roles and women’s rights in the context of Enlightenment discourse about individual liberty. It will be of equal interest to those interested in understanding how a transatlantic writer fashioned a Columbus myth suited to the particular cultural needs of an early American republic in search of a national identity. Joseph F. Bartolomeo’s introduction, notes, and appendices help the reader to more fully appreciate the significance of Rowson’s work in both transatlantic and early American contexts.” — Michael Householder, Southern Methodist UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionSusanna Haswell Rowson:A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextReuben and RachelAppendix A: Historical Fiction Thomas Leland,Advertisement for Longsword, Earl of Salisbury (1762) Sophia Lee,Advertisement for The Recess (1786) From Clara Reeve, Preface to Memoirs of Sir Roger de Clarendon (1793) Reviews of The Recess From The Critical Review (1783) From The Monthly Review (1786) Review of The Castle of Mowbray (1788) Review of The Countess of Hennebon (1789) From a Review of Earl Strongbow (1790) From a Review of Memoirs of Sir Roger de Clarendon (1794) Appendix B:Women, History, and Pedagogy From Judith Sargent Murray, The Gleaner (1798) From Susanna Rowson,“Outline of Universal History” (1811) From Susanna Rowson,“Sketches of Female Biography” (1811) Appendix C: Columbus and America From Philip Freneau,The Pictures of Columbus (1788) From Joel Barlow, The Vision of Columbus (1787) From Susanna Rowson,“Rise and Progress of Navigation” (1811) Appendix D:The Cobbett-Rowson Controversy From William Cobbett, A Kick for a Bite (1795) From John Swanwick, A Rub from Snub (1795) From Susanna Rowson, Preface to Trials of the Human Heart (1795) Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis amply annotated edition of Wharton’s 1911 classic novella includes textual notes and documents, including Wharton's preface, letters, reviews, and early short story, “Mrs. Manstey’s View.” It is accompanied by the editor’s comprehensive introduction and a wide array of readings on topics central to the novella: tragedy, health and fitness, sex and marriage, and turn-of-the-century New England poverty and isolation. Of her twenty-five novels and novellas, Ethan Frome is the one of which Edith Wharton was most proud. Historically viewed as a high society writer or novelist of manners, Wharton is now receiving her due as an astute chronicler and critic of American life who brought literary realism to new levels and helped to usher in a period of modernist innovation.This Broadview Edition demonstrates that Ethan Frome, a nightmarish saga of thwarted romance, is not an anomaly in Wharton’s career, but a natural outgrowth of her interest in the interplay of individual and society.Trade Review“The Broadview Ethan Frome is that rare edition of a classic that will satisfy everyone. Carol Singley’s comprehensive and beautifully-crafted introduction invites readers to consider deeply the themes and contexts of the novel. The collection of reviews, criticism, and contemporary commentary on health, marriage, masculinity, suicide, and other relevant issues will intrigue readers for its own sake and will enrich their understanding of the ‘envelope of circumstance’ in which Ethan Frome was written and has been read. This is a worthy addition to the Wharton canon.” — Irene Goldman-Price, editor of My Dear Governess: The Letters of Edith Wharton to Anna Bahlmann“Carol Singley’s fine edition of Ethan Frome provides a detailed introduction to the novel’s main themes and contexts, helpful explanatory notes throughout the text, and a useful bibliography for further reading. The range of secondary materials is excellent and highlights various aesthetic concerns, including the novel’s reception and its relationship to modernist literary technique, as well as its engagement with classic and modern definitions of tragedy. The novel’s cultural contexts are illuminated by materials focusing on health and fitness; sexuality, marriage, and divorce; suicide; and technological progress and economic issues in New England and the broader U.S. The edition also contains a judicious selection of correspondence revealing Wharton’s thoughts on issues such as marriage and relationships, illness, and the novel’s publicity. The edition is a wonderful resource for students, teachers, and researchers.” — Gary Totten, North Dakota State UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionEdith Wharton: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextEthan FromeAppendix A: Writings by Edith Wharton Introduction to Ethan Frome (1922) From The Writing of Fiction (1925) From A Backward Glance (1934) “Mrs. Manstey’s View” (10 July 1891) Appendix B: Correspondence Edith Wharton to Elizabeth Frelinghuysen Davis Lodge (20 June [1910]) Edith Wharton to Bernard Berenson (4 January [1911]) Edith Wharton to W. Morton Fullerton (16 October [1911]) Henry James to Edith Wharton (25 October 1911) Edith Wharton to Charles Scribner (27 November [1911]) Appendix C: Contemporary Reviews and Commentaries From The New York Times (8 October 1911) From Outlook (21 October 1911) From The Nation (26 October 1911) From The Saturday Review (18 November 1911) From John Curtis Underwood, “Culture and Edith Wharton” (1914) From William Lyon Phelps, “The Advance of the English Novel,” The Bookman (July 1916) From Katharine Fullerton Gerould, Edith Wharton: A Critical Study (1922) From Alfred Kazin, “The Lady and the Tiger,” Virginia Quarterly Review (Winter 1941) From Percy Lubbock, Portrait of Edith Wharton (1947) Appendix D: Tragedy From Aristotle, Poetics (335 BCE) From Arthur Miller, “Tragedy and the Common Man” (1949) From Richard Sewall, The Vision of Tragedy (1980) Appendix E: Health and Fitness From Theodore Roosevelt, “The Strenuous Life” (1902) From Samuel McComb, “The Power of Suggestion in Nervous Troubles” (May 1908) From Sigmund Freud, Three Essays on Sexuality (1905) and “The Economic Problem of Masochism” (1924) From George Kennan, “The Problems of Suicide” (June 1908) Appendix F: Sex and Marriage Junius Browne, “Romantic Marriages” (January 1895) From Mrs. P.T. Barnum, “Moths of Modern Marriage” (March 1891) From Byron Hall, “A Lesson Conjugal” (1 September 1903) From William Lee Howard, Facts for the Married (1912) “Separation the Cure for Matrimonial Woe” (16 January 1905) From “Felix Adler on Divorce” (26 January 1905) Appendix G: New England and the Nation “Lenox High School Girl Dashed to her Death,” The Berkshire Evening Eagle (12 March 1904) “A Sleeping Giant,” The Youth’s Companion (18 November 1909) From Rollin Lynde Hartt, “The Regeneration of Rural New England,” Outlook (3 March 1900) From “The Value of Natural Scenery,” Outlook (26 September 1908) Appendix H: Photographs The Mount, Lenox, Massachusetts (1906) The Mount, Lenox, Massachusetts (1906) Edith Wharton (1910) Wharton’s Library, The Mount (undated) Sledding in Lenox, Massachusetts (1890s) Cover of Ethan Frome, the Play (1936) Works Cited and Further Reading

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Book SynopsisCastle Rackrent—Maria Edgeworth’s first novel, and the work for which she was and is best known—occupies a most unusual place in the history both of Irish literature and of English-language fiction. It has sometimes been called the first historical novel in English literature, yet in its tone it more closely resembles a comedy of manners than anything in the genre that has come to be known as “the historical novel.” It has been identified as the first of other lines as well—the first English novel written in a non-standard dialect, the first “provincial” or “regional” novel, and the first in what developed into the “big house” tradition of novels focused on the lives of the Anglo-Irish Protestant landholding class that dominated much of Ireland for centuries. Its innovative use of an unreliable narrator makes it also, arguably, an important milestone in the development of the novel form as a whole. Castle Rackrent chronicles the declining fortunes and ultimate ruin of the Rackrent family through the mishandling of their estate by a series of incompetent and irresponsible heirs. Edgeworth attested in a letter she wrote years later that “the only character drawn from the life” in the novel is Thady Quirk (servant to the Rackrent family, and the novel’s narrator). But the novel as a whole is grounded in real events—the careless landlords and the “middle men who grind the face of the poor” described in Edgeworth’s fiction were very real in eighteenth-century Ireland.This edition does more than any other to set this classic novel in the political, economic, and religious context of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Irish life; in addition to an illuminating introduction, the edition includes a variety of background historical materials.Trade Review“This new edition of Maria Edgeworth’s best-known fiction of Irish life will be warmly welcomed. A lively and informative introduction sketches Edgeworth’s life and times, and outlines the central questions posed by this witty philosophical tale. A skillfully accomplished summary of the historical and political background to the novel is followed by useful selections from contemporary sources, including Arthur Young’s scathing exposé of corrupt landlordism, and Theobald Wolfe Tone’s ‘Argument on Behalf of the Catholics of Ireland,’ a polemic that does much to show how the 1798 United Irishmen uprising emerged out of the exploitation identified by Young. Other extracts from contemporary documents focus on the misgovernment by the Anglo-Irish Protestant ascendancy echoed in Edgeworth’s tale of chaotic local tyrants. This edition is a valuable resource both for students of Edgeworth and general readers encountering her, and eighteenth-century Irish life, for the first time.” — Susan Manly, University of St Andrews“The introduction to Broadview’s welcome new edition sets the novel in the context of Edgeworth’s career and its subsequent reception. The ‘In Context’ section furnishes the reader with contemporary reviews and texts from the times concerning Irish social and political conditions, particularly relating to the 1798 rebellion which led to the legislative union.” — Professor James H. Murphy, Director of Irish Studies, Boston College“This valuable new edition sets the book in its historico-political context with excerpts from influential works by contemporary authors…. Edgeworth’s work is so valuable because it traverses the obvious faultlines in Irish political and social life. Helpfully, the edition also includes excerpts from reviews at the time of its publication, demonstrating how the meaning of Edgeworth’s novella continued to be interpreted and reinterpreted in so many different ways.” — John Bew, Professor of History and Foreign Policy, King’s College London“The introduction provides a concise overview of Edgeworth’s critical neglect and literary merit as well as clearly outlining the challenges of reading a novel of ‘Irish’ manners by an Anglo-Irish writer. The contextual materials invaluably elucidate the political and economic injustices faced by the Irish as well as the English and Anglo-Irish prejudices justifying the continued religious and cultural oppression of the Irish people.” — Robin Runia, Xavier University of Louisiana“As Walter Allen pointed out in his history of the English novel, Castle Rackent is to Irish literature what Huckleberry Finn is to American literature. This is a fine edition of a classic of the novel in English literary tradition.” — Maureen O. Murphy, Hofstra University“Edgeworth’s Castle Rackrent has always been a strange little novel, a tale of the dissolution of the Rackrent family through their own mismanagement and irresponsibility, told in non-standard dialect by the illiterate Irish steward Thady Quirk. … [T]his welcome edition for the classroom provides an additional layer of useful glosses and illuminating contextual readings.” — Susan Egenolf, Texas A&M University“Though Castle Rackrent is surely one of the shortest novels of its era—certainly in comparison with typical eighteenth- and nineteenth-century door-stoppers—it is also one of the most important, touching on a huge range of issues including British and Irish nationalism, colonial power, marriage and sexuality, religion and its obligations, property ownership, revolution and rebellion. It is also laugh-out-loud funny: Thady Quirk is one of the great unsung narrators of literary history. Julie Nash and her colleagues are to be commended for providing just the right amount of commentary and contextual material to keep any literature class interested and engaged. This is a welcome addition to the Broadview Anthology of Literature and to Broadview’s impressive lineup of Romantic-period editions.” — Alexander Dick, University of British Columbia“This richly informative new edition of Maria Edgeworth’s ironic masterpiece approaches Castle Rackrent in terms of the questions that it still poses. The book supplies a wide array of contextual material, prompting new connections and allowing readers to come to their own conclusions. Students are sure to be drawn to the portfolio of images of Irish housing that accompanies the text. Truly an edition to explore and enjoy.” — Claire Connolly, University College CorkTable of Contents from Arthur Young, A Tour in Ireland, 1776–79 (1780) The Rebellions of 1798 and 1803, and the Acts of Union from Wolfe Tone, “An Argument on Behalf of the Catholics of Ireland” (1791) from The Reading Mercury and Oxford Gazette, 23 July 1798 from “Examination of William James MacNeven before the Secret Committee of the House of Commons, Dublin,” 7 and 8 August 1798 Songs of ‘98 Slievenamon (date unknown) Carroll Malone, “The Croppy Boy” (1845) from Francis Moylan, Letter to Thomas Pelham, 9 March 1799 from Report of a Motion Brought before the Irish House of Commons, as presented in The Aberdeen Journal, 10 March 1800 from Anne Devlin, The Life, Imprisonment, Suffering and Death of Anne Devlin (1851) Letters to The Times Regarding Tithes from Letter to The Times, 14 November 1804 from Letter to The Times, 24 November 1804 Maria Edgeworth on Castle Rackrent, and on the Irish from Maria Edgeworth, Letter to Mrs. Stark (1834) from Maria Edgeworth, An Essay on Irish Bulls (1803) Reviews and Early Nineteenth Century Comments on Castle Rackrent Unsigned Review, Monthly Review (1800) Unsigned Review Notice, The British Critic (November 1800) from anonymous, “Novels Descriptive of Irish Life,” Edinburgh Review 52 (1831) from “Miss Edgeworth’s Tales and Novels,” Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country 35 (November 1832)

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Book SynopsisAn influential Polish classic celebrates 50 yearsand its first English edition. As Stone Tablets opens, Istvan Terey, a poet and World War II veteran, is serving as cultural attaché with the Hungarian embassy in Delhi just a few months before his country is torn apart by the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. He is personable and popular with Indians and Europeans, communists and capitalists, but his outspoken criticisms of corruption in the Hungarian government and the embassy threaten to undermine his career. Meanwhile, he has fallen in love with Margit, an Australian ophthalmologist working in India, who is still living through a tragedy of her own: her fiancé died under torture during World War II. Draining heat, brilliant color, intense smells, and intrusive animals enliven this sweeping Cold War romance. Based on the authors own experience as a Polish diplomat in India in the late 1950s, Stone Tablets was one of the first literary works in Poland to offer scathing criticisms of Stalinism, and was censored when it was first submitted for publication. Stephanie Krafts translation opens this book for the first time to English-speaking readers. A high-paced, passionate narrative in which every detail is vital.Leslaw Bartelski Zukrowski is a brilliantly talented observer of life, a visionary skilled at combining the concrete with the magical, lyricism with realisma distinguished stylist.Leszek Zulinski"

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Book SynopsisDrilling for oil is a dirty business, and for Bill Murphy, it's about to turn positively filthy. But Murphy's as big and tough as his home state of Texasa man in the mold of a young John Wayneand he's more than a match for everything the oil-rich land of Venezuela can throw at him. Everything, that is, except for one woman.Her name is Marcia Stewart. She's fiery, she's brave, and she's beautiful and she'd like nothing better than to see Bill Murphy dead. Her oilman father's been killed, and Marcia tags Murphy as the murderer.Murphy's guilty of a lot of things, but murder's not one of them. He's drilling down for the truth, and now it's his land, his love for Marciaand his lifethat are on the line. With so much at stake, he'll go to any length to come out on top of the Black Towers to Danger.When Black Towers to Danger was first published in 1936, the editor wrote: L. Ron Hubbard, as you know, is a pilot, a writer, and an engineer. The one thing he doesn't work at is engineering. He was in China at 15 and has covered a lot of territory since then. If he's on a flying fieldor anywhere elseyou can't miss himhe's a tall, slender chap with very fair skin and bright red hair. Something picturesque about him as there should be about a flyer. And not only was he a man with a commanding presence, so too did he have command over his material, researching the entire oil drilling process for this story.Roars to life. Publishers Weekly

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