Whether your passion is The Ancient Greeks, The Wars of The Roses or The Russian Revolution, you'll find stories of life during these eras and every other, often using factual accounts to build a fictional narrative.
Historical Fiction Books
Hodder & Stoughton To Serve Them All My Days
Book SynopsisThe classic story of an English public school between the wars and an inspirational teacher, repackaged as a Hodder Great Read.Trade ReviewPraise for R F Delderfield:Mr Delderfield's manner is easy, modest, heartwarming * Evening Standard *He built an imposing artistic social history that promises to join those of his great forebears in the long, noble line of the English novel. His narratives belong in a tradition that goes back to John Galsworthy and Arnold Bennett * Life Magazine *R F Delderfield is a born storyteller * Sunday Mirror *Sheer, wonderful storytelling * Chicago Tribune *It is always a pleasure to read R F Delderfield, because he never seems to be ashamed of writing well . . . Today he is a bestseller wherever English language books are read * Books and Bookmen *Highly recommended. Combines tension with a splendid sense of atmosphere and vivid characterisation. An excellent read * Sunday Express *
£9.99
Cornerstone Red Sorghum
Book SynopsisMo Yan was born in 1956 in Shandong, northeastern China. The author of over forty short stories and five novels, he is the most critically acclaimed Chinese writer of his generation, in both China and the West. The critically acclaimed film version of the novel, Red Sorghum, won first prize in the Golden Bear Awards at the Berlin Film Festival in 1988. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2012.Trade ReviewMo Yan deserves a place in world literature. His voice will find its way into the heart of the reader, just as Kundera and Garcia Marquez have. -- Amy TanHis idiom has the spiralling invention and mytho-maniacal quality of much world literature of a high order, from Vargas Llosa to Rushdie. * Observer *Brilliant, lyrical and intoxicating. * San Francisco Chronicle *One of China's leading writers... Mo Yan stands out in China's literary scene. His work rings with refreshing authenticity. * Time *A real heir to Lu Xun, a fine Chinese writer deeply concerned with the gate of his fellow men. * Times Literary Supplement *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton Green Darkness
Book Synopsis''Seductive, atmospheric, intriguing, Green Darkness is one of those classic novels you come back to time and again'' (Kate Mosse) The hugely popular historical novel from the author of Katherine.England, 1552. Protestant king Edward VI has been on the throne for five years. Almost two decades after Henry VIII''s brutal reformation of the monasteries, Catholics in England still live in fear. When 13-year-old Celia da Bohun first meets Stephen Marsdon, a young Catholic priest, she falls hopelessly in love. Against his will, Stephen returns her affection. As the years pass, their childish adoration deepens into a passionate love that will not be extinguished - not even by Celia''s violent death.Centuries later, history seems poised to repeat itself. Celia, the young, rich wife of Richard Marsden, finds her marriage and happiness threatened by the tragedies of the past. Celia can only be saved by piercing the green darkness of the past and rTrade ReviewHer most intriguing and ambitious novel . . . an exciting and suspenseful story * Liverpool Post *Perhaps the greatest gifts Anya Seton brings to her historical novels are the zest of her narrative, the life she breathes into the most insignificant characters and the atmosphere of the era she evokes around them. * Books and Bookmen *To read Seton is to enter into another time with such conviction that it seems as real as the present * Philippa Gregory *Seductive, atmospheric, intriguing, GREEN DARKNESS is one of those classic novels you come back to time and again. * Kate Mosse *'Wonderful historical novels' * Alison Weir *
£10.44
Ebury Publishing Orphan Girl
Book SynopsisShe''s no more than an unpaid servant...Lorinda is only a child when tragedy deprives her of her true family and, sent to live with her aunt in her boarding house, she grows up desperately craving affection.And although she finds friendship - and even love - in the boarding house, she finally sees a chance to escape her drab surroundings and unkind family. But is a marriage of convenience better than a love that''s true?
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd A Scandal at Christmas
Book Synopsis'Catherine Cookson soars above her rivals' Mail on Sunday'Her characters have the grit of real life' Sunday Times'Queen of raw family romances' Telegraph_____________________________At fifteen years old, Gail Blenheim is the truly the apple of her father, Harry's, eye. Sweet, mild-mannered, with the promise to grow into a true beauty, she'll always bring her father joy, which is something he'll never take for granted. But Gail knows that her father is unhappy. Stuck under his odious father-in-law's thumb and resigned to a near-loveless marriage, Gail can see that he feels trapped. But when Harry lets his loneliness get the better of him at a Christmas party, he sparks a scandal with such far-reaching repercussions that he may lose everything, including his own daughter. But Gail's devotion for her father is stronger than he realises and she refuses to give up on the man she's looked up to for her whole life. Can a daughter's love save her father from ruin?________________________
£8.54
Penguin Publishing Group Only the Beautiful
Book Synopsis
£15.29
Orion Publishing Co The Paris Affair
Book SynopsisMarch 1941. As the war rages on, the Buckingham Hotel has become a microcosm of the world. Its ballroom and restaurant are peopled with exiled royal families, politicians and dignitaries, but the beating heart of the Buckingham remains its hardworking, talented staff. With the heroic Raymond de Guise away fighting in North Africa, his beloved wife Nancy must balance her new position in life- as Head of Housekeeping at the Buckingham, but also as a new mother to their child. And all the while, mysterious new figures are beginning to take centre stage: a secretive new bandleader from across the Atlantic, an unknown thief pilfering luxury goods from the Buckingham's larders, and a charismatic ghost from Raymond's past, stirring up old memories from his time on the circuit in 1920s Paris. As tensions flare and dark secrets rise to the surface, it's all the Buckingham staff can do to retain their trademark elegance a
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd An Icecream War William Boyd Penguin Essentials
Book SynopsisAn Ice-Cream War is William Boyd''s sparkling debut novel on the grimly comic side of conflict, published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.''What do you think would happen if I shot an elephant in the balls?''''I think it would hurt a great deal.''Millions die on the Western Front but in East Africa a quite different war is being waged - one with little point and which is so ignored that it will carry on after the Armistice because no one bothers to tell both sides to stop.As the conflict sweeps up natives and colonials, so those left at home and those fighting abroad find themselves unable to escape the tide of history bearing down on them.
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd Noonday
Book SynopsisFrom the Booker Prize-winning and Women''s Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the Girls The final novel in Pat Barker''s acclaimed ''Life Class'' trilogy - an unforgettable story of art and war, from one of our greatest writers on war and the human heart''Bold, hard-hitting, unforgettable, with luminous and unsparing insight'' Independent on Sunday''Barker''s command of detail and gift for metaphor are as sharp as ever... Noonday is in the first rank'' Mail on Sunday''[There is] no end to her talent in describing how conflicts rupture the soul'' Arifa Akbar, IndependentLondon, the Blitz, autumn 1940. As the bombs fall on the blacked-out city, ambulance driver Elinor Brooke races from bomb sites to hospitals trying to save the lives of injured survivors, working alongside former friend Kit Neville, while her husband Paul works as an air-raid warden. As the bombing intensifies, the constant risk of deatTrade ReviewPublisher's description. Pat Barker brings the besieged and haunted city of Blitz-era London to electrifying life in Noonday, the third and final novel in her 'Life Class Trilogy'. Bombs are falling on London and, still suffering from the losses of the Great War, Elinor, Paul and Kit must face war's horrors once again... * Penguin *Barker's command of detail and gift for metaphor are as sharp as ever: her evocation of the bombed city is steeped in drama... Noonday is in the first rank * Mail on Sunday *Tremendously good * Daily Mail *This is the first time the author of the Regeneration Trilogy has written about the Second World War and it's a triumph * Stylist *Many strokes of genius from Barker... accessible and moving * Sunday Times *Noonday's Blitz-era setting gives Barker ample opportunity to do what she does best * Spectator *Powerful and vivid, with nuanced characters and Barker's unerring eye for detail * Women and Home *Bold, hard-hitting, unforgettable... a virtuoso rendition of the bombing, as huge swathes of London blaze away with the brightest of bright lights... Barker shows us how the city's finest moment was indubitably also its most terrifying, with luminous and unsparing insight * Independent on Sunday *Ambitious, vivid, sharp... The closer you get to the end, the more lives need saving and the more thwarted and complicated the domestic backdrop... Barker's chronological leap is a sophisticated bridge between the drama of the present and the haunted history of the past * Daily Telegraph *Colourfully alive, fizzes with energy... the novel's point of view swivel[s] like a torchbeam to illuminate London's devastated streets * Independent *The book has its own inherent power thanks to Barker's skilful rendering of the texture of the period but it is richer and more rewarding if read with the other two volumes of this beautifully crafted trilogy * Daily Express *
£9.49
HarperCollins Sharpes Prey
Book SynopsisThe greatest writer of historical adventures today. —Washington PostCritically acclaimed, perennial New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell (Agincourt, The Fort, the Saxon Tales) makes real history come alive in his breathtaking historical fiction. Praised as the direct heir to Patrick O''Brian (Agincourt, The Fort), Cornwell has brilliantly captured the fury, chaos, and excitement of battle as few writers have ever done—perhaps most vividly in his phenomenally popular novels following the illustrious military career of British Army officer Richard Sharpe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In Sharpe''s Prey, Sharpe must prove his mettle once again after performing courageously on Wellesley''s battlefields in India and the Iberian Peninsula, as he undertakes a secret mission to Copenhagen, Denmark in 1807 to prevent a resurgent Napoleon from capturing the Danish fleet. Perhaps the San Francisco Ch
£15.29
Random House USA Inc Some Luck
Book Synopsis
£11.68
Pan Macmillan Shallows
Book SynopsisTim Winton has published twenty-six books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. Since his first novel, An Open Swimmer, won the Australian/Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Award four times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music). He lives in Western Australia.Trade ReviewAll this is dazzling, dazzling. It makes the heart pound. * Los Angeles Times *A moving and powerful elegy . . . Winton writes vividly, and with courage, about serious matters in a cynical world. * Observer *A major work by anyone’s standards . . . mysterious, painful and beautiful. * Washington Post *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Perfume
Book SynopsisPatrick Süskind''s Perfume is a classic novel of death and sensuality in Paris, published as a Penguin Essential for the first time. ''In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages. His name was Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, and if his name has been forgotten today, it is certainly not because Grenouille fell short of those more famous blackguards when it came to arrogance, misanthropy, immorality, or, more succinctly, wickedness, but because his gifts and his sole ambition were restricted to a domain that leaves no traces in history: to the fleeting realm of scent . . .''''An astonishing tour de force both in concept and execution'' Guardian''A fantastic tale of murder and twisted eroticism controlled by a disgusted loathing of humanity ... Clever, stylish, absorbing and well worth reading'' Literary Review''A meditation on the nature of death, desire and decay ... a remarkable début'' Peter Ackroyd, The New York Times Book Review''Unlike anything else one has read. A phenomenon ... Everyone seems to want to get a whiff of this strange perfume, which will remain unique in contemporary literature'' Figaro''An ingenious and totally absorbing fantasy'' Daily Telegraph''Witty, stylish and ferociously absorbing'' Observer
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd Hero of Rome Gaius Valerius Verrens 1
Book SynopsisA journalist by profession, Douglas Jackson transformed a lifelong fascination for Rome and the Romans in to his first two highly-praised novels, Caligula and Claudius. His third, Hero of Rome, introduced readers to a new series hero, Gaius Valerius Verrens. Eight further acclaimed 'Rome' novels followed, confirming Doug as one of the UK's foremost historical novelists. His latest novel, The Wall, was published to coincide with the 1900th anniversary of the construction of Hadrian's Wall. A member of the Historical Writers Association and the Historical Novel Society, Douglas Jackson lives near Stirling in Scotland.Trade ReviewIf I were Conn Iggulden or Simon Scarrow, I'd be rather worried by the new Scottish kid on the block * The Scotsman *A master of his discipline rightly hailed as one of the best historical novelists writing today * Daily Express *A splendid piece of storytelling and a vivid recreation of a long-dead-world -- Allan Massie
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Templar Knight The
Book SynopsisSwedish author Jan Guillou follows up the highly acclaimed The Road to Jerusalem with the second book in his Knights Templar trilogy. The Knight Templar follows Arn''s adventures in the Holy Land, where he discovers that the infidel Saracens aren’t as brutish and uncivilised as he had been led to believe, and that in fact there is another, darker side to the teaching of the Cistercians.
£17.44
Hodder & Stoughton Ingenious Pain
Book Synopsis***Pre-order Andrew Miller''s new novel THE LAND IN WINTER now - coming October 2024***''ANDREW MILLER''S WRITING IS A SOURCE OF WONDER AND DELIGHT'' Hilary Mantel''ONE OF OUR MOST SKILFUL CHRONICLERS OF THE HUMAN HEART AND MIND'' Sunday TimesWinner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award''Astoundingly good''The Times''Dazzling''Observer''Timeless''SpectatorThe extraordinary prize-winning debut from Andrew Miller - a highly imaginative, atmospheric first novelAt the dawn of the Enlightenment, a man is born unable to feel pain. A source of wonder and scientific curiosity as a child, he rises through the ranks of Georgian society to become a brilliant surgeon. Yet as a human being he fails, for he can no more feel love and compassion than pain. Until, en route to St Petersburg to inoculaTrade ReviewA wild adventure through 18th-century England and Russia, medicine, madness, landscape and weather, rendered in prose of consummate beauty -- Books of the Year * Independent *A really remarkable first novel, original, powerfully written . . . Miller's narrative is gripping and his imagination extraordinary * Sunday Telegraph *Astoundingly good . . . it shines like a beacon * The Times *Timeless and thought-provoking . . . it is something very rare in modern fiction, a true work of art * Spectator *Gripping . . . a dazzling debut * Observer *Dazzling . . . Miller tackles notions of mortality and humanity to brilliant effect . . . truly wonderful * Evening Standard *An extraordinary first novel . . . one is constantly delighted with strange and vivid imagery, fresh and startling metaphors, flashes of insight, deft twists of plot and resonant variations on dominant themes . . . a mature novel of ideas soaked in the sensory detail of its turbulent times * New York Times Book Review *Exceptionally intelligent and elegant . . . remarkable for its feeling and its humane sensibility * Sunday Times *A true rarity: a debut novel which is original, memorable, engrossing and subtle * Guardian *Strange, unsettling, sad, beautiful and profound . . . the sense of period is brilliantly handled * Literary Review *More than merits comparison with the likes of Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus and Patrick Süskind's Perfume . . . a blistering debut * Time Out *The novel's evocation of the period, down to the finest detail, is thoroughly confident . . . a startling novel * Independent on Sunday *A finely wrought and provocative novel * Daily Telegraph *Impressive * Mail on Sunday *
£9.99
Hodder & Stoughton Down Weavers Lane
Book Synopsis''Best period book I have EVER read! - 5-star reader review''Emmy Carter''s mother is a prostitute - and her life has made Emmy determined to avoid the same fate. But Emmy is beautiful, so attracts unwanted attention; her mother''s protector has his eye on her, as does evil Marcus Armistead, her employer''s nephew. Marcus is excited by Emmy''s virginity and has her kidnapped, but Emmy hits him over the head and escapes. Marcus, futher enraged, kills her mother and becomes even more determined to rape Emmy, but the combined efforts of the local parson and Emmy''s young suitor manage to keep her safe from harm. Finally Emmy sees Marcus get his just desserts, finds out who her father was, and attains the respectability she has so longed for.***********************What readers are saying about DOWN WEAVER''S LANE''Could not put this book down'' - 5 stars''Kept wanting to read it all in one goTrade ReviewCatherine Cookson fans will cheer! * Peterborough Evening Telegraph on Our Polly *Industrial Lancashire in the 1830s with the daughter of a prostitute determined to avoid her mother's plight * The Bookseller - Paperback Preview *Brilliant, no one can match her writing ability . . . I have just finished reading it, couldn't put it down, it held me absorbed on every page. * Amazon reader on Lancashire Lass *
£8.99
Hodder & Stoughton Noble House
Book Synopsis''Breathtaking. Only terms like colossal, gigantic, titanic, unbelievable, gargantuan are properly descriptive'' Chicago TribuneOver one hundred years have passed since Dirk Struan founded Hong Kong''s oldest trading company. But now, the Noble House is in danger. As Hong Kong itself becomes the deadly playground of the CIA, the KGB and the People''s Republic of China, rival tai-pans, seeking revenge for blood feuds over a century old, gather for the kill.''Fiction for addicts . . . A book that you can get lost in for weeks. Not only is it as long as life, it''s also as rich with possibilities'' New York TimesTrade ReviewBreathtaking. Only terms like colossal, gigantic, titanic, unbelievable, gargantuan are properly descriptive * Chicago Tribune *Seethes with drama, sex, crime . . . Clavell is, as always, a matchless talespinner * Cosmopolitan *A grand drama, with the glamour, mystique and perils of the Orient . . . it has such breadth and power that at the end you will want to start at the beginning again. * Manchester Evening News *NOBLE HOUSE totally fulfils the function of a novel, taking me out of myself and transporting me into a majestic sweep of intrigue and excitement * David Niven *Fiction for addicts . . . A book that you can get lost in for weeks. Not only is it as long as life, it's also as rich with possibilities * New York Times *
£13.49
Little, Brown Book Group Crusoes Daughter
Book SynopsisIn 1904, when she was six, Polly Flint went to live with her two holy aunts at the yellow house by the marsh - so close to the sea that it seemed to toss like a ship, so isolated that she might have been marooned on an island. And there she stayed for eighty-one years, while the century raged around her, while lamplight and Victorian order became chaos and nuclear dred. Crusoe''s Daughter, ambitious, moving and wholly original, is her story.Trade ReviewShe does fiction as it should be done, with confidence and insight -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie * Observer *
£8.99
Little, Brown Book Group The Secret Chord
Book Synopsis''A thundering, gritty, emotionally devastating reconsideration of the story of King David'' New York TimesLONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION 20161000 BC. The Second Iron Age. The time of King David.Anointed as the chosen one when just a young shepherd boy, David will rise to be king, grasping the throne and establishing his empire. But his journey is a tumultuous one and the consequences of his choices will resound for generations. In a life that takes him from obscurity to fame, he is by turns hero and traitor, glamorous young tyrant and beloved king, murderous despot and remorseful, diminished patriarch. His wives love and fear him, his sons will betray him. It falls to Natan, the courtier and prophet who both counsels and castigates David, to tell the truth about the path he must take.Peeling away the myth to bring David to life in Second Iron Age Israel, Brooks traces the arc of his journey from obscurity to fame, Trade ReviewWhat Mary Renault did with Alexander the Great, Geraldine Brooks has done with King David: breathed life into an ancient hero. Haunting, exciting and as satisfying -- Tom HollandHere is a man who is both great and flawed, just like those tragic heroes Oedipus and King Lear. But in making David so satisfyingly human, Brooks has crafted from The Secret Chord a compelling read, contemporary in relevance -- Meredith Jaffe * Guardian *A haunting, memorable novel * Sunday Times *The Secret Chord paints a portrait so layered and rich in detail it makes you feel you can reach out and touch him * Woman's Own *Vividly drawn . . . a beautiful and thoughtful book -- Antonia Senior * The Times *This David is ecstatic, visceral and virile * Independent *The Secret Chord is sensual historical fiction, full of rich descriptive language * Third Way *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Landfalls
Book SynopsisAn epic voyage, undertaken with the grandest of ambitions.Lapérouse leaves France in the Spring of 1785 with two ships under his command, knowing that he sails with the full backing of the French government. This is to be a voyage of scientific and geographical discovery - but every person on board has their own hopes, ambitions and dreams. As the ships move across vast distances in their journey of nearly four years, the different characters step forward and invite us into their world. From the remote Alaskan bay where a dreadful tragedy unfolds, to the wild journey Barthélemy de Lessups undertakes from the far east of Russia to St Petersburg, the reader is irresistibly drawn into a extraordinarily vivid world. Landfalls is a profoundly moving and intensely evocative novel about scientific exploration, human endeavour and individual tragedy,Trade ReviewAudacious . . . Immersive . . . A marvel of inventive storytelling -- Jane Ciabattari * BBC *Beautifully written...Clever without being worthy or pretentious, Landfalls is an engrossing read you will want to linger over -- Sara Manning * Red *[An] impressive debut... Williams manages her huge cast with skill, drawing compelling characters from the lists of the lost... unfailingly interesting and intelligent... The best parts, however, are sublime. Williams soars when she has the courage to let go of her prodigious research, and let her characters take flight... Williams's writing is luminous, lit with tenderness, wisdom and a sly humour that glints between the words, even at their darkest. No quantity of painstakingly assembled facts could rival the intensity of her richly imagined reality then, the astonishing vividness and immediacy with which she conjures up the long-forgotten past. * Clare Clark, Guardian *The expedition is told from the viewpoints of the scientists, the seamen, and the natives they encounter. A book as ambitious as the voyage it describes but wildly more successful. * The Times, Historical Fiction Books of the Year 2015 *A beautiful tale of adventure, anchored in tragedy * Vanity Fair *Naomi Williams brings it all to life with accomplished, vivid storytelling . . . The tantalising storytelling, solid research, wit and humanity at the heart of this thoroughly engaging book leave you desperate to know more about every single character - as well as many we don't even get to meet properly - for a very long time after the story has ended. It deserves a huge audience * Scotland on Sunday *This remarkably assured first novel offers much more in its careful, oblique approach and with some truly scintillating passages . . . an original and hugely accomplished book -- Harry Ritchie * Daily Mail *[A] pin-sharp, elegant debut. The book is packed with intricate detail, from the description of a snug cabin to the look of the landscape hidden by fog, and full of adventure and misadventure. But it's really the misinterpretations and misconceptions of the explorers and the people they encounter - often woefully, catastrophically at odds with each other - that give the novel its emotional power * Psychologies, Book of the Month *The cast of characters and changes in tone are reminiscent of David Mitchell . . . the story cracks along like a frigate with the wind behind it * Emerald Street *An imaginative, encyclopedically researched and elegantly written experiment in fly-on-the-wall historical reconstruction * Sunday Times *Keen to avoid the fate of Captain Cook, the technologically advanced ships are filled with the finest scientists, engineers, navigators, artists and chefs, many of whom have their say in this thoroughly engrossing novel. Through these individual reports, a colourful and sometimes tragic picture forms of this extraordinary voyage * Sunday Express *A magnificent reflection of the genuine mystery that surrounded the expedition for centuries, it's one of the most unusual books this year * Manchester Evening News *Broad and bursting with detail * Financial Times *A dazzling recreation of a real-life 18th century French expedition...How does a 21st-century California author know so persuasively what went on in an 18th-century French maritime captain's mind? Or in the thoughts of a headstrong indigenous Alaskan teenage girl circa 1786? Or in the heart of a young Solomon Islands woman married to a French castaway whose origins she can scarcely understand? Yet somehow, thanks to her meticulous research and prodigious imagination, Williams pulls off one miracle of historic recreation after another...Williams has delivered a bona fide masterpiece * Seattle Times *Ms. Williams brilliantly moves across continents and gives each landfall a distinct and evocative voice...Landfalls is intelligent and utterly human. Ms. Williams has written a seductive page-turner that, although we know the story ends tragically, draws the reader in and doesn't let go. * Wall Street Journal *The craftsmanship is so good, it's hard to believe this is a first novel. That alone makes the book award worthy. On top of the outstanding technical execution, it tells its tale so well that it becomes interesting and emotionally gripping to readers with zero interest in 18th-century maritime history * New York Journal of Books *This suspenseful debut novel tracks the route of the doomed Lapérouse expedition..It's a tragic narrative, filled with calamities, yet never somber or dreary. The drama in "Landfalls" is unrelenting: there's petty infighting, rampant egotism, insufferable personalities, drunkenness, heartbreak and rivalries - sort of a maritime version of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." * New York Times *Every expedition is a drama, in which the souls caught by the war and peace of human curiosities become master storytellers of their own tales and one another's fate. What a joy to see these characters, long-buried by sea or by land, come alive in Landfalls. Naomi J. Williams is an astute observer of both actions and psychologies, and this brilliant book brings us closer to our fellow explorers before our time * Yiyun Li *Sometimes a first novel arrives with an outpouring of excitement and praise. That's the case with Naomi J. Williams's innovative historical novel * The Literary Hub www.lithub.com *In fiction, Williams is able to reinvent this lost diversity of perspectives, albeit with far more gritty realism that might be found in 18th-century versions. Her eclectic and literary approach is personal and psychological rather than philosophical and political. Rather than revealing character through observations or externalities, Williams takes us into the fraught interior world of her characters' psyches, with all their anxieties, fears, prejudices and passions. . . The unreliable and often contradictory voices of the narrative give even implausible scenarios the strangely authentic flavour of rumour and hearsay * The Australian *Williams' multi-voiced approach is the perfect medium to introduce perspectives excluded from the historical record, particularly women and indigenous people - and it is here she creates some of her most compelling characters. -- Danielle Clode * Weekend Australian *Literary art of the first order, intelligent and evocative in the way of the best of historical fiction * Kirkus *Williams' exceptional debut isn't your traditional seafaring yarn and is all the stronger and more penetrating for it . . . alternately charming, invigorating, and heartbreaking, and always thoughtful and humane. Even readers who don't seek out nautical adventures will find themselves drawn in, especially if they love high-quality literary fiction * Booklist *
£9.74
Little, Brown Book Group The Founding Book One of the Morland Dynasty
Book SynopsisBrilliant, a definite page turner. They combine real historical events with fascinating fictional characters.The twenty-three volumes of the Morland Dynasty series has been completely repackaged in the most elegant style, using contemporaneous artwork for each period. This wonderful series opens with the back drop of the Wars of the Roses with the marriage between Eleanor Morland and a scion of the influential house of Beaufort. It is a union which establishes the powerful Morland dynasty and in the succeeding volumes of this rich tapestry of English life, we follow their fortunes through war and peace, political upheaval and social revolution, times of pestilence and periods of plenty, and through the vicissitudes which afflict every family - love and passion, envy and betrayal, birth and death, great fortune and miserable penury...The Morland Dynasty is entertainment of the most addictive kind.
£10.44
Little, Brown Book Group Penhaligons Attic
Book Synopsis1910. Anna Garvey arrives in Caernoweth, Cornwall with her daughter and a secret. Having come from Ireland to take up an inheritance of the local pub, she and her eighteen year-old daughter Mairead are initially viewed with suspicion by the close-knit community.Anna soon becomes acquainted with Freya Penhaligon, a vulnerable girl struggling to keep her family business afloat in the wake of her grandmother''s death, and starts to gain the trust of the locals. As their friendship deepens, and Freya is brought out of her shell by the clever and lively Mairead, even Freya''s protective father Matthew begins to thaw.But when a part of Anna''s past she''d long tried to escape turns up in the town, she is forced to confront the life she left behind - for her sake and her daughter''s too . . .
£7.49
Hodder & Stoughton Heart of the Town
Book SynopsisDora Preston has guts but it will take more than that for her to break free from Hedderby and make a life for herself on the stage. Then she meets Gideon - and pursuing her ambitions becomes even harder. Gideon has returned from the fighting in India only to discover that an impostor has stolen his inheritance. He has vowed he will claim his birthright but his enemies are ruthless and desperate. Arson attacks, crime and drunkenness have beset the Lancashire mill town, but the forces of goodness are rallying and are determined to prevail, whatever it takes.Trade ReviewPraise for Anna Jacobs: 'Catherine Cookson fans will cheer!' * Peterborough Evening Telegraph *Anna Jacobs' books are deservedly popular. She is one of the best writers of Lancashire sagas around. * Historical Novels Review *Once again you have given us a story that has me hooked from the first page to the last. The characters are so alive that I am loath to call them characters, they are people - so real * Reader from Scotland on OUR MARY ANN *An exciting book of immensely brilliant character portrayal and a great storyline * Bangor Chronicle on OUR EVA *Another cracking read with a vivid insight into family relationships * Coventry Evening Telegraph on OUR EVA *
£8.99
Hodder & Stoughton A Son of War
Book SynopsisLonglisted for the Booker Prize After the upheavals of the Second World War, the Richardson family - Sam, Ellen and their young son Joe - settle back to working-class life in the Cumbrian town of Wigton. Yet for them, as for so many, life will never be the same again. As the old order begins to be challenged and new vistas open, Sam and Ellen forge their future together with differing needs and desires - and conflicting expectations of Joe, who grows up with his own demons to confront.Trade Review[A] deeply humane and acutely truthful novel * Peter Kemp, Sunday Times *A compelling sequel to his award-winning tour de force, THE SOLDIER'S RETURN * Frank Egerton, Financial Times *Full of a simple poetry that is deeply evocative . . . even better than THE SOLDIER'S RETURN * Carol Birch, Independent *A novel of remarkable power and grace . . . his authenticity is astounding * Roy Hattersley, The Times *Shot through with blazing integrity and authenticity * Val Hennessy, Daily Mail *
£10.44
Hodder & Stoughton The Missing
Book SynopsisAn enthralling tale of abduction, guilt and redemption set in Jazz Age Louisiana, unanimously acclaimed by the critics.Trade Review'Remarkable...a rip-roaring adventure novel with a true depth of feeling' * Stephen Amidon, Sunday Times *A beautifully written, enthralling saga . . . a compelling novel * James Urquhart, Independent *Gautreaux writes action-packed novels that stand out for the extraordinary calibre of their prose * Andrew Rosenheim, The Times *Has the impact of a book twice its length . . . a dramatic, theatrical meditation on law and lawlessness * Alan Warner, Guardian *Tim Gautreaux's redemptive novel is a joy to read * Barclay McBain, Herald *Gautreaux brings a long-gone era to life in lush, fresh detail . . . this novel about the intricacies of the human heart has a great, beating one of its own. Life may be harsh and fleeting, but the missing are still missed. * Heather Thompson, Sunday Telegraph *Tim Gautreaux has managed to write a fine novel about a child's abduction without making it too upsetting. This isn't to say that the book is lightweight; nor does it duck the fear and trauma of the events it narrates. It has all the insight and metaphors you could wish for, but you end up zipping through it . . . impressively thrilling, and pleasingly complete * Tom Payne, Daily Telegraph *Gautreaux writes with sustained grace and creates memorable characters . . . What really sets THE MISSING apart, though, is his remarkable ability to realise the period . . . a rare and rather uncanny achievement: a novel about the South in the early Twenties that reads as though it was actually written there and then * John Dugdale, Literary Review *Full of vivid evocations of the sights, sounds and smells of the South. As Simoneaux pursues his morally driven detective mission the scent of the steaming mud of the cypress swamps and the sound of 1920s New Orleans jazz rise off the page * Claire Prentice, Scotsman *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton Insurrection
Book SynopsisWhere Game of Thrones sets kingdoms at war within a fantasy world, the Insurrection trilogy is based on the breath-taking true story of Robert the Bruce's battle to become king.Trade ReviewImmaculately researched and carefully written, evoking a very particular - and largely unexplored - time and place. The fights are sensational. * Daily Telegraph *Young's fans will not be disappointed as she meticulously ploughs through the sweep of history and brings to life one of its most enigmatic characters * Daily Mail *It is so graphic you can immediately put yourself there, imagining the faces and the clash of weapons. It also elaborates on the historical context and fleshes out the characters. It draws you in and is a compelling novel you cannot put down. So much research must have gone into the book; the detail is incredible. I enjoyed it so much. * The BBC Radio 2 Simon Mayo Book Club *Richly worked and captivating . . . an epic story of war, intrigue and heroism * Good Book Guide on BRETHREN *The fast and furious start to a majestic new trilogy * Women and Home *Leads you in swiftly and doesn't let you go * Australian Women's Weekly *This tale captures the struggles of a tumultuous time * Australian Daily Telegraph *another fine novel by Young and a promising start to an exciting new series * Canberra Times *This is a big book, and the trilogy a huge project to undertake. From the evidence so far, Young's fans will not be disappointed as she meticulously ploughs through the sweep of history and brings to life one of its most enigmatic characters * Daily Mail *Action-packed historical novel about Robert The Bruce. A fighting start to a new trilogy. * Sun *Ideal for anyone who loves historical fiction and anyone else who wants a well written and intricate read * Sentinel (Staffordshire) *A cracking plot and charismatic characters are set against the convincingly researched background of the violent, gory Anglo-Scottish civil wars * Saga *Given the events are fixed in historical fiction, the trick is to find supplementary reasons for actions, and Young's conceit - that Edward I is trying to capture four relics (one of which is the Stone of Destiny) - gives a great ulterior motivation. The learning is never cumbersome, a deft trick when describing medieval warfare in all its clunking barbarism. * Scotsman *Young writes with remarkable accuracy, action-packed efficiency and gut-wrenching violence * The Times on REQUIEM *An outstanding contemporary writer * Kate Mosse on Robyn Young *A sweeping historical adventure as well as a cracking sequel * Financial Times on CRUSADE *One of the best historical debuts in recent memory. Exciting and enthralling. * John Connolly on BRETHREN *Wonderful . . . loaded with atmosphere, action, and intrigue * Steve Berry on BRETHREN *Like Young's other historical novels, INSURRECTION is meticulously researched . . . a treat for any fans of the Scottish Wars of Independence. * Historical Novel Review *
£9.99
Little, Brown Book Group The Paying Guests
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN''S PRIZEThis novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Little Stranger, is a brilliant ''page-turning melodrama and a fascinating portrait of London of the verge of great change'' (Guardian)It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.For with the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the ''clerk class'', the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. And as passions mount and frustration gathers, no one can foresee just how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.This is vintage Sarah Waters: beautiTrade ReviewAbsolutely brilliant * Sunday Times *Another wild ride of a novel . . . magnetic storytelling * Observer *A page-turning melodrama and a fascinating portrait of London on the verge of great change * Guardian *This novel magnificently confirms Sarah Waters's status as an unsurpassed fictional recorder of vanished eras and hidden lives * Sunday Times, Fiction Book of the Year *I raced through it, breathing fast and when I had finished had to reread parts of the wonderful early chapters. I don't like historical novels but this is the exception. I shall let a few months go by and then read it all over again with, I'm sure, undiminished pleasure * Guardian *You know you are in the hands of a skilful, confident writer when you read a Sarah Waters book. She slowly reels you in. She weaves plots and themes that creep up and entangle you while you are innocently following her characters. They go about their shadowy business and by the time you raise your head from the page to take a breath, you're hooked * Telegraph *The Paying Guests demonstrates the writerly qualities for which Waters is esteemed, proving as 'fantastically moody and resonant', in terms of the rendering of domestic space, as a novel the author herself described as such and which she once said she would like to have written: Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca * Literary Review *Sickeningly tense - and thumpingly good * Daily Mail *You will be hooked within a page . . . At her greatest, Waters transcends genre: the delusions in Affinity (1999), the vulnerability in Fingersmith (2002), the undercurrents of social injustice and the unexplained that underlie all her work, take her, in my view, well beyond the capabilities of her more seriously regarded Booker-winning peers. But The Paying Guests is the apotheosis of her talent; at least for now. I have tried and failed to find a single negative thing to say about it. Her next will probably be even better. Until then, read it, Flaubert, Zola, and weep * Financial Times *A nod towards Little Dorrit also seems perceptible in the book's quiet ending amid the bustle and clamour of London. Unillusioned but tentatively hopeful, it is a beautifully gauged conclusion to a novel of ambitious reach and triumphant accomplishment * Sunday Times *A masterpiece of social unease . . . It isn't so much the plot that makes you read on - the novel's armature is a comparatively uncomplicated suspense narrative but barnacled to it is an astonishing accretion of detail . . . A virtuoso feet of storytelling * Evening Standard *A seductive thriller * Vanity Fair *The Paying Guests is so evocative and compelling that all the time I was reading, I had a feeling it was me who had done something terrible, instead of her characters * Observer, Books of the Year *Brilliantly involving . . . juicy, beautifully observed and not afraid to be explicit * Metro *Waters's page-turning prose conceals great subtlety. Acutely sensitive to social nuance, she keeps us constantly alert . . . From a novelist who has been shortlisted for the Booker three times, this is a winner * The Economist (Intelligent Life) *An uninterruptable joy of a novel . . . Sarah Waters at her tip-top best * Evening Standard, Books of the Year *Sumptuous... The writing is impeccable... A joy in every respect * New Statesman, Books of the Year *A triumph: spellbinding, profound and almost problematically addictive... Waters is so powerful a narrator, so in command of her material as she twists, defies and confronts without using cheap tricks, that she could make us believe anything... Morally complex, atmospheric, romantic and psychologically deep, The Paying Guests is an astonishing achievement... a beautiful and brilliant work by a consummate storyteller * Sunday Express *A sumptuously subdued story of making do and getting by after the great war * Guardian *The Paying Guests reminded me just how clever it is to create characters that captivate through their adventures in a world so well-realised that you can almost reach out and touch it * Sunday Herald *Super gripping... There is a huge momentum to this story * Evening Standard *Waters is acutely alive to the way domestic interiors can mirror psychological ones... I read the topsy turvey courtroom denouement with genuine wonder at the virtuosity of its unravelling, the emotional subtlety of its implications about how people linger in others. Such intelligence is indeed thrilling * Telegraph *She gives us a poignant love story which symbolically sees in the death of the old order, the death of the old fashioned husband and maybe the birth of an era of love without secrets * Independent *The novel's remarkable depth of field - from its class-ridden background to its individuals' peccadilloes - is sharply portrayed by an author writing at her best. Waters's 20-20 vision perceives the interior world of her characters with rare acuity in a prose style so smooth it pours down the page in a book to be prized * Scotland on Sunday *Waters is an absolute master of pulse-pounding historical fiction * Entertainment Weekly *Waters has always been attracted to sensationalist plots, and this novel progresses through at least two: a secret love affair between two women and a murder trial. But the novel is really about tiny changes in feeling, often evoked in gorgeous simile * New Yorker *You open The Paying Guests and immediately surrender to the smooth assuredness of Sarah Waters's silken prose... A novel that initially seems as if it might have been written by E.M. Forster darkens into something by Dostoevsky or Patricia Highsmith. It also becomes unputdownable... a seriously heart-pounding roller-coaster ride * Washington Post *A tour de force of precisely observed period detail and hidden passions * Wall Street Journal *Waters masterfully weaves true crime, domestic life and romantic passion into one of the best novels of suspense since Rebecca... diabolically clever... with one of the hottest sex scenes ever to be set in a scullery * Los Angeles Times *Weaves her characteristic threads of historical melodrama, lesbian romance, class tension, and sinister doings into a fabric of fictional delight that alternately has the reader flipping pages as quickly as possible, to find out what happens next, and hesitating to turn the page, for fear of what will happen next * Boston Globe *A gold mine of period detail, from class snobbery to sex - but with timeless urgency when it comes to love * Vogue *An exquisitely tuned exploration of class in post-Edwardian Britain - with really hot sex... Waters is a master of pacing, and her metaphor-laced prose is a delight... until the last page, the reader will have no idea what's going to happen * Kirkus (starred review) *An absorbing character study [and] expertly paced and gripping psychological narrative... Waters brings historical eras to life with consummate skill, rendering authentic details into layered portraits of particular times and places * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Raunchy, romantic and thoroughly entertaining... Another triumph for Sarah Waters * Express *A pulse-pounder of a novel that feels personal and raw even while it delivers the genre goods... Waters remains a master of her genre, the historical novel rewritten as a dissection of the individual conscience... undeniably fascinating * Chicago Tribune *A beautifully observed tale of murder, suspense, crumbling class distinctions and steamy lesbian love in post-Edwardian London * People *A delicious hothouse of a novel... There's palpable tension from page one, so buckle up and prepare for a wild ride... channels the past via E.M. Forster, Dickens and Tolstoy, quickened with a dollop of contemporary Dennis Lehane noir * USA Today *Pitch perfect... powered by queer longing, defiant identity politics, and lusty, occasionally downright kinky sex * Slate *Three novels for the price of one... a meticulously observed comedy of awkward manners, a story of torrid, forbidden trysts conducted behind a façade of conventional feminine respectability, and a tense tale of crime, mystery and suspense that culminates in a nail-biting courtroom drama * Salon *Moody and atmospheric... keeps you guessing until the very end * Library Journal *Waters is a gifted storyteller with a way of bringing historical eras to life... With the swiftly shifting mores of post-war British society as a backdrop, she once again provides a singular novel of psychological tension, emotional depth and historical detail * BookPage *Gripping... Sarah Waters is, quite simply, a marvelous writer... with complete mastery over her material * Globe and Mail *It has the pacing of a thriller, and the atmosphere, period setting and class-consciousness of truly informed historical fiction * Bay Area Reporter *With the intricate plotting of Dickens and the gothic textures of the novels of the Bronte sisters, Waters blurs the lines of Victorian fiction by bringing the hidden sexual world into the light, reframing erotic secrets in marvels of pseudo-Victorian crafting... exquisite * Australian *A heart-crushing... utterly engrossing tale * Toronto Star *Waters is an author to cherish * Guardian *Masterly... delightful... tremendously vivid... Waters is a cracking storyteller * Tatler *Waters is not simply one of our best historical novelists, but one of our best novelists . . . sooner or later, she's going to be given the Booker. If you haven't already, start reading her now, and be one step ahead of the crowd * Independent on Sunday *
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Inc On Stranger Tides
Book Synopsis“Powers writes action and adventure that Indiana Jones could only dream of.”—Washington Post“Tim Powers is a brilliant writer.”—William GibsonThe remarkable Tim Powers—who ingeniously married the John Le Carrè spy novel to the otherworldly in his critically acclaimed Declare—brings us pirate adventure with a dazzling difference. On Stranger Tides features Blackbeard, ghosts, voodoo, zombies, the fable Fountain of Youth…and more swashbuckling action than you could shake a cutlass at, as reluctant buccaneer John Shandy braves all manner of peril, natural and supernatural, to rescue his ensorcelled love. Nominated for the Locus and World Fantasy Awards, On Stranger Tides is the book that inspired the motion picture Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides—non-stop, breathtaking fiction from the genius imagination that conceived Last Cal
£8.54
Random House USA Inc The Fiery Cross 5 Outlander
Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The fifth book in Diana Gabaldon’s acclaimed Outlander saga, the basis for the Starz original series. “A grand adventure written on a canvas that probes the heart, weighs the soul and measures the human spirit across [centuries].”—CNN The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser’s wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy—a time-traveler’s certain knowledge.Born in the year of Our Lord 1918, Claire Randall served England as a nurse on the battlefields of World War II, and in the aftermath of peace found fresh conflicts when she walked through a cleftstone on the Scottish Highlands and found herself an outlander, an English lady in a place where no lady should be, in a time—1743—when the only English in Scotland were the officers and men of King George’s army.Now wife, m
£9.49
Little, Brown & Company Knight Of Pleasure Number 2 in series All the
Book SynopsisTHE GREATEST PASSION Lady Isobel Hume is an expert swordswoman who knows how to choose her battles. When the king asks her to wed a French nobleman to form a political alliance, she agrees. But that''s before the devilishly charming Sir Stephen Carleton captures her heart-and tempts her to betray her betrothed, her king, and her country. IS WORTH THE GREATEST PERIL Sir Stephen Carleton enjoys his many female admirers-until he dedicates himself to winning the lovely Isobel. So when a threat against the king leads Isobel into mortal danger, Stephen has a chance to prove that he is more than a knight of pleasure...and that love can conquer all.
£8.50
Random House USA Inc Hotel Vendome
Book SynopsisAmerica’s #1 bestseller • First time in paperback! There are some places you visit, and some places you never leave behind. Danielle Steel’s new novel follows a devoted father and the daughter he raises in the fascinating upstairs-downstairs world of a glamorous Manhattan hotel. HOTEL VENDÔME The hotel was old, run-down. But to Swiss-born hotelier Hugues Martin, it is a rough diamond tucked away on a quiet New York City street. So Hugues scrapes together everything he has to purchase the building—and transforms it into one of the world’s finest luxury hotels. Under Hugues’s exacting supervision, the Hotel Vendôme is soon renowned for its unparalleled service and discretion—the ideal refuge for the rich and famous—and a perfect home for Hugues’s family, until his young wife abandons him, leaving Hugues the single parent to the
£999.99
Cornerstone The Only Victor
Book SynopsisThe master storyteller of the sea, multi-million copy seller Alexander Kent, has penned another gripping, swashbuckling and emotionally charged naval adventure full of vividly depicted military action - perfect for fans of Patrick O''Brian and C. S. Forester.''One of our foremost writers of naval fiction'' -- Sunday Times''Shipwreck, survival ... a spirited battle ... a splendid yarn'''' -- The Times''Another great story, gripping to the end''-- ***** Reader review''Once you start it''s hard to put down'' -- ***** Reader review''Kept me enthralled'' -- ***** Reader review''Great read from start to finish'' -- ***** Reader review***********************************************************************************************1806: The frigate carrying Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho drops anchor off the shores of southeTrade ReviewOne of our foremost writers of naval fiction * Sunday Times *Shipwreck, survival ... a spirited battle ... a splendid yarn * The Times *
£9.49
Random House Publishing Group American Rust
Book Synopsis
£15.30
Penguin Putnam Inc The Eagle Has Landed
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPraise for Jack Higgins“A seasoned pro...Mr. Higgins knows how to tell a story!”—The New York Times Book Review“Jack Higgins has written some of the best suspense fiction of the past fifty years.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune“When it comes to thriller writers, one name stands well above the crowd—Jack Higgins.”—Associated Press“Higgins makes the pages fly.”—New York Daily News“Jack Higgins is one of the best-selling authors of popular fiction in the world, often considered the architect of the modern thriller.”—The Huffington Post“Higgins is an author with the creative power to hook the reader and keep them forever because of his terrific tales. There are many villains out there, but Higgins is by far the greatest at bringing to life the best and worst of them all.”—Suspense Magazine
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers The Christmas Card The perfect heartwarming novel
Book SynopsisThe perfect heartwarming romance for Christmas, rich in historical detail. She turned the picture of the Christmas card over with her frozen hands, a pretty picture of a family gathering at Yuletide. How different from her own life; stiff with cold on the icy cobbles, aching for shelter . . .When her father dies leaving Alice and her ailing mother with only his debts, the two grieving women are forced to rely on the begrudging charity of cruel Aunt Jane. Determined to rid herself of an expensive responsibility, Jane tries forcing Alice into a monstrous marriage. And when Alice refuses, she is sent to work in a grand house to earn her keep.Finding herself in sole charge of the untameable and spoilt young miss of the house, Alice's only ally is handsome Uncle Rory, who discovers that Alice has talents beyond those of a mere servant. But when someone sets out to destroy her reputation, Alice can only pray for a little of that Christmas spirit to save her from ruin . . .Trade ReviewPraise for Dilly Court: ‘A fast-paced, riveting read’ Sunday Express ‘A heart-warming, fast-paced story that will keep you gripped till the end’ The People’s Friend ‘As always Dilly keeps you absorbed right to the end’ Choice ‘A rollicking, fast-paced adventure with a hint of romance!’ My Weekly ‘Spellbinding . . . you just keep turning the pages’ Daily Mail ‘Feisty female characters to fall in love with in a spirited, adventurous novel’ Sunday Express ‘Atmospheric, vivid and compelling’ My Weekly ‘An excellent, well-researched read’ People’s Friend ‘Perfect for Downton Abbey fans … heart-tugging’ Peterborough Telegraph
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Dunnett D Niccolo Rising
Book SynopsisThe exquisitely-researched standalone prequel series to Dorothy Dunnett''s revered Lymond Chronicles, following the ancestors of Francis Crawford of Lymond in Continental Europe.Niccolo Rising is Book One in The House of Niccolo series.----------------------------- ''It began with sea, and September sunlight, and three young men lying stripped to their doublets in the Duke of Burgundy''s bath . . .''Meet Caes - Nicholas vander Poele - an eighteen-year-old orphan and dyer apprentice''s working for the widow Marian de Charetty in Bruges. After fetching up in jail for accidentally sinking a lighter and breaking the leg of a nobleman, his young life seems over before it is even begun.However, fate and the fifteenth century have great expectations for Nicholas and he soon finds himself leading the Charetty company into adventures and intrigues both mercantile and military, even as enemies plot their downfall.Through cunning, bravery, wit and an unexpected wisdom, Nicholas begins to lay the foundations for the House of Niccolo . . .''As brilliant and interesting as Lymond. A generous feast'' Daily Telegraph''A series that will give us our fill of high Renaissance adventure and espionage'' GuardianTrade ReviewPraise for Dorothy Dunnett -- - * - *A storyteller who could teach Scheherazade a thing or two about pace, suspense and imaginative invention -- - * New York Times *Marvellous, breathtaking -- - * The Times *A masterpiece of historical fiction -- - * Washington Post *One of the greatest tale-spinners since Dumas -- - * Cleveland Plain Dealer *Lashings of excitement, colour and subtlety -- - * The Times *Vivid, engaging, densely plotted - are almost certainly destined to be counted among the classics of popular fiction -- - * New York Times *
£12.34
HarperCollins Publishers Dance with the Fae
Book Synopsis
£9.49
University of California Press Three Kingdoms A Historical Novel
Book SynopsisTells the story of the fateful last reign of the Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 220), when the Chinese empire was divided into three warring kingdoms. This title offers a view of how power is wielded, how diplomacy is conducted, and how wars are planned and fought.Trade Review"A material epic with an astonishing fidelity to history, which has been translated into lively English by Moss Roberts. . . . The subject matter of Three Kingdoms has long held an extraordinary grip on the Chinese imagination. . . . No less an authority than Mao Zedong asserted that when he set out on the campaigns that would ultimately bring him to power, Three Kingdoms was the book he valued most." * New York Times Book Review *"[Roberts] is the perfect author to present a balanced combination of the most famous, exciting, and beautiful scenes, along with those parts that are necessary for following the plot. . . . [He] has succeeded . . . in creating an absorbing version of the book that is great fun to read." * China Review International *"Roberts has managed to achieve a rare feat in producing a translation that is not only a fine example of meticulous scholarly translation, but that is at the same time also a highly entertaining novel which should be a delight to readers with or without any prior knowledge of Chinese literature." * Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews *Table of ContentsTHREE KINGDOMS A HISTORICAL NOVEL AFTERWORD: ABOUT THREE KINGDOMS By Moss Roberts AFTERWORD: NOTES PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS IN THREE KINGDOMS CHRONOLOGY OF MAIN EVENTS IN THREE KINGDOMS TITLES, TERMS, AND OFFICES IN THREE KINGDOMS ABBREVIATIONS NOTES TO THREE KINGDOMS
£27.00
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) My Name is Emilia del Valle
Book SynopsisA new masterclass in historical fiction from literary legend Isabel Allende, this is the extraordinary story of Emilia del Valle - an unforgettable young woman whose tale of love and war, discovery and redemption, takes us from nineteenth-century San Francisco to Santiago
£13.49
Fairlight Books The Maiden of Florence
Book SynopsisFlorence, 1584. Rumours are spreading about the virility of a prince marrying into the Medici family. Orphan Giulia,innocent to the part she must play,is chosen to put an end to the gossip. Years later, Giulia has found happiness and freedom. But when a threat arrives from a sinister figure from her youth, she must take control of her own life.
£9.49
Random House Memoirs of a Geisha
Book SynopsisArthur Golden was born and brought up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is a 1978 graduate of Harvard College with a degree in art history, specialising in Japanese art. In 1980 he earned an MA in Japanese history from Columbia where he also learned Mandarin Chinese. In 1988 he received an MA in English from Boston. He has lived and worked in Japan, but now lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife and children.
£5.99
Vintage Publishing Nemesis
Book SynopsisIt's the sweltering summer of 1944, and Newark is in the grip of a terrifying epidemic. Decent, athletic twenty-three year old playground director Bucky Cantor is devoted to his charges and ashamed with himself because his weak eyes have excluded him from serving in the war alongside his contemporaries.Trade ReviewHeart-wrenchingly powerful * Sunday Times *A mesmerically imagined work of realism... A shocking gem... A masterclass in literature and life, that reaches into the pits of the dead * Guardian *What makes Roth such an important novelist is the effortless way he brings together the trivial and the profoundly serious * Independent *A masterful performance * Spectator *Nemesis is an artfully constructed suspenseful novel with a cunning twist -- J.M. Coetzee
£9.49
Headline Publishing Group Angels Cry Sometimes
Book SynopsisAngels Cry Sometimes is a heartrending novel of discovering happiness again through heartbreak, grief and despair from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling storyteller Josephine Cox.The marriage of Marcia and Curt Ratheter seemed idyllically happy. As much in love as on their wedding day, nothing could mar their joy. But one fateful day in 1931 brought Marcia''s world tumbling about her ears and left her and her two daughters bereft.Barty Bendall had always loved her, he said; and the girls needed a father. Marcia moved to Blackburn with him, where she tried to forget the past. Barty, though, sank into bad ways, tyrannizing the family. In particular he would vent his aggression on Polly, Curt and Marcia''s first-born, blonde as an angel but afflicted since birth with an ominous shadow over her health.Even in troubled times, lovely raven-haired Marcia was a fighter. But the news that Curt Ratheter had reappeared would render her the helpless prey of wildly conflicting emotions. What readers are saying about Angels Cry Sometimes: ''All [Josephine Cox] books really engross me and Angels Cry Sometimes is no exception. Very moving''''Enjoyable and realistic characters that we can all identify with''''One of the best books I have read in a long time''
£8.79
Cornerstone Enemy In Sight
Book SynopsisFans of Patrick O''Brian and C. S. Forester will love this engrossing and enthralling naval adventure from multi-million copy seller Alexander Kent. You''ll be gripped from page one!''One of our foremost writers of naval fiction'' -- Sunday Times''As a former naval officer, Alexander Kent knows what it is like to be at sea'' -- The Times''Impossible to put down!'' -- ***** Reader review''Plenty of action and intrigue to keep you wanting to read just one more chapter'' -- ***** Reader review''As ever, the author keeps you totally involved. A true page turner.'' -- ***** Reader review''A jolly good read and difficult to put down'' -- ***** Reader review''Outstanding'' -- ***** Reader review**************************************************************************************1794: as the year draws to a close Richard Bolitho, commanding the old HyTrade ReviewPraise for Alexander Kent: 'One of our foremost writers of naval fiction' Sunday Times'Shipwreck, survival ... a spirited battle ... a splendid yarn' The Times
£9.49
Cornerstone The Inshore Squadron
Book SynopsisSet off for another rip-roaring, all-action naval adventure courtesy of multi-million copy seller Alexander Kent. You''ll be able to smell the whiff of the gunpowder and hear the scream of the cannon balls as our hero fights another battle against the enemies of England. Guaranteed to have you engrossed from page one, fans of Patrick O''Brian and C. S. Forester will not be disappointed.''One of our foremost writers of naval fiction'' -- Sunday Times''His dashing character Richard Bolitho is one of the best things to happen to the sea yarn since Hornblower'' -- Daily Express''The storytelling has an easy mastery, how well Kent knows the psychology of naval men'' -- Sunday Telegraph''Just as well I am an insomniac as it is almost impossible to put it down'' -- ***** Reader review''Another stirring yarn from the grand master of naval fiction'' -- ***** Reader reviewTrade ReviewOne of our foremost writers of naval fiction. * Sunday Times *
£9.49
Kensington Publishing Everybody Has a Gun
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£7.59
Pan Macmillan The Four Swans
Book SynopsisWinston Graham is the author of more than forty novels, which include Cordelia, Marnie, The Walking Stick and Stephanie as well as the highly successful Poldark series. His novels have been translated into seventeen languages and six have been filmed. Six of Winston Graham's books have been filmed for the big screen, the most notable being Marnie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Two television series were made of the Poldark novels which were broadcast in twenty-two countries. Winston Graham was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 1983 was awarded the OBE. He died in July 2003Trade ReviewRoss is one of literature's great heroes . . . [with] elements of Darcy, Heathcliff, Rhett Butler and Robin Hood -- Debbie Horsfield
£9.49
