Search results for ""MACMILLAN""

Suffragette Girl is an heart-wrenching tale of love and liberty by the author of The Clippie Girls, Margaret Dickinson.When Florrie Maltby defies her father by refusing to marry Gervase Richards, she sets off a chain of events that will alter her life. Instead she goes to London and becomes involved with the suffragette movement. She's imprisoned for her militant actions, and goes on hunger strike. With her health deteriorating, there is one person who can save her – Gervase.After a brief stay in the countryside to recuperate, Florrie returns to London to continue her fight for women's rights. Only the outbreak of the Great War puts a halt to her activities. It is when James, her younger brother, is shamed by their father into volunteering, that Florrie enlists as a nurse and is sent to the Front. Amidst the fear and horror of the hospital close to the trenches, she finds love. But when her beloved brother is accused of desertion, help comes from a very unexpected source.

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Oranges in No Man's Land brings Elizabeth Laird's emotional and gripping adventure to her next generation of fans. Since her father left Lebanon to find work and her mother tragically died in a shell attack, ten-year-old Ayesha has been living in the bomb-ravaged city of Beirut with her granny and her two younger brothers. The city has been torn in half by civil war and a desolate, dangerous no man's land divides the two sides. Only militiamen and tanks dare enter this deadly zone, but when Granny falls desperately ill, Ayesha sets off on a terrifying journey to reach a doctor living in enemy territory.

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Fairyland’s future lies in doubt . . .The enchanted island of Janda Baik, in the Malay Archipelago, has long been home to witches. And Muna and her sister Sakti wake on its shores under a curse, which has quite stolen away their memories. Their only hope of salvation lies in distant Britain, where the Sorceress Royal runs a controversial academy for female magicians. But the pair travel via the formidable Fairy Queen’s realm, where Sakti simply disappears.To save her sister, Muna must learn to navigate Regency London’s high society and trick the English into believing she’s a magical prodigy. But when the Sorceress Royal’s friends become accidentally embroiled in a plot – involving the Fairy Queen’s contentious succession – Muna is drawn right in. She must also find Sakti, break their curse and somehow stay out of trouble. But if fairyland’s true queen does finally return, trouble may find her first . . .The True Queen is Zen Cho's spelling binding second book. It's set in a sparkling version of Regency London, with a fairy tale twist. And although it's set in the same world as her award-winning novel, The Sorcerer to the Crown, this reads as a standalone. ‘A sheer delight from beginning to end'Samantha ShannonA joyous mash-up of Jane Austen and high fantasy’M. R. Carey

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Cheer on Noah and his team in Kieran Crowley's The Mighty Dynamo. Filled with footy, fun and friendship, it's an hilarious story perfect for young football fans.Noah longs to be a professional footballer – and playing in the Schools' World Cup qualifiers might be just what he needs to get scouted. But when he's banned from his school team for something he didn't do, all his dreams are in doubt.Determined to live up to his Mighty Dynamo nickname, Noah must find his own way to enter the contest – no matter what it takes! With best friend Stevie on tactics, and the skills of some unlikely new teammates, he's soon ready to take on the world – just as long as no one plays foul . . .

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The New York Times bestselling author of The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau shows us how to enjoy greater career success and personal fulfilment by finding the work we were born to do, whether within a traditional company or business, or by striking out on our own.Born For This helps you create your own self-styled career with a practical, step-by-step guide to finding work that feels so right it doesn't even seem like work. Learn how to:· Launch a side job that turns a passion into a profitable business.· Win the career lottery by finding a dream position within a traditional organization.· Become a DIY rock star by fashioning an entirely new profession around your varied interests.· OR hack an existing humdrum job into work you will love.Guillebeau offers an actionable method and framework for turning our passions into paychecks.

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'One of the sparest, most elegant spy novels I have come across in a long time . . . Written in glistening prose - with not a word wasted - it proves Steinhauer truly is John le Carré's rightful heir.' – Daily MailNow a major film on Prime Video starring Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton and Jonathan Pryce.Celia used to lie for a living. Henry still does. Can they ever trust each other?Six years ago, Henry and Celia were lovers and colleagues, working for the CIA station in Vienna, until terrorists hijacked a plane at the airport. A rescue attempt, staged from the inside, went terribly wrong. Everyone on board was killed.That night has continued to haunt all of those involved; for Henry and Celia, it brought to an end their relationship. Celia decided she'd had enough; she left the agency, married and had children, and is now living an ordinary life in the Californian suburbs. Henry is still a CIA analyst, and has travelled to the US to see her one more time, to relive the past, maybe, or to put it behind him once and for all.But neither of them can forget that question: had their agent been compromised, and how? And each of them also wonders what role their lunch companion might have played in the way things unfolded . . .All the Old Knives is Olen Steinhauer's most intense, most thrilling and most unsettling novel to date - from the New York Times bestselling author deemed by many to be John le Carré's heir apparent.

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No one is born to lead. This is the idea at the heart of this thoughtful book on leadership. Popular culture feeds us images of the square-jawed, strong-armed leader - charismatic, powerful, decisive - but the truth is, with the right amount of self-knowledge and authenticity, anyone can be a good leader, even those who don't fit the stereotype.There are countless courses and books available on leadership technique, decision-making and public speaking, but How to Be a Leader aims to give you the tools to understand and bring out your own leadership style. With an in-depth look at what it really means to lead, and the difference between being a manager and being a leader, How to Be a Leader invites you to explore - and accept - the unique leader in you.

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There's been a robbery in Tale Town! Someone has stolen a cutting from the magical Story Tree, and it's up to twins Hansel and Gretel to get it back. With the help of their new friend Wolfie, a not very big or very bad wolf, they discover a secret fortress in the forest, containing a Magic Looking Glass that promises to help them.But things are not always what they seem, especially when the Magic Looking Glass starts causing trouble! Can Wolfie and the twins find the Story Tree cutting and save the day, or will the Magic Looking Glass have the last laugh? The Magic Looking Glass is the fourth book in this brilliant new highly-illustrated series by Tom Percival, featuring all the fairy-tale characters you know and love having brand-new adventures!

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Jack (of the beanstalk fame) and his magical talking chicken, Betsy, have always been great at making new friends. But when Jack spots Anansi, the new kid in town, talking to a troll in the Deep Dark Woods, everything changes. Everyone knows that trolls mean trouble, and Jack will do anything to prove to the rest of his friends that Anansi is a troll spy. Even if that means using stolen magic! The Spell Thief is the first book in this brilliant new highly-illustrated series by Tom Percival, featuring all the fairy-tale characters you know and love having brand-new adventures!

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A multi-layered and unnerving portrait of gangland Glasgow, For Those Who Know the Ending is the gripping novel from the award-winning author of The Glasgow Trilogy, Malcolm Mackay. He has to clear thoughts of Joanne and thoughts of the past out of his mind. He has to think about himself, his situation. Think about the next hour . . . In that hour, everything will be decided.It’s been almost two hours. Two hours, and Martin Sivok is still tied up, alone in a darkened warehouse; plastic strips digging into the soft flesh of his wrists. He wants them to come back. Get this over with. But he also knows that as soon as they return, this could very well be his ending.Because Martin has messed up. Stolen dirty money he should never have touched. Dirty money that the Jamieson organization, the most dangerous criminal outfit in Glasgow, wants back. Someone has to die for this. And over the next few hours, he has to work out how that somebody can be anyone but him . . .

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The Silent Room is the first tense police procedural in the thrilling Matthew Ryan series by Mari Hannah.'Nobody understands the many faces of cops better than Mari Hannah' - Val McDermidA security van sets off for Durham prison, a disgraced Special Branch officer in the back. It never arrives. En route it is hijacked by armed men, the prisoner sprung. Suspended from duty on suspicion of aiding and abetting the audacious escape of his former boss, Detective Sergeant Matthew Ryan is locked out of the manhunt.Desperate to preserve his career and prove his innocence, he backs off. But when the official investigation falls apart, under surveillance and with his life in danger, Ryan goes dark, enlisting others in his quest to discover the truth.When the trail leads to the suspicious death of a Norwegian national, Ryan uncovers an international conspiracy that has claimed the lives of many.Continue the gripping crime series with The Death Messenger.

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The Buffer Girls is an inspiring tale of love, heartache and ambition from bestselling author Margaret Dickinson.It is 1920 in the Derbyshire dales. The Ryan family are adjusting to life now that the war is over. Walter has returned home a broken man and so it falls to his son and daughter, Josh and Emily, to keep the family candle-making business going.The Ryan children grew up with Amy Clark, daughter of the village blacksmith, and Thomas 'Trip' Trippett, whose father owns a cutlery business in Sheffield. Romance blossoms for Josh and Amy while Emily falls in love with Trip, but she is unsure if the feeling is mutual. Martha Ryan is fiercely ambitious for her son and so she uproots her family to Sheffield, but all Josh wants is to continue the family business and marry Amy. As the Ryans do their best to adapt to city life, their friendly neighbour, Lizzie, helps Emily find employment as a Buffer Girl polishing cutlery at a local factory.It turns out that it is Emily who is best equipped to forge a career but, as time goes on, problems and even dangers arise that the Ryan family could not possibly have foreseen.

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With an introduction by Neel Mukherjee.In Manhattan, just after the century's turn, three thirty-year-old friends, Danielle, Marina and Julius, are seeking their fortunes. But the arrival of Marina's young cousin Bootie - fresh from the provinces and keen, too, to make his mark - forces them to confront their own desires and expectations.The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud is an American classic: a sweeping portrait of one of the most fascinating cities in the world, and a haunting illustration of how the events of a single day can change everything, for ever.

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A collection of three wonderfully festive stories from Eva Ibbotson, the bestselling author of Journey to the River Sea. With a beautiful cover by Joe Wilson and inside illustrations, The Christmas Star is a wonderful gift to treasure at Christmas and all year round. In the first story, Vicky and the Christmas Angel, a young Viennese girl discovers, to her horror, who really brings the children's presents at Christmas. In The Christmas Star a family encounters a fortune teller at the local Christmas market who changes their lives. The Great Carp Ferdinand is a story about a hero with a difference as it follows the impact that Ferdinand – the carp intended for the Mannhaus family's Christmas dinner – has on the household in the lead-up to Christmas.

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From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Seven Devils'A gripping, fast-paced high tech thriller' – GuardianShe can uncover the truth, if she defeats her demonsEx-neuroscientist Carina struggles with a drug problem, her conscience, and urges to kill. She satisfies her cravings in dreams, fuelled by the addictive drug ‘Zeal’. Now she’s heading for self-destruction – until she has a vision of a dead girl.Sudice Inc. damaged Carina when she worked on their sinister brain-mapping project, causing her violent compulsions. And this girl was a similar experiment. When Carina realizes the vision was planted by her old colleague Mark, desperate for help to expose the company, she knows he’s probably dead. Her only hope is to unmask her nemesis – or she’s next.To unlock the secrets Mark hid in her mind, she’ll need a group of specialist hackers. Dax is one of them, a doctor who can help Carina fight her addictions. If she holds on to her humanity, they might even have a future together. But first she must destroy her adversary – before it changes us and our society, forever.Laura Lam's Shattered Minds stars a female 'Dexter' with a drug problem and a conscience, in a terrifying near-future where technology rules our lives and haunts our dreams.'A taut page-turner chock-full of thrills' – Speculative Herald

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Now the War is Over is a moving story of post-war hardship and the struggles of a reunited family, featuring characters from Annie Murray's bestselling War Babies.The Second World War has finally come to a close. Birmingham is welcoming home its menfolk, and a new chapter is beginning in Rachel Booker's life. Her husband has returned, and the family that struggled for survival throughout the uncertain war years is now together. But family life settles into a routine and Rachel, unsatisfied, starts to yearn for more'Melly, Rachel's eldest daughter, is a child of the war. She grew up in the bombed-out streets of Birmingham and has never known anything other than the hungry ration years and supporting her mother and younger brother Tommy. But times are changing and Melly now has a fresh future ahead of her. She's determined to make the most of life and her greatest wish is to become a nurse.As the gloom of the 1940s passes by and the promise of the 1950s dawns, a whole new world of opportunity opens up to Rachel and Melly - but with this come new challenges and tough choices. They will each have to decide whether their loyalties still lie with the family and friends they clung to throughout the war years or if it's time to move on . . .

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As a bored, moody teenager, Emma Beddington came across a copy of French ELLE in the library of her austere Yorkshire school. As she turned the pages, full of philosophy, sex and lipstick, she realized that her life had one purpose and one purpose only: she needed to be French. Instead of skulking in her bedroom listening to The Smiths or trudging to Betty's Tea Room to buy fondant fancies, she would be free and solitary, sitting outside the Café de Flore with a Scottie dog at her feet, a Moleskine on the table and a Gauloise trembling on her lower lip. And so she set about becoming French: she did a French exchange, albeit in Casablanca; she studied French history at university, and spent the holidays in France with her French boyfriend. Eventually, after a family tragedy, she found herself living in Paris, with the same French boyfriend and two half-French children. Her dream had come true, but how would reality match up? Gradually Emma realized that she might have found Paris, but what she really needed to find was home.Written with enormous wit and warmth, We'll Always Have Paris is a memoir for anyone who has ever worn a Breton T-shirt and wondered, however fleetingly, if they could pass for une vraie Parisienne.

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Christmas Stories contains short stories for the festive period from some of your favourite children's authors - including Julia Donaldson, the author of The Gruffalo, Malorie Blackman, Philip Ardagh, Adèle Geras, Richmal Crompton, Robert Westall, Anna Wilson, Karen McCombie, Rumer Godden, Martin Waddell and Shirley Climo. A perfect stocking-filler filled with tales of snow, Christmas trees, family, princesses, magic and, of course, presents!

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There are no boring bits in How Loud Can You Burp?, a doodle-filled book of fun questions and answers from the author of the bestselling Why is Snot Green?.Could we use animal poo to make electricity? Why is water wet, and is anything wetter than water? What's the deadliest disease in the world? What are clouds for? What's the difference between a brain and a computer?Published in association with the Science Museum, discover loads of fascinating facts in Glenn Murphy's funny and informative book which helps us take a fresh look at the world (and universe) we live in.

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Wrong Place is the second gripping crime novel in the DC Maggie Neville series from Michelle Davies, following her critically acclaimed debut Gone Astray.Two women lie hospital beds, both subjects of police investigations. One, a vulnerable old lady, has been assaulted in her own home. Suspected to be the fifth victim of a young couple targeting pensioners, her injuries indicate an escalation in violence from the perpetrators. The second, a wife, has been attacked by her own husband, who subsequently fails in his own attempt to kill himself. Whilst there are no obvious parallels between the victims, DC Maggie Neville, the Family Liaison Officer involved in both cases, begins to question what happened. Is it simply a case of both being in the wrong place at the wrong time or is something far more sinister at play?

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How can you pack for the journey of a lifetime?George Baxter has settled for a comfortable life, content as the years unfold predictably - until Win, his wife of twenty-six years, dies.With his loyal dog Monty by his side, George throws himself into his work as an antiques dealer. His business is at the heart of the village and all sorts pass through the doors, each person in search of their own little piece of history. When George meets local widow Sylvia Newsome, he imagines a different kind of future. But life has more revelations to offer him. Over the course of an English summer George uncovers some unexpected mysteries from his past, which could shape his tomorrows . . .A New Map of Love by Abi Oliver, a bestselling author under a different name, is a life-affirming second novel about second chances at love.

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Golden Age is the third novel in the dazzling Last Hundred Years Trilogy from Jane Smiley, winner of the Pulitzer Prize.1987. A visit from a long-lost relative brings the Langdons together again on the family farm; a place almost unrecognizable from the remote Iowan farmland Walter and Rosanna once owned. Whilst a few have stayed, most have spread wide across the US, but all are facing social, economic and political challenges unlike anything their ancestors encountered.Richie Langdon, finally out from under his twin brother's shadow, finds himself running for congress almost unintentionally, and completely underprepared for the world-changing decisions he will have to make. Charlie, the charmer, recently found, struggles to find his way. Jesse's son, Guthrie, set to take over the family farm, is deployed to Iraq, leaving it in the hands of his younger sister, Felicity, who must defend the land from more than just the extremes of climate change.Moving through the 1990s, to our own moment and beyond, this last instalment sees the final repercussions of time on the Langdon family. After a hundred years of personal change and US history, filled with words unsaid and moments lost, Golden Age brings to a magnificent conclusion the century-long portrait of one unforgettable family.

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A Times, Financial Times and Telegraph Political Book of the Year'Illuminates some of the great trends of our time' - Gideon Rachman, Financial Times'Vivid, urgent and unsettling' - Tom Holland, author of Dominion_____In a series of vivid, empathetic portraits of other people’s lives, journalist Ben Judah invites us to meet some of the people who call Europe their home.Who makes up this population of some 750 million, sprawled from Ireland to Ukraine, from Sweden to Turkey? Who has always called it home? Who has newly arrived from elsewhere? Who are the people who drive our long-distance lorries and steward our criss-crossing planes? And who risks life itself in search of safety and a new start?Drawn from hours of painstaking interviews, these vital stories reveal a vibrant continent which has been transformed by diversity, migration, the internet, climate change, Co

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On a hot July day, three elderly people are found dead in a dilapidated house in Primrose Hill. Reading the story in a newspaper as she prepares to leave the country, Marie Gillies has an unshakable feeling that she is somehow to blame. How did these three people come to live together, and how did they all die at once? The truth lies in a very different England, and in the secret world of the ladies of the house...

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When Skanda's father Toby dies, estranged from Skanda's mother and from the India he once loved, it falls to Skanda to return his body to his birthplace. This is a journey that takes him halfway around the world and deep within three generations of his family, whose fractures, frailties and toxic legacies he has always sought to elude.Both an intimate portrait of a marriage and its aftershocks, and a panoramic vision of India's half-century - in which a rapacious new energy supplants an ineffectual elite - The Way Things Were is an epic novel about the pressures of history upon the present moment. It is also a meditation on the stories we tell and the stories we forget; their tenderness and violence in forging bonds and in breaking them apart. Set in modern Delhi and at flashpoints from the past four decades, fusing private and political, classical and contemporary to thrilling effect, this book confirms Aatish Taseer as one of the most arresting voices of his generation.

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Set in the tumultous times of World War II, The Colours of Love by Rita Bradshaw is a story of a capable and resourceful woman who proves that nothing is stronger than a mother's love.Can love survive when all is lost?England is at war, but nothing can dim land girl Esther Wynford's happiness at marrying the love of her life – fighter pilot Monty Grant. Their short honeymoon results in a baby, but on the birth of her daughter, Joy, Esther's world falls apart. Esther's dying mother confesses to a dark secret that she has kept to herself for twenty years: Esther is not her natural daughter but the result of an exchange of babies after her own child was stillborn. Esther's real mother was forced to give up her baby to an orphanage by her furious family who were incensed about the unsuitability of their daughter's lover, and Joy's birth makes the reason clear. Harshly rejected by Monty, and with the man Esther believed was her father breathing fire and damnation, she takes her precious baby and leaves everything and everyone she's ever known, determined to fend for herself and her child. But her fight is just beginning . . .

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It is a cold day in Ireland, the 26th of December; frost lies thick on the blackthorn. A man walks the just-waking village, banging on every door, summoning the boys. Today is St. Stephen's Day, when legend has it that the Saint was betrayed by a wren's call, and the boys are off to the forest where they hope to find the traitorous bird and capture it by nightfall. But what will they do if their prey escapes them?Inspired by the many myths of the wren and the Irish tradition of hunting it, Carol Ann Duffy's beautiful new Christmas poem takes us on a chase through a snowy, rural landscape and ends with a merry celebration. With gorgeous full-colour illustrations by Dermot Flynn throughout, The Wren-Boys will make a perfect stocking-filler this festive season.

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Successful film and TV star Chris O'Dowd collaborates with friend and fellow screenwriter Nick Vincent Murphy on Moone Boy: The Fish Detective, the second book in this hilarious illustrated series inspired by the Sky TV series they co-wrote.Martin's parents are strapped for cash: it's going to be a budget Christmas this year. So Martin plans to buy his own presents - and attempts, unsuccessfully, to get a job. Padraic puts in a word for him with his Auntie Bridget, who runs the local butcher's shop. But her shop is struggling as the fish shop across the road undercuts her, and Bridget just can't compete. No one knows how the owner, Francie Feeley, does it - especially since he doesn't seem to employ anyone at his fish factory. No one goes in; no one comes out - it's a mystery.Intrigued, Martin decides to go undercover and find out the truth, like a fish-mole - or a fish detective. Martin infiltrates the factory and discovers that Francie is illegally employing a gang of Brazilian fish-gutters. They're a lot of fun and one of them, Fabio, becomes Martin's good friend. But when Martin is exposed as a spy, he has to choose which side he's on. Will Christmas be ruined for the whole of Boyle?

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The Girl from Lace Island is a romantic and moving story that spans generations and oceans, from author Joanna Rees.Some bonds will never break . . . 1989When happy-go-lucky fifteen-year-old Leila is exiled from her exotic home on Lace Island to a cold English boarding school, it is just the beginning of her woes. Feeling that she's just too foreign to ever fit in, she's desperate to get back to her family and friends. But in her absence, her paradise island has changed beyond all recognition and the life she once loved is now just a memory. Worse still, everyone and everything she loves is now in terrible danger.2016Jess dreams of far off places, of white sandy beaches and warm tropical seas. When she gets her longed-for job as cabin crew, those dreams are suddenly realized – especially when she's swept off her feet by the handsome and charismatic Blaise. But Jess has a troubled past and her present is about to become complicated and dangerous . . . Two women, decades apart, their lives submerged in disaster and betrayal. Both are on a mission to find out the truth about Lace Island, but what if their search for paradise comes at too high a price?

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Longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger 2021How does the saying go? Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you . . . For Ruth, a new mother recovering from postpartum psychosis, every day is difficult and, after months spent hearing voices in the walls and trusting no one, she’s no longer confident in her own judgement. Neither, it seems, is anyone else. So, when she hears a scream from the local petrol station one night, she initially decides it must be her mind playing tricks again. The police, too, are polite but firm: she must stop calling them every time she thinks she hears something. And her husband is frustrated: he’d hoped Ruth was getting better at last. Ruth can’t quite let it go . . . What if there was a scream? What if it was someone in trouble? Someone who needs Ruth’s help? Exploring the dark and isolating side of motherhood, the question at the heart of Rebecca Whitney's The Hidden Girls is how much you can help someone else when you can’t trust anyone – even yourself . . .

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With a beautiful cover illustration by Alex T. Smith, creator of the Claude series, Not Just A Witch is a wonderfully spooky young fiction title from the award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson.'I want you to change the next wicked person you see into a tiger,' demanded Lionel. 'A very large tiger.' Heckie is not just a witch – she's an animal witch, who wants to make the world a better place by transforming evil people into harmless animals, using her incredible Toe of Transformation and her awesome Knuckle of Power. But when slimy Lionel Knapsack charms Heckie, her magic begins to take a darker direction. Her friends, including a cheese wizard and a boy called Daniel, must come to the rescue . . .

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The Beasts of Clawstone Castle is a fantastically spooky adventure from the author of Dial a Ghost, Eva Ibbotson.'We need proper ghosts,' said Ned, 'really scary ones with heads that come off and daggers in their chests!'When Madlyn and her younger brother Rollo arrive at crumbling Clawstone Castle, they can see that emergency action is needed before Clawstone falls down completely. With the help of a team of homeless, scary ghosts –including a one-eyed skeleton and Brenda the Bloodstained Bride – they hatch a spooky plan to get the money rolling in. But with a sinister scientist on the loose, money might not be enough to save the mysterious beasts of Clawstone Castle . . .

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'I lost weight and my skin changed, it cleared. But when I quit the white stuff, I also started to heal. I found wellness and the kind of energy and sparkle I had as a kid. I don't believe in diets or in making eating miserable. This plan and the recipes are designed for lasting wellness.'Sarah Wilson was a self-confessed sugar addict, eating the equivalent of twenty-five teaspoons of sugar every day, before making the link between her sugar consumption and a lifetime of mood disorders, fluctuating weight issues, sleep problems and thyroid disease. She knew she had to make a change.What started as an experiment soon became a way of life, then a campaign to alert others to the health dangers of sugar. I Quit Sugar uses Sarah's personal experience to help you:· beat the sugar habit with a tested eight week plan· overcome cravings via proven and easy tricks· find healthy sugar substitutes

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Winner of the Premio Selezione Campiello prize and the Premio Alessandro Manzoni award for best historical novel, The Watercolourist is the irresistible Italian bestseller from Beatrice Masini.Nineteenth-century Italy. A young woman arrives at a beautiful villa in the countryside outside Milan. Bianca, a gifted young watercolourist, has been commissioned to illustrate the plants in the magnificent grounds.Bianca settles into her grand new home, invited into the heart of the family by the eccentric poet Don Titta, his five children, his elegant and delicate wife and powerful, controlling mother. As the seasons pass, the young watercolourist develops her art - inspired by the landscape around her - and attracts many admirers. And while most of the household's servants view her with envy, she soon develops a special affection for one housemaid, who, she is intrigued to learn, has mysterious origins . . .But as Bianca's determination to unlock the secrets of the villa grows, she little notices the dangers that lie all around her. Who is the mysterious woman she has glimpsed in the gardens? What could Don Titta and his friends be whispering about so furtively? And while Bianca watches so carefully for clues, who is watching her?In The Watercolourist, set against the intoxicating background of an Italy on the cusp of change, a young woman's naive curiosity will take her far into the territory of hidden secrets, of untold truth and of love.

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The Italian Girl is an intoxicating tale of passion and destiny, from Lucinda Riley, #1 bestselling author of the Seven Sisters series. Nothing sings as sweetly as love, or burns quite like betrayal . . . Rosanna Menici is just a girl when she meets Roberto Rossini – the man who will change her life forever. In the years that follow, their destinies become bound together, both by their extraordinary talents as opera singers, and by their enduring, obsessive love.Their passion will ultimately affect the lives of all those closest to them. For, as Rosanna slowly discovers, their union is haunted by irreversible events of the past . . .** A version of this story has previously been published under the title Aria, under the name Lucinda Edmonds – now extensively rewritten as The Italian Girl. **

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Play dirty, play to win.From the top ten bestselling author Jessie Keane comes a gripping thriller featuring two women who will do anything to win the man they love.Josh Flynn is the king of the bare-knuckle gypsy fighters. His reputation is un-blemished; his fist a deadly weapon.Claire Milo has always loved Josh, they were destined to be together from the day they met. Two gypsy lovers with their whole lives ahead of them. If only Josh would find a different way of earning a living instead of knocking the living daylights out of another man in the boxing ring. One day, she knew something really bad was going to happen. She could feel it . . .Shauna Everett always wanted what she couldn’t have, and nobody, especially Claire Milo was going to stand in her way. She’s had her eye on Josh Flynn for years and she knew just how to get him. If it meant playing dirty, then so be it. What had she got to lose?In a world ruled by violence, crime and backstreet brawls, only one woman will win in Jessie Keane's Fearless, but how low is she prepared to go to achieve that goal?

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A new age has dawned in Caeli-AmurAn oppressive regime has been overthrown and the city's citizens are finally in power. Yet all is not well. The people are starving and many call for violence against their enemies. And when the seditionist leader Aceline is murdered, the trail leads to a conspiracy in the shadows . . .Meanwhile, in the vast imperial metropolis of Varenis, another power begins to move against Caeli-Amur. Will its people survive these threats, or will an uneasy peace descend into blood and violence?

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Molly loves to listen to her dad's bedtime stories. Once upon a time, he says, everyone was green, squirrels sang in choirs, tiny people lived in Aunt Elsie's pot plant and of course, rabbits could fly . . . but can all this really be true? Molly thinks her dad's just being silly as usual, but no-one's bedtime stories are as good as his. So cuddle up on the sofa and pick one of these fourteen fantastically funny stories to read together before bed. Which one will be your favourite?Melanie von Bismarck's brilliant collection of short stories is cleverly translated from the German by David Henry Wilson, author of the Jeremy James series, and is brought to life by the warm, witty and richly detailed pictures by Axel Scheffler, illustrator of The Gruffalo.With a jacket, extra-thick paper, and a special ribbon to mark your place in the book, Flying Rabbits, Singing Squirrels and Other Bedtime Stories makes a great present – truly a gift book to treasure.

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From the author of Thirteen, Tom Hoyle's Spiders is a creepy, spine-tingling YA thriller that will leave you breathless, perfect for fans of Michael Grant.Adam may have survived once, but a cult still has him in its sights. And this time he may not escape with his life . . .Abbie's dad is an undercover agent, tasked with exposing dangerous cults. He's normally able to maintain his distance, but this time Abbie's worried he's in too deep.Megan was sure she and Adam were safe, but now he's missing and she's the only one who can help him . . .The web is closing in around them . . .

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What Are We Fighting For? is a poetry collection that explores the concept of war in a brilliantly accessible way for younger readers.Fascinating and moving in equal measure, there are poems about incredibly brave dogs, cats and pigeons; the Christmas truce of WWI when soldiers played football in No Man's Land; poems about rationing and what it was like to be an evacuee, poems about modern warfare and the reality of war today; plus lots of amazing true historical facts.This cross-curricular poetry book is a brilliant way to get young readers thinking about both the historical and philosophical aspects of war.

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Inspiring the film starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, and directed by Stephen Frears, Philomena is the tale of a mother and a son whose lives were scarred by the forces of hypocrisy on both sides of the Atlantic and of the secrets they were forced to keep. With a foreword by Judi Dench, Martin Sixsmith's book is a compelling and deeply moving narrative of human love and loss, both heartbreaking yet ultimately redemptive.When she fell pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to the convent at Roscrea in Co. Tipperary to be looked after as a fallen woman. She cared for her baby for three years until the Church took him from her and sold him, like countless others, to America for adoption. Coerced into signing a document promising never to attempt to see her child again, she nonetheless spent the next fifty years secretly searching for him, unaware that he was searching for her from across the Atlantic. Philomena's son, renamed Michael Hess, grew up to be a top Washington lawyer and a leading Republican official in the Reagan and Bush administrations. But he was a gay man in a homophobic party where he had to conceal not only his sexuality but, eventually, the fact that he had AIDS. With little time left, he returned to Ireland and the convent where he was born: his desperate quest to find his mother before he died left a legacy that was to unfold with unexpected consequences for all involved.

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Inspiring the Hitchcock classic, Marnie is a psychological crime novel by the author of the Poldark series, Winston Graham.Marnie appears to be charming and efficient. A true professional. But inwardly she is unscrupulous, a rebel against society and the law. When she starts working for a small family firm, two of the partners vie for her attentions, and as Mark Rutland, the younger partner, forces his way into Marnie’s world he becomes desperate to understand her. Why is she so cynical, so uncaring? Why is she a thief and a liar? Who is the real Marnie? Mark sets a trap . . . but it is not only Marnie who is caught . . .

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**Devotion, the new novel from Hannah Kent, is out now!**'Exquisite' – Daily MailShortlisted for the Walter Scott PrizeOne woman's mercy is another's murder . . .Ireland, 1825. Nóra, bereft after the sudden death of her husband, finds herself alone and caring for her young grandson Micheál. Micheál cannot speak or walk and Nóra is desperate to know what is wrong with him. What happened to the healthy, happy grandson she met when her daughter was still alive?Mary arrives in the valley to help Nóra just as the whispers are spreading: stories of unexplained misfortunes, of illnesses, and rumours that Micheál is a changeling child who is bringing bad luck to the valley. Nance has lived in the valley all of her life. She is a healer who knows how to use the plants and berries of the woodland; she understands the magic in the old ways. And she might be able to help Micheál . . . As these three women are drawn together in the hope of restoring Micheál, their world of folklore and belief, of ritual and stories, tightens around them. It will lead them down a dangerous path, and force them to question everything they have ever known.'A starkly realised tale of love, grief and misconceived beliefs' – Sunday Times'An imaginative tour de force . . . exquisite' – Daily Mail

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'Syria, Isis, radicalisation, parental love & the zeitgeist wrapped up in a poetic page-turner of epic proportions' - James O'Brien, author of How to Be RightWhat would you do if your daughter fled towards danger? Morgan Jones' The Good Sister shows just how far one father will go to rescue a daughter who doesn't want to be saved. One quiet morning, with her father still asleep, seventeen-year old Sofia Mounir, disillusioned with her life in London, boards a flight to Turkey.By the time the police know she’s missing, Sofia is already in Syria, ready to fight for the only cause she still believes in.Her devastated father knows he must save her and will go to the end of the earth to bring her back.But how do you rescue a daughter who doesn’t want to be saved?

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