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The Butterfly Picnic
by Joan Aiken'For sheer enjoyability this tops almost anything' The TimesIntelligent and spirited Georgia March flies to the beautiful Greek island of Dendros to meet her cousin Sweden, but upon arrival finds her cousin Sweden’s body lying in a pool blood . . .Georgia has come to the paradise island of Dendros in search of a new life, a new job, and a way to forget about her lost lover. Instead, her adventure begins with tragedy and takes her to a mountain-top fortress – home to a powerful multi-millionaire, his jet set friends and a school for unusual children. In this stunning Greek hideaway Georgia is hired as a teacher, but as she gets to know the children and their unconventional parents she becomes ensnared in a deadly international mystery. Our not-so hapless heroine must survive a series of bizarre brushes with death, but also deal with the attentions of a strangely charming man – is he really the wickedest man on the island? Somebody certainly wants her gone as she inches closer and closer to uncovering the truth about Sweden’s death . . . Joan Aiken reveals a strong heroine, a breathtaking backdrop and shocking plot twists – The Butterfly Picnic has all the elements of a holiday romance with a dark underside of suspense.
Voices in an Empty House
by Joan Aiken“Gabriel!” But calling was pointless, and he stopped at once, embarrassed by the sound of his voice . . . Nobody was here in the small apartment, nobody but himself.Lonely sixteen-year-old Gabriel, son of a Nobel Prize winner, has gone missing, and with a life-threatening heart condition his family are desperate to find him before it’s too late. Amnesia-stricken stepdad Thomas, spiteful mother Bella, and her sardonic twin brother Bo, all have their own selfish reasons to pursue him to Greenwich Village, New York where he was last seen.But Gabriel doesn’t want to be found . . . Jumping between each character’s perspective over the course of seven years, awardwinning author Joan Aiken expertly pieces together a complex and dynamic family history that leads to every parent’s nightmare in her modern suspense novel, Voices in an Empty House.
Last Movement
by Joan Aiken'Joan Aiken has produced a beauty . . . enjoyment rises up from every one of its 250 pages. Here is a pleasure of a book' The TimesHelikon is a unique spa on the Greek island of Drendos, run by the enigmatic Dr. Adnan from Aiken’s earlier novel, The Embroidered Sunset. In this tranquil setting outstanding musical performances combine with soothing medical treatments offer to treat a myriad of ailments, but can they heal the past?Stage manager ‘Mike’ Meiklejohn accompanied by her ailing mother and playwright Lady Julia Saint with her amnesic partner arrive at the luxury spa centre in the hope that their troubles will be healed – but their stay in this Greek idyll is soon shattered by two horrifying murders. As the women’s paths intertwine they plan to stage an opera performance of Hamlet, but the longer they spend at Helikon the more they learn about the secrets their loved ones are hiding from them . . . Full of suspense and surprise Last Movement is a holiday romance with a dark edge from awardwinning author Joan Aiken.
Foul Matter
by Joan AikenI have been on nodding terms with death since age nineteen. Death holds precious little mystery for me. During the last sixteen years I have eaten death for breakfast . . .For accomplished writer and chef Clytie Churchill suffering and love come hand in hand. The life of each person she loves seems to come to a desperate end – sickness, suicide, death by drowning, orphan and widower Clytie has grieved through it all. During a long night reminiscing in a remote French Chateau she resolves to throw out all this Foul Matter – like the old proofs of a finished book.But there is still one mystery to solve – when she learns there is a chance that little Finn, her dead husband’s son, could have survived the sinking of his father’s boat Clytie seeks out lawyer and ex-lover Anthony to help her track him down.Awardwinning author Joan Aiken touches upon love and death with a thoughtfulness and courage that makes Foul Matter a romantic suspense novel like no other.
Blackground
by Joan Aiken'Blackground deals with guilty secrets, greed, betrayal and murder. Joan Aiken knows her trade.' London Review of Books.Cat Conwil is an actress on the brink of fame – will love be her saviour of her downfall?Cat lands a starring role in a TV adaptation of Middlemarch shooting on location at the splendid Knoyle Court. There, she’s pursued by the estate’s owner millionaire James Tybold – they fall for eachother hard and fast, marry and embark on the honeymoon of a lifetime. But only in romantic Venice as they start getting to really know each other do they uncover the shocking truth – that they met before, many years ago . . .From this moment everything changes – they both have dark histories, complicated families, and one of them has some devastating secrets in their past . . .Between a film set, a Venetian honeymoon and a section of the Dorset coast remodelled to resemble a Greek fishing village, award winning author Joan Aiken entwines mortal danger with quirky characters in her captivating romantic suspense novel, Blackground.
Morningquest
by Joan Aiken'Eccentric and poignant with inevitable echoes of Austen as she goes for heightened emotion and rarefied beauty . . . suspend disbelief and you’ll fly through this world of sense and sensibility' Time OutAspiring young artist sixteen-year-old Pandora Crumbe, lonely and bored in her rural village, has been unwillingly taken for lunch with her eccentric neighbours The Morningquest family . . . when her mother dies suddenly at the table. The Morninquests take Pandora under their wing – Sir Gilbert is a world famous conductor with an elegant wife and seven eccentric children, all highly talented in their own way. Pandora flourishes in their rambling country home and relishes the cultured and bohemian company. As her life moves with theirs to 60’s London, a Northern University, and finally to communist Prague, she uncovers scandals, tragedy, her own mother’s secrets, and finally the way to realise her own dreams.From award winning author Joan Aiken, romantic suspense novel Morningquest is an intense and kaleidoscopic read, an epic rite of passage with a vast cast of exuberant characters who sweep you into their world.
Wolves of Rome
by Valerio Massimo ManfrediFrom the international bestselling Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Wolves of Rome is a historical thriller about two brothers and the betrayal of Teutoburg Forest that devastated the Roman Empire. This is a must read for fans of Simon Scarrow, Ben Kane and Conn Iggulden.Bound by Blood. Divided by an Empire.Deep in a dark, foreboding forest, the Roman Empire will face its bloodiest test.3 BC. Two wild Germanic brothers, Armin and Wulf, are held hostage in Rome to keep their father from rebelling against the Empire. As the years pass, they are moulded into ideal soldiers: brave, disciplined, ruthless. Attributes that are to be tested when a conspiracy arises, threatening their emperor and the Empire’s future . . .As serving Roman soldiers, the brothers are separated at opposite ends of the Empire, each proving their bloody might on the battlefield. But Armin begins to realize that no matter how far he travels and how many lives he takes, he has an inescapable bond to his father, mother and the tribes of Germania. His goal: to unite them all under one banner.Wulf, though, remains loyal to Rome and it soon becomes clear that both he and the might of the Roman Empire are the only obstacles standing between Armin and his dream of freedom for the Germanic people . . .
The Dressmaker of Draper's Lane: An Evocative Historical Novel From the Author of The Silk Weaver
by Liz TrenowThe richest silk hides the deepest secrets . . . The Dressmaker of Draper’s Lane revisits the opulence and extravagance of the London silk trade in the mid-eighteenth century which Liz Trenow wrote about in her previous bestselling novel, The Silk Weaver.1768, London.As a foundling who rose from poverty and now runs her own successful dressmaking business in the heart of society London, Miss Charlotte is a remarkable woman, admired by many. She has no need, nor desire, to marry. The people she values most are her friend Anna, her recently-found sister Louisa and nephew Peter.She feels herself fortunate, and should be content with what she has. But something is missing.A small piece of rare silk discovered in a bundle of scraps at auction triggers a curious sense of familiarity, and prompts her to unpick a past filled with extraordinary secrets and revelations . . .
The Oracle Queen: A Three Dark Crowns novella (Three Dark Crowns Novella Ser. #2)
by Kendare BlakeA short story from Kendare Blake's bestselling Three Dark Crowns universe, The Oracle Queen tells the story of the last queen born with the gift of sight. . .Historically, baby queens born with the sight gift were drowned. This had been the practice for hundreds of years, so long that few were even born anymore, as if the Goddess knew it would be a waste. It is a harsh sentence, but necessary, for it is well-known that in a queen the sight gift will run strong. Strong enough to drive her mad.This is the tale the last sight gift queen to be allowed to live. She was overcome by paranoia and false visions, driven past the brink by the phantom thoughts of others in her head, so she set upon the capital with bloody ruin, murdering whole houses, whole family lines without trial. Or at least, that is how the tale is told. This is her story.
The Young Queens: A Three Dark Crowns novella (Three Dark Crowns Novella Ser. #1)
by Kendare BlakeThree black witches, born to a descending queen. One would rise to become queen in her place. Perhaps the strongest of the three. Perhaps the cleverest. Or perhaps it would be the girl born under the best shield of luck.Katharine, Arsinoe and Mirabella - three young queens born to fulfil their destiny - to fight to the death to win the crown. But before they were poisoner, elemental and naturalist, they were children, sisters and friends . . . Discover the origin story of the three queens of Fennbirn in this exclusive e-novella from Kendare Blake, bestselling author of the New York Times bestselling, Three Dark Crowns. What everyone is saying about Three Dark Crowns:'A brutal and inventive fantasy that is as addictive as it is horrifying.' Marissa Meyer, NYT bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles on Three Dark Crowns'Gorgeous and bloody, tender and violent, elegant, precise, and passionate; above all, completely addicting.' Kirkus Reviews on Three Dark Crowns
Pollyanna: Pollyanna And Pollyanna Grows Up (Macmillan Collector's Library #161)
by Eleanor H. PorterDesigned to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.With its wonderfully infectious good cheer, Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter spawned a real-life ‘Glad’ movement and endures today as a true classic of children’s literature. This elegant Macmillan Collector’s Library edition features an afterword by children’s book critic Imogen Russell Williams.When her beloved father dies, Pollyanna is sent to live with her strict Aunt Polly in the dour town of Beldingsville, Vermont. Luckily, Pollyanna has the Glad Game – a joyous, warm-hearted exercise where she finds the best in every situation. Whether delighting in the view from her bare attic room, or interpreting her punishment of a meagre supper as a wonderful treat, Pollyanna cannot help but see the best in the world, and inadvertently changes it for the better as she goes.
Cranford: A Play... (Macmillan Collector's Library #162)
by Elizabeth GaskellDesigned to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. A rich, comic and illuminating portrait of life in a small town, Cranford has moved and entertained readers for generations. This edition features illustrations by the celebrated Hugh Thomson, and an introduction by Dr Josie Billington, a specialist in Victorian literature.The women of the small country town of Cranford live in genteel poverty, resolutely refusing to embrace change, while the dark clouds of urbanisation and the advance of the railway hover threateningly on the horizon. In their simple, well-ordered lives they face emotional dilemmas and upheavals, small in the scale of the ever-shifting world, but affectionately portrayed by Elizabeth Gaskell with all the weight and consequence of a grand drama.
Middlemarch (Macmillan Collector's Library #163)
by George EliotDesigned to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. This edition features an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan.Dorothea Brooke is a beautiful and idealistic young woman set on filling her life with good deeds. She pursues the pompous Edward Casuabon, convinced that he embodies these principles, and becomes trapped in an unhappy marriage. Then there is Tertius Lydgate, an anguished progressive whose determination to bring modern medicine to the provinces is muddied by unrequited love. They, and a multitude of other brilliantly drawn characters, reside in the town Middlemarch – the background to George Eliot’s incomparable portrait of Victorian life.An eternal masterpiece of candid observation, emotional insight and transcending humour, Middlemarch is a truly monumental novel.
Heart of Darkness & other stories: & other stories (Macmillan Collector's Library #164)
by Joseph ConradDesigned to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. This elegant edition features an afterword by Dr Keith Carabine, specialist in American literature and former chair of the Joseph Conrad society.One night on the Thames, Charles Marlowe tells his fellow sailors the vivid and brutal tale of his time as a riverboat captain in the Belgian Congo. From the mists of London we are whisked to the darkness of Africa’s colonial heart – and into the thrall of the tyrannical Kurtz, an ivory trader who has established himself as a terrifying demi-god.Sinister and incisive, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad has retained the fascination of readers and scholars alike. It is accompanied here by the stories with which it has been published since 1902: the autobiographical Youth, and the tale of an old man's fall from fortune, The End of the Tether.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman (Macmillan Collector's Library #165)
by Thomas HardyDesigned to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. An unforgettably powerful tragedy, Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles is one of the great classics of the late nineteenth century. This edition features illustrations by Sir Hubert von Herkomer and Joseph Syddall, and an afterword by Philip Mallett, editor of the Thomas Hardy Journal.Tess Durbeyfield’s father forcibly sends her off to work for the wealthy D’Urberville family, hoping to alleviate their poverty and perhaps secure her a marriage to the cruel and manipulative Alec D’Urberville. His terrible assault upon her, and the subsequent child, form the terrible heart of Tess’s tragic life – as family, love and future are taken away from her by the repressive mores of Victorian society.
The Moonstone: A Romance (Macmillan Collector's Library #166)
by Wilkie CollinsDesigned to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure. One of the great Victorian novels, The Moonstone has engrossed, entertained and enraptured readers since its first publication in 1868. This edition features an introduction by the renowned historian, journalist and author, Judith Flanders.Lady Verinder’s uncle gives her the Moonstone – a magnificent diamond as large as an egg – for her eighteenth birthday, but it is not quite the generous gift it first seems. For he obtained it through bloody and nefarious means in India, and legend says the diamond’s guardians will stop at nothing to get it back. When the Moonstone is stolen, an innocent man is accused of the crime and from this simple beginning, Wilkie Collins creates a stunning, complex narrative of dark mystery, suspense and atmosphere – and one of the very first detective stories ever written.
Black Beauty: The Autobiography Of A Horse (Macmillan Collector's Library #14)
by Anna SewellDesigned to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector’s Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector’s Library are books to love and treasure. This edition of Black Beauty features illustrations by Cecil Aldin and an afterword by author and conservationist Lauren St. John.Black Beauty enjoys a carefree upbringing in a pleasant meadow with his mother, where his gentle first master trains him well – until he is reluctantly forced to sell him. Through a long and varied life, Black Beauty passes from one owner to the next; some treat him well, others are so cruel that they inflict lasting damage.Anna Sewell’s biographical novel about a horse is one of the bestselling books of all time, and her depiction of Victorian society’s harsh treatment of animals inspired significant changes to animal welfare in both the UK and America.
The Turn of the Screw and Owen Wingrave: and Owen Wingrave (Macmillan Collector's Library #174)
by Henry JamesDesigned to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector’s Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector’s Library are books to love and treasure. This edition of Henry James’s classic ghost stories features an afterword by bestselling author Kate Mosse OBE.A young governess is employed to look after two orphaned siblings in a grand country house. Isolated and inexperienced, she is at first charmed by the children – but gradually suspects that they may not be as innocent as they seem. She soon begins to see sinister figures at the window, but do they exist solely in her imagination, or are they ghosts intent on a terrible and devastating task? The Turn of the Screw is one of the most famous and eerily equivocal ghost stories ever written.Owen Wingrave is the story of a son in a long line of military heroes who refuses to follow tradition, yet proves his bravery in a haunted room.
Terry's Dumb Dot Story: A Treehouse Tale (World Book Day 2018) (The Treehouse Books #8)
by Andy GriffithsMeet Andy and Terry. They make books together in the world's coolest treehouse! They've got loads of different storeys in their home in the sky: you can find a marshmallow machine, the world's most powerful whirlpool, a penguin ice-skating rink, a tank full of sharks and a human pinball machine, among many other things. But none of these help them agree on their special story for World Book Day – and it's not just Mr Big Nose keeping an eye on them now, but the story police too!Terry's Dumb Dot Story is a special World Book Day Treehouse adventure from Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, told through a combination of laugh-out-loud text and fantastic cartoon-style illustrations.Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up!
Selected Poems
by Kathleen JamieKathleen Jamie’s Selected Poems gathers together some of the finest work by one of the foremost poets currently writing in English. Although Jamie is perhaps best known for her writing on nature, landscape, and place, Selected Poems shows the full and remarkably diverse range of her work – and why many regard her work as crucially relevant to our troubled age. No poet currently writing has a keener eye or ear; no poet has paid more careful attention to the other consciousnesses with whom we share the planet – and no poet has Jamie’s almost miraculous ability to show us just how the world might look when the human eye ceases to gaze on it. This exceptional collection of poetry, spanning several decades, allows readers to chart the development of one of our most important contemporary talents, and serves as perfect introduction to her work.
Ongoingness: the End of a Diary
by Sarah Manguso'This small-sized book has immense power. Marvel at the clarity and fire.' Zadie SmithSarah Manguso kept a meticulous diary for twenty-five years. ‘I wanted to end each day with a record of everything that had ever happened,’ she explains. But this simple statement conceals a terror that she might miss out something important. Maintaining that diary became a daily attempt to remember every detail, to stop the passage of time. Then Manguso became pregnant and had a child, and these two events slowly and irrevocably changed her relationship to her life and also to her diary. In this moving memoir Sarah Manguso confesses her life long struggle to let go. Ongoingness is a beautiful, daring and honest and shifting work that grapples with writing and motherhood.
300 Arguments
by Sarah Manguso'Jam-packed with insights you'll want to both text to your friends and tattoo on your skin . . . A sweeping view of a human mind trying to make order of the world around us.' Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires EverywhereThink of this as a short book composed entirely of what I hoped would be a long book’s quotable passages.300 Arguments by Sarah Manguso is at first glance a group of unrelated aphorisms, but the pieces reveal themselves as a masterful arrangement that steadily gathers power. Manguso’s arguments about writing, desire, ambition, relationships, and failure are pithy, unsentimental, and defiant, and they add up to an unexpected and renegade wisdom literature. Lines you will underline, write in notebooks and read to the person sitting next to you, that will drift back into your mind as you try to get to sleep.'300 Arguments reads like you've jumped into someone's mind.' NPR
The Flower Beneath the Foot: Being a Record of the Early Life of St. Laura de Nazianzi (Picador Classic #87)
by Ronald FirbankWith an introduction by Alan HollinghurstAt the fantastical court of King Willie and Her Dreaminess the Queen of Pisuerga, maid of honour Laura de Nazianzi and His Weariness Prince Yousef whisper promises to each other in the palace gardens. But Laura is destined for disappointment. The King and Queen have plans for a royal wedding for their Prince, and the young woman in their sights is none other than Princess Elsie of England. The court is all aflutter . . .First published in 1923, Ronald Firbank's The Flower Beneath the Foot is a flamboyant court satire and lyrical tour de force of innuendo and eccentricity. Read by many as a subversive celebration of homosexuality, this is a classic of modernist literature from a stylist like no other.
The Endgame: The Year of Short Stories – December
by Jeffrey ArcherThe Endgame is part of The Year of Short Stories and is one of a limited number of digital shorts released to celebrate the publication of Jeffrey Archer’s magnificent seventh short-story collection, Tell Tale.Taken from To Cut a Long Story Short, Jeffrey Archer's fourth collection of short stories, The Endgame is an irresistible, witty and ingenious short read.After he becomes a widower, wealthy Cornelius Barrington decides to test the loyalty of his family and friends to himself, or his money, by declaring himself bankrupt, enlisting the help of his old friend and trusted lawyer, Frank Vintcent, to make the ruse authentic. Soon though, Barrington is left pondering whether blood really is thicker than water . . .Be sure to look out for more from The Year of Short Stories collection, including One Man's Meat and No Room at the Inn.
Caste-Off: The Year of Short Stories – February
by Jeffrey ArcherCaste-Off is part of The Year of Short Stories and is one of a limited number of digital shorts released to celebrate the publication of Jeffrey Archer’s magnificent seventh short story collection, Tell Tale.Taken from And Thereby Hangs a Tale, Jeffrey Archer's sixth collection of short stories, Caste-Off is an enthralling short read with unforgettable characters and a devastating twist.Jamwal Rameshwar Singh, a hedonistic playboy prince, assumes he will never fall in love but this all changes when he meets Nisha Chowdhury. Their blossoming international relationship continues as she completes her degree at Stanford but even as their love grows, Jamwal knows that his family will oppose the match as Nisha is not of their caste. Will Jamwal choose love or will his family’s wishes prevail?Be sure to look out for more from The Year of Short Stories collection, including The Endgame and The Man Who Robbed His Own Post Office.