Paris in the 1890s. Adam Gould, whose Anglo-Irish father has disowned him, works in a lunatic asylum run by the celebrated Dr Blanche, some of whose patients once starred in France's social firmament and still, when sane, sit at table with distinguished guests. One such patient is Guy de Maupassant. Another is Belcastel, who has taken the blame for a monarchist plot against the Third Republic, then feigned insanity. Madness and uncertain identity drive Adam's story, fuelled by Maupassant's sparkling insights on the matter. Gould falls in love with a married connection of Belcastel's. And things are made no simpler on his return home, when he becomes entangled with a cousin who looks hauntingly like his dead mother. 'A writer of stunning quality, a novelist of irony and compassion.' The Daily Telegraph 'Splendidly readable.' William Trevor '...a highly original work of fiction, urbane, elegant and full of esprit.' Patricia Craig Independent '...a remarkable work, written in a... Views: 5
The first in a brand-new series by erotic romance sensation Nicole Camden, featuring sexy magicians and ladies whose desires tempt them ever deeper into a world they don’t quite understand...Billionaire tech genius and inventor Milton Shaw never had life easy. Growing up in the foster system, his only escape was into the world of magic, studying Houdini and perfecting the art of sleight of hand. Too smart to fit in, and isolated from his peers, he vowed that one day he would be so powerful that no one could touch him. Stern doctor Regina Gallows hates nothing more than attention and trickery. In fact, she went into science to feel in control of her world. Yet when her work brings her into contact with the sexy tech superstar Milton Shaw, she finds her body warring with her idealism…and her desires shifting from unlocking the magician’s secrets to unlocking his heart. Views: 5
Jeff Greene is enjoying his vacation on the Western Caribbean island of Roatan when a freak storm transports him back in time to the 17th century. Jeff takes up with a band of pirates led by the infamous Captain John Coxen as he searches for a way back to his own time in this roller-coaster ride of high-seas adventure, bloody swashbuckling, secret romance, and mysterious forces of nature. Views: 5
By the mid-1980s, the American underworld was a vicious melting pot of ancient and modern tribes. One of the most powerful of these criminal fraternities was the Cuban mob, an organisation so cold and powerful it was known on both sides of the law as "The Corporation". Helmed by an ex-cop and commando Jose Miguel Battle, its powerbase a community of exiles in south-Florida chased from the island by Castro's revolution but planning to overthrow the Marxist dictator and reclaim Cuba.Drawing on the blistering prose and deep research that drove TJ English's New York Times bestseller Havana Nocturne and established him as "America's top chronicler of organised crime", The Corporation is an epic, multi-generational history of the Cuban-American underworld soon to be made into a film ("a Cuban version of The Godfather") by Leonardo Dicaprio and Benicio del Toro. Views: 5
In the early years of the 18th century, a band of French scientists set off on a daring, decade-long expedition to South America in a race to measure the precise shape of the earth. Like Lewis and Clark's exploration of the American West, their incredible mission revealed the mysteries of a little-known continent to a world hungry for discovery. Scaling 16,000foot mountains in the Peruvian Andes, and braving jaguars, pumas, insects, and vampire bats in the jungle, the scientists barely completed their mission. One was murdered, another perished from fever, and a third-Jean Godin-nearly died of heartbreak. At the expedition's end, Jean and his Peruvian wife, Isabel Gramesón, became stranded at opposite ends of the Amazon, victims of a tangled web of international politics. Isabel's solo journey to reunite with Jean after their calamitous twenty-year separation was so dramatic that it left all of 18th-century Europe spellbound. Her survival-unprecedented in the annals of Amazon exploration-was a testament to human endurance, female resourcefulness, and the power of devotion.Drawing on the original writings of the French mapmakers, as well as his own experience retracing Isabel's journey, acclaimed writer Robert Whitaker weaves a riveting tale rich in adventure, intrigue, and scientific achievement. Never before told, The Mapmaker's Wife is an epic love story that unfolds against the backdrop of "the greatest expedition the world has ever known."From Publishers WeeklyAs was customary for girls from elite families in 18th-century colonial Peru, Isabel Gramesón was barely a teenager when she married Jean Godin, a Frenchman visiting the territory as an assistant on a scientific expedition. Planning to bring his wife back to France, Godin trekked across South America to check in with the French colonial authorities, but was refused permission to return up the Amazon back into Spanish territory to retrieve Isabel. So they remained a continent apart for 20 years until 1769, when Isabel started making her way east. Her party ran aground on the Bobonaza River (which feeds into the Amazon), and though almost everyone perished, she managed to survive alone in the rainforest for weeks. Although science journalist Whitaker doesn't directly refer to his own modern trek following Isabel's route down the Bobonaza, his descriptions of the conditions she would have encountered convey his familiarity with the territory, often quite viscerally, ("There are giant stinging ants, ants that bite, and ants that both bite and sting"). His account of the French expedition that brought Godin to Peru and then separated him from his new wife is equally vivid, with exhilarating discoveries and petty squabbles-and richly illustrated with contemporary drawings. Though an early, long digression tracing the history of attempts to measure the size of the earth may establish the context a little too solidly, making some readers impatient, they'll certainly be hooked once the story really begins. Isabel and Jean's adventures are riveting enough on their own, and colonial South America's largely unfamiliar history adds another compelling layer to this well-crafted yarn. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From School Library JournalAdult/High School–Whitaker merges a gripping account of scientific exploration with an amazing story of survival in the wilderness. For those who think of the Enlightenment only in terms of sedate Paris salons, this book will alter that image forever. The best minds of Europe in the 1730s knew that the Earth was not perfectly round, but the exact size and shape were in hot debate. Someone figured out that to nail down the answer certain data was needed, and that the best place to get that data was at the equator. Given the technological and political realities of the time, that meant one place: Peru. A scientific expedition was organized in Paris and sent to the New World in 1735. After 10 years of incredible hardships and setbacks, it accomplished its mission (and a host of other enlightenments along the way). As captivating as this story proved to be, another developed: a young member of the party met, fell in love with, and married an upper-class, 13-year-old Peruvian girl. Due to a tangled swirl of unfortunate events, this couple became separated for 20 years (beginning just before the birth of their only child). Finally, in 1769, Isabel Gramesón set off on a trek through the most inhospitable of jungles to rejoin her husband in French Guiana. The author's depiction of that harrowing journey is the crowning jewel of this outstanding volume.–Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Views: 5
For five months in the thin air of Tibet and Western China I made my way over dirt tracks and around Chinese police checkpoints. Throughout most of history this part of the planet has remained closed to Western travelers. During the spring and summer of 1994 only a few short portions of my 3300-mile bicycle trip crossed sections of Tibet and China that were officially open to foreigners. My 3300-mile bicycle trip is the subject of the ebook, A Different Kind of Freedom. Views: 4
They call him Reguiba. Moroccan death merchant extraordinaire. With an army of desert jackals who live to kill-and kill to live-he's got the manpower, the hardware and the petrodollars to pull any job… no matter how bloody.
His target: American allies in the Middle East. His goal: the total breakdown of Western alliances. His biggest obstacle: Agent N3 — Nick Carter! Views: 4
