SUMMARY: In March 1941, Virginia Woolf filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself in England's River Ouse. Her body was found three weeks later. What seemed like a tragic ending at the time was, in fact, just the beginning of a mystery. . . . Six decades after Virginia Woolf's death, landscape designer Jo Bellamy has come to Sissinghurst Castle for two reasons: to study the celebrated White Garden created by Woolf's lover Vita Sackville-West and to recover from the terrible wound of her grandfather's unexplained suicide. In the shadow of one of England's most famous castles, Jo makes a shocking find: Woolf's last diary, its first entry dated the day after she allegedly killed herself. If authenticated, Jo's discovery could shatter everything historians believe about Woolf's final hours. But when the Woolf diary is suddenly stolen, Jo's quest to uncover the truth will lead her on a perilous journey into the tumultuous inner life of a literary icon whose connection to the White Garden ultimately proved devastating. Rich with historical detail, The White Garden is an enthralling novel of literary suspense that explores the many ways the past haunts the present-and the dark secrets that lurk beneath the surface of the most carefully tended garden. Views: 47
Spencer, Fran and Iris have something in common: the feeling that life is passing them by. Spencer's lost his lover, who bequeathed him a list of things to do; Fran shares a run-down house with her oddball brother; whilst Iris spends her time cleaning up after her two teenage sons...SPENCER'S LIST is a wonderfully funny tale of life lived on the edge - of reason, of failure and of (just possibly) a brighter future.'Bloody funny, bloody moving, bloody buy it' Meera Syal Views: 47
Years of hard work and schooling have paid off for single mom and ex-jockey Alexis Marsden. She now has a desk job she loves and she's paying her bills-barely. But she can't give her son everything he needs, especially a father. When the big brother of her child's father asks her to marry him, does Alex give up her hard-won independence and settle for an old-fashioned marriage of convenience? Workaholic banker Jackson Breckinridge has spent his life meeting the expectations of his parents and protecting his younger brother. When his brother father's Alex's child, Jack must protect his parents from the truth and fix his brother's screw up. Marriage to the childhood playmate he's loved since his school days is just the right thing to solve his problems. He accepts her terms for a marriage of convenience, but he longs to convert it into a one that's for real. Views: 47
A wonderful seasonal anthology for Dear Canada readers, both old and new!A real treat for fans of this series, and all lovers of historical fiction! Eleven stories that each revisit a favourite character from books in the Dear Canada series are included in this special collection. These are completely original tales that stand alone as heartwarming Christmas stories, but also serve as a lovely "next chapter" to their original books.Each story is written by one of Canada's top award-winning writers for children, including Jean Little, Sarah Ellis, Maxine Trottier, Carol Matas and more. This collection is a lovely companion to A Season of Miracles, and will be treasured year after year at holiday time! Views: 47
After their village is attacked, a young brother and sister set off on a dangerous quest to save their captured family and friends - and free their land from the Sedah invaders. Where are Ethan and Lily's parents being held? And where have the Sun Sword and its magical gems been hidden? Joined by their friend Saxon and the determined Princess Roana, Ethan and Lily must solve puzzles and riddles, escape legendary sea monsters and outwit bandits along the way. But the greatest threat to the children is the sinister Sedah tracker, Sniffer, who is close on their trail... Can the four friends find the Sun Gem - before the Sedah can find them? Views: 47
A John Rawlings Georgian mystery - Apothecary John Rawlings has been summoned to Devon by his beautiful but unpredictable mistress. Leaving his daughter Rose in the good care of her grandfather, Rawlings sets off for Exeter. His fellow stagecoach passengers are a motley crew, and include a large and talkative German lady, a dance-master and a bare-knuckle fighter known as the Black Pyramid. Before the journeys end a man has been found brutally murdered, and Rawlings is once again drawn into a complex and dangerous intrigue.From Publishers WeeklyAt the start of Lake's lurid 13th Georgian historical (after 2008's Death in Hellfire), apothecary John Rawlings, summoned by his pregnant mistress, joins a London carriage bound for the West Country. Other passengers include Jack Beef (aka the Black Pyramid), a bare-knuckle fighter, and his agent. Rawlings, who does detective work for Sir John Fielding of Bow Street, soon gets embroiled in a murder case after a fellow traveler is bludgeoned to death during an overnight stop at an inn. While the Black Pyramid disappears for many pages, Rawlings, with the help of local constable Tobias Miller and fellow Bow Streeter Joe Jago, manages to track down and interrogate all the other passengers on the ill-fated coach. Coincidences abound, as Rawlings observes midway through his deadlocked investigation. In the end, Lake offers a bizarre, if not wholly original resolution to a mystery that will strike many readers as an 18th-century twist on Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ReviewApothecary John Rawlings crisscrosses Georgian England by stagecoach to uncover the identity of both a murderer and a victim in this latest installment in the long-running series (Death in Hellfire, 2008, etc.). Mr. Rawlings has already given up hope of marrying his ladylove, the free-spirited Marchesa Elizabeth di Lorenzi, when he receives a letter summoning him to her home in Exeter. Dashing for a stagecoach bound there, he finds himself traveling among a motley company including an ill-tempered German spinster, a dancing master, a comely milliner and a formidable yet courtly boxer, the Black Pyramid. Before Mr. Rawlings can reunite with Lady Elizabeth, one of the party is brutally murdered at the last inn of the journey--bludgeoned to death with a savagery that tells the apothecary this is no ordinary highway robbery. Temporarily leaving the case in the hands of the competent local constable, Mr. Rawlings goes to Lady Elizabeth, only to find that in the midst of death we are in life: The Marchesa is enceinte and still will not marry him. She will, however, accept his ministrations and use her considerable influence to help him investigate the suspects. The passengers meet again at a boxing match and a ball, and still Rawlings cannot unravel the mystery until he journeys to Lewes, where he encounters a darker past than he imagined. Rich in period detail and colorful characters, with a neat puzzle, moments of sweetness and a satisfying conclusion, this adventure will please series fans and newcomers alike. --Kirkus Reviews, 15th July 2009Traveling by coach to visit his mistress, apothecary John Rawlings (Death at St. James' Palace) is thrown into a very complicated murder investigation when one of his fellow passengers is killed. Series fans will remember that Rawlings generally investigates for Sir John Fielding, London magistrate and head of the Bow Street runners. This time out, Rawlings is on his own. VERDICT Readers who miss Bruce Alexander and T.F. Banks will like Lake's Georgian procedurals. --Library Journal, 1st July 2009Traveling by coach to visit his mistress, apothecary John Rawlings (Death at St. James' Palace) is thrown into a very complicated murder investigation when one of his fellow passengers is killed. Series fans will remember that Rawlings generally investigates for Sir John Fielding, London magistrate and head of the Bow Street runners. This time out, Rawlings is on his own. VERDICT Readers who miss Bruce Alexander and T.F. Banks will like Lake's Georgian procedurals. --Publishers Weekly, 13th July 2009 Views: 47
Take one Shakespearean tragedy: Macbeth.- Add Andy, Danny and Lisa – the Just trio, whose madcap exploits have already delighted hundreds of thousands of readers for the last ten years.- Mix them all together to create one of the most hilarious, most dramatic, moving stories of love, Whizz Fizz, witches, murder and madness, from the bestselling and funniest children's author in Australia. Views: 47
Bernard Corwell, author of Sharpe's Company, Sharpe's Seige, and Sharpe's Revenge, continues the saga of Lt. Col. Richard Sharpe in this, his final adventure. Just as he comes face-to-face with his estranged wife and her lover at a grand society ball, news comes that the British-Prussian link is under attack. In the Battle of Waterloo, Sharpe once again plays a pivotal role in the outcome of a great British triumph. Views: 47
Praise for Allison Adelle Hedge Coke:"These are the songs of righteous anger and utter beauty."—Joy HarjoFrom "Carcass":Split skin stretched over marrowless cage,encased dry tomb, like those strewnthrough this loess reach, cradling pastever present here, and now you comewalking riverside, bringing sensory thrillinto daylight much like this cervidaeculled morning each waking beforedemise. We move this way, catching lifeuntil death captures us, where we rotinto the same dust holding multitudesbefore us, and welcoming those beyond.Allison Adelle Hedge Coke is a poet, writer, performer, editor, and activist. Views: 47
