For the final installment of the ‘Reluctant’ stories, Lance finds himself firmly under Jessa’s thumb. He is at her beck and call and there is nothing that he can do about her illicit requests but obey. Despite his reluctance several surprising events bring about mind-blowing changes. Will he be able to escape his sister-in-law’s clutches or will Jessa finally get everything that she desires? Views: 13
When a comet appears in the sky over England in 1066, Ailith, a young Saxon wife, feels sure that it can only bode well, in spite of her husband's fears. With a child on its way, the couple are prosperous and content. Yet, within a year, Ailith's joy turns to heartache as her husband and her child are taken from her and the conquering Normans advance. Ailith's grief turns to love for a brief period with Rolf de Brize, a handsome and womanising Norman invader. She bears him one daughter, but in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings she discovers a betrayal she cannot forgive . . . Years later, the spirited and strong-willed Julitta is determined to find happiness, and yet her life has been filled with pain: from surviving life in a brothel in Southwark to suffering the pain of a forbidden love and a bitter, loveless marriage. Her quest takes her on a Pilgrimage to Compostella to a colourful horse fair in Bordeaux, to the terrors of piracy on the open sea. From Library Journal The year is 1066 when Norman womanizer Rolf de Brize saves the life of a Saxon woman, Ailith, who tries to kill herself after losing both her husband and her child following the Normans' invasion of England. Installed as chatelaine of Rolf's English estate, Ailith resolves to remain chaste, but her determination is sorely tried by Rolf, who is already married and has a child. These are not simply modern characters dressed in medieval garb but very clearly men and women of their time, and their fascinating story is completely involving and believable. Chadwick (The Wild Hunt, St. Martin's, 1991) is a prize-winning historical novelist who does not romanticize what was often a dangerous and brutal time, particularly for women. Intelligent, enjoyable, and entertaining, this novel will be appreciated by readers of Sharan Newman's medieval mysteries (e.g., Strong as Death, LJ 8/96).?Elizabeth Mary Mellett, Brookline P.L., Mass. Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist A young Saxon woman suffers the harsh consequences of the Norman invasion of England in this epic melodrama. After both her husband and brothers suffer violent deaths at the hands of the conquerors, Ailith temporarily loses her wits and attempts to take her own life. Thwarted by Rolf de Brize, a lusty, sympathetic Norman, Ailith agrees to assume the position of chatelaine of his English estate. Though she bears his child and spends many contented years as his mistress, she reluctantly realizes that the fundamental gulf that separates them is too wide to sufficiently bridge. When she discovers that Rolf has betrayed her both physically and spiritually, Ailith flees, bequeathing her young daughter a bitter legacy of love and loss. Historical romance on a grand scale. Margaret Flanagan Views: 13
Thatcher Hill is bored stiff of his summer job dusting the fake mermaids and shrunken heads at his uncle's seaside Museum of Curiosities. But when a mysterious girl steals an artifact from the museum, Thatcher's summer becomes an adventure that takes him from the top of the ferris wheel to the depths of the sea. Following the thief, he learns that she is a princess of the lost Atlantis. Her people have been cursed by an evil witch to drift at sea all winter and wash up on shore each summer to an even more terrible fate-working the midway games and food stands on the boardwalk. Can Thatcher help save them before he, too, succumbs to the witch's curse?With sharp, witty writing that reads like a middle-grade Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Greg van Eekhout's first book for young readers is a wild ride packed with as many laughs as it has thrills. Views: 13
This is the story of three great famines. The first is an Gorta Mór, the great hunger of Ireland, which began in 1846 and whose end-date is a matter of debate. The second is the less well-known but more deadly famine that struck Bengal in 1943. The third is the Ethiopian famine, which first sprung up in lethal form in the 1970s under Emperor Haile Selassie and then again under the brutal dictator Mengistu in the 1980s. Keneally himself visited Eritrea in 1984 to see the effects of this grave event. In those who suffered these famines; in those who denied their suffering; in those who propounded theories to excuse it; in those who - against the wishes of each government - told the world what was happening; and in those who tried to relieve it, there is a remarkable continuity of impulse and experience and dilemma. Though these famines are diverse, they are in many ways as similar as if they were related by DNA, or a malignant force of fallibility. Tom Keneally shares these... Views: 13
Dylan Matthews had left Winter Falls a young man rocked by tragedy; he returned a seasoned big-city cop with a dangerous case to solve and scars that were still too tender to share. Lindsey Warner couldn't deny that she still wanted Dylan -- had never stopped wanting him. But she was a woman now, a successful investigative reporter, and she hadn't come home to relive the past. No, if she was going to survive another encounter with Dylan Matthews, then she'd have to stick to getting her story and getting out...before she got in over her head. Views: 13
When Ashe Blackwell's grandfather challenges him to reform for a single social Season in London-or forfeit his inheritance-the rake agrees to the wager. But Ashe is assigned an unconventional chaperone: Miss Caroline Townsend, a young, independent, well-educated, American woman with beautiful eyes-and no patience for rogues. Views: 13
Falling in love was the easy part.Luke is over the moon. It's been three months with Alyssa, and every day is better than the last. She fills his life with color and warmth. And when they're together, it's like he could float. It's a tough time for her--her life is still turned upside down--but he's determined to help her through it. To make her realize this should be forever.Things are almost perfect when a phone call rips through their lives. There's someone else who needs Luke. His ex-girlfriend.This is the worst possible time. Alyssa's show is about to premiere. She's buried in stress. Closing off. Shutting down. Ready to lock him out forever.But this is a debt he has to pay. Even if it puts everything at risk. Views: 13
EDITORIAL REVIEW: In this timely stand-alone thriller ripped from the headlines, *New York Times* bestselling author James Grippando, whom the *Wall Street Journal* calls "a writer to watch," explores a world in which the destruction of financial institutions and the people who run them can occur in a matter of hours—perhaps even minutes. At thirty-one, Michael Cantella is a rising star at Wall Street's premier investment bank, Saxton Silvers. Everything is going according to plan until Ivy Layton, the love of his life, vanishes on their honeymoon in the Bahamas. Fast-forward four years. It's the eve of his thirty-fifth birthday, and Michael is still on track: successful career, beautiful new wife, piles of money. Reveling in his good fortune, Michael logs in to his computer, enters his password, and pulls up his biggest investment account: *Zero balance*. He tries another, and another. All of them zero. Someone has wiped him out. His only clue is a new e-mail message: *Just as planned. xo xo.* With these three words Michael's life as he knows it is liquidated, along with his investment portfolio. Saxton Silvers is suddenly on the brink of bankruptcy, and he's the leading suspect in its ruin. Michael is left alone, framed, and facing divorce, with undercover FBI agents afoot, spyware on his computer, and mysterious e-mails from a "JBU." Embroiled in corporate espionage, he's desperate to clear his name and realizes that several signs point to his first wife, Ivy, as a key player. But what if Ivy has come back from the dead, only to visit on Michael a fate worse than death? With echoes of *The Firm*, James Grippando's newest thriller takes readers to the inner circle of Wall Street, illustrating the very real dangers of what Warren Buffett called "financial weapons of mass destruction." Views: 13
An inveterate traveler and author, Kaplan recently toured the rim of the Indian Ocean to inspect its geopolitics. Perspectives on the balance of power vary from country to country and speaker to speaker, but most agree that India and China are the ascending powers in the region. As Kaplan’s passages about Indian Ocean history reflect, the two countries can refer to tradition (to the fifteenth-century fleets of Zheng He, in China’s case) for their contemporary activities in the Indian Ocean, but the plain fact is they are busy for one reason: access to resources. As Kaplan journeys from Oman to Pakistan to Burma and Indonesia, the specific raw material comes into focus, as does the geopolitical angle of safely shipping it to the interested country. Touching on what could threaten maritime traffic, such as piracy, ethnic conflicts, or hostile control of choke points like the Strait of Malacca, Kaplan is guardedly optimistic that interested powers, including the U.S., can benignly manage their Indian Ocean affairs. A better-informed world-affairs reader will be the result of Kaplan’s latest title. --Gilbert Taylor Review Praise for MONSOON“An intellectual treat: Beautiful writing is not incompatible with geopolitical imagination and historical flair!” —ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, former national security advisor “Monsoon is a shining example of Robert Kaplan’s ability to combine the most intrepid travel with scrupulous research and scholarship. He has been proven right many times before, in other ambitious books; given his conclusions about the future of South Asia, I do hope he is wrong this time.” —PAUL THEROUX, author of Ghost Train to the Eastern Star “For much of the post–Cold War era, Robert D. Kaplan has been an indispensable voice in our search for order in a time of chaos. This book on the inescapable new role of the Indian Ocean and its influence on America is another enlightening and engaging contribution to our understanding of what matters most as the twenty-first century takes shape.” —JON MEACHAM, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion “The audacity of Robert Kaplan’s approach to geography as fate is spellbinding. Whether you agree or disagree with his analysis and forecast that the Indian Ocean will occupy the center of global change and international politics in the coming decades, you will find this erudite study gripping and informative. It is a welcome and important addition to the debate about America’s role in a rapidly changing world.” —JIM HOAGLAND, contributing editor, The Washington Post “Kaplan . . . inculcates a paradigm shift when he suggests that the site of twenty-first-century geopolitical significance will be the Indian Ocean, not the northern Atlantic. . . . The book’s political and economic focus and forecasts are smart and brim with aperçus on the intersection of power, politics, and resource consumption (especially water), and give full weight to the impact of colonialism. An ambitious and prescient study.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Kaplan is a landscape artist who covers the world with extraordinary perception and insight and paints brilliant portraits of people, places, history, geopolitics, religion, and big ideas. As usual, Kaplan is one step ahead of everyone else as he explores how global power is shifting.” —AHMED RASHID, author of Descent into Chaos “Monsoon is another masterpiece by one of the most compelling writers of our day. Anyone interested in the balance of power in our world needs to read this book, and fast.” —AMY CHUA, Yale University, author of World on Fire and Day of Empire “Monsoon captures vividly what many have believed for some time—that the twenty-first-century balance of power in the world will rest, more than anywhere else, on the fortunes of China, India, and the United States in the Indian Ocean. This is a superb book with important lessons for Americans.” —NICHOLAS BURNS, Harvard University, former undersecretary of state Views: 13
