Even a life on the untamed plains of Africa can't prepare Wilhelmina for the wilds of an English boarding school in this lovely and lyrical novel from the author of Rooftoppers, which Booklist called "a glorious adventure."Wilhelmina Silver's world is golden. Living half-wild on an African farm with her horse, her monkey, and her best friend, every day is beautiful. But when her home is sold and Will is sent away to boarding school in England, the world becomes impossibly difficult. Lions and hyenas are nothing compared to packs of vicious schoolgirls. Where can a girl run to in London? And will she have the courage to survive? From the author of the "witty, inventively poetic" Rooftoppers comes an utterly beautiful story that's sure to be treasured. Views: 78
Sussex, 2003. When a beautiful blonde girl is found half-drowned on a beach, she has no memory of who she is or what horrors have left her there.But an article about her in a Brighton newspaper rings alarm bells for beautician Dale, who shows the police photographs of Lotte Wainright. The girls met working on a cruise ship and their friendship blossomed as they sailed the seas of South America, until Lotte fell under the sinister influence of an older American couple. To her regret, Dale hasn't seen Lotte since leaving the ship months earlier - but the girl on the beach - although badly bruised - is indeed her much missed friend.Their reunion only marks the beginning of a dangerous tidal wave of secrets, lies and nightmares. Where has Lotte been? Who is the man who seems to want to kill her? And what has become of the baby she's recently given birth to? Dale and Lotte must dig deep and find the strength to hold on against the odds if they are to rebuild their friendship... Views: 76
Balford-le-Nez is a dying seatown on the coast of Essex. But when a member of the town's small but growing Asian community, is found dead on its beach, his neck broken, sleepy Balford-le-Nez ignites. Working solo, without her long-time partner Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, Sergeant Barbara Havers must probe not only the mind of a murderer and a case very close to her own heart, but the terrible price people pay for deceiving others...and themselves.From the Paperback edition. Views: 76
Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past.When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes them eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical... Views: 75
From the bestselling author of the Welcome to Harpers Emporium and The Mulberry Lane Series.The Harpers Girls come face to face with the harsh reality of the cruelty of war. Oxford Street, London 1915 Sally Harper quietly battles to keep Harpers afloat in the difficult days of the war, whilst husband Ben is working all hours for the War Office. Beth Burrow is fighting concern for her husband Jack, now at sea with the Merchant Navy, and the fear she may never see him again and be blessed with a child. Driven to exhaustion, Maggie Gibbs, is now working as a nursing assistant on the battlefields in France. With the everyday horrors of the casualties of war to contend with she suffers her own personal tragedy when her fiancé's plane ditches in the sea.Can the Harpers Girls and their loved ones survive the perils of war and find a path to future happiness? A heart-warming saga following the lives, loves and losses of the Harpers Girls.... Views: 74
Her search for safety lands her in a totally new kind of danger.The Heckmasters, Book 1Certain that an ad for a job in a small New Mexico Territory town is the answer to her prayers, Nebraska schoolteacher Rhia Duke packs her sister into a rickety wagon and heads west. Except when they reach the near-deserted town, she learns the truth. There is no job, no future, and no welcome in the bleak blue eyes of the handsome sheriff. The minute Rhia's runaway team thunders into town, Wystan Heckmaster feels the change in the air. One of three sons of a demon who dared love a human, he keeps watch over a Pit guarded by seven seals, and slays any Hellbound demon that attempts to free the master imprisoned within.With a gut full of regret and a forgotten town filled with reformed demons, Wystan is certain of one thing: he can't be the man Rhia needs. But when the truth behind Rhia's flight from Nebraska comes to light, Wystan must... Views: 74
'Brilliant read. Wonderful characters that draw you into Harpers world. Thoroughly enjoyable.' Kitty Neale1911 – The beginning of a brand new series for No1 bestselling author Rosie Clarke, Welcome to Harpers of Oxford Street.When Sally, Beth, Margaret and Rachel meet at a job interview for the wonderful new store in Oxford Street they have no idea they will become lifelong friends.When all four girls are lucky enough to be selected as sales staff their exciting new adventure begins.Join them as they overcome heartbreak and grief, find love and happiness and remain united in their friendship, whatever life throws at them.What readers are saying about The Shop Girls of Harpers:'A lovely book to read and the first of a new series with characters that blend so well and a great story of friendship, family and love. Well worth 5*''A lovely read first in a new series, looking forward to the next.... Views: 74
Before she met Il-sun in an orphanage, Gi was a hollow husk of a girl, broken from growing up in one of North Korea’s forced-labor camps. A mathematical genius, she has learned to cope with pain by retreating into a realm of numbers and calculations, an escape from both the past and present. Gi becomes enamored of the brash and radiant Il-sun, a friend she describes as “all woman and springtime.” But Il-sun’s pursuit of a better life imperils both girls when her suitor spirits them across the Demilitarized Zone and sells them as sex workers, first in South Korea and then in the United States.This spellbinding debut, reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha, depicts—with chilling accuracy—life behind North Korea’s iron curtain. But for Gi and Il-sun, forced into the underworld of human trafficking, their captivity outside North Korea is far crueler than the tight control of their “Dear Leader.” Tenderhearted Gi, just on the verge of womanhood, is consigned to a fate that threatens not only her body but her mind. How she and Il-sun endure, how they find a path to healing, is what drives this absorbing and exquisite novel—from an exciting young Algonquin discovery—to its perfectly imagined conclusion.From BooklistDebut novelist Jones conducts a compelling psychological tour of life inside the socially and politically restrictive borders of North Korea via the poignant stories of two young girls on the cusp of womanhood. Gi, a mathematical genius compelled to keep her gifts hidden, nevertheless survives the seemingly inescapable brutality and drudgery of her existence by quietly exercising the life of the mind. When Gi meets the lushly beautiful Il-sun in an orphanage, the two girls forge a strong, immutable bond. They eventually escape but are then sold into sex slavery first in South Korea and later in the U.S., and it’s not difficult to guess who will flame out and who will triumph. This tale of female friendship is distinguished by its illuminating glimpse into the arcane intricacies of both an ancient and a modern culture. Guaranteed to appeal to fans of Memoirs of a Geisha (1997) and the novels of Lisa See. --Margaret Flanagan Review“Gripping.”—O, The Oprah Magazine“An eye-opening journey to the dark side of desire.”—Vogue.com“Lifting the veil on a little-known country, Brandon W. Jones’s debut novel tells the story of two North Korean teenagers escaping the authoritarian state and battling the modern-day slave trade.”—National Geographic Traveler“An all-around great read and the kind that needs and deserves to be passed around.”—Bookfoolery and Babble“Beautifully written, both in prose and plotting . . Very highly recommended.”—Devourer of Books“[A] moving, heartbreaking, yet hopeful novel.” —Salt Lake City Weekly“Compelling . . . poignant.” —Booklist “[A] terrifying and masterfully realized debut . . . Impossible to put down, this work is important reading for anyone who cares about the power of literature to engage the world and speak its often frightening truths.”—Library Journal“Dramatic . . . [A] well-paced story.”—Publishers Weekly“This book will open your eyes, break your heart, and then mend it again.”—Tayari Jones, author of *Silver Sparrow*“One of the most absorbing, chilling, beautifully written and important novels I’ve read in many years.”—Alice Walker“Riveting and utterly compelling to the very end.” —Wisconsin Bookwatch (Wisconsin Bookwatch ) Views: 73
Meet Max—it’s 1936, Bavaria, and he’s still a foetus inside his blonde, blue-eyed mother. Utterly indoctrinated in the Nazi ideology, he will address you, tell you his story until 1945—his destiny as an exceptional being, the prototype of the ‘Lebensborn’ (Fountains of Youth) program, designed to produce perfect specimens of the Aryan race to regenerate the Reich. When Max meets Lukas, a young Polish boy who resembles him but who rebels against the Nazi system, cracks starts to appear in Max’s convictions... Max is compulsive reading. Against all your instincts to despise what Max tells you, about his childish cruelty, his attempts to eliminate any aspect of weakness in order to become a tough Hitler youth, you will find yourself somehow understanding him, becoming attached to this orphan who personifies the evil that people are capable of inflicting on children in times of war.Max is a fascinating, confronting historical fable. A little-known... Views: 73
