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The Quality of Mercy: A Novel

Barry Unsworth returns to the terrain of his Booker Prize-winning novel Sacred Hunger, this time following Sullivan, the Irish fiddler, and Erasmus Kemp, son of a Liverpool slave ship owner who hanged himself. It is the spring of 1767, and to avenge his father's death, Erasmus Kemp has had the rebellious sailors of his father's ship, including Sullivan, brought back to London to stand trial on charges of mutiny and piracy. But as the novel opens, a blithe Sullivan has escaped and is making his way on foot to the north of England, stealing as he goes and sleeping where he can. His destination is Thorpe in the East Durham coalfields, where his dead shipmate, Billy Blair, lived: he has pledged to tell the family how Billy met his end. In this village, Billy's sister, Nan, and her miner husband, James Bordon, live with their three sons, all destined to follow their father down the pit. The youngest, only seven, is enjoying his last summer aboveground. Meanwhile, in London, a passionate anti-slavery campaigner, Frederick Ashton, gets involved in a second case relating to the lost ship. Erasmus Kemp wants compensation for the cargo of sick slaves who were thrown overboard to drown, and Ashton is representing the insurers who dispute his claim. Despite their polarized views on slavery, Ashton's beautiful sister, Jane, encounters Erasmus Kemp and finds herself powerfully attracted to him. Lord Spenton, who owns coal mines in East-Durham, has extravagant habits and is pressed for money. When he applies to the Kemp merchant bank for a loan, Erasmus sees a business opportunity of the kind he has long been hoping for, a way of gaining entry into Britain's rapidly developing and highly profitable coal and steel industries. Thus he too makes his way north, to the very same village that Sullivan is heading for . . . With historical sweep and deep pathos, Unsworth explores the struggles of the powerless and the captive against the rich and the powerful, and what weight mercy may throw on the scales of justice.
Views: 827

Crown Duel

Young Countess Meliara swears to her dying father that she and her brother will defend their people from the growing greed of the king. That promise leads them into a war for which they are ill-prepared, which threatens the very people they are trying to protect. But war is simple compared to what follows, in peacetime. Meliara is summoned to live at the royal palace, where friends and enemies look alike, and intrigue fills the dance halls and the drawing rooms. If she is to survive, Meliara must learn a whole new way of fighting-with wits and words and secret alliances. In war, at least, she knew in whom she could trust. Now she can trust no one. The Firebird edition of Crown Duel combines the hardcover editions of Crown Duel and Court Duel-and features a never-before-published story by Sherwood Smith!
Views: 827

Eat the Cookie...Buy the Shoes: Giving Yourself Permission to Lighten Up

Engrained in our culture is the belief that unbending discipline is the only sure way to success. You must go to the gym five times a week, never order the dessert, and don't even think about buying that dress you keep staring at in the store window. Breaking from such a regimented lifestyle is a sign of weakness, right? Wrong!-and Joyce wants to tell us why... Though setting rules in our lives are important, it's just as important that we break them from time-to-time. Structure is a powerful tool, but when diverging from your own goals is seen as catastrophic, it can have a hugely negative effect on us. Balance is a core value in life and every once in awhile we deserve to indulge in a guilty pleasure or two. So don't feel bad about straying from your goals every once-in-awhile and in fact, embrace it: eat the cookie and buy the shoes!
Views: 827

Queens of Fennbirn

Uncover the sisters’ origins, dive deep into the catastrophic reign of the Oracle Queen, and reveal layers of Fennbirn’s past, hidden until now. The Young Queens Get a glimpse of triplet queens Mirabella, Arsinoe, and Katharine during a short period of time when they protected and loved one another. From birth until their claiming ceremonies, this is the story of the three sisters’ lives…before they were at stake. The Oracle Queen Everyone knows the legend of Elsabet, the Oracle Queen. The one who went mad. The one who orchestrated a senseless, horrific slaying of three entire houses. But what really happened? Discover the true story behind the queen who could foresee the future…just not her own downfall.
Views: 827

A Paris Affair

From the internationally best-selling author of Sarah's Key Tatiana de Rosnay comes an irreverent yet heartfelt collection of short stories that examines our most intimate and forbidden desires Late nights at the office... Hotel rooms and secret rendezvous... Lingering perfume... Sizzling texts... What takes place in Paris when husbands and wives tangle with infidelity? In this compulsively readable collection, Tatiana de Rosnay paints a portrait of forbidden loves in many shades - sometimes tragic, sometimes humorous, sometimes heartfelt, always with a dry wit and unflinching authenticity. A PARIS AFFAIR will take you on a vacation overseas, into the hidden lives of husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, where illicit desire wars with duty, and where a French take on romance will surprise you every time.
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Seasons of Deception

The short story "Seasons of Deception" introduces Beatrice Scott, the sleuth who appears in Kate McLachlan's mystery novel "Ten Little Lesbians." In "Seasons of Deception," Beatrice investigates the quick decline of her elderly gay neighbor after a suspicious woman moves in with him. Leigh, her lover, is unable to help, which is a mystery in itself.A sudden life threatening injury turns Nickie’s world on its ear, but not in a way she ever would have predicted. Nickie finds out that not only do shape-shifters exist, but she is one. The Kitsune are a race of shape-shifters that have been living in secret alongside humans for centuries. As Nickie struggles to master her newly discovered shape-shifting and the abilities it brings her, she learns that some of the people in her life are far more than she knew. Can Nickie handle all the changes headed her way on her own? Or does she have someone who can help her?
Views: 826

The Fry Chronicles

Thirteen years ago, Moab Is My Washpot, Stephen Fry's autobiography of his early years, was published to rave reviews and was a huge best seller. In the years since, Stephen Fry has moved into a completely new stratosphere, both as a public figure, and a private man. Now he is not just a multi-award-winning comedian and actor, but also an author, director, and presenter.
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Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas

A publicação de 'Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas' não só inaugura o Realismo no Brasil, como inicia a etapa mais complexa da obra de Machado de Assis. Com ela, aprofunda-se a sua análise da realidade e refina-se a sua linguagem, sendo considerada a obra que prenuncia algumas técnicas da literatura moderna.
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Get Me

*This is an alternate cover edition for [ASIN B00F4I8ZBY](https://www./book/show/18893982-get-me).* From *USA Today, * bestselling author Jillian Dodd comes the seventh book in the addictive *Keatyn Chronicles* series. Discover a breathless fairy-tale romance with swoon-worthy characters, suspense, and a glittering celebrity world. Fans of *Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars*, and reality TV will devour this pulse-pounding, sexy teen drama set against the backdrop of Hollywood and an East Coast boarding school. Keatyn’s crazy life comes together in one perfect script. Will Keatyn get her life back? And if she does, which life (and boy) will she choose?
Views: 826

Heather 101

When Jason compliments his wife, Heather, on the amazing dinner she made last year for Mother’s Day, he gets a response that surprises him – but really shouldn’t have. Soon, Jason, his cousin, Cole, and a few other ‘clueless’ husbands find themselves learning to cook from the Cook-Nazi at the local prison, of all places. After he learns his Mother’s Day lesson, Jason is off to his next fiasco. This short story is filled with wonderful life lessons woven together with a humor that is classic Jack Weyland.
Views: 826

The Turquoise Ledge: A Memoir

A highly original and poetic self-portrait from one of America's most acclaimed writers. Leslie Marmon Silko's new book, her first in ten years, combines memoir with family history and reflections on the creatures and beings that command her attention and inform her vision of the world, taking readers along on her daily walks through the arroyos and ledges of the Sonoran desert in Arizona. Silko weaves tales from her family's past into her observations, using the turquoise stones she finds on the walks to unite the strands of her stories, while the beauty and symbolism of the landscape around her, and of the snakes, birds, dogs, and other animals that share her life and form part of her family, figure prominently in her memories. Strongly influenced by Native American storytelling traditions, The Turquoise Ledge becomes a moving and deeply personal contemplation of the enormous spiritual power of the natural world-of what these creatures and landscapes can communicate to us, and how they are all linked. The book is Silko's first extended work of nonfiction, and its ambitious scope, clear prose, and inventive structure are captivating. The Turquoise Ledge will delight loyal fans and new readers alike, and it marks the return of the unique voice and vision of a gifted storyteller.
Views: 826

Nighthawk

NUMA crew leaders Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala must beat the clock to stop the world’s most dazzling new technological advance from becoming mankind’s last in this action-packed thriller from the #1 New York Times–bestselling grand master of adventure. When the most advanced aircraft ever designed vanishes over the South Pacific, Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are drawn into a deadly contest to locate the fallen machine. Russia and China covet the radical technology, but the United States worries about a darker problem. They know what others don’t—that the X-37 is carrying a dangerous secret, a payload of exotic matter, extracted from the upper reaches of the atmosphere and stored at a temperature near absolute zero. As long as it remains frozen, the cargo is inert, but if it thaws, it will unleash a catastrophe of nearly unthinkable proportions.             From the Galapagos Islands to the jungles of South America to an icy mountain lake many believe to be the birthplace of the Inca, the entire NUMA team will risk everything in an effort to avert disaster . . . but they may be caught in a race that no one can win. From the Hardcover edition.
Views: 826

The Guardian

Julie Barenson's young husband left her two unexpected gifts before he died: a Great Dane puppy named Singer and the promise that he would always be watching over her. Now, four years have passed. Still living in the small town of Swansboro, North Carolina, 29-year-old Julie is emotionally ready to make a commitment to someone again. But who? Should it be Richard Franklin, the handsome, sophisticated engineer who treats her like a queen? Or Mike Harris, the down-to-earth nice guy who was her husband's best friend? Choosing one of them should bring her more happiness than she's had in years. Instead, Julie is soon fighting for her life in a nightmare spawned by a chilling deception and jealousy so poisonous that it has become a murderous desire
Views: 826