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Spies of the Kaiser (1909) is a novel by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the height of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, Spies of the Kaiser indulges in the paranoid atmosphere of the leadup to World War One to weave a sinister tale of espionage and political conspiracy. Despite the playful and imaginative nature of his fiction, Le Queux was genuinely concerned—and immensely paranoid—about the possibility of war with Germany. In addition to selling countless copies, his work inspired a generation of secret service officers who would go on to form Britain's legendary MI5. “Germany is our friend—for the moment…What may happen to-morrow?” Alerted to a possible plot by German secret agents to invade Britain, a young solicitor and his trusted allies attempt to disrupt these shadowy figures—before it's too late. While a nation wakes, works, eats, and sleeps, these anonymous heroes track down sources, search for clues, and place their lives on the line for the good of the many. While the truth is unclear, the stakes are not: the fate of their people is in their hands. Written only a few years before the outbreak of the First World War, Spies of the Kaiser incorporates years of research and experience to weave a tale from the deepest fears of the nation. With detailed maps, secretive discussions, and prescient descriptions of submarines and airplanes used for war, Le Queux's novel seems pulled from headlines yet unwritten, and tragically to come. While not much is known about the author, it is possible his claims of firsthand knowledge regarding the murky movements of spies and diplomats throughout Europe and Britain were true. One thing, however, is certain: his paranoia was far from unfounded. This edition of William Le Queux's Spies of the Kaiser is a classic espionage thriller reimagined for modern readers. Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book. With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Jennifer Chiaverini's bestselling Elm Creek Quilts series starts with The Quilter's Apprentice, a timeless tale of family, friendship, and forgiveness as two women weave the disparate pieces of their lives into a bountiful and harmonious whole, and begin the legacy of the Elm Street Quilters.When Sarah McClure and her husband, Matt, move to Waterford, Pennsylvania, she hopes to make a fresh start in the small college town. Unable to find a job both practical and fulfilling, she takes a temporary position at Elm Creek Manor helping its reclusive owner Sylvia Compson prepare her family estate for sale and after the death of her estranged sister. Sylvia is also a master quilter and, as part of Sarah's compensation, offers to share the secrets of her creative gifts with the younger woman. During their lessons, the intricate, varied threads of Sylvia's life begin to emerge. It is the story of a young wife living through the hardships and agonies of the World War II home front; of a family torn apart by jealousy and betrayal; of misunderstanding, loss, and a tragedy that can never be undone. As the bond between them deepens, Sarah resolves to help Sylvia free herself from remembered sorrows and restore her life—and her home—to its former glory. In the process, she confronts painful truths about her own family, even as she creates new dreams for the future. Just as the darker sections of a quilt can enhance the brighter ones, the mistakes of the past can strengthen understanding and lead the way to new beginnings. A powerful debut by a gifted storyteller, The Quilter's Apprentice tells a timeless tale of family, friendship, and forgiveness as two women weave the disparate pieces of their lives into a bountiful and harmonious whole.

BASED ON A TRUE STORYIn a land occupied by foreign powers and torn by confusion and conflict, a mother seeks to weave her family and her past into a fabric that will not tear.Their Lives Were Woven by Wars and Wilderness Places, and Tied by the Peace of Family and Faith.As the 1840s bring conflict to the Pacific Northwest's rugged Columbia Country, new challenges face Marie Dorion Venier Toupin: the wife, mother, and Ioway Indian woman who crossed the Rocky Mountains with the Astor Expedition, the first big fur trapping expedition after Lewis and Clark's. On French Prairie in the newly forming Oregon Territory, Marie strives to meet the needs of her conflict-ridden neighbors: British settlers and Americans, missionaries and disease-stricken natives, fur trappers and French Canadian farming families, and the surviving natives of the region.At the same time, as a mother, Marie must weave together the threads of an unraveling family. One daughter compares and judges as she seeks to find her place; another reaches for elusive evidence of her mother's love. Marie's memories are threatened with the emergence of a figure from the past. In the midst of this turmoil, Marie discovers an empowering spiritual truth: Unconditional love can shed light on even the darkest places in the heart.

'Of all the things I left in Willapa, hope is what I missed the most.'So begins this story of one woman's restoration from personal grief to the meaning of community. Based on the life of German-American Emma Wagner Giesy, the only woman sent to the Oregon Territory in the 1850s to help found a communal society, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick shows how landscape, relationships, spirituality and artistry poignantly reflect a woman's desire to weave a unique and meaningful legacy from the threads of an ordinary life. While set in the historical past, it's a story for our own time answering the question: Can threads of an isolated life weave a legacy of purpose in community?

As the tumultuous tide of the Second World War ebbs, Frank and Amy stand on the precipice of change, their futures hanging in the balance. In the waning days of conflict, this sergeant of the Australian Army and his counterpart, an intrepid Army nurse, are compelled to confront the daunting choices that await them as peace promises to restore normalcy. With the cessation of war comes the inevitability of their separation: Amy yearns to embrace a new beginning in Sydney, with dreams of donning the physician's coat, while Frank envisions a pastoral life in Tasmania, cultivating world-class Merino wool on his family's farm. The question that looms over them is one of compromise: can their individual aspirations weave together to form a shared tapestry of life? Their quest for answers is fraught with dilemmas, knowing that each step taken will etch permanent marks on their lives and those of future generations. Spanning half a century, Another Time is a rich tapestry of familial ties, an emotional odyssey through love and loss, fidelity, and betrayal, set against the rapidly shifting moral landscape of the 20th Century, forever altered in the aftermath of conflict.

‘richly imagined'–Sydney Morning Herald We are the spaces between the words. Inspired by a real person, In the Margins is the story of spirited book-collector Frances Wolfreston—the woman who uniquely preserved the earliest part of Shakespeare's legacy. England, 1647. As civil war gives way to an uneasy peace and Puritanism becomes the letter of the law, Frances Wolfreston, a rector's wife, is charged with enforcing religious compliance by informing on her parishioners. This awful task triggers memories of her mother, Alice, who inspired Frances's love of books and secretly practised Catholicism at great risk. Conflicted, she doesn't report a reclusive and mysterious midwife to delay her going to gaol. As Frances takes increasingly bold steps to help the women and children of the parish, she attracts the ire of a patron of the church who questions why Frances collects books that she charges are entertainment. When her mother is gaoled for religious crimes, the secrets Frances hides from her husband begin to surface, and she is faced with an impossible choice: comply with the strict dictates of the new laws, or risk everything to free the women she cares for. In this tender and powerful work of imagination, the life of a remarkable woman who wrote and lived in the margins in a time when women's voices went unheard is restored to history. Beautifully written and deeply moving, In the Margins is a testament to the way literature can illuminate our inner lives and set us free when the world around us is covered in darkness. PRAISE FOR IN THE MARGINS: ‘The significance of this novel goes beyond Holmes's beautiful narrative voice and illuminates a hero known to us solely because the real Frances Wolfreston signed her name in each of her books. In an era marked by low female literacy rates and limited women's ownership rights, this highlights the immense value Wolfreston placed on her books and underscores our progress since then. This deeply moving debut will appeal to fans of Pip Williams'The Bookbinder of Jericho and Kayte Nunn's The Silk House.'–Books+Publishing ‘A riveting novel of women's solidarity and Shakespeare amidst the societal limitations of Puritan England. Holmes rekindles the intriguing story of Frances Wolfreston in this accomplished debut.'–Eleanor Limprecht, author of The Coast and The Passengers ‘In lyrical, powerful prose, Gail Holmes lures us into the repressive world of seventeenth-century England, bringing it to life through the eyes of Frances Wolfreston, rector's wife, keeper of secrets, collector of books and careful observer. Beautifully written, In the Margins is a captivating novel: vivid, wise and moving.'–Suzanne Leal, author of The Watchful Wife and The Deceptions ‘Sparkling prose and tender clarity make the journey in Frances ‘Frannie'Wolfreston's shoes a sheer delight. Gail Holmes's potent but poignant nod to the pursuit of male approval, urges us to remember that solidarity between women is finespun but resilient. And its lustrous threads carry the necessary strength to weave HIStory with HERS.'–Sally Colin-James, author of One Illumined Thread

Every life is a tapestry of challenges, with resilience as its weft and weave. Amidst the torrent of trials that threaten to engulf one's spirit, there stand the unyielding souls who, with a spark of defiance in their eyes, dare to face the tempest and emerge on the other side. They are the survivors, the dauntless hearts who tread the rocky path with an unwavering resolve.Kevin O'Donnell is a beacon of such indomitable spirit, grappling with life's relentless waves that seek to subdue him. In the turbulent era of mid-20th century, the world could be a harsh, unforgiving place for a young Irish lad. Yet, within Kevin lies a burning desire to carve out his niche, to transcend the barriers that life hurls his way and grasp the reins of a fulfilling existence.Can his resolute will and earnest endeavor outshine the adversities that loom? Can he navigate the maelstrom and anchor himself to the shores of a prosperous life? Traverse the chapters of his journey within these pages, and unveil the saga of a young man's undying spirit amidst the trials of time. Through Kevin's eyes, explore a testament to the enduring human spirit that resonates with every beating heart that refuses to yield to life's storms.

A National Bestseller A New Yorker Best Book of 2022 Fifteen years after the publication of Evidence of Things Unseen, National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist Marianne Wiggins returns with a novel destined to be an American classic: a sweeping masterwork set during World War II about the meaning of family and the limitations of the American Dream.Rockwell “Rocky” Rhodes has spent years fiercely protecting his California ranch from the LA Water Corporation. It is here where he and his beloved wife Lou raised their twins, Sunny and Stryker, and it is here where Rocky has mourned Lou in the years since her death. As Sunny and Stryker reach the cusp of adulthood, the country teeters on the brink of war. Stryker decides to join the fight, deploying to Pearl Harbor not long before the bombs strike. Soon, Rocky and his family find themselves facing yet another incomprehensible tragedy. Rocky is determined to protect his remaining family and the land where they've loved and lost so much. But when the government decides to build a Japanese-American internment camp next to the ranch, Rocky realizes that the land faces even bigger threats than the LA watermen he's battled for years. Complicating matters is the fact that the idealistic Department of the Interior man assigned to build the camp, who only begins to understand the horror of his task after it may be too late, becomes infatuated with Sunny and entangled with the Rhodes family. Properties of Thirst is a novel that is both universal and intimate. It is the story of a changing American landscape and an examination of one of the darkest periods in this country's past, told through the stories of the individual loves and losses that weave together to form the fabric of our shared history. Ultimately, it is an unflinching distillation of our nation's essence—and a celebration of the bonds of love and family that persist against all odds.

A distinctively realistic'all killer - no filler'fictional biography that bristles with controversy, sex, love, civil war, slaughter, intrigue, redemption and - perhaps the ultimate crime of all - regicide. Every effort has been made to accurately weave real people around a narrative of historical precision. Meticulously biographical in its substance, the plot is predetermined by a landscape of true events that both enthral and educate. Perhaps controversially, the subject is credibly portrayed as a tender father, an admirable man and a reluctant overachiever. The unrelenting pace of the action truly reflects Cromwell's compelling life story. Think you know Oliver Cromwell? Think again.

The novel follows its six narrators from childhood through adulthood. Woolf is concerned with the individual consciousness and the ways in which multiple consciousnesses can weave together. Bernard is a story-teller, always seeking some elusive and apt phrase. Some critics see Woolf's friend E. M. Forster as an inspiration for him. Louis is an outsider who seeks acceptance and success. Some critics see in him aspects of T. S. Eliot, whom Woolf knew well. Neville, who may be partly based on another of Woolf's friends, Lytton Strachey, seeks out a series of men, each of whom becomes the present object of his transcendent love. Jinny is a socialite whose world view corresponds to her physical, corporeal beauty. There is evidence that she is based on Woolf's friend Mary Hutchinson. Susan flees the city, preferring the countryside, where she grapples with the thrills and doubts of motherhood. Some aspects of Susan recall Woolf's sister Vanessa Bell. Rhoda is riddled with self-doubt, anxiety and depression, always rejecting and indicting human compromise, always seeking out solitude. She echoes Shelley's poem'The Question'. Rhoda resembles Virginia Woolf in some respects...

Destiny, prophecy and murder weave an intricate web in this beguiling historical mystery. Could a dark prophecy spell danger for Tabitha De Vallory and her unborn child? Cheshire. May Day, 1753. Tabitha De Vallory believes her life is perfect: she has an imposing home with all the comforts she has ever desired, and is expecting her first child with doting husband Nathaniel De Vallory. But Tabitha's happiness is shaken when a girl is slaughtered beneath the Mondrem Oak on the family's forest estate. Recognizing the victim from her former scandalous life, Tabitha vows to find the killer. Nearby, enigmatic Baptist Gunn and his followers are convinced that a second messiah will be born, amid blood and strife, close to the oak on Midsummer's Day. Could the girl's murder be linked to Gunn's cryptic prophecy? Do his wild claims of a second saviour spell danger for Tabitha and her unborn child? As Midsummer's Day draws closer, Tabitha soon learns the destiny that threatens her and those she holds most dear... Has Tabitha's fate been decided? Beautifully crafted and alluring, full of dark deception, intrigue and terrifying foreboding, THE PROPHET is perfect for fans of THE MINIATURIST by JESSIE BURTON and SARAH DUNANT.

A young cowboy finds gold—and a whole lot of trouble—in this action-packed adventure in Ralph Compton's Sundown Riders series. It's the bitterest winter anyone can remember, and Earl Tyrone can barely hold back the wolves preying on his family's last few cattle. He gets no help from his older brother, Byrd, who's only interested in striking out for California. Leaving Earl the sole protector of their ma and sister, Byrd finally reveals the secret source of the funds for his ticket West: he found gold on the ranch, and now it's Earl's fortune to mine—if he's strong enough and smart enough to hold on to it. Earl realizes he'll have to weave a fabric of lies to protect his family and keep prospectors from swarming his land. He hits on a clever plan, but its unintended consequences are rife: painful misunderstandings, conflict with the Utes, and outright murder. Earl's stash of glittering gold has become instead a black cloud over his family. Can he come up with a new plan to dispel that cloud and find peace and stability at last?

'A powerful and gripping piece of writing from a born storyteller.'Joseph O'Connor'The narrative is just like his singing voice, full of powerful strength and compassion.'Michael Harding'Lucid, lovingly-written and lyrical.'Professor Christine Kinealy 1846. County Cork. On the barren outskirts of Macroom, Pádraig and Cáit ua Buachalla face a perilous winter after the comprehensive failure of their blighted crop – the final episode in a whole history threatening to push them over the edge. From his shop at the centre of town, pawnbroker Cornelius Creed sees the poor in their darkest hour, his premises often being their last stop on the way to the workhouse. Perfectly placed at the juncture between the classes, through Creed we also follow the wider political events that inform local government decisions and their impact on those struggling to survive. Their stories, and those of many others, weave into a powerful account of the Great Famine's grip on a single Irish town. At once epic and intimate, this meticulously researched, multilayered work from one of Ireland's best-loved singer-songwriters delivers a rich, lyrical debut that resonates powerfully with our own troubled times.

The Blighted Road is a 17th-century story of two women's harrowing journeys through plague and a brutal witch-hunt. Orla, renowned healer and mid-wife in rural England, confronts stillbirths and a mysterious, deadly sickness afflicting her community. The local superstitious people suspect these sinister events are the actions of the Devil. Desperate for answers, Orla's investigation into past plague outbreaks reveal a shocking correlation with the harvesting of blighted grain. Her revolutionary findings lead to accusations of witchcraft. Meanwhile, Abigail, a young Londoner faces the horror of life in the plague-ridden city. After losing her family to the Black Death, Abigail escapes the locked gates of London. She flees on the plague road to Salisbury, which is fraught with danger and despair.The separate tales of these women weave in and out as they reach a time and place where they are united by grief, loss and an uncanny will to survive.

‘The Butcher's Apprentice'is an intriguing story of one man's search for his identity and his yearning for a love he thought never existed. On his death-bed in hospital, Robert Kelly discovers a bundle of letters in a tattered blue chocolate box that his adoptive mother kept hidden for years in a wooden trunk under her bed. While reading them, Robert begins to unravel a series of dramatic events involving his adoptive parents, the local midwife and her daughter, who together aided an unmarried mother in concealing the birth of her baby boy, and further weave an intricate web of deceit in his illegal adoption.

WINNER OF THE STELLA PRIZEThe lives of three women weave together across centuries in this dazzling new novel. Sarah, accused of being a witch, is fleeing for her life. Ruth, in the aftermath of World War II, is navigating a new marriage and the strange waters of the local community. Six decades later, Viv, still mourning the death of her father, is cataloging Ruth's belongings in Ruth's now-empty house. As each woman's story unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that their choices are circumscribed, in ways big and small, by the men who seek to control them. But in sisterhood there is also the possibility of survival and a new way of life. Intricately crafted and compulsively readable, The Bass Rock burns bright with love and fury—a devastating indictment of violence against women and an empowering portrait of their resilience through the ages.

Suicide, remorse, making amends! Welcome to Palm Island--a paradise outside space and time where even death does not preclude redemption. Martin, a disillusioned and lonely physicist who decides that suicide is his only remaining option, is magically transported to this place where time stands still. There, he meets other scientists, two chefs, a lost family member, and a young descendant of royalty. All had also led tragic and unfinished lives--nevertheless, they had persisted! The threads of these lives weave together across the boundaries of culture, language, and time. In Palm Island, these lonely travelers'stories inspire the others and lead them to eventually find peace and, perhaps, a little joy.

A Box of Scheming, Sizzling, Regency Romance from author Jade LeeLady Gwendolyn is walking down the aisle one rogue at a time in Engaged in Wickedness.Lady Helaine is entranced with Viscount Redhill and sets out to weave a web of seduction sure to ensnare in Wedded in Scandal.Schemes and plans go awry for an heiress in search of a title in Engaged in Passion.“Lee's beautifully nuanced characters and impeccably crafted historical setting are guaranteed to cast their seductive spell.” ~The Chicago TribuneBridal Favors, in series order:Engaged in WickednessWedded in ScandalEngaged in PassionWedded in Sin

In all great novels the main characters shine with brilliance. Jane Austin's'Pride and Prejudice'is no exception: Elizabeth Bennet was her author's favourite heroine; Mr Darcy every woman's favourite hero. Other characters weave through the story to delight, amuse or annoy in varying proportions. But what of those minor characters who remain in the shadows and seem to exist only to pull a few threads of the story into place? Miss Anne de Bourgh is one such. Described as ‘a little creature, sickly and cross, thin and small'her function for her author seems to be to provide the greatest possible contrast to the sparkling Elizabeth and instil in the reader a sense of rightness of Elizabeth's marriage to Darcy. Poor insignificant little Anne could never hope to match him half so well. Yet, she was the grand-daughter of an earl, the daughter of a baronet and an over-bearing, arrogant and at times, ill-mannered mother. She was also heiress to a great estate and a considerable fortune. So why was she such a pathetic creature? What kind of man was Sir Lewis, and what became of him? Who were the other members of her family? What was her childhood? And what happened to her? This is her story.

An intimate portrait of the life of Jackie O… Few of us can claim to be the authors of our fate. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy knows no other choice. With the eyes of the world watching, Jackie uses her effortless charm and keen intelligence to carve a place for herself among the men of history and weave a fairy tale for the American people, embodying a senator's wife, a devoted mother, a First Lady—a queen in her own right. But all reigns must come to an end. Once JFK travels to Dallas and the clock ticks down those thousand days of magic in Camelot, Jackie is forced to pick up the ruined fragments of her life and forge herself into a new identity that is all her own, that of an American legend.

Leavenworth City is a novel that will take you on a journey back though time. Its captivating history told through a fictional character from 1854 to 1861 will have you glued to the pages. This is an adventure you will not be able to forget after you read the journal entries taking you back into the 19th century. Stories with historical figures and other unmentionables telling their antics weave a gripping tale that will leave the reader wanting to learn more about this era in time.

Neither Bond Nor Free draws heavily on real events and from the lives of historical figures to weave a tale of suffering and redemption in antebellum America. Across a violent landscape of virulent racial prejudice and hatred pitted against the aid and protection of free black communities and abolitionists of the Underground Railroad, self-emancipated refugees from the South's Peculiar Institution navigate their way north to freedom in Canada. One highly literate mulatto's escape from slavery intersects closely with the lives of free blacks and Quakers in a small Indiana community until the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 shatters his hopes but not his indomitable desire to be free. In his adventures and struggle to fully secure his freedom, he makes surprising discoveries about the nature of suffering and his own humanity.

“…deliciously flawed characters, sizzling chemistry, and a delightful journey.” ~Chrissy BurnsWith her father cast from society as a liar and a thief, the ensuing scandal renders Lady Helaine unfit for marriage. Desperate to provide for herself and her mother, she adopts an assumed name and runs a dressmaker's shop specializing in bridal wear for ladies of high society. Helaine is happiest immersed in silk and satin but lives in terror that her true identity will be discovered and she will lose everything…again.When Robert Percy, Viscount Redhill, encounters the mysterious Helaine he is entranced and sets out to weave a web of seduction sure to ensnare. Then he learns, too late, the heartbreaking truth of her sullied past.Now to claim Helaine as his own, he must find a way to overcome the past. But what chance has love when a secret mistress becomes a scandalous wife?“Jade Lee [will] sweep you away.” ~Sabrina Jeffries, New York Times bestselling authorBridal Favors, in series order:Engaged in WickednessWedded in ScandalEngaged in PassionWedded in Sin

“Richard Wiley is one of our best writers. These stories satisfy in the way that brilliant short fiction always satisfies; one feels as if one has absorbed the expansive vision and drama of a novel. Read slowly, and I bet you'll want to read again.” —Richard Bausch, author of Peace and Living in the Weather of the World“It's a strange and winsome feeling I have, reading Tacoma Stories, the blue sensation that Richard Wiley has made me homesick for a place I've never been, mourning the loss of friends I never had, in a life where each and every one of us is loved, however imperfectly. Think Sherwood Anderson inhabiting Raymond Carver's Northwest and you'll have a clear picture of Wiley's accomplishment.” —Bob Shacochis, author of Easy in the Islands and The Woman Who Lost Her SoulOn St. Patrick's Day in 1968, sixteen people sit in Pat's Tavern, drink green beer, flirt, rib each other, and eventually go home in (mostly) different directions. In the stories that follow, which span 1958 to the present, Richard Wiley pops back into the lives of this colorful cast of characters—sometimes into their pasts, sometimes into their futures—and explores the ways in which their individual narratives indelibly weave together. At the heart of it all lies Tacoma, Washington, a town full of eccentricities and citizens as unique as they are universal. The Tacoma of Tacoma Stories might be harboring paranoid former CIA operatives and wax replicas of dead husbands, but it is also a place with all the joys and pains one could find in any town, anytime and anywhere.Richard Wiley is the author of eight novels including Bob Stevenson; Soldiers in Hiding, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Washington State Book Award; and Ahmed's Revenge, winner of the Maria Thomas Fiction Award. Professor emeritus at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he divides his time between Los Angeles, California, and Tacoma, Washington.

Set in eighteenth-century Spitalfields, London, Blackberry and Wild Rose is the rich and atmospheric tale of a household of Huguenot silk weavers as the pursuit of the perfect silk design leads them all into ambition, love, and betrayal.When Esther Thorel, wife of a master silk weaver, rescues Sara Kemp from a brothel, she thinks she is doing God's will, but her good deed is not returned. Sara quickly realizes that the Thorel household is built on hypocrisy and lies and soon tires of the drudgery of life as Esther's new lady's maid. As the two women's relationship becomes increasingly fractious, Sara resolves to find out what it is that so preoccupies her mistress …Esther has long yearned to be a silk designer. When her early watercolors are dismissed by her husband, Elias, as the daubs of a foolish girl, she continues her attempts in secret. It may have been that none of them would ever have become actual silks, were it not for the presence of the extraordinarily talented Bisby Lambert in the Thorel household. Brought in by Elias to weave his master piece on the Thorel's loom in the attic of their house in Spitalfields, the strange cadence of the loom as Bisby works is like a siren call to Esther. The minute she first sets foot in the garret and sees Bisby Lambert at his loom marks the beginning of Blackberry and Wild Rose, the most exquisite silk design Spitalfields has ever seen, and the end of the Thorel household's veneer of perfection.As unrest among the journeyman silk weavers boils over into riot and rebellion, it leads to a devastating day of reckoning between Esther and Sara.

Longlisted for The Women's Prize for Fiction 2019, The Republic of Consciousness Prize 2019 and The People's Book Prize 2018. When Alina's brother-in-law defects to the West, she and her husband become persons of interest to the secret services, causing both of their careers to come grinding to a halt. As the strain takes its toll on their marriage, Alina turns to her aunt for help - the wife of a communist leader and a secret practitioner of the old folk ways. Set in 1970's communist Romania, this novella-in-flash draws upon magic realism to weave a tale of everyday troubles, that can't be put down.'Enjoyable to read'–Dolly Alderton, author of Everything I Know About Love'A story to savour, to smile at, to rage against and to weep over'–Zoe Gilbert, author of Folk'A masterful blend of the political and the personal, the magical and the mundane, the historical and the hyperbolic'–Ingrid Jendrzejewski, editor-in-chief of FlashBack Fiction'Sophie van Llewyn has brought light into an era which cast a long shadow'–Joanna Campbell, author of Instructions for the Working Day'A dizzying, daring window on life in Ceausescu's Romania'–Stephanie Hutton, author of Three Sisters of Stone'Sophie van Llewyn's stunning debut novella shows us there is no dystopian fiction as frightening as that which draws on history'–Christina Dalcher, author of VOX'A must-read by a masterful writer'– Christopher Allen, author of Other Household Toxins

The bestselling, breathtaking debut about love and war, and the battle to save a precious legacy.Each lace shawl begins and ends the same way – with a circle. Everything is connected with a thread as fine as gossamer, each life affected by what has come before it and what will come after. 1941, Estonia. As Stalin's brutal Red Army crushes everything in its path, Katarina and her family survive only because their precious farm produce is needed to feed the occupying forces. Fiercely partisan, Katarina battles to protect her grandmother's precious legacy – the weaving of gossamer lace shawls stitched with intricate patterns that tell the stories passed down through generations. While Katarina struggles to survive the daily oppression, another young woman is suffocating in her prison of privilege in Moscow. Yearning for freedom and to discover her beloved mother's Baltic heritage, Lydia escapes to Estonia. Facing the threat of invasion by Hitler's encroaching Third Reich, Katarina and Lydia and two idealistic young soldiers, insurgents in the battle for their homeland, find themselves in a fight for life, liberty and love.Praise for The Lace Weaver‘A beautifully written and utterly compelling story of love and war and resistance that shines a light onto a dark and tragic period of history while also illuminating the enduring power of love and friendship. Unforgettable and emotionally wrenching, and as exquisite as the lace the women of the story weave.'Kate Forsyth‘A sweeping historical story set in Estonia and Russia during the tumultuous year of 1941 … This is a meticulously researched novel, and Chater seamlessly incorporates the symbolic motif of the Estonian lace-weaving tradition and the Tartu knitting circle to link the past and present … Recommended for fans of Kirsty Manning and Kate Morton, this is a gut-wrenching tale about a devastating time in history. Full of hope, heartache and the power of keeping traditions alive.'Books+Publishing‘From the very first line, I was captivated by this tale of two very different, but equally heroic, women. There is beauty to be found everywhere: in the writing, in the women's friendship, in the tragedy, and in the motif of the lace shawls, which weaves the story together.'Natasha Lester, author of Her Mother's Secret and A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald'A rich, textured and evocatively told story of love, loss and the ties that bind. The setting is exotic and intriguing and presents a unique side of the war... I found it difficult to put this haunting novel down and it will stay with me for a long time to come, I'm certain. Lauren Chater is a bold new force in Australian historical fiction. Bravo on a glorious debut!'Tess Woods, author of Beautiful Messy Love and Love at First Flight.‘Beautiful and brilliant … An impressive, powerful and skillfully told anti-war novel from an extremely gifted writer.'Backstory journal

Think Downton Abbey, set in the heart of Boston Irish domestic worker Norah King's decision to ask her wealthy employer, Caroline Parker, for an elegant red coat that the Beacon Hill matriarch has marked for donation ignites a series of events that neither woman could have fathomed. The unlikely exchange will impact their respective daughters and families for generations to come, from the coat's original owner, marriage-minded collegian Cordelia Parker, to the determined and spirited King sisters of South Boston, Rosemary, Kay, and Rita. As all of these young women experience the realities of life – love and loss, conflict and joy, class prejudices and unexpected prospects – the red coat reveals the distinction between cultures, generations, and landscapes in Boston during the 1940s and 50s, a time of change, challenge, and opportunity. Meet the proud, working-class Irish and staid, upper-class Brahmins through the contrasting lives of these two families and their friends and neighbors. See how the Parkers and the Kings each overcome sudden tragedy with resolve and triumph. And witness the profound impact of a mother's heart on her children's souls. Carlson brings us front and center with her knowing weave of Celtic passion – both tragic and joyful – words of wisdom, romance, humor, and historical events. Dive into Boston feet first! The Red Coat is a rich novel that chronicles the legacy of Boston from both sides of the city, Southie and the Hill.

For readers of Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir comes a dramatic novel of the beloved Empress Maria, the Danish princess who became the mother of the last Russian tsar.“This epic tale is captivating and beautifully told.”—Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours Barely nineteen, Minnie knows that her station in life as a Danish princess is to leave her family and enter into a royal marriage—as her older sister Alix has done, moving to England to wed Queen Victoria's eldest son. The winds of fortune bring Minnie to Russia, where she marries the Romanov heir, Alexander, and once he ascends the throne, becomes empress. When resistance to his reign strikes at the heart of her family and the tsar sets out to crush all who oppose him, Minnie—now called Maria—must tread a perilous path of compromise in a country she has come to love. Her husband's death leaves their son Nicholas as the inexperienced ruler of a deeply divided and crumbling empire. Determined to guide him to reforms that will bring Russia into the modern age, Maria faces implacable opposition from Nicholas's strong-willed wife, Alexandra, whose fervor has led her into a disturbing relationship with a mystic named Rasputin. As the unstoppable wave of revolution rises anew to engulf Russia, Maria will face her most dangerous challenge and her greatest heartache. From the opulent palaces of St. Petersburg and the intrigue-laced salons of the aristocracy to the World War I battlefields and the bloodied countryside occupied by the Bolsheviks, C. W. Gortner sweeps us into the anarchic fall of an empire and the complex, bold heart of the woman who tried to save it.Praise for The Romanov Empress“Timely... [Gortner's] ability to weave what reads as a simple tale from such complex historical and familial storylines is impressive.... Maria's life as a royal reads like a historical soap opera.”—USA Today “Gortner, an experienced hand at recreating the unique aura of a particular time and place, will deftly sweep historical-fictions fans into this glamorous, turbulent, and ultimately tragic chapter in history.”—Booklist (starred review)“Mesmerizing... This insightful first-person account of the downfall of the Romanov rule... is the powerful story of a mother trying to save her family and an aristocrat fighting to maintain rule in a country of rebellion.”—Publishers Weekly“A twist on the tragic story you've heard many times before.”—Bustle

The sweeping epic novel of the founding of Hong Kong, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author and unparalleled master of historical fiction, James Clavell“There can only be one Tai-Pan.”Dirk Struan rose from humble beginnings to build Struan & Company, also known as the Noble House, into the world's largest Far East trading company. He is now the Tai-Pan—Supreme Leader—of all Tai-Pans in China. Along the way, however, he made a powerful enemy. Tyler Brock, Struan's rival from their early opium-smuggling days, also heads a large trading fleet, second in size only to Struan's. But it is not only silks and spices that drive their mutual companies'wealth—the opium trade is still booming. War between England and China might be over, but the hostilities remain. Struan and Brock come to control much of England's trade with China yet neither can control their desires or their hatred of each other. Over the years, their two families will cross paths, threatening to rip both apart, with reverberations that will echo across the generations.Struan must fight to save his company and his family, or risk seeing everything he has created destroyed at the hands of his sworn enemy. Ambition, political intrigue, and love and lust weave their way throughout the novel the New York Times called, “grand entertainment…packed with action…with blood and sin, treachery and conspiracy, sex and murder.” East and West come together in an opulent and intricately plotted narrative. A tour-de-force of historical fiction, rich in detail yet eminently readable, Tai-Pan will stay with you long after the final page.

How do we even begin to narrate the history of the world? Where do we start, and where do we end? Fireflies is Sagasti's bold and original attempt to answer these questions. Roaming across time and geography, he lights on an eclectic array of characters and events that at first glance seem unrelated, and teases out their stories to reveal unexpected points of contact between them. Stanley Kubrick, Joseph Beuys, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Neil Armstrong, Ludwig Wittgenstein, the Beatles, Japanese poets, Brazilian priests, Russian cosmonauts and many more cross these pages, and Sagasti finds common threads that weave them together into a single narrative.The fireflies themselves perhaps provide the key to understanding this book. They become a metaphor for the resistance of certain luminous moments, certain twinkling fragments of history, to the passing of time. They remind us that events do not always simply disappear neatly into the darkness, but rather remain, floating in the air, lighting up the night sky indefinitely. Sagasti shows us that the present moment, like this novel, is a tapestry woven of a multiplicity of times.Using his unique, poetic and keenly observant style, Sagasti transforms the accidents of history into a single, lyrical constellation, and for the reader it is an extraordinary sight.

Early on a gray November morning in 1941, a small Ukrainian town is overrun by the SS. Penned in with his fellow Jews, a father anxiously awaits word of his two sons, while a young woman, come to fetch her sweetheart away from the invaders, must confront new and harsh truths about those closest to her. At the same time, a German engineer, here to avoid a war he considers criminal, is faced with an even greater crime unfolding behind the lines and no one but himself to turn to. And in the midst of it all, a boy determined to survive must throw in his lot with strangers. As their stories weave together, each of these characters comes to know the compromises demanded by survival, the oppressive power of fear, and the possibility of courage in the face of terror.

A South Carolina widow travels back in time to 1921 and meets a familiar lighthouse keeper in this romance by the bestselling author of The Bourbon Thief.Faye Barlow is drowning. After the death of her beloved husband, Will, she cannot escape her grief and most days can barely get out of bed. But when she's offered a job photographing South Carolina's storied coast, she accepts. Photography, after all, is the only passion she has left.In the quaint beach town, Faye falls in love again when she sees the crumbling yet beautiful Bride Island lighthouse and becomes obsessed with the legend surrounding The Lady of the Light—the keeper's daughter who died in a mysterious drowning in 1921. Like a moth to a flame, Faye is drawn to the lighthouse for reasons she can't explain. While visiting it one night, she is struck by a rogue wave and a force impossible to resist drags Faye into the past—and into a love story that is not her own... Fate is changeable. Broken hearts can mend. But can she love two men separated by a lifetime?Praise for The Bourbon Thief“[Reisz's] prose is quite beautiful, and she can weave a wonderful tight story.” —New York Times– and USA Today–bestselling author Jennifer Probst“Reisz fills the narrative with rich historic details; memorable, if vile, characters; and enough surprises to keep the plot moving and readers hooked.” —Booklist“Beautifully written and delightfully insane.... Reisz vividly captures the American South with a brutal honesty.” —RT Book Reviews, Top Pick

“Richly lyrical and thought-provoking” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), this “stellar debut from a novelist to watch” (Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize winning author) explores the passionate marriage of Harry Houdini and his wife, Bess—a love story that defied death itself.Before escape artist Harry Houdini died, he vowed he would find a way to speak to his beloved wife, Bess, from beyond the grave using a coded message known only to the two of them. But when a widowed Bess begins seeing this code in seemingly impossible places, it becomes clear that Harry has an urgent message to convey. Unlocking the puzzle will set Bess on a course back through the pair's extraordinary romance, which swept the illusionist and his bride from the beaches of Coney Island, to the palaces of Budapest, to the back lots of Hollywood. When the mystery finally leads Bess to the doorstep of a mysterious young photographer, she realizes that her husband's magic may have been more than just illusion. In surprising turns that weave through the uncertain days of the dawn of the twentieth century and continue into the dazzling 1920s, Mrs. Houdini is a “dazzling and enchanting” (Shelf Awareness, starred review) tale, “a marvel that gallops through time and space” (Associated Press), and a “mesmerizing reimagining” (People) of one of history's greatest love stories.

A transpersonal tale of epic tragedy, spirituality, family, and personal redemption, this historical novel is told through three distinct voices: the hauntingly tragic story of Ruth, a Jewish adolescent during Kristallnacht in World War II Austria, Saqapaya, a stalwart Native American from coastal California during the time of the Spanish conquest, and Friede Mai who is born during WW II to a Bavarian soldier and an East-Prussian mother. As those around Friede struggle with the inevitable chaos and paradox of war, she opens her heart to gruesome enemies, at times saving her and her family members from atrocities. With war behind them, the Mai family immigrates to the US, where Friede, her veteran father and ex-refugee mother, struggle with the reverberations of trauma. Friede is unable to find inner freedom until she meets her spiritual guide, a Rabbi, who helps her see that the voices from the past are teachers and the horrors of history also contain beacons of light. The three electric characters weave a narrative of raw consciousness, a moving example of transforming the ripple of suffering through the incredible strength of vulnerability.

“Suspenseful... startling plot twists and incisive commentary on the social unrest of a coal-mining town during the Great Depression... a breathtaking ending.” —Publishers WeeklyIn 1930, twenty-five-year-old Violet travels with her sixteen-year-old sister, Lily, from Scranton, Pennsylvania, to the Good Shepherd Infant Asylum in Philadelphia, so Lily can deliver her illegitimate child in secret. In doing so, Violet jeopardizes her engagement to her sweetheart, Stanley Adamski. Meanwhile, Mother Mary Joseph, who runs the Good Shepherd, has no idea the asylum's physician is involved in eugenics and experimenting on girls with various sterilization techniques.Five years later, Lily and Violet are back in Scranton, one married, one about to be, each finding her own way in a place where a woman's worth is tied to her virtue. Against the backdrop of the sweeping eugenics movement and rogue coal mine strikes, the Morgan sisters must choose between duty and desire. Either way, they risk losing their marriages and each other.The follow-up to Barbara J. Taylor's debut, Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night—named one of the Best Summer Books of 2014 by Publishers Weekly—All Waiting is Long continues her Dickensian exploration of the Morgan family.“Taylor's characters—a cast of nuns and prostitutes, mobsters and miners, social activists and church busybodies—reflect the varying pressures and expectations of small-town life with rich, insightful prose and dialogue that rings true to each character's voice. Will the web of lies the two sisters weave around themselves survive? You'll have to read it yourself to find out. Recommended.” —Historical Novel Review“Powerful... Every page is saturated with the 1930s milieu as the sisters navigate the adversities of their reality... The overall result is a thought-provoking book club discussion cornucopia.” —Booklist (starred review)

A New York Times NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEARAn NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEARA Publishers Weekly BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A globetrotting, time-bending, wildly entertaining masterpiece hailed by the New York Times Book Review as'Audaciously well written … the book I was raving about to my friends before I'd even finished it.'Set in three different eras, and in three different locations—all, coincidentally, named Venice—this “startling, beautiful gem of a book” (NPR) calls to mind David Mitchell and Umberto Eco in its mix of entertainment and literary bravado. The core story is set in sixteenth-century Venice, where, on the island of Murano, the famed makers of Venetian glass were perfecting one of the old world's most wondrous inventions: the mirror. An object of glittering yet fearful fascination—was it reflecting simple reality, or something more spiritually revealing?—the Venetian mirrors were state-of-the-art technology, subject to industrial espionage by desirous sultans and royals world-wide. Thus, for the skilled craftsmen that made them, any attempt to leave the island—to steal the technology—was a crime punishable by death. One man, however—a world-weary war hero with nothing to lose—has a scheme he thinks will allow him to outwit the city's terrifying enforcers of the edict, the ominous Council of Ten... Meanwhile, in two other Venices—Venice Beach, California, circa 1958, and the Venice casino in Las Vegas, circa today—two other schemers launch similarly dangerous plans to get away with a secret...All three stories weave together into a spell-binding tour de force that is impossible to put down—an old-fashioned, stay-up-all-night novel that, in the end, returns the reader to a stunning conclusion in the original Venice... and the bedazzled sense of having read a truly original and thrilling work of art.

“A beautifully spun tale” set in a tiny town in Latvia—“an astonishing alchemy of history, romance, and fable” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Maris was born knowing things: His very large, very special ears enable him to hear the secrets of the dead, as well as the memories that haunt his Latvian hometown. As a boy, he finds himself heir to an odd assortment of hidden letters, from which he would weave a story that could finally expose—and maybe even patch—the holes in the fabric of his family and their town. With humor, heart, and her characteristic “luminous writing [and] affection for her characters,” Gina Ochsner creates an intimate, hopeful portrait of a fascinating town in all its complications and charm. From the onset of World War II through the cold shock of independence, we see how, despite years of distrust, a community can come through love and loss to the joy of understanding (The New York Times). A finalist for the Oregon Book Awards Ken Kesey Award for Fiction, The Hidden Letters of Velta B. is “a captivating novel of secrets, love, and memory... This terrific novel knocked me out” (Janet Fitch, author of Paint It Black). “Intimate, vibrant, and richly colored.” —Portland Monthly “A gift on par with Joanne Harris's Chocolat... Quirky, ethereal, hilarious, and sorrowful.” —Shelf Awareness “[An] extraordinary feat of storytelling... A spellbinding novel as tough as it is beautiful.” —Helen Simonson, author of The Summer Before the War

Even the most glamorous stately houses hide secrets and lies from the past... For fans of Downton Abbey and set in the glorious Cotswolds landscape. Flora Maguire is now happily married to Bunny Harrington and living in Richmond when she receives an alarming telegram informing her of her father's tragic death in a riding accident at Cleeve Abbey. Heartbroken, Flora and Bunny return to her former home, where she was governess to Eddy, Viscount Trent, and her father was butler to Earl Trent. Flora's intention was to bury him next to Lily, her mother, who sadly passed away when Flora was a small child. Mystery surrounds the final resting place of Lily. No-one is willing to talk and, with her father now dead in a suspicious accident, Flora must once again strive alone to uncover hidden family secrets and terrible betrayals. Can't wait for the next instalment for Flora Maguire? A KNIGHTSBRIDGE SCANDAL is out now! Search 9781786690838. What people are saying about BETRAYAL AT CLEEVE ABBEY:'A satisfying novel to savour''The intricate plot kept me turning the pages until the stunning end''Anita Davison has a wonderful ability to weave an intriguing mystery''You feel like such an integral part of the story you forget where you actually are'This book was previously published as Murder at Cleeve Abbey.

WINNER OF THE 2015 PEN TRANSLATES WINNER OF THE 2015 ETISALAT PRIZE FOR LITERATURE LONGLISTED FOR THE 2016 MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE A pulsating novel of urban abandonment in the Congo. In an unnamed African city in secession, profit-seekers of all languages and nationalities mix. They have only one desire: to make a fortune by exploiting the mineral wealth of the land. Two friends — Lucien, a writer with literary ambitions, home from abroad, and his childhood friend Requiem, who dreams of taking over the seedy underworld of their hometown — gather in the most notorious nightclub in town: the Tram 83. Around them gravitate gangsters and young girls, soldiers and stowaways, profit-seeking tourists and federal agents of a nonexistent State. Tram 83 plunges the reader into a modern African gold rush as cynical as it is comic and colourfully exotic. A daring feat of narrative imagination and linguistic creativity, Tram 83 uses the rhythms of jazz to weave a tale of human relationships in a world that has become a global village. PRAISE FOR FISTON MWANZA MUJILA ‘One of the most exciting discoveries of the rentrée … There is some Hieronymus Bosch in this frenetic, flamboyant, closed-door city slicker. An insolent, globe-trotting Hieronymus Bosch, one who would have read Gabriel García Márquez and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.'Le Monde ‘This ambitious fugue from Congolese writer Fiston Mwanza Mujila delves into an African nation riven by civil war, disease, poverty, and endemic corruption … It's bustling, strange experimental fiction in which the chaos of daily life leaks like blood from the iron fist of violence and profit.'The Sydney Morning Herald

An Australian historian determined to find the truth, a stolen inheritance, a wishing tree, a long-lost grandmother, and an unlikely sweetheart come together in a dazzlingly original, audacious and exhilarating novel about love, honour and belonging, and what it means to be a good person.I know that two men are coming up the mountain, at this moment, including the boy from far away. I wonder what my grandson's face will look like.This is a boy in the skin of a man.I know the boy is innocent, that it's his family soul which is guilty.An old woman sits waiting in a village that clings to a Turkish mountainside, where the women weave rugs, make tea and keep blood secrets that span generations. Berna can see what others cannot, so her secrets are deeper and darker than most. It is time for her to tell her story, even though the man for whom her words are meant won't hear them. It is time for the truth to be told.Nearly a hundred years before, her father James had come to the village on the back of a donkey, gravely ill, rescued from the abandoned trenches of Gallipoli by a Turkish boy whose life he had earlier spared. James made his life there, never returning to Australia and never realising that his own father was indeed the near-mythical bushranger that the gossips had hinted at when he'd been a boy growing up in Beechworth.Now, as Berna waits, a young man from Melbourne approaches to visit his parents'village, against the vehement opposition of his cursed, tight-lipped grandfather. What is the astonishing story behind the dark deeds that connect the two men, unknown to each other and living almost a century apart?The Secret Son is a remarkable debut, a dazzlingly original, audacious and exhilarating novel. At once joyous and haunting, it is a moving meditation on love, honour and belonging, as well as a story about the strength of women and what it means to be a good man.

Two friends, one a budding writer home from Europe, the other an ambitious racketeer, meet in the only nightclub, the Tram 83, in a war-torn city-state in secession, surrounded by profit-seekers of all languages and nationalities. Tram 83 plunges the reader into the modern African gold rush as cynical as it is comic and colorfully exotic, using jazz rhythms to weave a tale of human relationships in a world that has become a global village. Fiston Mwanza Mujila (b. 1981, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo) is a poet, dramatist, and scholar. Tram 83 is his award-winning and raved-about debut novel that caused a literary sensation when published in France in August 2014.

The infamous Sherlock Holmes, now in his retirement, has turned his attention to his beekeeping hobby. But when a shadowy figure is seen walking below the cliffs one night, Holmes cannot resist the temptation of solving one more mystery. He summons his old flatmate and confidante Dr Watson to help. Against the backdrop of the stormy Sussex coast, desirable women and suspicious men weave an engaging and complex case.

Author George Payne Rainsford James was renowned for his ability to weave carefully researched historical facts into compelling narrative formats. James even served as the official British Historiographer Royal for a time. This sweeping historical romance blends keen insight into human behavior with a deliciously dry wit.

In this compelling novel of Tudor drama and suspense, acclaimed biographer Alison Weir explores one of England's most scandalous royal love affairs: the romance between the “Virgin Queen” Elizabeth I and her courtier Lord Robert Dudley. “Entrancing... Weir manages to weave actual history and the imagined kind together seamlessly.”—Huntington NewsOnly twenty-five and newly crowned, Elizabeth vows to rule the country as both queen and king. But her counselors continually press her to form an advantageous marriage and produce an heir. Though none of the suitors have yet worked their way to her throne, the dashing—though married—Lord Robert lays claim to Elizabeth's heart. Their flagrant flirting, their unescorted outings, and the appointment of Lord Robert to Master of Horse inspire whispers through the court, and even rumors that Elizabeth has secretly given birth to Lord Robert's child. Then Robert's wife is found dead, and universal shock soon gives way to accusations of murder. Despite the scandal, Elizabeth and Robert manage to navigate the choppy political, economic, and religious waters around them. But the greatest obstacle to marriage between the Queen and her true love may come not from outside forces, but from within. With intricate period detail and captivating prose, Alison Weir examines one of history's most provocative “Did they or didn't they?” debates. The Marriage Game maneuvers through the alliances, duplicities, intrigue, and emotions of a woman intent on sovereignty—over her country and herself.

When Raven Dances tells the story of a girl growing up in in Seward, Alaska after World War II. It is also a study in mythology, reminding us that dangers lurk in the midst of happiness. Ms. Bigelow has obviously done a lot of research into the history of Seward, Alaska, a port often overlooked by tourists as they board or disembark their luxury ocean liners. She is able to weave in the language and folklore of Native Americans and other early immigrants from Alaska to New Mexico. Her descriptive writing style reminds one of Elizabeth Peters, author of the popular Amelia Peabody series. Many details bring the 1940s vividly to life. Most of us today are unaware of what sacrifices U.S. citizens had to make for the war effort. There are many suspenseful events in this novel that keep us turning the pages. Readers will be hoping for a sequel to learn what else happens to our gutsy heroine and her compatriots. Patricia Cleavenger, teacher of English literature and Columbia Basin College librarian War disrupts a young child's life when her father is killed in action. As a result, her mother decides to leave the comforts of New Mexico to seek a new life for them in far north Alaska. This story chronicles the ups and downs, adventures and misadventures in her life as she and her mother struggle to establish themselves in their new world. This is a “feel good” book worth your time. Read it. You will be glad you did. William R. Brooksher, Brigadier General USAF, military historian and author of Glory at a Gallop: Tales of the Confederate Cavalry

“Suspicions mount as Secret Service reports reveal ever more damaging information about the Duke of Windsor and his bride…” Traitors'Games – Volume Two in the saga The Fools'Crowns – continues to weave fact and fiction leading up to the wedding of the Duke of Windsor to Wallis Simpson and the events that followed. Whilst he is in Austria and she is in the South of France waiting for her divorce to be finalised, rival governments and factions strive to exploit or control the couple. They marry in a fairytale castle in France,snubbed by his family and friends. The castle's owner is Charles Bedaux – a sinister multi-millionaire admirer of the Nazi ideal and member of the powerful international group of industrialists, bankers, and politicians known informally as ‘The Fraternity', who aspire to a New World Order. The Fraternity sees the Third Reich as the blueprint for their ideal and the Duke and Duchess as its titular heads. The behaviour of the Duke and Duchess causes mounting concern to British and American security services as they strive to achieve the status and influence that the Duke abandoned by abdicating. At loggerheads with his family in Britain, are the Duke's ambitions merely focused naively on status and that of his wife in particular? Or is there a more sinister agenda – has he become a traitor?

The complete saga of prehistoric Aleut tribal life in one volume: “Under Harrison's hand, ancient Alaska comes beautifully alive” (The Denver Post). In Song of the River, eighty centuries ago, in the frozen land that is now Alaska, a clubfooted male child had been left to die, when a woman named K'os rescued him. Twenty years later and no longer a child, Chakliux occupies the revered role as his tribe's storyteller. In the neighboring village of the Near River people, where Chakliux will attempt to make peace by wedding the shaman's daughter, a double murder occurs that sends him on a harsh, enthralling journey in search of the truth about the tragic losses his people have suffered, and into the arms of a woman he was never meant to love. In Cry of the Wind, Chakliux has one weakness: the beautiful Aqamdax, who has been promised to a cruel tribesman she does not love. But there can be no future for Chakliux and Aqamdax until a curse upon their peoples has been lifted. As they travel a dangerous path, they encounter greater challenges than the harsh terrain and the long season of ice. K'os, the woman who saved Chakliux's life when he was an infant, is now enslaved by the leader of the enemy tribe against whom she has sworn vengeance. To carry out her justice she will destroy anyone who gets in her way, even the storyteller she raised as her own son. And in Call Down the Stars, a handsome young tribal warrior and sage, Yikaas has traveled across the sea to hear stories of the Whale Hunter and the Sea Hunter peoples. Around the fire, Qumalix, a beguiling and beautiful storyteller, barely old enough to be a wife, catches the eye of Yikaas, and so begins their flirtation through storytelling, which brings to vivid life tales of the Near River and Cousin River tribes. The fates of lovers Chakliux and Aqamdax, and their wicked nemesis K'os, are revealed as Yikaas and Qumalix weave together tales from their ancestors'past—and tales from their own lives.

From a writer whose last book, Henry and Clara, prompted John Updike to declare Thomas Mallon one of the most interesting American novelists at work, comes a story that perfectly captures the delightful romance and wistful magic of our recent, and more innocent, past.Thomas Mallon has masterfully appropriated a jubilant legend (and famous headline) of modern American history -- Harry Truman's upset victory over Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 presidential election -- and built around it a midwestern Midsummer Night's Dream. Set in Dewey's hometown of Owosso, Michigan, this is the captivating story of a local love triangle that mirrors the national election contest. As the voters must decide between candidates, so must Anne Macmurray choose between two suitors: an ardent UAW organizer and his polar opposite, a wealthy lawyer who's certain he will ride to state Senate victory on Republican coattails.As they weave a small-town tapestry of dreams and secrets, the people of Owosso ready themselves for the fame that is bound to shower down upon them after Dewey's'sure thing'victory. But as the novel -- and history -- move toward election night, we watch the citizens of Owosso, Anne Macmurray and her suitors in particular, await the outcome of the election and the rearrangement of their fates in a climax filled with suspense, chagrin, and unexpected joy.

In the icy land of prehistoric Alaska, two heroic storytellers bring to life the final chapter of their ancestors: the star-crossed lovers Chakliux and AqamdaxA handsome young tribal warrior and sage, Yikaas has traveled across the sea to hear stories of the Whale Hunter and the Sea Hunter peoples. Around the fire, Qumalix, a beguiling and beautiful storyteller, barely old enough to be a wife, catches the eye of Yikaas, and so begins their flirtation through storytelling, which brings to vivid life tales of the Near River and Cousin River tribes. The fates of lovers Chakliux and Aqamdax, and their wicked nemesis K'os, are revealed as Yikaas and Qumalix weave together tales from their ancestors'past—and tales from their own lives. Call Down the Stars is the final book of the Storyteller Trilogy, which also includes Song of the River and Cry of the Wind.