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Mrs McGinty’s Dead (Poirot)
by Agatha ChristieAn old widow is brutally killed in the parlour of her cottage…
Queen of Broken Hearts
by Cassandra KingThe national bestselling author of The Same Sweet Girls and The Sunday Wife returns with another compulsively readable novel It's not easy being the Queen of Broken Hearts. Just ask Clare, who has willingly assumed the mantle while her career as a divorce coach thrives. Now she's preparing to open a permanent home for the retreats she leads, on a slice of breathtaking property on the Alabama coast owned by her mother-in-law. Make that former mother-in-law, a colorful eccentric who teaches Clare much about love and sacrifice and living freely. When Clare's marriage ends in tragedy, her work becomes the sole focus of her life. While Clare has no problem helping the hundreds of men and women who seek her advice to mend their broken hearts, healing her own is another matter entirely. Falling in love again is the last thing she wants. So when Lex -- a charismatic, charming, burly sea captain -- moves to town to run the marina, Clare insists they remain friends and nothing more. But even though she fights it, she begins to fall for him -- and then finds she has a rival, his estranged wife Annalee. A story infused with all the flavors, textures, and intrigues of a small Southern town, with a rich, resonant center, Queen of Broken Hearts is a bold step forward for Cassandra King.
The Rainbow (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Yasunari Kawabata‘In this masterpiece Kawabata, his brush dipped in silver, renders all the excruciating anguish and beauty of post-war Japan’ Edmund WhiteWith the Second World War only a few years in the past, and Japan still reeling from its effects, two sisters - born to the same father but different mothers - struggle to make sense of the new world in which they are coming of age. Asako, the younger, has become obsessed with locating a third sibling, while also experiencing love for the first time. While Momoko, their father's first child - haunted by the loss of her kamikaze boyfriend and their final, disturbing days together - seeks comfort in a series of unhealthy romances. And both sisters find themselves unable to outrun the legacies of their late mothers. A thoughtful, probing novel about the enduring traumas of war, the unbreakable bonds of family and the inescapability of the past, The Rainbow is a searing, melancholy work from one of Japan's greatest writers. Translated by Haydn Trowell
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Book And Pin (The Chronicles of Narnia #2)
by C. S. LewisIllustrations in this ebook appear in vibrant full colour on a full colour ebook device, and in rich black and white on all other devices.
McTeague
by Frank NorrisA couple’s life and love are destroyed when they win the lottery in this tragic tale of turn-of-the-century San Francisco. McTeague and Trina are in love, and with the modest income from McTeague’s dentistry office, their needs are few. But when Trina wins a small fortune from a lottery ticket, jealousy and distrust begin to unravel their happy home. As tension erupts between McTeague and Trina’s cousin Marcus, Trina’s impulse to save her winnings slowly gives way to a pathological obsession with hoarding money. Betrayed and destitute, the couple embarks on a journey down a path of violence, theft, and murder. Considered transgressive for its brutality and sordid subject matter upon first publication in 1899, McTeague has since served as the basis for the films Greed (1924) by Erich von Stroheim and Slow Burn (2000), starring Minnie Driver and James Spader. Widely acclaimed as Frank Norris’s masterpiece, the novel was hailed as “a literary masterpiece” by the New York Times. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
A Murder is Announced (Miss Marple #5)
by Agatha ChristieA mystery that will defy even the most ingenious of detectives.Because, when you turn over a stone in an English village, you have no idea what will crawl out…
The Chocolate Cobweb
by Charlotte ArmstrongA young artist is searching for the truth about her past - but does she really want to know...?With an introduction by A J Finn, bestselling author of THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOWSuperb classic crime from 'the mistress of day-lit terror!' NEW YORK TIMES'Psychologically rich, intricately plotted and full of dark surprises' Megan AbbottWhen Amanda Garth was born, a nearly-disastrous mix-up caused the hospital to briefly hand her over to the prestigious Garrison family instead of to her birth parents. The error was quickly fixed, Amanda was never told, and the secret was forgotten for twenty-three years ... until her aunt thoughtlessly revealed it in casual conversation.But what if the real accident was Amanda being returned to the wrong parents? After all, she seems much more like the painter Tobias Garrison. Amanda is determined to discover the truth within her aunt's bizarre anecdote, but soon is trapped in a web of lies, suspicions and deadly secrets ...
Narcissa
by Richmal CromptonI don't think that people are people to her any longer. They're just mirrors. If she can see the right picture of herself in them, she likes them. If she can't, she dislikes them.Stella Markham is the apple of her aunt's eye: gentle, kind, beautiful and accomplished – the model of a perfect child. Her guardians love her and her playmates worship her. Sensitive and thoughtful, she is the very image of nineteenth century loveliness – that is, until things don't go her way. From Richmal Crompton, the bestselling author of the Just William stories, Narcissa follows Stella from childhood through courtship and motherhood, detailing the triumphs and tragedies of a woman who is willing to do anything to maintain the image of her own perfection, sacrificing those she loves to her own vanity.
Kaddish For An Unborn Child
by Imre Kertesz Tim Wilkinson‘A fine and powerful piece of work… Dark, at times cryptic, and hugely energetic’ Irish Times “No!" is the first word of this haunting novel. It is how a middle-aged Hungarian-Jewish writer answers an acquaintance who asks him if he has a child, and it is how he answered his wife years earlier when she told him that she wanted one. The loss, longing and regret that haunt the years between these two 'No!'s give rise to one of the most eloquent meditations ever written on the Holocaust. As Kertész's narrator addresses the child he couldn't bear to bring into the world, he takes readers on a mesmerising, lyrical journey through his life, from his childhood to Auschwitz to his failed marriage.
Adrian Mole: The Collected Poems
by Sue Townsend'It's really, really, really funny' David Walliams Mole Press - a brand new imprint of Penguin Books - is proud to announce the first publication of The Collected Poems of Adrian Mole to mark the author's 50TH birthday.--------------------------- 'Edgy politics, tortured eroticism, misunderstood intellect, changing Britain - a whiff of the sublime. Mole's contribution is significant' Daily Telegraph Featuring poems scattered over nearly thirty years of writing and salvaged from the diaries 'authored' by one Sue Townsend, this slim volume features more than thirty pieces of Adrian's unique art. From his timeless first documented poem - The Tap - via classic odes to his muse, first and only true love Pandora (I adore ya), we follow Adrian's life in verse form. We not only witness his burgeoning political anger in works like Mrs Thatcher (Do you weep, Mrs Thatcher, do you weep?) but also see in later poems his merciless examination of the hollow shell of masculinity as well as documenting his declining libido in tragic pieces like To My Organ. For the first time in a single volume, these are the collected poems of misunderstood intellectual and tortured poet Adrian Mole. 'I ruthlessly exploited Adrian. But he can't afford to sue me' Sue Townsend 'Wonderfully funny and sharp as knives' Sunday Times 'One of the great comic creations' Daily Mirror 'The funniest person in the world' Caitlin Moran
The Secret Diary & Growing Pains of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾: The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾ And The Growing Pains Of Adrian Mole (The\adrian Mole Ser. #1)
by Sue TownsendGet yourself TWO BOOKS IN ONE for this amazing price.'I not only wept, I howled and hooted and had to get up and walk around the room and wipe my eyes so that I could go on reading' Tom SharpeTHE MUST-HAVE CHRISTMAS GIFT for devoted Adrian Mole fans.Celebrate Adrian Mole's 50th Birthday with this new double edition, featuring the FIRST TWO BOOKS in the hilarious collection and see life through the spectacles of a misunderstood boy growing up in the early 1980s.---------------------------Friday January 2ndI felt rotten today. It's my mother's fault for singing 'My Way' at two o'clock in the morning at the top of the stairs. Just my luck to have a mother like her. There is a chance my parents could be alcoholics. Next year I could be in a children's home. Meet Adrian Mole, a hapless teenager providing an unabashed, pimples-and-all glimpse into adolescent life. Telling us candidly about his parents' marital troubles, The Dog, his life as a tortured poet and 'misunderstood intellectual', his love for the divine Pandora and his horror at learning of his mother's pregnancy, Adrian's painfully honest diary is a hilarious and heartfelt chronicle of misspent adolescence.Features the complete texts of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ and The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole. 'I've never experienced a greater sense of recognition than when reading The Secret Diary' David Nicholls'Every sentence is witty and well thought out, and the whole has reverberations beyond itself' The Times 'Townsend has held a mirror up to the nation and made us happy to laugh at what we see in it' Sunday Telegraph'One of the great comic creations' Daily Mirror'The funniest person in the world' Caitlin Moran
Fifth Formers of St Clare's: Book 8 (St Clare's #Vol. 6)
by Enid BlytonSchooldays at St Clare's are never dull for twins Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan in Enid Blyton's much-loved boarding school series.In book eight, the girls are in the fifth form, about to reach the sixth, but they are not too old for tricks and escapades, jokes and excitement. Especially amusing is French girl Antoinette who, like her sister Claudine, doesn't always understand the ways of St. Clare's.Expect more mischief at St Clare's!Between 1941 and 1946, Enid Blyton wrote six novels set at St Clare's. This edition features the original text and is unillustrated.
Penguin Readers Level 5: The Pursuit of Love (ELT Graded Reader)
by Nancy MitfordPenguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series. Please note that the eBook edition does NOT include access to the audio edition and digital book. Written for learners of English as a foreign language, each title includes carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises.Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content.The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary.The Pursuit of Love, a Level 5 Reader, is B1 in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing present perfect continuous, past perfect, reported speech and second conditional. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly.The Pursuit of Love is about the love adventures of Fanny Logan's cousin, Linda Radlett, who is beautiful, brave and fun. Linda finally finds love and seems happy, but this is the 1930s and her country will soon go to war with Germany. What will happen to Linda then?Visit the Penguin Readers websiteRegister to access online resources including tests, worksheets and answer keys. Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock a digital book and audio edition (not available with the eBook).
Claudine at St Clare's: Book 7 (St Clare's #Vol. 5)
by Enid BlytonSchooldays at St Clare's are never dull for twins Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan in Enid Blyton's much-loved boarding school series.In book seven, Eileen's mother is the new Matron and Mam'zelle's niece, Claudine, joins St Clare's and causes havoc wherever she goes. The twins are enchanted by rebellious Claudine and her mad-cap plans, but will she last the term?Expect more mischief at St Clare's!Between 1941 and 1946, Enid Blyton wrote six novels set at St Clare's. This edition features the original text and is unillustrated.
The Easy Life
by Marguerite Duras'One of the 20th century's greatest thinkers and prose stylists' New York Times'A novel of the disquieting contours of family, and of the mind, and of life unceasing even in the midst of death by one of the most important, visionary writers of all time' Amina Cain, author of Indelicacy WITH A FOREWORD BY KATE ZAMBRENOThere's nothing to do about boredom, I'm bored, but one day I won't be bored anymore. Soon I'll know that it's not even worth the trouble. We'll have the easy life.Twenty-five-year-old Francine Veyrenattes, confined to the family farm, already feels that life is passing her by. But after Francine lets slip a terrible secret, culminating in the violent deaths of her brother and uncle, her world is shattered. Fleeing the farm for the seaside, Francine finds herself disintegrating. Lying in the sun with her toes in the sand, she restlessly wishes for things to be somehow easier, to have a life worth living. But then the calm and quiet is broken yet again – by another tragedy and a senseless death, in which Francine finds herself implicated. Cast out of paradise, and stranded between her home and the rest of the world, she must confront her rapidly dissolving sense of self if she is to find a way to survive.'It's a masterpiece, and a little known, if not unknown, masterpiece … Any serious reader of this author's work must begin with this novel' YVES BERGER
The Second Form at St Clare's: Book 4 (St Clare's #Vol. 4)
by Enid BlytonSchooldays at St Clare's are never dull for twins Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan in Enid Blyton's much-loved boarding school series.In book four, the twins have made it to second form. New girls Gladys and Mirabel have great talents for acting and music, and Elsie, the form's unpopular Head Girl, learns to be less spiteful.Expect more mischief at St Clare's!Between 1941 and 1946, Enid Blyton wrote six novels set at St Clare's. This edition features the original text and is unillustrated.
Another World
by Pat BarkerIn Pat Barker's Another World, the First World War casts its shadow down the generations.At 101 years old, Geordie, a proud Somme veteran, lingers painfully through the days before his death. His grandson Nick is anguished to see this once-resilient man haunted by the ghosts of the trenches and the horror surrounding his brother's death. But in Nick's family home the dark pressures of the past also encroach on the present. As he and his wife Fran try to unite their uneasy family of step- and half-siblings, the discovery of a sinister Victorian drawing reveals the murderous history of their house and casts a violent shadow on their lives...'Gripping in the best, most exquisite sense of the word - as if something wicked were holding you in its clutches' Mail on Sunday'Brilliant... without question the best novel I have read this year... once again, World War I extends its dark shadows across Pat Barker's extraordinary writing' Val Hennessy, Daily Mail'One of the best things she has ever done' Ruth Rendell'Utterly compelling... she is a novelist who probes deep, revealing what people prefer to keep hidden' Allan Massie, Scotsman'Demonstrates the extraordinary immediacy and vigour of expression we have come to expect from Barker . . . brilliant touches of observation, an unfailing ear for dialogue, a talent for imagery that is darting and brief but unfailingly apt... this is a novel that doesn't allow you to miss a sentence' Barry Unsworth, The New York Times Book Review'Intensely feeling... Geordie is a beautifully realised character, tough, humorous, and finally enigmatic' Helen Dunmore, The Times
Friends And Relations: A Novel (Penguin Modern Classics Series)
by Elizabeth BowenTwo sisters, two weddings, just months apart. These marriages produce a tangle of friends, relations and lovers that starts to unravel ten years later, during one intense week. Two of Bowen’s most memorable characters are in attendance: Lady Elfrida, a creature of privilege, and Theodora Thirdman, a gawky teenager with zero self-awareness. The sunset of prosperity is upon this complacent, moneyed class, but Bowen’s precise and beautiful prose pins real pain and comedy upon its inhabitants.
Miss Marple 3-Book Collection 1: The Murder at the Vicarage, The Body in the Library, The Moving Finger
by Agatha ChristieThe first three full-length Miss Marple novels, set before and during the Second World War, see the world's most accomplished amateur sleuth unravelling the dark side of human nature to uncover three cases of Murder Most Foul!
Summer Term at St Clare's: Book 3 (St Clare's #Vol. 3)
by Enid BlytonSchooldays at St Clare's are never dull for twins Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan in Enid Blyton's much-loved boarding school series.In book three, Pat and Isabel look forward to their first summer term at St Clare's. They soon make friends with new girl Carlotta, who has a secret past that she's desperate to hide. But sneaky Prudence finds out and tells everybody. How will the class react?There'll be mischief at St Clare's!Between 1941 and 1946, Enid Blyton wrote six novels set at St Clare's. This edition features the original text and is unillustrated.
The O'Sullivan Twins at St Clare's: Book 2 (St Clare's)
by Enid BlytonSchooldays at St Clare's are never dull for twins Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan in Enid Blyton's much-loved boarding school series.In book two, it's the start of the Easter Term and the twins are looking forward to meeting all their friends at St Clare's once more. They are determined to be obedient and studious, but the new girls prove to be so much fun. Poor Mam'zelle had better watch out.Expect mischief at St Clare's!Between 1941 and 1946, Enid Blyton wrote six novels set at St Clare's. This edition features the original text and is unillustrated.
The Twins at St Clare's: Book 1 (St Clare's)
by Enid BlytonSchooldays at St Clare's are never dull for twins Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan in Enid Blyton's much-loved boarding school series.In book one, the twins are simply not having it. St Clare's is beneath them and they're determined to cause a stir. But life at St Clare's is not as easy as they thought. They have several surprises and arguments before they admit their troubles are of their own making, and settle down to make friends. Expect mischief at St Clare's!Enid Blyton has been delighting readers for more than seventy years. Her best-loved characters include Noddy the wooden boy, Timmy the dog from The Famous Five and heroine Darrell Rivers from Malory Towers.Between 1941 and 1946, Enid Blyton wrote six novels set at St Clare's. This edition features the original text and is unillustrated.
The Wall
by Mary Roberts RinehartA childhood haven becomes a house of death.'Rinehart's literary distinction lies in the combination of love, humour and murder that she wove into her tales ... She helped the mystery story grow up' New York Times Sunset House has been Marcia's summer home for her entire life. Both of her parents died there, and she and her brother spent their youth exploring its rambling hallways and seaside grounds. They love the old house, but Marcia's sister-in-law has never taken to it. Juliette loathes the sea, and soon comes to loathe her husband, filing for divorce - and demanding alimony that could only be paid by the sale of Sunset House. A few days later Juliette disappears. And a week after that, her body is discovered.Marcia must work quickly to keep her beloved childhood home from being forever spoiled. Whilst somewhere in Sunset House a murderer plans the next move...
Penguin Readers Level 2: Ballet Shoes (ELT Graded Reader)
by Noel StreatfeildPenguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online.Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content.The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary.Ballet Shoes, a Level 2 Reader, is A1+ in the CEFR framework. Sentences contain a maximum of two clauses, introducing the future tenses will and going to, present continuous for future meaning, and comparatives and superlatives. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear on most pages.Sisters Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil do not have parents, but they have a very kind uncle. The sisters learn to dance, act and sing at a dancing school. But soon they have no money. What will happen to them?Visit the Penguin Readers websiteExclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys.
Enbury Heath
by Stella Gibbons'Don't show proper feelin', does it, not turnin' up for 'is dad's funeral?'Siblings Sophia, Harry and Francis have lost both their parents in the last six months. Attending the funeral for their estranged father, they wonder what will become of them now that the last connection to their difficult childhood has been severed. What have they inherited - financially and emotionally - to guide them to adulthood, and build a new home together? Enbury Heath is a semi-autobiographical account of the years which Gibbons and her brothers spent living in a cottage in Hampstead Heath: a wonderfully astute, bittersweet novel about family, grief, money, and the pleasures of London.