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Sisters of Gold (Birmingham Jewellery Quarter Ser. #1)
by Annie MurraySisters Margaret and Annie lost their mother years ago, they long for her every day. Their protective and devout father keeps the girls close. But he can’t protect them all the time . . . When a scandal rocks this family unit to their core, the girls are forced to leave their home under a shadow of secrecy. The girls arrive in the Birmingham’s famous jewellery quarter one stifling August evening to stay with their uncle, goldsmith Ebenezer Watts. Annie takes up work at a nearby factory, but it’s not the work that interests her. Her kind and soft nature, means that her attention is drawn to the immediate need of her impoverished colleagues and the wretched lives they lead. Meanwhile, Ebenezer employs Margaret as a chain maker. When Margaret meets silversmith Philipp Tallis, she is drawn to him instantly. Margaret is forced closer to this mysterious man in the cramped workshop, as they create objects of beauty.But what is it the Sisters of Gold are hiding? Even though they’ve escaped their past once, it can’t stay hidden forever . . .Sisters of Gold is an emotional and heart-warming story with a richly imagined Birmingham setting, from Annie Murray, author of The Doorstep Child.
A Wartime Secret
by Annie MurrayA Wartime Secret is the moving short story of a family torn apart by war, from bestselling author Annie Murray.Some lies are harder to hide . . .Grace and Ted Chapman married at the beginning of the war, but then Ted was called up to fight . . . Grace was left alone, fearful that her beloved Ted would never return. With the passage of time, Grace began to create a new life and found comfort in the arms of another man. Then along came the birth of a little girl, baby Barbara.One morning, Grace receives a telegram out of the blue, she learns that Ted is alive and on his way home. News of his return sends Grace into a sick panic and she begs her sister Joan to look after her daughter. When Ted returns back to Birmingham, he is shell-shocked and fragile - all the while Grace is tormented. Just how far is Grace willing to go, in order to protect her secret?
Wartime at Woolworths (Woolworths #4)
by Elaine EverestThe Woolworths girls have come a long way together . . .Fun loving Maisie, is devoted to her young family and her work at Woolworths. But her happy life with her RAF officer husband, their baby daughter leads her to think of the family she left behind . . . With the war now into its fourth year, what will she find when she sets about searching for them?Sarah and her husband, Alan, are blissfully happy and long for a sibling for their daughter. But dark days lay ahead for this close family.Freda heads home to Birmingham, to go in search of her family, back to the life she fled – far from the safety of Woolworths and her new friends.With families’ separated by war, will the Woolworths girls be able to pull together?Wartime at Woolworths is the third moving installment in the much-loved Woolworths series by bestselling author Elaine Everest.
The Age of Grief
by Jane SmileyIn this brilliant collection of five short stories and a novella, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley presents six unforgettable portraits exploring the perils of domestic life. I am thirty-five years old, and it seems to me that I have reached the age of grief. Others arrive there sooner. Almost no one arrives much later . . .In the title novella, a man who has reached the 'age of grief' slowly realizes that his wife is in love with someone else. Unsure whether his marriage is best protected by confronting her or by feigning ignorance, he struggles to repress his anguish and to prevent his wife discovering that he is aware of her infidelity . . .Accompanying this novella are five short stories, including The Pleasure of Her Company, in which a lonely, single woman befriends the married couple next door, hoping to learn the secret to their happiness. And Long Distance, in which a man finds himself relieved of the obligation to continue an affair that is no longer compelling to him, only to be waylaid by the guilt he feels at his easy escape.
North and South: The Wild And Wanton Edition, Volume 3 (Macmillan Collector's Library #113)
by Elizabeth GaskellForced to move from the rural tranquillity of southern England to the turbulent northern mill town of Milton, Margaret Hale takes an instant dislike to the dirt and noise that seems to characterize her new home and its inhabitants - even the handsome and charismatic cotton mill owner, John Thornton. But as she begins to settle in, and to understand the nature of the surrounding poverty and injustice, events conspire to throw her and Thornton together. Amidst the chaos of industrial unrest, they must learn to overcome the prejudices of class and circumstance and admit their feelings for one another.One of literature's greatest romances, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell is both an incisive social commentary and an electric portrayal of all-conquering love.This Macmillan Collector's Library edition of North and South features an afterword by Kathryn White.Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.
The Prisoner of Zenda: Being The History Of Three Months In The Life Of An English Gentleman (Macmillan Collector's Library #119)
by Anthony HopeEnglish gentleman Rudolf Rassendyll arrives in the country of Ruritania on the eve of King Rudolf the Fifth’s coronation. That night, the king is abducted and held prisoner in a castle in the small town of Zenda. Rassendyll, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the monarch, is persuaded to impersonate him in order to stop his villainous half-brother, Prince Michael, from seizing the throne. Determined to rescue the king and restore him to his rightful place, Rassendyll attempts to free him, but can he defeat the dastardly Count Rupert of Hentzau who stands in his way? A swashbuckling adventure that never takes itself too seriously, Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda is packed with intrigue, backstabbing, bravery and romance.This beautiful Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of The Prisoner of Zenda features an afterword by children’s author, Philip Ardagh.Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector’s Library edition is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector’s Library are books to love and treasure.
The Wizard's Daughter (Americana Ser.)
by Barbara MichaelsIn The Wizard's Daughter beautiful and spirited Marianne Ransom has to use all her wits and looks to survive the cruel life of an orphan on the perilous backstreets of Victorian London. But it is her gift of second sight that carries her into the world of money and privilege – a power brought on by a strange twist of fate . . .In the opulent Scottish castle of a wealthy duchess, Marianne is being called upon to summon her late father – a noted mystic – from the grave. But her exceptional abilities have become a perilous trap. And suddenly knowing too much could prove fatal.Séances, ghostly apparitions and romantic intrigues abound in this wonderful Gothic suspense by New York Times bestseller Barbara Michaels.
House of Many Shadows (Center Point Premier Romance (large Print) Ser.)
by Barbara MichaelsGhosts, intrigue and a murder long ago sit at the heart of House of Many Shadows, the gripping Gothic romance by New York Times bestseller Barbara Michaels.When a car crash leaves Meg Rittenhouse suffering from strange hallucinations, an invitation to recuperate at her elderly relative’s crumbling mansion in the Pennsylvania hills seems like the answer to her prayers. But she couldn’t be more wrong . . .There, in a remote old house miles from anywhere, the terrible sights and sounds become even worse. Suddenly eerie black shapes dance in the shadows – mocking Meg, haunting her . . . threatening her. And the presence of kind, considerate Andy Brenner, the caretaker, both reassures her and terrifies her – because Andy also sees these dark spectres . . .
The Walker in the Shadows
by Barbara MichaelsGhosts, a mysterious diary and a harrowing of a family split by the American Civil War sit at the heart of The Walker in the Shadows, a haunting Gothic romance by New York Times bestseller Barbara Michaels.The house next door to Pat Robbins – eerily identical to the home she shares with her teenage son, Mark – has been empty for years. And it’s not surprising, as there’s a feeling of darkness radiating from the house that seems to scare everyone away.But now new tenants are moving in: friendly Josef and his lovely daughter, Kathy, who has stolen Mark's heart on first glance. But something is not right – something old and secret is lurking in the shadows, something that fresh paint and new furnishings cannot mask or exorcise. There is evil alive in the heart of the house next door – and it means to feed on the fears of two families . . .
Black Rainbow (Someone In The House Ser. #1)
by Barbara MichaelsSet in the turbulent North of England during the Crimean War, Black Rainbow is a thrilling Gothic romance by New York Times bestseller Barbara Michaels.When Megan O’Neill arrives at Greyhaven Manor one moonlit night, an ominous black rainbow hangs in the sky. It seems like a sinister warning to stay away, but her fears are soon banished by the warmth and kindness of the aristocratic Mandeville family – and her growing obsession with her handsome, mysterious new employer blinds her to the darkness within . . .But the price of desire is more than she could ever have imagined. And the shocking secrets enclosed in Grayhaven's walls threaten to pull Megan into the terrifying shadows, never to emerge again.
Witch
by Barbara MichaelsA wonderful Gothic suspense story filled with clever twists and turns, Witch by Barbara Michaels will have you on the edge of your seat.It was more than her dream house. For divorcee Ellen March, buying the secluded old house nestled in the pine woods marked the start of a new life. Now she could put her failed marriage behind her, enjoy the quiet solitude of small town life in Virginia, and get to know her new neighbour, the handsome Norman McKay.But strange visions began to cloud her mind – the shadowy figure of a woman, a ghostly white cat – and Ellen's safe haven slowly became her prison. Has she buried the past? Or has a dark legend come back to haunt her?
Someone in the House
by Barbara MichaelsAn imposing stately home, Grayhaven Manor has been transported stone by stone from England to the isolated hills of Pennsylvania. An ideal summer retreat, the house calls to Anne and Kevin – it’s the perfect quiet spot to finally write the book they’ve been planning together. But they are not alone . . .There are distractions in the halls and shadows, luring them from their work. Something lives on here from Grayhaven's shocking past, something beautiful, powerful and eerily seductive, something unlocking the doors of human desire, of fear . . . and unearthly passion.Set over 150 years after the events of Black Rainbow, Someone in the House, the suspenseful Gothic romance by New York Times bestseller Barbara Michaels, will have you on the edge of your seat.
Greygallows
by Barbara MichaelsFull of intrigue and mystery, Greygallows is a gripping Gothic romance by New York Times bestseller Barbara Michaels.Lucy Cartwright placed her life and future into the hands of the dashing Baron Clare, despite the rumours of his dark, unsavory past. Trusting his kind words and gentle manner, she agreed to be his wife and followed the enigmatic lord to Greygallows, his sprawling Yorkshire estate. But mystery, deception, betrayal, and danger surround the magnificent manor – a ghostly secret charges the atmosphere and horror reigns in its shadowed hallways.Lucy entered Greygallows willingly . . . and now she may never leave.
Lady Chatterley's Lover (Macmillan Collector's Library #142)
by D. H. LawrenceConnie’s unhappy marriage to Clifford Chatterley is one scarred by mutual frustration and alienation. Crippled from wartime action, Clifford is confined to a wheelchair, while Connie’s solitary, sterile existence is contained within the narrow parameters of the Chatterley ancestral home, Wragby. She seizes her chance at happiness and freedom when she embarks on a passionate affair with the estate’s gamekeeper, Mellors, discovering a world of sexual opportunity and pleasure she’d thought lost to her. The explosive passion of Connie and Mellors’ relationship – and the searing candour with which it is described – marked a watershed in twentieth-century fiction, garnering Lady Chatterley’s Lover a wide and enduring readership and lasting notoriety. The text is taken from the privately published Author’s Unabridged Popular Edition of 1930, the last to be supervised in D. H. Lawrence’s lifetime. It also includes his witty essay, My Skirmish with Jolly Roger, describing the pirating of this infamous novel. This Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of Lady Chatterley’s Lover features an afterword by editor and publisher, Anna South. Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector’s Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector’s Library are books to love and treasure.
On a Beautiful Day
by Lucy DiamondTreasure every moment. Life can change in a heartbeat.'A new Lucy Diamond book is one of the happiest highlights of my calendar' Katie Fforde, bestselling author of A Country EscapeIt’s a beautiful day in Manchester and four friends are meeting for a birthday lunch. But then they witness a shocking accident just metres away which acts as a catalyst for each of them. For Laura, it’s a wake-up call to heed the ticking of her biological clock. Sensible Jo finds herself throwing caution to the wind in a new relationship. Eve, who has been trying to ignore the worrying lump in her breast, feels helpless and out of control. And happy-go-lucky India is drawn to one of the victims of the accident, causing long-buried secrets to rise to the surface.On a Beautiful Day is a novel about the startling and unexpected turns life can take. It’s about luck – good and bad – and about finding bravery and resilience when your world is in turmoil. Above all, it’s about friendship, togetherness and hope.Praise for Lucy Diamond:'A hugely satisfying read' Heat'Full of emotion and insight - it really makes you think' Katie Fforde, bestselling author of A Summer at Sea'Warm, witty and wise' Daily MailOn a Beautiful Day is an uplifting and inspiring novel from bestselling author Lucy Diamond
The Poppy Girls (The Maitland Trilogy #1)
by Margaret DickinsonThe Poppy Girls is the first title in The Maitland Trilogy, by bestselling author Margaret Dickinson.Even amidst the horror of the trenches, friendship will survive . . .Thwarted in her desire to become a doctor like her brother Robert, Pips Maitland rebels against her mother’s wishes that she settle down and raise children. However, when Robert brings home a friend from medical school, Giles Kendall, it seems perhaps Pips might fall in love with an acceptable suitor after all. But the year is 1914 and the future is uncertain. Hearing that her father’s friend, Dr John Hazelwood, is forming a flying ambulance corps to take to the front lines, Pips is determined to become one of its nurses and asks Alice Dawson, her maid, to go with her. Robert and Giles offer their services as doctors, and Alice’s brother William joins them as a stretcher bearer. Nothing could have prepared them for the horrific sights they encounter. Moving their unit close to the fighting to offer first aid as quickly as possible puts them all in constant danger. But even amidst the barrage of shelling and gunfire, the unending stream of injured being brought to their post, the love between Pips and Giles survives and blossoms just like the poppies of Flanders fields.
The Brooklands Girls (The Maitland Trilogy #2)
by Margaret DickinsonThe Brooklands Girls is the heartfelt sequel to The Poppy Girls from Margaret Dickinson, the Sunday Times top ten bestselling ‘Queen of Saga’ (Daily Express)It is the early 1920s and the Maitland family are still coming to terms with the aftermath of the Great War. After her brave work as an ambulance driver and nurse close to the Front, Pips is restless and without purpose. Determined to enjoy life after the years of misery, and to help her forget a broken love affair, she seeks excitement in the London parties and balls of the Roaring Twenties.No family or community escaped the ravages of this war, and Pips knows her own has its share of troubles. Her brother, Robert, returned injured and is now battling demons of his own. Struggling to find a purpose in life, he is convinced his career as a doctor is over. It is Pips’s young niece, Daisy, on whom the family dotes, who brings them joy and hope for the future.But when faces from the past reappear, Pips is posed with a dilemma. Can she ever trust a man’s promises and allow herself to love again?Fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin will love The Brooklands Girls.
The Wind Cannot Read
by Richard MasonWinner of the 1948 John Llewellyn Rhys PrizeA poignant novel of forbidden love, The Wind Cannot Read is the story of Michael Quinn, an English airman, who falls in love with Sabby, his Japanese teacher, in India during the Second World War. "Enemies" in the eyes of his friends and fellow soldiers, they must keep their romance a secret in the face of great danger. And tragedy awaits them both when Quinn is sent behind enemy lines in Burma . . .Cinematic in both its scope and depth of feeling, The Wind Cannot Read was made into a film starring Dirk Bogarde and Yoko Tani in 1958. Richard Mason's descriptive powers are at their zenith in this touching wartime romance, which is a must-read for anyone who loved his timeless bestseller, The World of Suzie Wong.
The Fever Tree
by Richard MasonFrom the bestselling author of The World of Susie Wong, a breathtakingly cinematic story full of tragedy and romance, set in 1940s India.Englishman Richard Birkett lives for danger and adventure, so when he is given a perilous mission to India he jumps at the chance. Tasked with convincing a young communist to assassinate the King of Nepal, he ventures into the exotic unknown – concerned only with fulfilling his assignment and finding adventure along the way. But when he meets Lakshmi, a beautiful Indian girl trapped in an unhappy marriage, everything changes and there is suddenly far more at stake . . .A tragic story of intrigue, espionage and heady, intoxicating love, The Fever Tree is a vividly painted portrait of a lost time.
The Shadow and the Peak
by Richard MasonDouglas Lockwood came to Jamaica to recover from the heartbreak of a messy divorce. But instead of peace he found passion, and three women who threatened to turn the island idyll into a summer storm . . . The school at which Douglas has come to teach is perched on an isolated hilltop, and its pupils run wild while the staff are engaged in their own private wars. The headmaster's wife is trying to tempt him into an affair, but his heart lies with Judy, an air hostess he rescued from a plane crash. And in the background is Sylvia, an uncontrollable young girl who is madly in love with him and caught up in an adult world she doesn't understand.A gorgeously cinematic novel, The Shadow and the Peak is a gripping story by the bestselling author of The World of Suzie Wong. It was filmed in 1958 as Passionate Summer, starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers.
Been Here All Along
by Sandy HallGideon always has a plan. His plans include running for class president, becoming head of the yearbook committee and having his choice of colleges. They do not include falling head over heels for his best friend and next-door neighbour, Kyle. It's a distraction. It's pointless, as Kyle is already dating the gorgeous and popular head cheerleader, Ruby. And Gideon doesn't know what to do . . .Kyle finally feels like he has a handle on life. He has a wonderful girlfriend, a best friend willing to debate the finer points of Lord of the Rings, and social acceptance as captain of the basketball team. Then, both Ruby and Gideon start acting really weird, just as his spot on the team is threatened, and Kyle can't quite figure out what he did wrong . . .
Out of the Blue
by Sophie CameronSophie Cameron's Out of the Blue is a story of love and acceptance and finding your place in this world, as angels drop out of another. When angels start falling from the sky, it seems like the world is ending. But for Jaya the world ended when her mother died, two weeks before the first angel fell. Smashing down to earth at extraordinary speeds, wings bent, faces contorted, not a single angel has survived and, as the world goes angel crazy, Jaya's father uproots the family to Edinburgh, intent on catching one alive. But Jaya can't stand his obsession and, struggling to make sense of her mother's sudden death and her own role on that fateful day, she's determined to stay out of it. Then something extraordinary happens: an angel lands right at Jaya’s feet, and it’s alive . . . Set against the backdrop of the frenzied Edinburgh festival, Out of the Blue tackles questions of grief and guilt and fear over who we really are.
Sing Them Home
by Pam WeaverWith a song in your heart, soldier on...Sing Them Home is a gripping wartime saga from bestselling author Pam Weaver1943. A German aircraft crashes into a house in Worthing, and causes complete devastation to the local community. Three strangers meet for the first time that day – Pip, Stella and Lillian. Lillian's little girl Flora has been hurt in the crash and is rushed to hospital. As she comes through her ordeal, she finds her mother and her two new ‘aunties’ by her bedside. The three new friends quickly bond over shared experiences; all their husbands are overseas in the fighting forces. They also have the same love of singing and soon form The Sussex Sisters, Worthing’s answer to the Andrews Sisters, to boost morale in in dance halls and canteens all over the south coast.When D-Day finally arrives, it’s the promise of a brighter future they have all been longing for. But the men that return home are altogether different from the husbands they waved off. How will they respond to their wives’ new-found fame? How will the women live alongside these distant, damaged men? With secrets, revelations and surprises on the horizon, the friends will need each other more than ever.
Bad Twins
by Rebecca ChanceNever trust the face in the mirror . . .It’s no surprise to anyone that Jeffrey Sachs, billionaire CEO of his own hotel chain, has a drop-dead gorgeous Estonian mistress. But stepping down to spend his retirement years with her? No one saw that coming – least of all his wife!So now the prize of becoming Sachs CEO is up for grabs – and Jeffrey’s four children have until the day of his wedding to compete for the job.The front runner is Conway, the older son and golden boy. But Charlotte, a glamorous social media star with an Instagram-perfect family, is hugely ambitious, fully prepared to scheme and backstab to get to the top. Then there’s the dark horse: Bella, her mild-mannered, hard-working twin sister. Or could Bart, the youngest child, a sexy, incorrigible playboy, somehow catapult himself into Daddy’s good books?In a game where the ultimate prize is power beyond your wildest dreams, you should never underestimate your competitors, even if they are family . . . and, it turns out, twins can be the most dangerous rivals of all . . .Bad Twins by bestselling author Rebecca Chance explores vicious sibling rivalry in this gripping thriller.
Fire Sermon
by Jamie Quatro'Superb. Uncomfortable, ambiguous, erotic . . . first rate prose and an old-fashioned ability to tell a story.' Eimear McBride, author of A Girl Is A Half-formed ThingMaggie is entirely devoted to her husband Thomas, their two beautiful children, and to God.But then what begins as innocent letter writing with poet James starts to become something far more erotically charged, their meeting of minds threatening to become a meeting of bodies.As everything Maggie believes in is thrown into doubt the reader is drawn ever deeper into the battleground of her soul.Fire Sermon is a daring debut novel of obsession, desire and salvation that shows the radical light and dark of love itself. This is a visceral, rich and devastating portrait of life and loves lived and lost that cannot fail to echo in your own experience.