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The Glamour
Par Christopher Priest. 1996
Cameraman Richard Grey's memory has blanked out the few weeks before he was injured in a car bomb explosion. When…
he is visited by a girl who seems to have been his lover, his attempts to recall the forgotten period produce an odyssey through France and conflicting accounts of what happened. When Susan Kewley speaks to him of that time, he finds himself glimpsing a terrible twilight world - the world of 'the glamour'.'Her detective novels are hilarious - less about detecting than delighting, with absurd farce and a wonderful turn of phrase…
. . . Nancy Spain was bold, she was brave, she was funny, she was feisty. I owe her a great deal' Sandi ToksvigMiriam Birdseye is daring, brilliant - and a long way from The Ivy. Our dashing heroine, a famous revue artist, takes to the slopes with her coterie of admirers. Champagne flows and wherever Miriam goes she leaves a trail of gossip in her wake.Fellow ski-resort guests include the celebrated Russian ex-ballerina, Natasha Nevkorina, whose beauty is matched only by her languor, Natasha's burly husband, nightclub owner Johnny DuVivien, and the wealthy Flahertés, a family who have made their money importing scents: handsome playboy Barney, his wife Regan, their two obnoxious children and the governess, Rosalie. Unbeknownst to Regan, Barney's mistress, a film star, is also there with her husband.When secrets start to unravel, tensions rise, and soon amateur sleuths Miriam and Natasha have not one but two murders to solve. In the hands of Nancy Spain, for whom farce and humour are a lot more fun than a conventional detective novel, the result is a deliciously wild ride.'An either intense or sombre approach to crime is to Miss Spain foreign: in her world an inspired craziness rules . . . Her wit, her zest, her outrageousness, and the colloquial stylishness of her writing are quite her own' Elizabeth BowenNecroville
Par Ian Mcdonald. 1994
In the Los Angeles ghetto of Necroville, the yearly celebration of the Night of the Dead - where the dead…
are resurrected through the miracle of nanotechnology and live their second lives as non-citizens - becomes a journey of discovery and revelation for five individuals on the run from their pasts. With his customary flair for making the bizarre both credible and fascinating, McDonald tosses aside the line of demarcation between living and dead in a story that confronts the central quandary of human existence: the essence of non-being.Two Gentlemen Sharing
Par William Corlett. 1998
Bellingford is a sleepy village set amid gently rolling countryside. Whatever scandals may occur there, they always take place behind…
closed doors and carefully laundered lace curtains. In short, Bellingford is a typical English village. That is until the news breaks that the Hall House has been sold at last and the rumour starts that the new occupants are to be 'two gentlemen, sharing'. With the arrival of Rich and Bless - newly in love and eager for domesticity - the scene is set for mayhem and uproar. And with Rich on a business trip to the States, Bless is plunged into a vortex of events that leaves him gasping for the cosy domesticity of Earl's Court on a Saturday night.... TWO GENTLEMEN SHARING is a roller coaster ride through the sexual mores of life, a comedy of manners that spirals from gentle humour to the heights of farce.Romanitas: Volume 1
Par Sophia Mcdougall. 2011
In 2756 AC (2003 AD in Christian terms), magnetic railways span Roman territory from Persia to Terranova, and mechanised crucifixes…
are ranked along the banks of the Thames. As volume one of ROMANITAS opens, Marcus Novius Faustus Leo, heir apparent to the Imperial throne, is mourning the death of his parents following a tragic accident. However, as information about the last days of his father's life becomes known, Marcus realises that his father's death was no accident - and that his own life is in danger. Meanwhile, an escaped slave girl called Una, who possesses the power to see inside others' minds, struggles to save her brother, Sulien, from a London prison ship. In a fortune teller's stall in a Gallic flea-market, Marcus, Una and Sulien's paths cross. Now the fate of the Empire rests on their shoulders ...Noel Streatfeild's Christmas Stories (Virago Modern Classics)
Par Noel Streatfeild. 2018
From the author of Ballet ShoesIn this captivating collection of festive stories, there are auditions on stage and antics on…
ice, trips to the pantomime, holiday adventures, and laughter shared with family and friends. Charming, heartwarming and funny, this exciting new collection is sure to be a hit with readers of all ages.Originally written for annuals, magazines and the radio from the 1940s-60s, these stories by this much-loved author have never been collected before and will be a welcome discovery to all Streatfeild's admirers.Stories include:The AuditionThe Bells Keep Twelfth NightThe Moss RoseThimbleThe PrincessThe ChainChristmas at CollersThe Pantomime GooseSkating to the StarsA Backward Place
Par Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. 1980
Six colourful, comic characters inhabit A Backward Place. All but one are Westerners who have come to Delhi to experience…
an alternative way of life. But, far from being hippies, their ability to adapt to this exotic culture often leaves something to be desired. Etta, an aristocratic, faded beauty maintains her Parisian chic while Clarissa talks enthusiastically about the simple life but stops short of ever roughing it herself. On the other hand Bal, the one Indian protagonist, holds quite Western aspirations to Hollywood glamour.A Backward Place humorously explores contradictions in attitudes and lifestyles and the interplay between culture and individuality. But it is also a Dickensian drama, charting the highs and lows of everyday life against the enchanting backdrop of a bustling Indian city.Marling Hall (Vmc Ser.)
Par Angela Thirkell. 2016
Barsetshire in the war years. Mr Marling, of Marling Hall, realises he will probably never be able to hold on…
to his wonderful old estate and pass it down to his children. The Second World War is bringing an end to so many things, but the Marlings carry on as best they can in the face of rationing and changed living conditions. Into their world erupt Geoffrey Harvey and his sister Frances, bombed out of their London home. Bohemian and sophisticated, they rent a local house and it is not long before they begin to have an effect on their neighbours. Geoffrey begins to court Lettice, the Marlings' older widowed daughter, but he finds he has rivals for her affections in her cousin David Lindsey and Captain Barclay. Observing everything and quietly keeping events on an even keel is the Marlings' old governess, Miss Bunting.The Islanders
Par Christopher Priest. 2012
A tale of murder, artistic rivalry and literary trickery; a chinese puzzle of a novel where nothing is quite what…
it seems; a narrator whose agenda is artful and subtle; a narrative that pulls you in and plays an elegant game with you.The Dream Archipelago is a vast network of islands. The names of the islands are different depending on who you talk to, their very locations seem to twist and shift. Some islands have been sculpted into vast musical instruments, others are home to lethal creatures, others the playground for high society. Hot winds blow across the archipelago and a war fought between two distant continents is played out across its waters.THE ISLANDERS serves both as an untrustworthy but enticing guide to the islands, an intriguing, multi-layered tale of a murder and the suspect legacy of its appealing but definitely untrustworthy narrator.It shows Christopher Priest at the height of his powers and illustrates why he has remained one of the country's most prized novelists.Wherever You Go
Par Eliza Wheeler, Pat Zietlow Miller. 2015
Roads give you chances to seek and explore. Want an adventure?Just open your door. Join an adventurous rabbit and his…
animal friends as they journey over steep mountain peaks, through bustling cityscapes, and down long, winding roads to discover the magical worlds that await them just outside their doors.Award-winning author Pat Zietlow Miller's lilting rhyme and bestselling illustrator Eliza Wheeler's enchanting, lush landscapes celebrate the possibilities that lie beyond the next bend in the road--the same road that will always lead you home again.Closely Observed Trains
Par Bohumil Hrabal. 1965
For gauche young apprentice Milos Hrma, life at the small but strategic railway station in Bohemia in 1945 is full…
of complex preoccupations. There is the exacting business of dispatching German troop trains to and from the toppling Eastern front; the problem of ridding himself of his burdensome innocence; and the awesome scandal of Dispatcher Hubicka's gross misuse of the station's official stamps upon the telegraphist's anatomy. Beside these, Milos's part in the plan for the ammunition train seems a simple affair. CLOSELY OBSERVED TRAINS, which became the award-winning Jiri Menzel film of the 'Prague Spring', is a classic of postwar literature, a small masterpiece of humour, humanity and heroism which fully justifies Hrabal's reputation as one of the best Czech writers of today.The List of my Desires
Par Gregoire Delacourt. 2013
Money can buy you freedom. But what about happiness? When Jocelyne looks at herself in the mirror, she sees a…
middle-aged, married woman who runs a dressmaking shop in a small provincial French town and lives a very ordinary existence. But what happened to all those dreams she had when she was 17? Then she wins millions on the lottery and has the chance to change her life for ever. So why does she find herself reluctant to accept the money? To help her decide what to do, she begins to compile a list of her heart's desires, never suspecting for one moment that the decision might be taken out of her hands ...The House Of Sight And Shadow
Par Nicholas Griffin. 2000
Against the window a pale hand, a gentle wave that was not a wave at all. A distant female face…
veiled by the sweep of a curtain. Then stillness. Bendix remained transfixed for a full minute. It was most certainly a woman' Early eighteenth-century London, and two doctors are criss-crossing the boundaries of morality in the heady pursuit of scientific progress. It is a challenge that leads Sir Edmund Calcraft, an eminent and notorious anatomist, and Joseph Bendix, his young ambitious student, into playing a dark game with the lawless side of London. But Bendix's growing passion for a woman he first glimpses in Calcraft's house threatens to end their mutual quest. From gallows to mad houses, from anatomical laboratories to frost fairs set on the frozen Thames, the two men begin to compete in both head and heart... Mixing history, myth, medicine and fiction, THE HOUSE OF SIGHT AND SHADOW is a compelling tale about ambition, deception and the vulnerability of love.Where the Trees Were
Par Inga Simpson. 2016
'All in?' Kieran pulled me up, and the others followed. We gathered around the bigger tree. No one asked Matty…
- he just reached up and put his right hand on the trunk with ours. Kieran cleared his throat. 'We swear, on these trees, to always be friends. To protect each other - and this place.'When Jay and her four childhood friends find a group of ancient trees carved by an Aboriginal tribe to identify sacred land, their eyes are opened to an older world. The tightly-knit group are at their most free on the river that runs through the farm, near the trees, and their childhood has a magical quality as they grow always closer, protected from the adult world. But as tension over land rights flickers in the grown-ups' lives, the children's attempt to protect the grove ends in disaster. Seventeen years later, Jay finally has her chance to make amends. Not every wrong can be put right, but sometimes looking the other way is no longer an option. But at what cost?Miss Mole (Virago Modern Classics Ser.)
Par E. H. Young. 2000
'Who would suspect her sense of fun and irony, of a passionate love for beauty and the power to drag…
it from its hidden places? Who would imagine that Miss Mole had pictured herself, at different times, as an explorer in strange lands, as a lady wrapped in luxury and delicate garments?'Miss Hannah Mole has for twenty years earned her living precariously as a governess or companion to a succession of difficult old women.Now, aged forty, a thin and shabby figure, she returns to Radstowe, the lovely city of her youth. Here she is, if not exactly welcomed, at least employed as housekeeper by the pompous Reverend Robert Corder, whose daughters are sorely in need of guidance. But even the dreariest situation can be transformed into an adventure by the indomitable Miss Mole. Blessed with imagination, wit and intelligence, she wins the affection of Ethel and her nervous sister Ruth. But her past holds a secret that, if brought to life, would jeopardise everything.Liza's England
Par Pat Barker. 1986
Dauntless Liza Jarrett, born at the dawn of the twentieth century, is now in her eighties, frail and facing eviction…
with her cantankerous parrot Nelson, when she is visited by Stephen, a young gay social worker. As she learns to trust him, she recalls her life - her embittered, exhausted mother, her shell-shocked spiritualist husband, her beloved son and chaotic daugter. Their friendship, deepening with the unfolding of their stories, comes to sustain Liza through her last battle and brings new courage to Stephen.The Margate Maid: a gripping saga of love and betrayal
Par Francis Lynne Francis. 2020
A brand new saga of love and betrayal in late 18th century Kent and London from saga author Lynne Francis,…
perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin.Margate, 1786. Dairymaid Molly Goodchild dreams of a better life. Up at the crack of dawn to milk her uncle's cows, the one comfort of her day is her friendship with apprentice gardener, Charlie. When dashing naval officer, Nicholas, arrives in town, Molly's head is turned by his flattering attentions and she casually spurns Charlie - believing this is her chance to escape a life of drudgery. Yet when Molly needs Nicholas most, he lets her down.With her hopes in tatters, Molly is forced to flee Margate for London, where she finds herself struggling to survive. What will she risk in her search for a better life? And will she ever find the love she deserves?The Sleepover: a gripping and emotional thriller about every mother's worst nightmare
Par Samantha King. 2019
*THE TOP TEN EBOOK BESTSELLING AUTHOR*It was meant to be the best night of her son's life . . .…
Was it his last?Izzy is thrilled when her shy, 12-year-old son is invited for his first sleepover. Nick has spent years being isolated and picked on; he deserves a night of fun and friendship. But Izzy is also nervous: it's a year to the day since bullies put Nick in hospital. She drops him off at his new best friend's house with mixed feelings. Arriving to collect him the following morning, her worst fears come true . . .Nick isn't there.Who has taken her son? And will she ever get him back?A gripping and emotional psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Teresa Driscoll's The Friend and K. L. Slater's The Silent Ones, from the Top Ten ebook bestselling author of The Choice. Praise for Samantha King'Taunt, tense and very clever' Claire Douglas, bestselling author of Last Seen Alive'Absolutely loved this book! A real psycho thriller that had me gasping and even wanting to hide at times' Susan Lewis, bestselling author of One Minute Later'Exceptional . . . A first class, gripping triumph' Claire Allan, bestselling author of Her Name Was Rose'Astonishing . . . utterly unputdownable' Karen Dionne, bestselling author of Home'Nail-biting' Saskia Sarginson, bestselling author of The Twins'I raced through it . . . It is BRILLIANT!' Lisa Hall, author of The Party'Tense, gripping, emotional, shocking, mind-twisting' Alex Caan, author of First to Die'Completely gripping . . . had me glued to the pages' Jenny Oliver, author of The House We Called Home'Draws you right in from the first page . . . packs a devastating emotional punch' Eleanor Moran, author of Too Close to ComfortThe Ringmaster's Daughter
Par Jostein Gaarder. 2002
From the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, 'A masterful mixture of fantasy and reality...a simply wonderful read' SHE.Panina Manina, a trapeze…
artist, falls and breaks her neck. As the ringmaster bends over her, he notices an amulet of amber around her neck, the same trinket he had given his own lost child, who was swept away in a torrent some sixteen years earlier.This tale is narrated by Petter, a precocious child and fantasist, and perhaps Jostein Gaarder's most intriguing character since Sophie. As an adult, Petter makes his living selling stories and ideas to professionals suffering from writer's block. But as Petter sits spinning his tales, he finds himself in a trap of his own making.Kings Of Albion
Par Julian Rathbone. 2001
England, 1460: The War of the Roses. Rival factions - Lancastrians and Yorkists - are hacking each other to death…
in a conflict that only the English could name after a beautifully-scented flower. It's not an ideal climate for tourists - but three exotic travellers from the Far East are not here for pleasure. They've come to find a missing kinsman. The English, however, are truly strange. Most of the indigenous population are of the cowed peasant variety whilst any noble who can't trace his ancestry to Norman Conquest isn't, really, an awfully nice chap. In between battles of the most astonishing brutality they convey respects instead of affection, make love strangely (and briefly) and amuse themselves by playing a game with an inflated bladder that is in everyway a war except it's called 'footie'. The Indians think they're mad. They also have this horrible suspicion that one day they will rule the world... A wonderfully offbeat take on medieval England at its most brutal and savage, KINGS OF ALBION snatches history, imbues it with the spirit of Rider Haggard and Joseph Conrad, turns it on its head, invites scintillating speculation and, best of all, renders it into a fabulously readable novel.