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Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction
Readers of "The Quilter's Apprentice" and "Round Robin" have been
enchanted by "Elm Creek Quilt Camp, " where women gather each year
for quilting, friendship, and fun. The third in the Elm Creek
Quilts series introduces the "Cross-Country Quilters, " a group of
far-flung friends who pledge to complete a "challenge quilt" --
symbolic of each woman's personal goals -- in one year's time.
These five women arrive at Elm Creek Manor hoping to find in their
quilt lessons an escape from the problems they left at home. Julia,
an aging starlet, has pinned her hopes to a plum role in a
historical epic whose director is under the mistaken impression
that Julia already knows how to quilt. Megan is a successful
engineer who has won prizes for her miniature quilt designs. The
one challenge she has yet to master is single motherhood. Donna, a
mother of two, must hasten to teach her daughter independence and
self-esteem -- lessons she, too, must take to heart. Grace is a
renowned curator of antique quilts, whose creative flair is waning
for reasons she is unwilling to reveal -- even to her closest
friends. Vinnie, the senior member of the group, is a sunny soul
with a tragic past. Her overwhelming desire is to bring happiness
into the lives of those she loves.
Although the Cross-Country Quilters share a common creative goal,
as the year goes by their bonds are tested by the demands of daily
life. But despite differences in age, race, and background, the
friends' love for quilting and affection for one another unite them
in a patchwork of caring and acceptance. The quilt they make
reminds them of an everlasting truth -- friends may be separated by
great distance, yet the strength of their bond can transcend any
obstacle.
The Humptons is an entertaining tale of the inhabitants of two
rival villages. It follows the lives of a number of the village
members including the rumbustious titled owners of an ancient
estate, a butler and his eastern mail order bride, several upright
ladies and some not so upright, a professor, an artist and even a
retired Brigadier. The book makes for perfect light reading and has
a fun, entertaining atmosphere to it. The Humptons takes a fond
look at life in a village community, touching on the many
happenings and relationships that take place in a rural setting.
However, it is not all sweetness and happiness, darker events play
their part too in a disappearing way of life.
"When I see light and dark, on off, on off, something weird happens
inside me... Something changes, slows down. I can think again. I
can find myself hidden in there somewhere..." Grace Sanderson's
abusive childhood leaves her seeking a 'better brain' and wishing
she could be 'reincarnated'. She is wasting away physically and
mentally and living a partly hermitic existence in her room, trying
to resist self-harming and avoiding her family. Her friend Jasmine
dies of an overdose and the future seems dark. But Briony, a school
friend in whom she trusts, introduces Grace to Nature's Way, a
healing centre deep in local woodland. From that day on, Grace's
life assumes a new meaning.
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Satantango
(Paperback)
Laszlo Krasznahorkai; Translated by George Szirtes
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R400
R375
Discovery Miles 3 750
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Now in paperback, Satantango, the novel that inspired Bela Tarr's
classic film, is proof that the devil has all the good times. Set
in an isolated hamlet, the novel unfolds over the course of a few
rain-soaked days. Only a dozen inhabitants remain in the bleak
village, rank with the stench of failed schemes, betrayals,
failure, infidelity, sudden hopes, and aborted dreams. "Their
world," in the words of the renowned translator George Szirtes is
"rough and ready, lost somewhere between the cosmic and tragic, in
one small insignificant corner of the cosmos. Theirs is the dance
of death." Into this world comes, it seems, a messiah...
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The Darkest Day
(Paperback)
Hakan Nesser; Translated by Sarah Death
2
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R430
R400
Discovery Miles 4 000
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The Darkest Day is the first novel in the five part Inspector
Barbarotti series from renowned Swedish crime author Hakan Nesser.
It's December in the quiet Swedish town of Kymlinge, and the
Hermansson family are gathering to celebrate father Karl-Erik and
eldest daughter Ebba's joint landmark birthdays. But beneath the
guise of happy festivities, tensions are running high, and it's not
long before the night takes a dark and unexpected turn . . . Before
the weekend is over, two members of the Hermansson family are
missing, and it's up to Inspector Barbarotti - a detective who
spends as much of his time debating the existence of God as he does
solving cases - to determine exactly what has happened. And he soon
discovers he'll have to unravel a whole tangle of sinister family
secrets in the process . . .
At sixty-six, Paula Spencer – mother, grandmother, widow, survivor – is
finally living her life.
A job at the dry cleaners she enjoys, a man – Joe – with whom she
shares what she wants, friends who see her for who she is, and four
grown children. Despite its ghosts, Paula has started to push her past
aside.
That is until Paula’s eldest, Nicola, turns up on her doorstep.
Independent, a loving wife and mother, “a success” – Nicola is suddenly
determined to leave it all behind.
Over the next few days, as Nicola gradually confides in Paula the
secret that unleashed this moment of crisis, they find themselves
embracing the bruised but beautiful symmetry of what each means to the
other.
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All Fours
(Hardcover)
Miranda July
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R577
R518
Discovery Miles 5 180
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A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country from LA
to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she
spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel and
immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the
start of an entirely different journey.
Miranda July's second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique
approach to fiction. With July's wry voice, perfect comic timing,
unabashed curiosity about human intimacy and palpable delight in
pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman's quest for
a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender
reinvention of the sexual, romantic and domestic life of a 45-year-old
female artist, All Fours transcends expectations while excavating our
beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the
familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly
alive.
After being evicted from their home, fifteen year-old Lydia and her
younger brother find themselves abandoned in a strange town just
two days before Christmas. Left in the care of a family they had
never known and stranded in the harsh winter of 1963, their future
hangs in the balance. After qualifying as a nurse, Lydia marries
doctor, Martin Fraser, but the catastrophic events of her wedding
day have far-reaching consequences both for Lydia and her daughter,
Naomi. Sixteen years later, Lydia's mother returns, anxious to mend
the rift with her grown-up children. Can she achieve the
reconciliation she craves without her children finding out her dark
secret? Will Lydia ever forgive her mother for deserting her? Ashes
on Fallen Snow is the final book in the Jeffson family trilogy.
Additional material, in the form of an epilogue, offers an insight
into the events that triggered the writing of the trilogy, which is
based on a true story.
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Circe
(Paperback)
Madeline Miller
1
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R494
R469
Discovery Miles 4 690
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'I hate murders and I hate murderers, but I must admit that the
discovery of a bearded corpse would give a fillip to my jaded
mind.' Vivian Lestrange - celebrated author of the popular mystery
novel The Charterhouse Case and total recluse - has apparently
dropped off the face of the Earth. Reported missing by his
secretary Eleanor, whom Inspector Bond suspects to be the author
herself, it appears that crime and murder is afoot when Lestrange's
housekeeper is also found to have disappeared. Bond and Warner of
Scotland Yard set to work to investigate a murder with no body and
a potentially fictional victim, as E C R Lorac spins a twisting
tale full of wry humour and red herrings, poking some fun at her
contemporary reviewers who long suspected the Lorac pseudonym to
belong to a man (since a woman could apparently not have written
mysteries the way that she did). Incredibly rare today, this
mystery returns to print for the first time since 1935.
Have you seen the egg containing the last dinosaur? The last of any
species contains great magical power. If this falls into the wrong
hands, the results could turn the world upside down. It is ice age
on Planet Earth, except on the island of Baratonea. There, the
Grunts, Wermits and Fuzzards are enjoying life as usual, watched
over by Lady Naomi in her blue pyramid. Things are about to change.
The Old One needs their help against a deadly enemy. The Last
Dinosaur is the first in a new series of beautifully illustrated
children's adventure stories about the magical world of the Grunts
and Wermits. Join the brave and fun-loving characters as they sail
away to do battle with the evil Tartarus...
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Doom 94
(Hardcover)
Janis Jonevs
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R407
R371
Discovery Miles 3 710
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"Die teenwoordigheid van die Chinese in Steynshoop het die dorp
die afgelope paar jaar ingrypend verander.
Benna Potgieter, wonderkind in sy prille jeug, is sedert sy pa se
dood ’n haarkapper in sy ma se salon. Sy lewe neem ’n drastiese wending
wanneer die skilder Fonny, sy groot verlore liefde, onverwags na die
dorp terugkeer.
Snaaks, droewig, wrang en oneerbiedig – ’n opwindende nuwe roman
in ware Winterbach-trant."
The Rangemore Hotel is a tired, Victorian hotel struggling to
survive on the North Wales coastline. A coastline owned by the sea,
loaned by the seas, and at any time, could be reclaimed by the sea.
Equally as unpredictable as the sea are the fortunes of the owners
and staff of the The Rangemore Hotel, the backdrop to: The Odd
Noble Deed. Four people associated with this once-grand hotel
tumble and crash into each other's lives. Passion, treachery and
lies leave only two winners - or are they winners? - for to win one
must truly value the prize.
For dreamer Clare, a chance encounter with old family acquaintance
Marcus brings up haunting memories of a childhood holiday, as they
try to come to terms with the events and magic that have shaped
their lives. They meet by chance in a department store, having not
seen one another since a long-ago summer in Guernsey that was
marred by tragedy. He lost his son, Tom, in inexplicable
circumstances; she was Tom's friend and the last person to see him
alive. The novel flits backwards and forwards in time, from the
present-day affair fuelled by grief and loneliness, to the summer
when Tom went missing - a time filled with sunshine and
enchantment, moving inexorably towards heartbreak. The Magic Places
is a spellbinding tale of the power of stories and imagination.
Shortlisted for the 2017 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement
in a First Novel; Runner-up for Best Novel in This Is Horror awards
2017. One night in 1980, a man becomes a monster. Travis Stillwell
spends his nights searching out women in honky-tonk bars on the
back roads of Texas. What he does with them doesn't make him proud:
it just quiets the demons for a little while. But when he crosses
paths with one particular mysterious pale-skinned girl, he wakes up
weak and bloodied, with no memory of the night before. Finding
refuge at a small motel, Travis develops feelings for the owner,
Annabelle, but at night he fights a horrible transformation and his
need to feed. Half a state away, a grizzled Texas Ranger is hunting
Travis for his past misdeeds, but what he finds will lead him to a
revelation far more monstrous. A man of the law, he'll have to
decide how far into the darkness he'll go for the sake of justice.
Nicholas Winlett is one of the best astronauts in England and he is
about to embark on a routine mission to the Moon. But behind his
achievements and his charismatic smile, there lies the heart of a
slime ball. During the procedure of the mission, Nicholas suffers a
mysterious accident inside the shuttle and is rushed to hospital
for treatment. But when the doctors cannot revive him, it becomes a
terrible tragedy. So why aren't his colleagues or the village
community of Abbington showing signs of sadness over his
unexplained death? Nicholas's sudden death has intrigued one
particular person and that is Nathan Smith. But as he begins to
investigate, the mystery deepens when Professor Edward Baker is
murdered in his home by an apparent intruder. Nathan is convinced
that Professor Baker's murder is connected to Nicholas's mysterious
accident. But can he break through the wall of silence to find the
answers?
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