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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Historical fiction
From third class on the Titanic... ...to upper-class bride? When
barmaid Bridget McGowen boarded the Titanic, she never could have
imagined the crossing ahead of her. The resilient Irishwoman saves
four-year-old Elsie, niece of New York banker Karl Wingard! Swept
into Karl's world, Bridget feels like a fish out of water-except
for the quiet moments she shares with him. As her connection to
Karl and Elsie grows, can she break free from the shackles of
society so they can be a family?
This is a beautiful, moving tale from the bestselling author of the
"Flashman Papers". To the young Lady Margaret Dacre, raised in the
rich security of Queen Elizabeth's court, the Scottish border was a
land of blood and brutal violence, where raid and murder were
commonplace, and her broad inheritance lay at the mercy of the
outlaw riders and feuding tribes of England's last frontier. Beyond
the law's protection, alone but for her house servants and an
elderly priest, she could wait helpless in her lonely manor, or
somehow find the means to fight the terror approaching from the
northern night!
The Secrets of the Lake is a gripping wartime novel, by the author
of The Silk Weaver, Liz Trenow. 'Masterful storytelling, immersive
locations, and characters that inhabit your heart from the first
page' - Gill Paul, author of The Secret Wife. The war may be over,
but for Molly life is still in turmoil. Uprooted from London after
the death of her mother, Molly, her father and younger brother
Jimmy are starting again in a quiet village in the countryside of
Colchester. As summer sets in, the heat is almost as oppressive as
the village gossip. Molly dreams of becoming a journalist, finding
a voice in the world, but most of the time must act as Jimmy's
carer. At just ten years old he is Molly's shadow, following her
around the village as she falls under the spell of local boy Kit.
Kit is clever, funny and a natural-born rebel. Rowing on the waters
of the lake with him becomes Molly's escape from domestic duty. But
there is something Kit is not telling Molly. As the village gossip
starts building up with whispers against Molly's father over
missing church funds, everything Molly thought she knew is turned
upside down. And on one stormy night, when she sneaks out of the
house to try to put things right, Jimmy vanishes. Never to be seen
again. Decades later, Molly is an elderly woman in sheltered
housing, still haunted by the disappearance of her brother. When
two police officers arrive to say that the remains of a body have
been found at the bottom of the lake, it seems like Molly will at
long last have her answer . . .
1663. While commanding a man-of-war in the Mediterranean, Matthew
Quinton captures a Corsair pirate under the nose of a Maltese
knight, the sinister Montnoir. But the 'pirate' is soon unmasked as
O'Dwyer, a renegade Irishman with a fabulous yarn about a vast gold
mine in the African desert.
'Full of Hoffman's bewitching and lucid prose and vivid characters,
The Book of Magic is ultimately about the very human magic of
family and love and actions that echo through generations... it
casts a spell' -Matt Haig THE STUNNING, UNFORGETTABLE CONCLUSION TO
THE BELOVED PRACTICAL MAGIC SERIES For centuries, the Owens family
has been cursed in matters of love. When beloved aunt Jet Owens
hears the sound of the deathwatch beetle, she knows that it is a
signal. She has finally discovered the secret to breaking the
curse, but time is running out. She has only seven days to live.
Unaware of the family's witchcraft lineage and all it entails, one
of the young sisters of the new Owens generation has fallen in
love. As the curse strikes once again, her love's fate hangs in the
balance, spurring three generations of Owens to venture back to
where it all began and use their gifts to break the spell that has
marked all their lives. But doing so threatens to destroy
everything the family has fought so hard to protect. How much will
they give up for the greatest gift of all? 'This page-turning
Atlantic-crossing caper is, above all, a paean to family love...
These fast fairytales for grown-ups are full of enchanting comfort
- more escapist than curse' -Sunday Times 'A satisfying tale
springs from a slow beginning, packing in escapist fable,
real-world savvy and incidents galore' -Mail on Sunday
'Delightfully witchy... Alluring on its own, it's also a satisfying
end to a timeless saga' -New York Times Book Review PRAISE for
ALICE HOFFMAN 'Beautiful, harrowing, a major contribution to
twenty-first century literature' Toni Morrison 'I am still reeling
from The Dovekeepers - from the history Alice Hoffman illuminates,
from the language she uses to bring these women to life. This novel
is a testament to the human spirit and to love rising from the
ashes of war. But most of all, this novel is one that will never be
forgotten by a reader.' Jodi Picoult 'In her remarkable new novel,
Alice Hoffman holds a mirror to our ancient past as she explores
the contemporary themes of sexual desire, women's solidarity in the
face of strife, and the magic that's quietly present in our
day-to-day living. Put The Dovekeepers at the pinnacle of Hoffman's
extraordinary body of work. I was blown away.' Wally Lamb 'Alice
Hoffman takes seemingly ordinary lives and lets us see and feel
extraordinary things.' Amy Tan 'Miss Hoffman heals wounds with the
gentle touch of an angel' Joseph Heller 'Oh, what a book this is!
Hoffman's exploration of the world of good and evil, and the
constant contest between them, is unflinching; and the humanity she
brings to us - it is a glorious experience.' Elizabeth Strout
Italy, 1456. The Renaissance is in glorious bloom. A Carmelite
monk, the great artist Fra Filippo Lippi acts as chaplain to the
nuns of the Convent Santa Margherita. It is here that he encounters
the greatest temptation of his life, beautiful Lucrezia Buti, who
has been driven to holy orders more by poverty than piety. In
Lucrezia's flawless face Lippi sees the inspiration for countless
Madonnas and he brings the young woman to his studio to serve as
his model. But as painter and muse are united in an exhilarating
whirl of artistic discovery, a passionate love develops, one that
threatens to destroy them both even as it fuels some of Lippi's
greatest work.
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