Not since Anna Diamant's "The Red Tent" or Geraldine Brooks's "People of the Book" has a novel transported readers so intimately into the complex lives of women centuries ago or so richly into a story of intrigue that transcends the boundaries of history. A "lavishly detailed" ("Elle" Canada) debut that masterfully captures sixteenth-century Venice against a dramatic and poetic tale of suspense.
Hannah Levi is renowned throughout Venice for her gift at coaxing reluctant babies from their mothers using her secret "birthing spoons." When a count implores her to attend his dying wife and save their unborn son, she is torn. A Papal edict forbids Jews from rendering medical treatment to Christians, but his payment is enough to ransom her husband Isaac, who has been captured at sea. Can she refuse her duty to a woman who is suffering? Hannah's choice entangles her in a treacherous family rivalry that endangers the child and threatens her voyage to Malta, where Isaac, believing her dead in the plague, is preparing to buy his passage to a new life. Told with exceptional skill, "The Midwife of Venice" brings to life a time and a place cloaked in fascination and mystery and introduces a captivating new talent in historical fiction.

Here is a small fact - you are going to die.

1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.

The 10th-anniversary edition features pages of bonus content, including annotated manuscript pages, original sketches, and pages from the author's writing notebook.

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft.

When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe's place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. The messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home.

There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe's independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

INSPIRED BY THE ORIGINAL HIT SONG
"W"hen Beth Thompson's only son, James, goes missing in action in Afghanistan, she is left with her prayers, hopes, fears . . . and letters.
Mother and son have been writing since boot camp. James writes of his struggle to become a confident soldier and of his concern for his young wife and their unborn child. Beth, like any mom, praises her son's courage even as she frets for his safety.
Even after James disappears, Beth is comforted by a daily ritual of writing him about her feelings, faith, and attempts to maintain a normal life when nothing is really normal but the waiting.
Based on platinum-selling singer Mark Schultz's hit song "Letters from War," this powerfully emotional and timely story reveals how faith sustains in even the darkest of circumstances.

Your ability to change everything - including yourself - starts here.

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Forced to resign, she reluctantly signs on as the host of a cooking show, Supper at Six. But her revolutionary approach to cooking, fuelled by scientific and rational commentary, grabs the attention of a nation.

Soon, a legion of overlooked housewives find themselves daring to change the status quo. One molecule at a time.

"Conspirata "is "a portrait of ancient politics as a blood sport," raves the "New York Times." As he did with "Imperium," Robert Harris again turns Roman history into a gripping thriller as Cicero faces a new power struggle in a world filled with treachery, violence, and vengeance.
On the eve of Cicero's inauguration as consul of Rome, a grisly discovery sends fear rippling through a city already racked by unrest. A young slave boy has been felled by a hammer, his throat slit and his organs removed, apparently as a human sacrifice. For Cicero, the ill omens of this hideous murder only increase his dangerous situation: elected leader by the people but despised by the heads of the two rival political camps. Caught in a shell game that leaves him forever putting out fires only to have them ignite elsewhere, Cicero plays for the future of the republic . . . and his life. There is a plot to assassinate him, abetted by a rising young star of the Roman senate named Gaius Julius Caesar--and it will take all the embattled consul's wit, strength, and force of will to stop the plot and keep Rome from becoming a dictatorship.

From International Number One Bestseller Andrew Gross, The Last Brother is the thrilling historical novel about three brothers and the Mafia in 1930s New York.

1930s New York City. Three brothers grow up poor on the Lower East Side, until the death of their father forces them to find work to support their family. Each brother takes a different path.

Twelve-year-old Morris Rabishevsky apprentices himself to a garment manufacturer with the aim of running the business. Sol, six years older, heads to accounting school but is forced to drop out. Scarred by a family tragedy, Harry falls under the spell of the charismatic Louis Buchalter, who in a few short years becomes the most ruthless mobster in town. Morris convinces Sol to go into business with him, but Harry can't be lured away from the glamour, power and money of the mob.

As their business grows, Buchalter sets his sights on the unions that control the garment maker's factories, setting up a fatal showdown that could bring them together or shatter their family forever.

In 1837 het ’n engel aan ’n jong skaapwagter verskyn, en die weerklank van hierdie gebeurtenis in sy eie lewe en dié van ander mense oor ’n tydperk van anderhalwe eeu is die onderwerp van dié uitsonderlike roman. Die verlede is “’n ander land . . . ’n netwerk wat saamgeweef is uit werklikheid en herinnering”.

Verliesfontein was beoog as die eerste roman in die drieluik Stemme, maar is laaste voltooi. Net soos die ander twee titels, Hierdie lewe en Die uur van die engel, handel dié roman van Schoeman oor die Suid-Afrikaanse verlede. Hier is die sentrale gegewe die inval van die Vrystaatse kommando’s in die Kaapkolonie in die somer van 1900–1901, tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog.

’n Verbeeldingryke roman waarin die Suid-Afrikaanse verlede as tema gebruik word.

Ná ’n beroerte aan die einde van haar lewe mymer ’n bejaarde vrou oor die verlede – om hierdie lewe te volbring moet sy as die swygsame buitestaander in haar familiekring die raaisels rondom die gebeure en verhoudings van die verlede ontsluit.

Before the Raid was a 1942 Crown Film Unit, propaganda film, made for boosting public morale in war time. The booklet explores the making of this film at Portmahomack in North East Scotland, and its message about the need for free and oppressed peoples to engage in civil resistance towards evil and, with sacrifice, in their ability to overcome it. In support of their work in maintaining the local history of the Tarbat Peninsula, all proceeds from the sale of this book go to: The Tarbat Historic Trust.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A BESTSELLING THRILLER WRITER AND A PRIME MINISTER WRITE A MYSTERY TOGETHER? THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT . . .

What happened to Lara Marteinsdóttir?

Iceland, 1956. Fifteen-year-old Lára spends the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík.

In early August, the girl disappears without a trace.

The mystery becomes Iceland's greatest unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there?

Thirty years later in August, 1986, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lara's case. But as he draws closer to discovering the secret, and with the eyes of Reykjavík upon him, it soon becomes clear that Lara's disappearance is a mystery that someone will stop at nothing to keep unsolved . . .

It is 1851. A group of excursionists sets off from Canterbury to see the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. During the train journey the organiser, Percy Blackwood, invites them to tell stories which he intends to publish anonymously, for unknown to the others he is in serious debt. From the navvy to the lady's companion, from the book binder to the music hall artiste, they all oblige, their stories forming a panorama of Victorian England and offering glimpses into the lives of their tellers. All set off for the Crystal Palace with high hopes, and all are changed, for better or worse, by encountering the technical and engineering miracles of the age.

Shortlisted for the 2010 Orange Prize
England, 31st August 1939: The world is on the brink of war. As Hitler prepares to invade Poland, thousands of children are evacuated from London to escape the impending Blitz. Torn from her mother, eight-year-old Anna Sands is relocated with other children to a large Yorkshire estate which has been opened up to evacuees by Thomas and Elizabeth Ashton, an enigmatic, childless couple. Soon Anna gets drawn into their unraveling relationship, seeing things that are not meant for her eyes and finding herself part-witness and part-accomplice to a love affair with unforeseen consequences. A story of longing, loss, and complicated loyalties, combining a sweeping narrative with subtle psychological observation, "The Very Thought of You" is not just a love story but a story about love.

'Thrilling, haunting and darkly beautiful. This Wild, Wild Country enchants as mysteries deepen and secrets echo over the harsh realities of the American Dream' Chris Whitaker, bestselling author of We Begin at the End Three women. An isolated town. A decades-old mystery. They hate me down there, in Boldville. I can read it in their eyes, smell it on their noxious breaths. That dreaded little town hates everything about me: not just my personality and form, the clothes I wear, but the way I think. The things that I know. 1933. Cornelia Stover is headstrong and business-minded - not the kind of woman the men of Boldville, New Mexico, expect her to be. Then she stumbles upon a secret hidden out in the hills . . . 1970. Decades later, Joanna Riley, a former cop, packs up her car in the middle of the night and drives west, fleeing an abusive marriage and a life she can no longer bear. Eventually, she runs out of gas and finds herself in Boldville, a sleepy desert town in the foothills of the Gila Mountains. Joanna was looking for somewhere to retreat, to hide, but something is off about this place. In a commune on the outskirts a young man has been found dead and Joanna knows a cover up when she sees it. Soon, she and Glitter, a young, disaffected hippie, find themselves caught up in a dark mystery that goes to the very heart of Boldville, where for too long people have kept their eyes shut and turned their heads away. A mystery that leads them all the way back to the unexplained disappearance of Glitter's grandmother Cornelia forty years before . . . A captivating, atmospheric new novel from the lauded author of The Long, Long Afternoon, This Wild Wild Country simmers with secrets, lies and terrible betrayal, unravelling the lives of three women at the mercy of their times. Praise for Inga Vesper 'Remarkably assured. A tale of inequality, broken dreams and quiet desperation behind a picture-perfect facade' Guardian 'A clever and absorbing debut' The Times 'Beguiling and evocative. This vivid and atmospheric pageturner will keep readers guessing all the way to its satisfying finale' Sunday Express 'Beautifully crafted, claustrophobic and compelling. As delicious as a long drink on a hot day' Stacey Halls, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars and The Foundling 'Such a vivid atmosphere of stifling LA heat and stifling 50s domesticity' Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures 'Breathtakingly stylish, hypnotic and masterfully gripping' Chris Whitaker, author of We Begin at the End, Waterstones Thriller of the Month 'A triumph. What a pleasure to read something fresh and original. For once the hype is justified and Inga Vesper's gripping page turner must surely now be bound for Netflix' Evening Standard 'A tasty, tense, page-turning combo of James Ellroy and Kate Atkinson with a bit of Mad Men thrown in' Liz Hyder 'An atmospheric tale of repression and style at the heart of the American Dream' Stylist

In The Children of Jocasta, Natalie Haynes takes a fresh perspective on an ancient story, reimagining in gripping prose how the Oedipus and Antigone stories would look if the oft-overlooked female characters took centre stage. Retelling the myth to reveal a new side of an ancient story . . . My siblings and I have grown up in a cursed house, children of cursed parents . . . Jocasta is just fifteen when she is told that she must marry the King of Thebes, an old man she has never met. Her life has never been her own, and nor will it be, unless she outlives her strange, absent husband. Ismene is the same age when she is attacked in the palace she calls home. Since the day of her parents' tragic deaths a decade earlier, she has always longed to feel safe with the family she still has. But with a single act of violence, all that is about to change. With the turn of these two events, a tragedy is set in motion. But not as you know it.

Skepelinge is ’n impressionistiese betragting van die vroeë koloniale tydperk in die Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis, gebaseer op Schoeman se kennis van die VOC- tyd en meer spesifiek die skeepvaart. Self het die skrywer dit beskryf as ’n ‘hibriede skepping . . . wat in laaste instansie beoordeel moet word as produk van die skeppende verbeelding eerder as van navorsing’.

Tydens die boekstawing van die duisende skepelinge wat oor die eeue heen na die Kaap van Storms gereis en onderweg ook omgekom het, verweef Schoeman literêre stemme soos dié van Eliot, Auden, Eybers en Melville in Moby Dick met dokumente uit die oorspronklike dagboeke van die 1600’s en 1700’s, soos Van Riebeeck se Dagregister, Peter Kolb se noukeurige beskrywings van die Kaap en ander reisjoernale en geskiedkundige werke van die era.

Dit is geskiedskrywing soos geen ander Suid-Afrikaanse skrywer dit nog kon vermag nie. Skepelinge is ’n unieke nalatenskap – veral waar ‘oorsprong’ nou meer as ooit vantevore ondersoek word.