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.

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.

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.

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.

In the third instalment in the life of Detective William Warwick, following on from Hidden in Plain Sight, international bestseller Jeffrey Archer once again displays his mastery at the art of storytelling.

Detective Inspector William Warwick is tasked with a dangerous new line of work, to go undercover and expose corruption at the heart of the Metropolitan Police Force.

His team focuses on Detective Sergeant Jerry Summers, a young officer living an extravagant lifestyle. But Summers develops a personal relationship with a WPC on William’s team and the investigation hangs in the balance.

As his undercover officers draw the threads together, William realizes that the corruption may go far higher than his initial assessment, and that more of his colleagues than he thought possible might be willing to turn a blind eye . . .

From the bestselling author of SIX TUDOR QUEENS, a captivating new novel about two Boleyn cousins, close as sisters - and the truth that will change everything.

At twelve years old, Kate Carey attends her aunt, Queen Anne Boleyn, to the scaffold. Horrified by what she witnesses, Kate is convinced that King Henry VIII has sent an innocent woman to a terrible death.

As the Boleyns fall from favour, Kate serves her now motherless cousin, the young Lady Elizabeth. Bound by Boleyn blood, the two girls are like sisters, until Kate marries for love - and leaves a jealous Elizabeth behind.

At court, Kate cannot ignore the sly looks thrown her way, nor the whispers behind her back. Only when her mother, Mary, lies dying, does she learn the life-shattering truth that the Boleyns have been hiding for years.

It is a secret that will haunt Kate throughout her life, as her family flee into exile, only returning home when Elizabeth becomes queen. But the bond between the Boleyn cousins will never be the same again...

"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.

A French army marches through Europe to attack Russia. In Lithuania, a Russian province, the people try to remain on the sidelines but the peasant KadiA!ius family are dragged into it. As the story unfolds and follows the everyday lives of succeeding generations we begin to understand exactly what it meant to live in this beautiful but little known country occupied by an alien power. Years later the peasants are still under the same Russian yoke. Poverty, cruel persecution of the Jews and the attempted erasure of Lithuanian culture forces an Exodus from the country of almost Biblical proportions towards the West. It is a decision that is not easy for the migrants but one which many have been compelled to take. In 1894 Elzbieta, a farm girl, and her sister Juoza, are seeking something better. They set out on their long, eventful journey through life, by road, train and ship. Arriving in England, the country which has offered them sanctuary, Elzbieta is appalled to discover the teeming slums of London's Stepney, where she is destined to live. The culture shock is great as she quietly battles to retain her identity huddled together with others of her kind in the Lithuanian ghetto. Her family's trials, throughout the years, are mirrored by world events. She and they fight against the odds armed with intelligence, humanity, honesty, and a religious faith which is sometimes not without its contradictions. The family progresses despite many setbacks. Between them they make a huge difference to the lives of others. In wartime and peace they are involved in major events as were their Lithuanian ancestors. This is about the striving of the human soul for something better.

The thrilling sequel to Fifteen Postcards Disappearing from her antiques shop amid a spray of bullets, Sarah Lester leaves no body, only questions. Sarah's friends are left to deal with the aftermath of her disappearance, including questions about the dubious provenance of her antiques which threaten to crush the business she's brought back from the brink of failure. Sarah struggles to reunite with her father while continuing the search for her mother, unaware that England's violent colonial past has followed her to the present, putting herself and those she loves in danger. From the remote shores of New Zealand, through India's hill-country stations and onto the streets of Victorian London, Sarah must determine whether family bonds are strong enough to reach across the centuries. The Last Letter is peopled with reticent soldiers, conniving clergymen, fanatical collectors and commission-hungry auctioneers, taking you on a spectacular journey through time.

Having brought peace to a country at war with itself the benign Roman governance encouraged previously unknown literacy plus education, trade, farming, an economy and the usage of Roman invention including the improved Roman plough, wind/water mills, double action pump and glass amongst many things. Such wealth production naturally generated envy and crime existed, including treason and murder as well as extortion and fraud, in the 105 towns that catered for a population of 2.5 million. A well organised civil service included policing and Albinus Felix, himself the son of a British ex-slave, had climbed the army's promotion ladder to become chief of intelligence in Britannia to be ably assisted by his son-in-law, Clemens, from a wealthy family in Rome. At daily risk from traitors, confidence tricksters and their acolytes they plan and counter-plan to capture them, at the same time attempting to infiltrate the groups. Experienced Governor Urbicus and his fleet admiral Agrippa offer whatever support is required within the law but often leaving Felix and Clemens out on a limb. A local tribal leader who understands that peace and stability can only benefit the tribes also offers help, to the chagrin of the overall tribal council.

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.

Continuing the authora s exciting new take on Roman Britain this well researched fifth novel of the nail-biting series has chief investigator Felix yet again having to combine intuition with detection. Arch provocateur Mercurialis fully understands the financial constraints placed on Governor Urbicus by the Emperor and takes advantage of the lack of resources to expand his plans to usurp Britannia. When the insurgent groups begin to fight amongst themselves Felix and his son-in-law, Clemens, allow that it might only be a ruse. However, putting their lives at risk daily, Felix and his team counter-plot by employing stratagems of their own. At the same time as befits family men, humour and emotion are not forgotten. Live their lives with them. Share the danger.

During the 9th and 10th century's the battles between the Anglo Saxons and Vikings were always bloody, but none more so than at the battle of Wodens elde. Our history shows that the Anglo Saxon army, consisting of men from Mercia and Wessex met the might of the Viking army on the elds of Woden and utterly defeated them on the 5th day of August 910.

Rome, 1656

In Rome’s shadowy backstreets lies an apothecary’s shop – a place for women to take their heartbreaks and troubles. Herbs for childbirth. Tarot readings to tell their fortunes. An undetectable poison that can kill in four drops.

Alongside her circle of female poisoners, Giulia Tofana dispenses her deadly potion to free the downtrodden women of the city from their abusive husbands. A path she’s determined to follow after a harrowing childhood in Palermo.

But even in a time of plague, it does not go unnoticed when the men begin to fall like flies.

With the Holy Office of the Inquisition on her tail, Giulia is in more danger than ever. . How far will she go for the women who need her help?

MURDERER OR SAVIOUR? YOU DECIDE.

A POISONER'S TALE explores the realities of what it is like to be a woman who rebels against society and takes the reader on a tense, challenging but spellbinding journey.