Set against a backdrop of the year 1066 a mysterious rock re-emerges after an absence of hundreds of years. On this occasion the Keeper, for that is what the custodian of the rock is called, is visited in a dream during the night the star with the hairy tail shows itself in the sky and is tasked with finding an ancient stone tablet, hidden by a monk three centuries earlier. Bedwyth, the monk, could not find it in himself to reveal the contents of the tablet to the world, fearing it would destroy all that people believed in, but nor could he destroy it, knowing that to do so would be destroying the word of God. Now, three hundred years after his death, a parchment comes to light written by Bedwyth telling of the tablet and divulging clues to its whereabouts but not its contents. The Keeper teams up with her cousins and a stranger named Jehoshua to solve the mystery, but is the stranger all that he seems or is he holding something back? Something which if it was revealed would cause as much disturbance as the secrets of the stone. Others however want the rock the Keeper wears, some believing it will assist in their quest to conquer England whilst some want to use its power to seek the ancient tablet, believing that were it not to be revealed it would go against the will of God. Others are doing all in their power to have the rock destroyed in order to keep its secrets safe and thus the tablet of stone. The Keeper finds herself fleeing for her life as the rival factions try to wrest the secret of the stone from her. But she has the same dilemma as the monk, Bedwyth. If the tablet is found should she disclose its contents or would the world's population be better kept in ignorance? Events however take a different path as the Keeper and her companions become embroiled in the events and battles of the year as first they charge north with King Harold's army to fight off the Viking invasion before returning south to face William, Duke of Normandy. The story calls into question many of the beliefs we grew up with, whilst encompassing the legends, the fables and the facts surrounding what is possibly the most famous date in English history. It is a tale of battles and intrigue, of love, and of grief, of mystery and mayhem but most of all it tells of one year in history as seen through the eyes of someone who experienced it and lived to tell the tale.

Intriguing mysteries and fast-paced action combine with humour and emotion. In the Roman year 897 (AD 145) rebellion, treason and dissent were rife on the empire's most northerly frontier. A second wall, beyond Hadrian's, meant to promote peace inevitably only adds fuel to the fire. Charged by the governor with rooting out the traitors investigator Felix is in daily danger as they hold life cheaply, forcing him to live alongside crime, warfare, love, lust, sacrifice and treason - in a heady mix!

Wealthy businessman John Gardner counts his wife, the widowed Countess Napier, as his finest possession. Beautiful, refined and a devoted mother, the Countess has the one thing that all his money cannot buy -- a place in Society. When she dies still grieving for her first husband, the volatile Mr Gardener decides that his stepdaughter, Lady Selina, should become his passport into the titled classes. Eager to fit into a world that values birthright over cash, he decides to marry her off to the highest bidder. But he hasn't bargained for his vivacious stepdaughter's willful defiance. Determined to marry only for love, Selina flees the harsh discipline of Gardener Manor and takes her chances on the open road. Rescued from peril by the Marquis of Castleton, a serious and thoughtful man committed to doing his best for the people of his estate, Selina finds in him an unlikely ally. Equally appalled at plans for his own arranged marriage, the pair join forces against those intent on pushing them up the aisle. Pitched into an exciting adventure that sees them chased across Europe, Selina and the Marquis soon discover that despite their age difference they are both romantics searching for true love. But will they find it, or will their sense of duty see them both married to the wrong person? Trickery, deception and a tangled web of emotions will see their good intentions pushed to the limits, before the final explosive showdown where the Marquis finally proves himself a man of shrewd wit -- and passion.

The "marvelous" British governess-turned-sleuth helps a new bride who fears her husband intends to murder her (Daily Mail). Former schoolteacher Miss Maud Silver is on her way back to London when, with a violent shudder of the train, a young woman is thrust into her compartment. She's beautiful, well dressed, newly married, and wealthy--a lethal combination. In a state of shock, Lisle Jerningham explains that she fled her home in a hurry after overhearing a sinister conversation. Her new husband's first wife died in an apparent accident, and the resultant infusion of cash saved his family home. Now, he's broke again--and attempting to engineer a second convenient mishap. Miss Silver is unsure whether the drama is real or a figment of Lisle's imagination--but if this frightened young lady is a target for murder, the killer will have to deal with the governess-turned-sleuth first. Starring a mature sleuth who "has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot", In the Balance is a classic British mystery (Manchester Evening News).

Money may not be able to buy you love but without it an Earldom is an empty title as black sheep of the family, Michael Belmont, could discover to his cost. Heir to a huge country estate, filled with antiques and the finest furniture, Michael's gambling debts and dissolute lifestyle result in a desperate quarrel with his father, who threatens to disinherit him. When his father dies suddenly, Michael has sunk so low that he does not even have enough money for his fare home. With his allowance gambled and his fine clothes pawned Michael is a man in despair. But all that changes when he meets the beautiful Lady Verna, who is seeking a chauffeur to drive her car home to England. Not knowing that her willing volunteer is actually an Earl, they strike up an unlikely friendship and before the journey ends he has fallen under her spell. Captivated by her independent spirit and positive outlook Michael knows that their love will reform him, and suddenly there is brilliant new hope in his life. All he has to do is win the trust of her father, wealthy Lord Challoner, and convince him of his suitability as a husband -- but the shadow of the late Earl's threat looms large. With so much uncertainly the only thing they can be sure of is their love. As Michael tries to turn his life around and win the hand of the woman he adores can Lady Verna convince her father that love is enough to live on? Meanwhile Michael's cunning younger brother, Anthony, has his eye on the estate. Their father's favourite, he may not carry the title but he is determined to take everything else from his brother including the bride.

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION • A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

From one of our most accomplished novelists, a mesmerizing story about a mother and daughter seeking refuge in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War—and a brilliant portrait of family endurance against all odds

In 1874, in the wake of the War, erasure, trauma, and namelessness haunt civilians and veterans, renegades and wanderers, freedmen and runaways. Twelve-year-old ConaLee, the adult in her family for as long as she can remember, finds herself on a buckboard journey with her mother, Eliza, who hasn’t spoken in more than a year. They arrive at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia, delivered to the hospital’s entrance by a war veteran who has forced himself into their world. There, far from family, a beloved neighbor, and the mountain home they knew, they try to reclaim their lives.

The omnipresent vagaries of war and race rise to the surface as we learn their story: their flight to the highest mountain ridges of western Virginia; the disappearance of ConaLee’s father, who left for the War and never returned. Meanwhile, in the asylum, they begin to find a new path. ConaLee pretends to be her mother’s maid; Eliza responds slowly to treatment. They get swept up in the life of the facility—the mysterious man they call the Night Watch; the orphan child called Weed; the fearsome woman who runs the kitchen; the remarkable doctor at the head of the institution.

Epic, enthralling, and meticulously crafted, Night Watch is a stunning chronicle of surviving war and its aftermath.

In 1796 the promising young poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge came with his attractive wife Sara to live at nether Stowey in West Somerset, drawn by the beauty of the Quantock Hills and by his new friendship with Tom Poole, who owned a tannery business in Castle Street. Little did Tom realise then how closely he was to become involved, during the years 1796 to 1804, with Coleridge's brilliant, colourful and ultimately tragic life - with his fiercely democratic literary friends who descended on Stowey from time to time and shocked the locals: with his eccentric style of living, with his stormy marriage and hopeless love affair and with his agonised struggle to write great poetry. Overshadowing all, Tom had to watch Coleridge's gradual descent into the abyss of opium addiction

From the Consecration of the Shepherd of Bethlehem to the Rebellion of Prince Absalom. Being an Illustration of the Splendor, Power, and Dominion of the Reign of the Shepherd, Poet, Warrior, King, and Prophet, Ancestor and Type of Jesus; In a Series of Letters Addressed by an Assyrian Ambassador, Resident at the Court of Saul and David, to His Lord and King on the Throne of Nineveh; Wherein the Glory of Assyria, As Well As the Magnificence of Judea, Is Presented to the Reader as by an Eye-Witness.

In his "most accomplished work to date" ("Los Angeles Times"), master of historical fiction Robert Harris lures readers back in time to the compelling life of Roman Senator Marcus Cicero. The re-creation of a vanished biography written by his household slave and right-hand man, Tiro, Imperium follows Cicero's extraordinary struggle to attain supreme power in Rome.

On a cold November morning, Tiro opens the door to find a terrified, bedraggledstranger begging for help. Once a Sicilian aristocrat, the man was robbed by thecorrupt Roman governor, Verres, who is now trying to convict him under false pretenses and sentence him to a violent death. The man claims that only the great senator Marcus Cicero, one of Rome's most ambitious lawyers and spellbinding orators, can bring him justice in a crooked society manipulated by the villainous governor. But for Cicero, it is a chance to prove himself worthy of absolute power. What follows is one of the most gripping courtroom dramas inhistory, and the beginning of a quest for political glory by a man who fought his way to the top using only his voice -- defeating the most daunting figures in Roman history.

Jacob Hochstetler is a peace-loving Amish settler on the Pennsylvania frontier when Native American warriors, goaded on by the hostilities of the French and Indian War, attack his family one September night in 1757. Taken captive by the warriors and grieving for the family members just killed, Jacob finds his beliefs about love and nonresistance severely tested.

Jacob endures a hard winter as a prisoner in an Indian longhouse. Meanwhile, some members of his congregation the first Amish settlement in America move away for fear of further attacks.

Based on actual events, Jacob's Choice describes how one man's commitment to pacifism leads to a season of captivity, a complicated romance, an unrelenting search for missing family members, and an astounding act of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Rich and epic Historical Fiction set against the backdrop of the Great Famine and the Irish Diaspora. Perfect for fans of Winston Graham and Ken Follett. Set against the backdrop of the New World, this powerful novel follows the story of Ellen O'Malley. Torn from Ireland during the Great Famine, Ellen's odyssey has taken her from the harsh landscape of Australia to the killing fields of the American Civil War and poignantly explores forgiveness, longing and the changing role of women set free by war. Together with her natural daughter Mary and adopted daughter Louisa, Ellen helps tend the wounds of the soldiers who have fallen in battle. Surrounded by death and destruction, she little realizes that her estranged son, Patrick, and Lavelle, the husband she desperately seeks, are on opposing sides of the terrible conflict. Meanwhile, Lavelle and Ellen's former lover, Stephen Joyce, likewise seek her out - and each other - with tragic repercussions. Ellen's story is a tale of great loves, impossible choices and the triumph of the human spirit against all odds.

'Gripping, heartbreaking and uplifting.' Christy Lefteri, author of the million-copy bestseller The Beekeeper of Aleppo THEIR STORY WILL BREAK YOUR HEART THEIR JOURNEY WILL FILL YOU WITH HOPE YOU WILL NEVER FORGET THEIR NAMES When they are little girls, Cibi, Magda and Livia make a promise to their father - that they will stay together, no matter what. Years later, at just 15, Livia is ordered to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Cibi, only 19 herself, remembers their promise and follows Livia, determined to protect her sister, or die with her. Together, they fight to survive through unimaginable cruelty and hardship. Magda, only 17, stays with her mother and grandfather, hiding out in a neighbour's attic or in the forest when the Nazi militia come to round up friends, neighbours and family. She escapes for a time, but eventually she too is captured and transported to the death camp. In Auschwitz-Birkenau the three sisters are reunited and, remembering their father, they make a new promise, this time to each other: That they will survive. Three Sisters is a beautiful story of hope in the hardest of times and of finding love after loss. Heather Morris is the global bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka's Journey, which have sold eight million copies worldwide. Three Sisters is her third novel, and the final piece in the phenomenon that is the Tattooist of Auschwitz series.

Die vroue in Jesus se geslagsregister was dapper, het risiko’s geneem en die onverwagte gedoen. Hulle was nie perfek nie, en tog het God hulle in sy wonderlike plan gebruik om die Verlosser van die wêreld voort te bring.

Ons leef in moeilike tye en soek antwoorde op miljoene vrae. Die lesse wat ons by hierdie vroue kan leer, is vandag net so toepaslik as in die tyd toe hulle geleef het.

Die verhale van die vyf vroue in die geslagsregister van Jesus is nou in een boek beskikbaar. Tamar was ’n vrou van hoop. Ragab een van geloof. Rut was die vrou van liefde en Batseba het ongeëwenaarde genade ontvang. En dan is daar Maria, die vrou van gehoorsaamheid. Met die lees van hulle verhale sal jy beter begrip kry vir God se plan met die wêreld en tot die besef kom dat hierdie plan ook vir jóú insluit.

The world's most beloved literary characters. The gilded opulence of the Roaring Twenties. A murder that scandalises high society. And a clever young woman of unusual persistence... Be ready to re-think the world of Gatsby.

1922: You are cordially invited to summer at the Gatsby Mansion in West Egg, with the most illustrious - and the deadliest - guest list.

Freshly twenty-one and sporting a daring new bob, Greta Gatsby - younger sister to the infamous Jay - is finally free of finishing school. An idyllic summer stretches ahead of her at the Gatsby Mansion, the jewel of West Egg. But when Greta arrives at the secluded white-stone estate bathed in the late-afternoon light, she finds she isn't the only visitor. Jay is hosting an intimate gathering of New York's fashionable set: Daisy and Tom Buchanan, along with his brother Edgar, Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker.

That evening, the guests enjoy a candelabra-lit dinner party. That night, they dance to the lilt of the gramophone. The next morning, one of them is missing.

Murder has come to West Egg, the warm breeze tainted by scandal, betrayal and secrets. Turning sleuth isn't how Greta meant to spend her summer - but what choice does she have when one of them could be next?

A deliciously unputdownable whonunnit perfect for fans of The Christie Affair and Miss Austen Investigates.

Wuthering Heights is a wild, passionate story of the intense and almost demonic love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling adopted by Catherine’s father.

After Mr Earnshaw’s death, Heathcliff is bullied and humiliated by Catherine’s brother Hindley and wrongly believing that his love for Catherine is not reciprocated, leaves Wuthering Heights, only to return years later as a wealthy and polished man. He proceeds to exact a terrible revenge for his former miseries.

The action of the story is chaotic and unremittingly violent, but the accomplished handling of a complex structure, the evocative descriptions of the lonely moorland setting and the poetic grandeur of vision combine to make this unique novel a masterpiece of English literature.

In deepest winter, beware the coldest hearts . . .

London, 1850. Constance Horton has disappeared and her sister Maude is determined to find out what’s happened.

She discovers that Constance has disguised herself as a boy and boarded a ship bound for the Arctic, but when the ship returns without her the truth about her fate is buried by sinister forces.

To find answers – and deliver justice for her sister – Maude must step into London’s dark underbelly, and into the path of dangerous, powerful men. The kind of men who seek their fortune in the city’s horrors, from the hangings at Newgate to the ghoulish waxworks of Madame Tussaud’s.

It is a perilous task. But Maude has dangerous skills of her own . . .

An unforgettable vision of the 21st Century, "Metropolis" is an unforgettable science fiction classic originally penned in 1922, while she was married to German film director Fritz Lang. She collaborated with Lang on the screenplay for the film version.

Included in this edition are "Nana," "The Miller's Daughter," "Captain Burle," "The Death of Olivier Becaille," "The inundation," "Nantas," "Nais Micoulin," and "Mme. Neigeon."

Rich and epic Historical Fiction set against the backdrop of the Great Famine. Perfect for fans of Winston Graham and Ken Follett. Boston in the 1850s is the hub of the universe: gateway to America's temples of commerce and learning; liberal, sophisticated - the very best place in all of the New World for a woman to be. After being ripped from her homeland of Ireland, thrust into the harsh and unforgiving landscape of Australia, it is here that Ellen O'Malley hopes to find the stability of a new life and a new love; Lavelle, the man who adores her. But Ellen, desperate to shake off the Old World, is driven by her own demons to put everything at risk. And Boston, on the brink of Civil War, seems only to mirror her own conflict, to sound the knell of her own battle for survival. A powerful and compelling tale of lives and loves dislocated, The Element of Fire captures emotions as timeless as life itself.

William Stearns Davis (1877-1930) penned this 1907 tale of the days of Xerxes, Leonidas, and Themistocles.

William Stearns Davis (1877-1930) penned this 1907 tale of the days of Xerxes, Leonidas, and Themistocles.