Aaron Sisson lives a humble life in the English Midlands. He works as a union official for the coal mines, but his real passion is music. As an amateur, but very talented flautist, Aaron dreams of a big career as a beloved musician. Though, with his small community and unglamorous job at the coal mine, this dream seems unattainable. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, and unsatisfied at work, Aaron becomes more and more frustrated with his life. Finally, when he feels that he cannot take it any longer, Aaron abandons his two kids and wife to run away to Italy. As he begins his journey Aaron feels hopeful for the first time in a long time. However, the journey proves to be more trouble than Aaron expected. When he falls ill, he befriends Rawdon Lilly, a cynical writer. After Rawdon nurses Aaron through his sickness, Aaron is free to continue on to Florence. Upon entering a social circle of intellectuals and artists, he experiences a higher level of conversation-discussions about politics, leadership, and expression. Feeling liberated, Aaron has an affair with an aristocratic woman, excited at all the new pleasures he is experiencing. Of course, it comes at a cost. In a city struggling in the aftermath of a war that wiped out generations, talks of revolution and change echo in the streets, and Aaron's eyes are opened to social and political problems he had never considered. With complicated characters and beautifully written prose, Aaron's Rod by the prolific author, D.H Lawrence, is a unique perspective on how World War affected the individual. Looking beyond just the death toll of the war, Aaron's Rod examines those who were left behind, the political turmoil that followed, and the emotional plight of the individual. With allusions to the bible and complicated questions on both the battle and partnership between art and intellect, Aaron's Rod poses thought-provoking questions about all levels of Western society. This edition of Aaron's Rod by D.H Lawrence is now presented in an easy-to-read font and features a unique and eye-catching new cover design. With these accommodations, Aaron's Rod is restored to its original genius while being updated to modern standards.

Kurt and Sonja Messerschmidt met in Nazi Berlin, married in the Theresienstadt ghetto, and survived Auschwitz. In this book, they tell their intertwined stories in their own words. The text directly expresses their experiences, reactions, and emotions. The reader moves with them through the stages of their Holocaust journeys: persecution in Berlin, deportation to Theresienstadt and then to Auschwitz, slave labor, liberation, reunion, and finally emigration to the US. Kurt and Sonja saw the death of Jews every day for two years, but they never stopped creating their own lives. The spoken words of these survivors create a uniquely direct relationship with the reader, as if this couple were telling their story in their living room.

Didier Daeninckx's chilling novel created uproar when it was first published in France in 1984. It is set against the backdrop of a demonstration in Paris in 1961, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Algerians at the hands of the police. In Daeninckx's story, Roger Thiraud, a young history teacher, is also mysteriously killed during this demonstration. Twenty years later, Bernard, his son, is murdered in Toulouse while on holiday with his girlfriend. To find the connection between the murders, Daeninckx's hero Inspector Cadin must delve into the secret history and devastating compromises of wartime politics. Murder in Memoriam is a tense and unsettling indictment of France's hidden past.

From the twelve-million copy bestselling author of the Lewis trilogy comes a chilling new mystery set in the isolated Scottish Highlands. A TOMB OF ICE A young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station in Kinlochleven discovers the body of a missing man entombed in ice. A DYING DETECTIVE Cameron Brodie, a Glasgow detective, sets out on a hazardous journey to the isolated and ice-bound village. He has his own reasons for wanting to investigate a murder case so far from his beat. AN AGONIZING RECKONING Brodie must face up to the ghosts of his past and to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that his investigation threatens to expose. Set against a backdrop of a frighteningly plausible near-future, A WINTER GRAVE is Peter May at his page-turning, passionate and provocative best. *PRE-ORDER THIS EXPLOSIVE NEW NOVEL NOW*

"With just one collection of stories, Joyce left his mark on almost every short-story writer who followed him" -The Guardian In this collection of revelatory stories of Dublin in the late 19th century, James Joyce presented the everyday depiction of ordinary characters in moments of an epiphany. The fifteen stories begin with characters in childhood, and progress into adolescence, and finally into maturity. The final story, "The Dead" is considered one of the most extraordinary stories ever written in the English language. Many of the characters within this collection reappear in Joyce's later work. Dubliners is a remarkably modern work, yet the most accessible of all of Joyce's writing. Authored in his early twenties, the short stories were completed in 1907, but were not published until 1914 due to many passages in the narratives that were considered too provocative to print. The stories in Dubliners were initially commissioned by an Irish farming magazine to depict quaint and brief tales of Irish life. Three stories were published before the magazine editor deemed the material unsuitable for the readership. Those appear among this extraordinary collection of 15 stories, which include: The Sisters, An Encounter, Araby, Eveline, After the Race, Two Gallants, The Boarding House, A Little Cloud, Counterparts, Clay, A Painful Case, Ivy Day in the Committee Room, A Mother, Grace, The Dead. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Dubliners is both modern and readable.

Sin City Gangsters: The Rise and Decline of the Mob in Las Vegas is a fast-paced account of how the mob created and controlled Las Vegas. It contains accounts of how the most powerful mobsters in the country built, bought, and controlled not only gambling casinos in Vegas, but also many important politicians, who did the mob's bidding. Some of the more notorious mobsters were Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Moe Dalitz, Sam Giancana, Tony Accardo, and Nick Civella, as well as the men they chose to carry out their plans, such as Tony Spilotro, Lefty Rosenthal, and Donald Angelini. Sin City Gangsters devotes a chapter to Jimmy Hoffa, and how the Teamsters Pension Fund financed the mob's casinos. The book also offers fascinating accounts of the roles of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley in Vegas. Another chapter is devoted to Howard Hughes, who arrived in the dead of night in a sealed, germ-free railroad car and did not leave his suite at the Desert Inn for years. During that time he bought one casino after another as if playing Monopoly. Following his exit and that of the mob, Vegas became the domain of Jay Sarno, Kirk Kerkorian, Steve Wynn, and Sheldon Adelson. They were visionaries who transformed Vegas into the entertainment capital of the world by building billion-dollars-plus resorts and hiring the most popular contemporary entertainers. Sin City Gangsters is the only book that charts Vegas from the first modest mob-owned casinos to the present billion-dollar-resorts; its cast of characters is an assembly of exceedingly ambitious risk takers who let nothing stand in their way of turning their dreams into stunning realities.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson comes a rollicking, riveting tale set in the Cosmere universe―a standalone adventure perfect for fans of The Princess Bride.

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea.

Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?

When Sophie Sayers inherits a cottage in a sleepy English Cotswold village, she's hoping for a quieter life than the one she's running away from. What she gets instead is a dead body on a carnival float, and an extraordinary assortment of suspects. Is the enigmatic bookseller Hector Munro all he seems? And what about the over-friendly neighbour who brings her jars of honey? Not to mention the eccentric village shopkeeper, show committee, writers' group and drama club, all suspiciously keen to welcome her to their midst. If you love M C Beaton's Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series, you'll enjoy Sophie Sayers' adventures.

The poet Wilhelm Kuchelbecker, Pushkin's school-friend, suffered twenty years of imprisonment and Siberian exile for his part in the ill-fated Decembrist rising of 1825 against the Russian autocracy. His largely forgotten life and work are vividly recreated in Kuchlya (1925), a pioneering historical novel by the eminent literary scholar and Formalist theorist Yury Tynyanov. Writing at a time when Stalin was tightening his grip on Soviet culture and society, Tynyanov implicitly brings together the disquieting experiences of the 1820s and the 1920s. In a lively, innovative style, his gripping and moving narrative, here translated for the first time, evokes the childhood, youth, beliefs and often absurd adventures of a Quixotic, idealistic protagonist against the richly complex backdrop of post-Napoleonic Russian society.

"Sweet, romantic, and suspenseful, Manchester Christmas is an unexpected gift." -Richard Paul Evans #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Christmas Box A young writer is drawn to a small New England town in search of meaning for her life. Soon, she encounters kindness, romance, and is pulled into a mystery centered on an old, abandoned church and the death of a special girl. Are the images that only she can see in the church's stained-glass windows a warning, or is someone trying to reach her, to help heal this broken community? Manchester Christmas illustrates how God often uses the most unlikely among us to spread grace and healing in a wounded world. Full of love, hope, and forgiveness, this debut novel from an Emmy-winning writer will touch your heart and have you longing for Christmas in Manchester.

The latest in the hugely popular 44 Scotland Street series from the worldwide bestselling author, Alexander McCall Smith It's the most anticipated event of the decade: Big Lou and Fat Bob's wedding and everyone is invited! After a wonderful day, Big Lou crashes back down to earth and finds that she is a victim of her own success. The lure of those famous bacon rolls is preventing her from leaving hungry customers without their daily dose of deliciousness - even to go for a long-awaited honeymoon. Will Big Lou find the happiness she so richly deserves? Everyone in Scotland Street hopes so, but, as Burns warned, the best laid plans... The relative peace and tranquillity of 44 Scotland Street is about to be disrupted. Irene is to return for a two-month stay, consigning Bertie to a summer camp. Not satisfied with that, she somehow manages to come between the enigmatic nun, Sister Maria-Fiore dei Fiori di Montagna, and her friend, the hagiographer, Antonia Collie. Can a person really change, even after being struck by lightning? Bruce's metamorphosis and new-found outlook on life is put to the test as he prepares to leave his creature comforts for the monastic simplicity of Pluscarden Abbey. His house sitter, meanwhile, gets a little too comfortable in his new life and discovers that the talented Bruce Anderson's shoes are all too easy to slip into. With great taste comes great responsibility. Come and discover The Enigma of Garlic and join the delightful denizens of Edinburgh's most famous address. This latest instalment of the much-loved 44 Scotland Street series is wise, witty, and full of warmth.

"Perhaps we identify with Emma because we too feel an emptiness at the center of things-an emptiness we try to fill with books, with fantasies, with sex, with things. Her yearning is nothing more or less than the human condition in the modern world. Her search for ecstasy is ours."-Erica Jong "Madame Bovaryhas a perfection that not only stamps it, but that makes it stand almost alone: it holds itself with such a supreme unapproachable assurance as both excites and defies judgment."-Henry James When Gustave Flaubert's debut novel Madame Bovary (1856) was published it had already created a great storm of both repulsion and profound admiration; it is now recognized as one of the most important works of literature ever written. When the story initially appeared in serial form it was attacked as a work of blatant indecency , and Flaubert was thrust into immediate celebrity. In the resulting obscenity trial, the author was acquitted, and by its publication date its existence was well known in France. Immediately a bestseller, the French public embraced the book with polarity; many repugnant with its attack on convention, and many recognizing its great humanity and depth. The novel begins with the introduction of Charles Bovary, an unremarkable man who becomes a country doctor in the north of France. During one of his rounds he falls under the spell of Emma Rouault, the beautiful daughter of one of his patients. When Bovary's wife unexpectedly passes away, he marries Emma, whose expectation of life becomes increasingly unfulfilled. After the birth of her child, she spins into a series of uncontrollable urges and bad choices that leads to her tragic downfall. With its unique shifting of perspectives, deep humanity, and bleak honesty, Madame Bovary is a classic that must be read. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Madame Bovary is both modern and readable.

Full of sparkling festive magic, Little Woodville is all set for Christmas... Belle Nightingale hasn't celebrated Christmas properly since she lost touch with her Gran and left the tiny village in the Cotswolds behind two decades ago. Back in Little Woodville to sell the cottage she inherited, Belle finds herself wondering whether her own dreams have been pushed aside in her quest to please everyone else. The cosy cottage, nostalgia and her tenant Sebastian's ties to her own family, bring a lot of emotions to the surface. When the snow blankets the tiny village, will Belle decide it's time to confront the past in a last attempt to bring her family back together? Grab a hot chocolate and escape to the quaint Cotswolds village of Little Woodville. *Please note this is a re-release of Christmas at Snowdrop Cottage, previously published by Helen J Rolfe*

Will their dreams fall apart when confronted with all that is stacked against them? Delphinium Nielsen and her sisters have accomplished much in the past year, traveling west and settling in Nebraska. They are on their way to building a garden in dedication to their mother and working against the forces of nature to make their farm thrive. However, none of that can mask their concern that they are quickly running out of money. Del's work teaching in their booming town offers hope, not only to support her sisters financially, but also to better her students' lives. Not all of the town sees it that way, though, with the rebuilding of the schoolhouse continually neglected and her brightest student's father demanding he work the farm instead of attend class. When their brother Anders arrives with his war-wounded and heartbroken friend RJ, Anders sees the strength of the sisters' idea to start a boardinghouse and decides to invest in it. Del finds RJ barely polite and wants nothing to do with him. But despite Del and her sisters' best-laid plans, the future--and RJ--might surprise them all. "Snelling's thorough research pays off in her vivid evocation of frontier-era Nebraska . . . The result is a transportive historical worth getting lost in."--Publishers Weekly