Three sisters. Three journeys. One destination. In 1863 the authorities send Irish orphans Ismay and Mara to Australia against their will. Just when they thought it couldn't get any worse, on arrival they're separated from one another. While Ismay is forced to take a job as a maid miles away in the country, Mara must stay in the care of the catholic mission. Desperate to be reunited, they both run away but Ismay soon runs into danger out in the bush. She is saved by Malachi Firth, but although he's attracted to her, he doesn't want to be encumbered with a wife. Meanwhile, their elder sister Keara has not forgotten them. But she has had her own struggles to face and by the time she reaches Melbourne in search of her sisters, she finds that the trail is cold. Danger continues to threaten all three girls and they start to wonder: will they ever see one another again? ******************** What readers are saying about TWOPENNY RAINBOWS 'This is one of the best books I have ever read' - 5 stars 'Once again I couldn't put it down . . . An excellent read' - 5 stars 'Another fantastic book' - 5 stars

The Gorillaz Art Book is here! Featuring brand new artwork by Jamie Hewlett, who has invited more than 40 creators to offer new interpretations of 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs in one expansive volume of original artwork. Contributing artists include Ruff Mercy, Kim Jung Gi, Robert Smith, Kerbscrawler Ghost, Robert Valley, Craig McCracken and Tim McCourt & Max Taylor. Celebrating 20 years of Gorillaz, this latest Z2 partnership sees Hewlett expand the band’s collaborative vision to fellow visual artists in The Gorillaz Art Book, a stunning visual feast of 306 pages.

In this thought-provoking and playful short story collection, David Foster Wallace nudges at the boundaries of fiction with inimitable wit and seductive intelligence. Wallace's stories present a world where the bizarre and the banal are interwoven and where hideous men appear in many guises. Among the stories are 'The Depressed Person, ' a dazzling and blackly humorous portrayal of a woman's mental state; 'Adult World, ' which reveals a woman's agonized consideration of her confusing sexual relationship with her husband; and 'Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, ' a dark, hilarious series of imagined interviews with men on the subject of their relations with women. Wallace delights in leftfield observation, mining the absurd, the surprising, and the illuminating from every situation. This collection will enthrall DFW fans, and provides a perfect introduction for new readers.

Enthralling tales of the sea, rivers and lakes from around the globe.

Folklore of the seas and rivers has a resonance in cultures all over the world. Watery hopes, fears and dreams are shared by all peoples where rivers flow and waves crash. This fascinating book covers English sailor superstitions and shape-shifting pink dolphins of the Amazon, Scylla and Charybdis, the many guises of Mami Wata, the tale of the Yoruba River spirit, the water horses of the Scottish lochs, the infamous mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, and much more.

Accompanied by stunning woodcut illustrations, popular authors Dee Dee Chainey and Willow Winsham explore the deep history and enduring significance of water folklore the world over, from mermaids, selkies and sirens to ghostly ships and the fountains of youth.

With this book, Folklore Thursday aims to encourage a sense of belonging across all cultures by showing how much we all have in common.

Anyone who has read J.D. Salinger's New Yorker stories ? particularly A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut, The Laughing Man, and For Esme ? With Love and Squalor, will not be surprised by the fact that his first novel is fully of children. The hero-narrator of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it. There are many voices in this novel: children's voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden's voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvelously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. However, like most lovers and clowns and poets of the higher orders, he keeps most of the pain to, and for, himself. The pleasure he gives away, or sets aside, with all his heart. It is there for the reader who can handle it to keep.

This collection of mystery and horror stories is regarded as Japan's answer to Edgar Allan Poe. Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination, the first volume of its kind translated into English, is written with the quick tempo of the West but rich with the fantasy of the East. These nine bloodcurdling, chilling tales present a genre of literature largely unknown to readers outside Japan, including the strange story of a quadruple amputee and his perverse wife; the record of a man who creates a mysterious chamber of mirrors and discovers hidden pleasures within; the morbid confession of a maniac who envisions a career of foolproof "psychological" murders; and the bizarre tale of a chair-maker who buries himself inside an armchair and enjoys the sordid "loves" of the women who sit on his handiwork. Lucid and packed with suspense, Edogawa Rampo's stories found in Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination have enthralled Japanese readers for over half a century. Mystery stories include: The Human Chair The Caterpillar Two Crippled Men The Traveler with the Pasted Rag Picture

WINNER OF THE CWA HISTORICAL DAGGER 2018. The eve of war: a secret so deadly, nothing and no one is safe June 1939. England is partying like there's no tomorrow . . . but the good times won't last. The Nazis have invaded Czechoslovakia, in Germany Jewish persecution is widespread and, closer to home, the IRA has embarked on a bombing campaign. Perhaps most worryingly of all, in Germany Otto Hahn has produced man-made fission and an atomic device is now possible. German High Command knows Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory is also close, and when one of the Cavendish's finest brains is murdered, Professor Tom Wilde is drawn into the investigation. In a conspiracy that stretches from Cambridge to Berlin, and from the US to Ireland, can he discover the truth before it's too late? Praise for Rory Clements 'Dramatic . . . pacy and assured' Daily Mail 'Political polarisation, mistrust and simmering violence' The Times 'A standout historical novel and spy thriller' Daily Express 'Enjoyable, bloody and brutish' Guardian 'A colourful history lesson . . . exciting narrative twists' Sunday Telegraph 'Well-researched and plausible, Nucleus offers an attractive combination of history and suspense' Shots Magazine 'A pacy and dramatic historical spy thriller' Historical Novel Society

Eilande is nie net 'n titel nie – dis 'n gebeurtenis. In hierdie onstuitbare epos word die eerste jare van die Kaapse nedersetting herroep in sewe grootse taferele uit die lewe van ses historiese manfigure wie se lewens op byna onnaspeurbare maniere in mekaar vervloei. En om wie vloei hulle? Om die wese van 'n vrou, Pieternalla in wie se liggaam wit en bruin bloed saamgevloei het tot 'n noodlot. Hierdie sewe mans is almal deur haar aangeraak. Sy is die spilpunt van 'n genadelose geskiedenis van dood, liefde en oorlewing. Die verhaal strek ver en wyd: oor drie oseane, drie vastelande en 'n handvol eilande. Dit loop, soos 'n groot rivier, met geweldige versnellings wat die leser insluk en meevoer. Maar oraloor kom dit ook tot rus in die lewe van gewone mense. Dit beantwoord baie vrae. Hoe ervaar 'n honger inboorling die driemaster wat stadig op die rotse loop reg daar op die lykus waar hy woon?

When you look at a painting, what do you really see? When eighteenth-century poet Alison Cockburn accepts a light-hearted challenge from her friend Katherine Hume to live as a man, in order to infiltrate Edinburgh's all-male skating club, little do they both realise how her new identity will shape their future. And in the present, art historian Claire Sharp receives a mysterious request: to settle once and for all the true provenance of the iconic painting The Skating Minister. The Edinburgh Skating Club is the tale of one woman's mission to infiltrate a male-dominated society. Imaginative, romantic and ultimately moving, this time-shift adventure celebrates the women overlooked by history - and, above all, love, in all its unexpected forms.

Nora Mackenzie's entire career lies in the hands of famous NFL tight end Derek Pender who also happens to be her extremely hot college ex-boyfriend. Nora didn't end things as gracefully as she could have back then, and now it's come back to haunt her. Derek is her first client as an official full-time sports agent and he's holding a grudge.

Derek has set his sights on a little friendly revenge. If Nora Mackenzie, the first girl to ever break his heart, wants to be his agent, oh he'll let her be his agent. The plan is simple: make Nora's life absolutely miserable. But if Derek knows anything about the woman he once loved-she won't quit easily.

Instead of giving in, Nora starts a scheme of her own. But then a wild night in Vegas leads to Nora and Derek in bed the next morning married. With their rule book out the window, could this new relationship be the thing to save their careers?

Rumors of cutbacks during election time were hardly a novelty, especially in the wake of the Reagan-Bush trickle-down eighties. Already the Sanitation Department, the city's vehicle mechanics, its plumber, and two carpenters were history, replaced by private contractors. Nevertheless, Rocksburg hadn't had a big firing in years. When Balzic gets a summons from the mayor, the last thing on his mind is police layoffs. The chief finds himself forced to eliminate five officers, leaving him twenty-five members to police a city of fifteen thousand. As Mayor Kenny Strohn puts it, a city with a boarded-up Main Street and an empty treasury hardly has a choice. Yet Balzic - profane, arrogant, occasionally dangerous, and up until now, a survivor - is losing more than his policing capability. He's also losing his imagination. From somewhere inside his own department, a new and even more unexpected menace has surfaced. Witnesses report a small number of heavily armed, camouflaged commandos rappelling out of blue-and-white helicopters. Rocksburg may not have much left, but someone is willing to outfit and deploy a small private army to get it. They call it privatization. They say it works better than government. But Balzic's job is to protect his city. And Balzic's city is not for sale. It's all been happening under Balzic's chin, and he never saw it. The cop who never voted, who always pretended he was above power plays and politics, now has to perform the easiest and the hardest act of his career. Look down.

A gripping mystery with a classic feel: And Then There Were None meets The Silent Companions. Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives. At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in the conflict. But as his guests begin to arrive, it gradually becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden. Then, when a storm descends on the island, the guests will find themselves trapped. Soon one of their number will die. For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one . . . An unrelentingly gripping mystery packed with twists and turns, A House of Ghosts is the perfect chilling read this winter. 'Almost unbearably creepy and beautifully written' Liz Nugent, bestseller author of LYING IN WAIT 'A splendid tale of wartime skullduggery, featuring both kinds of spooks - perfect fireside reading' Mick Herron, CWA Gold Dagger Award Winning author of DEAD LIONS 'Hugely enjoyable, A House of Ghosts has the bones of a taut thriller wrapped up in the gorgeous romance of its ghostly island setting' Jane Casey 'Perfect for a dark and stormy evening: a truly creepy and ingenious ghost story and murder mystery with an irresistible setting' Ragnar Jonasson

Night Train to Lisbon follows Raimund Gregorius, a 57-year-old Classics scholar, on a journey that takes him across Europe. Abandoning his job and his life and travelling with a dusty old book as his talisman, he heads for Lisbon in search of clues to the life of the book's Portuguese author, Amadeu de Prado. As he gets swept up in his quest, he finds that the journey is also one of self-discovery, as he reencounters all the decisions he has made - and not made - in his life, and faces the roads not travelled.

The Pioneering Novel of New York After the Fall - New York City - the end of the 3rd millennium. Monumental buildings in ruins. Central Park a jungle peopled by savage sub-humans. A huge black shape moving across the night sky occluding the stars. Civilization has vanished along with humankind.Into this hostile new world two survivors of our enlightened age awaken from 1000 years of slumber - to fall victims to a world gone wild? - or to give mankind a second chance?

Police Chief Mario Balzic has got one hot Italian on his heels. Albert Castelucci wants to straighten some things out about his son's murder. It seems that the investigator Balzic appointed to Castelucci's case made such a mess no jury could convict the killer. Pushing Balzic into losing his temper may just provide the answers Castelucci needs.

Ocean Vuong returns with a big-hearted novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive

One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to alter Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community at the brink.

Following the cycles of history, memory, and time, The Emperor of Gladness shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life. At its heart is a brave epic about what it means to exist on the fringes of society and to reckon with the wounds that haunt our collective soul. Hallmarks of Vuong’s writing – formal innovation, syntactic dexterity, and the ability to twin grit with grace through tenderness – are on full display in this story of loss, hope, and how far we would go to possess one of life’s most fleeting mercies: a second chance.

With an Introduction and Notes by Dr Patsy Stoneman, University of Hull. Set in the mid-19th century, and written from the author's first-hand experience, North and South follows the story of the heroine's movement from the tranquil but moribund ways of southern England to the vital but turbulent north. Elizabeth Gaskell's skilful narrative uses an unusual love story to show how personal and public lives were woven together in a newly industrial society. This is a tale of hard-won triumphs - of rational thought over prejudice and of humane care over blind deference to the market. Readers in the twenty-first century will find themselves absorbed as this Victorian novel traces the origins of problems and possibilities which are still challenging a hundred and fifty years later: the complex relationships, public and private, between men and women of different classes.