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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Sagas
"City of God," the latest installment in Beverly Swerling's
gripping saga of old New York, takes readers to Manhattan's
clamorous streets as the nation struggles to find a compromise
between slave and free, but hears the drums of war. This is New
York when one synagogue is no longer adequate for thousands of
Jewish immigrants, when New Evangelicals rouse complacent
Protestants with the promise of born-again salvation, and when it
first sees Catholic nuns and calls them whores of Satan. It is New
York when ships bring the fabulous wealth of nations to its wharves
and auction houses, while a short distance away rival gangs fight
to the death with broken bottles and teeth filed to points.
Into this churning cauldron comes young Dr. Nicholas Turner.
Nick knows that the discoveries of antisepsis and anesthesia
promise medical miracles beyond the dreams of ages. He learns that
to make such progress reality he must battle the city's corrupt
politics and survive the snake pit that is Bellevue Hospital, all
while resisting his love for the beautiful Carolina Devrey, his
cousin's wife. Sam Devrey, head of the shipping company that bears
his name and a visionary who believes the future will be ushered in
by mighty clipper ships spreading acres of sail, battles demons of
his own. The life he lives with Carolina in the elegant brownstone
on newly fashionable Fifth Avenue is a charade meant to disguise
his heart's true home, the secret downtown apartment of the
exquisite Mei-hua, his Chinese child-bride. The worlds of all four
are imperiled when Sam must rely on Nick's skills to save the woman
he loves, and only Nick's honor guards Sam's secret. On a night
when promises of hellfire seem to become reality and the city
nearly burns to the ground, Carolina and Mei-hua confront the truth
of their duplicitous marriages. Rage and revenge join love and
passion as driving forces in a story played out against the
background of the glittering New York that rises from the ashes,
where Delmonico's and the Astor House host bejeweled women and
top-hatted men, both with the din of commerce in their ears and the
glint of gold in their eyes.
As always, Swerling has conjured a dazzling cast of characters
to people her city. Among those seeking born-again salvation are
Addie Bellingham, befriended by the widow Manon Turner but willing
to betray her, and Lilac Langton, who confesses her sins but avoids
mentioning that she's a skilled abortionist in a city that has
recently made abortion a crime. Ben Klein, a brilliant young
physician, must balance devotion to his mentor and dedication to
research with duty to the Jewish community. Wilbur Randolf,
Carolina's father, indulges her in everything but fails her when
she needs him most. Jenny Worthington, Wilbur's longtime mistress,
is driven by avarice to make common cause with Fearless Flannagan,
a member of a New York police force as corrupt as the city it
serves. Ah Chee, Mei-hua's devoted servant, struggles through
Manhattan's streets on bound feet and burns incense to the kitchen
god in this place of foreign devils. They are all here, heroines
and saints, villains and victims, and a vanished New York made to
live again in an intricate tale of old debts and new rivalries.
This Was a Man is the seventh and final, captivating instalment of
the Clifton Chronicles from master storyteller Jeffrey Archer. This
Was a Man opens with a shot being fired, but who pulled the
trigger, and who lives and who dies? In Whitehall, Giles Barrington
discovers the truth about his wife Karin from the Cabinet
Secretary. Is she a spy or a pawn in a larger game? Harry Clifton
sets out to write his magnum opus, while his wife Emma completes
her ten years as Chairman of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, and
receives an unexpected call from Margaret Thatcher offering her a
job. Sebastian Clifton becomes chairman of Farthings Kaufman bank
after Hakim Bishara resigns for personal reasons. Sebastian and his
wife Samantha's talented daughter, Jessica, is expelled from the
Slade School of Fine Art, but her aunt Grace comes to her rescue.
Lady Virginia is about to flee the country to avoid her creditors
when the Duchess of Hertford dies, and sees another opportunity to
clear her debts and finally trump the Cliftons and the Barringtons.
In a devastating twist, tragedy engulfs the Clifton family when one
of them receives a shocking diagnosis that will throw all their
lives into turmoil.
Deborah Jorgenson is just four years old when she witnesses racism
for the first time. Unfortunately, the hatred is directed at her.
Born to Swedish parents in Minnesota in the early 1900s, Deborah
believes her dark hair and skin come from a great-grandmother. When
a fellow student bullies her and tells her she is an Indian,
Deborah wonders why. Taught by her elderly Hopi Indian mentor to
solve all her problems without resorting to violence, the
strong-willed Deborah continues to hold her head high throughout
her challenging coming-of-age journey. But when she is thirteen,
her parents inexplicably turn against her and one another, setting
off a chain of events that change the course of Deborah's future
forever. She marries her childhood sweetheart Christian Nelson, and
they have two sons, Jonathan and David. In 1929, they buy a farm in
Northwest Kansas-ignoring concerns about the future economy and
drought. Christian worries about those in their county who believe
Deborah to be Indian. Neither can begin to predict the challenges
that await them. The Mourning Dove's Message shares the
unforgettable journey of one woman's brave struggle to survive in
the face of the chaos and adversity that overshadows 1930s America.
A new Second World War novel from bestselling author Diney
Costeloe, based on a gripping and moving true story. Plymouth,
1941. As sirens blare all around, the Shawbrook family take refuge
in a packed shelter. Bombs have already begun to fall through the
night sky when they realise their infant son, Freddie, has been
forgotten in the rush, left to sleep in his crib. Terrified, Vera,
his young mother races to find him and bring him to safety. The
next morning, air raid warden David Shawbrook returns from his
watch to find the shelter pulverised, and his family seemingly all
dead. Dirty footprints inside their home betray the looters who
have rifled through the house. Meanwhile, Maggie waits alone for
her husband. Since the death of her infant son, she passes her days
at home with neither joy nor aim. But not this morning. For this
morning her husband has brought home a child, found abandoned in
the aftermath of the terrible raid - a child she is sure is the one
she held in her arms so many months before. Praise for Diney
Costeloe: 'Truly captivating' Woman & Home 'This is a truly
captivating read that brings together vibrant characters and a
historical setting' Woman's Own 'A gripping saga' My Weekly
Black Country Orphan is a moving story of the courage and strength
of women, by the Sunday Times bestselling author Annie Murray. The
early 1900s: Cradley Heath, a town in the Black Country near
Birmingham and centre of the world's chain-making trade. Lucy
Butler, a young girl crippled by a cruel accident, lives with her
two brothers and widowed mother, a chain-maker barely making ends
meet. When tragedy strikes, the Butler family is separated and Lucy
is taken in by Bertha Hipkiss, another impoverished chain maker,
struggling to look after her own family. Lucy, while feeling the
loss of her own family, relies on the company of Bertha's two sons,
charming Clem and straight-laced John. Though clever at school,
Lucy knows she must leave and earn her keep, working many hours in
the backyard forge. The five women toiling side by side, inevitably
have their own friendships and squabbles. But they're united in
their hatred of loathsome middleman Seth Dawson, who treats the
women with contempt, and keeps their pay punishingly low. But by
the 1910s, there is a movement stirring, as across the country
workers begin unionising for their rights. For Lucy, Bertha and the
women of Cradley Heath, the promise of a better life seems almost
too much to hope for - and the fight may end up costing them
everything . . .
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Vigilant
(Hardcover)
Will Bowron
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R725
R617
Discovery Miles 6 170
Save R108 (15%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Science raises questions only
love can answer in this moving and thought-provoking novel from the
#1 New York Times bestselling author of "heart-tugging and
emotional" (Romantic Times Book Reviews) life-changing fiction. One
frozen embryo. Two families with life-long secrets. And a guy who
never planned to fall in love again. Maddie Baxter West is shaken
to the core when she finds out everything she believed about her
life was a lie. Her parents had always planned to tell her the
truth about her past: that she was adopted as an embryo. But
somehow the right moment never happened. Then a total stranger
confronts Maddie with the truth and tells her something else that
rocks her world-Maddie had a sister she never knew about. Betrayed,
angry, and confused, Maddie leaves her new job and fiance, rejects
her family's requests for forgiveness, and moves to Portland to
find out who she really is. Dawson Gage's life was destroyed when
London Quinn, his best friend and the only girl he ever loved, is
killed. In the hospital waiting room, London's mother reveals that
London might have had a sibling. The frozen embryo she and her
husband donated decades ago. When Dawson finds Maddie and brings
her to Portland, the Quinns-her biological parents-welcome her into
their lives and hearts. Maddie is comforted by the Quinns' love and
intrigued by their memories of London, who was so much like her. Is
this the family and the life she was really meant to have? Now it
will take the love of Dawson Gage to help Maddie know who she
is...and to help her find her way home.
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Ashes
(Hardcover)
Chelle Bliss
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R624
Discovery Miles 6 240
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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Black Country Orphan is a moving story of the courage and strength
of women, by the Sunday Times bestselling author Annie Murray. The
early 1900s: Cradley Heath, a town in the Black Country near
Birmingham and centre of the world's chain-making trade. Lucy
Butler, a young girl crippled by a cruel accident, lives with her
two brothers and widowed mother, a chain-maker barely making ends
meet. When tragedy strikes, the Butler family is separated and Lucy
is taken in by Bertha Hipkiss, another impoverished chain maker,
struggling to look after her own family. Lucy, while feeling the
loss of her own family, relies on the company of Bertha's two sons,
charming Clem and straight-laced John. Though clever at school,
Lucy knows she must leave and earn her keep, working many hours in
the backyard forge. The five women toiling side by side, inevitably
have their own friendships and squabbles. But they're united in
their hatred of loathsome middleman Seth Dawson, who treats the
women with contempt, and keeps their pay punishingly low. But by
the 1910s, there is a movement stirring, as across the country
workers begin unionising for their rights. For Lucy, Bertha and the
women of Cradley Heath, the promise of a better life seems almost
too much to hope for - and the fight may end up costing them
everything . . .
In the late 1700s the western Indian nations had dealt with white
men for more than two hundred years. Buffalo Horn, a highly
respected Comanche warrior, receives a vision from the Great
Spirit. The unnerving vision tells of the coming of even a greater
foe than either the Spanish or French. This new foe, represented by
Blue Buffalo in his vision, wants land, even if it means doing away
with the Indian people and their cherished way of life
It has been long prophesied by many that a leader would one day
appear among the Indian nations to unite and lead them to victory
over the foretold coming of the great enemy. He would be known to
all as the Keeper of the Horse.
Buffalo Horn's son, Wise Council, appears as answer to the
long-awaited prophecy. Endowed with many talents, he possesses
wisdom and leadership abilities beyond his years. Some call him a
prophet, a Manitou, and some consider him to be the son of the
Great Spirit sent to earth to unite the Indians and to teach
brotherhood. In a vision, he learns that he will be the new Keeper
of the Horse, and the trail he must follow is predetermined but
filled with obstacles. The only way to overcome them-to unite his
people and preserve their way of life-is to keep to the path and
trust in the Great Spirit.
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Stain
(Hardcover)
Gabriel Kealey
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R881
Discovery Miles 8 810
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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For college student Emily Sheppard, the thought of spending a
summer alone in New York is much more preferable than spending it
in France with her parents. Just completing her freshman year at
Callister University, Emily faces a quiet summer in the city slums,
supporting herself by working at the campus library.
During one of her jogs through the nearby cemetery while
visiting her brother Bill's grave, Emily witnesses a brutal
killing-and then she blacks out. When Emily regains consciousness,
she realizes she's been kidnapped by a young crime boss and his
gang. She is hurled into a secret underworld, wondering why she is
still alive and for how long.
Held captive in rural Vermont, she tries to make sense of her
situation and what it means. While uncovering secrets about her
brother and his untimely death, Emily falls in love with her very
rich and very dangerous captor, twenty-six year- old Cameron. She
understands it's a forbidden love and one that won't allow her to
return to her previous life. But love may not be enough to save
Emily when no one even knows she is missing.
The unputdownable multi-million copy bestseller charting the rags
to riches story of Emma Harte With new Foreword from Fern Britton.
A WOMAN'S AMBITION... In the brooding moors above a humble
Yorkshire village stood Fairley Hall. There, Emma Harte, its
oppressed but resourceful servant girl, acquired a shrewd
determination. There, she honed her skills, discovered the meaning
of treachery, learned to survive, to become a woman, and vowed to
make her mark on the world. A JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME... In the wake
of tragedy she rose from poverty to magnificent wealth as the
iron-willed force behind a thriving international enterprise. As
one of the richest women in the world Emma Harte has almost
everything she fought so hard to achieve-save for the dream of
love, and for the passion of the one man she could never have. A
DREAM FULFILLED-AND AVENGED. Through two marriages, two devastating
wars, and generations of secrets, Emma's unparalleled success has
come with a price. As greed, envy, and revenge consume those
closest to her, the brilliant matriarch now finds herself poised to
outwit her enemies, and to face the betrayals of the past with the
same ingenious resolve that forged her empire.
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