Venice in 1576 is a city ravaged by plague Most have fled but the beautiful & formidable Tullia Buffo once the most desired courtesan of the age has returned home Facing ruin Tullia must now fight for her life & protect her secrets The gondolier Sebastiano a keeper of secrets has plied his trade on the canals of Venice his whole life soaking up gossip & scandal & saving his family from destitution after what happened to his father After all these years his lifelong grudge against the famous painter Titian's son is as strong as ever Now with Titian dead his son has returned to Venice to claim his father's paintings & Sebastiano has a plan for revenge In the present day events from centuries earlier suddenly engulf the lives of ordinary people as far distant as London & New York as they are touched by the enduring legacy of Tullia a lost Titian masterpiece & the secrets of old Venice ...

WINNER OF THE CWA GOLD DAGGER FOR SIDETRACKEDHerbert Molin a retired police officer is living alone in a remote cottage in the vast forests of northern Sweden He has two obsessions one is the tango & the other is a conviction that he is being hunted constantly pursued by 'demons' He has no close friends no close neighbours & by the time his body is eventually found Molin is almost unrecognisable Lindman a police officer on extended sick leave hears of the death of his former colleague & to take his mind off his own problems decides to involve himself in the case What he discovers to his horror & disbelief is a network of evil almost unimaginable in this remote district & one which seems impossible to link to Molin's death ...

' Okay okay So slap my teensy little paws I messed up
- big time' Tuffy can't wait for Ellie & the family to go away on holiday
...

Concluding the story begun in The Hobbit this is the final part of Tolkien's epic masterpiece The Lord of the Rings featuring an exclusive cover image from the film the definitive text & a detailed map of Middle-earth The armies of the Dark Lord Sauron are massing as his evil shadow spreads ever wider Men Dwarves Elves & Ents unite forces to do battle agains the Dark Meanwhile Frodo & Sam struggle further into Mordor in their heroic quest to destroy the One Ring The devastating conclusion of JRR Tolkien's classic tale of magic & adventure begun in The Fellowship of the Ring & The Two Towers features the definitive edition of the text &

Includes:: the Appendices & a revised Index in full To celebrate the release of the first of Peter Jackson's two-part film adaptation of The Hobbit THE HOBBIT AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY this third part of The Lord of the Rings is available for a limited time with an exclusive cover image from Peter Jackson's award-winning trilogy

...

Concluding the story begun in The Hobbit this is the final part of Tolkien's epic masterpiece The Lord of the Rings Featuring a striking black cover based on Tolkien's own design the definitive text & a detailed map of Middle-earth The armies of the Dark Lord are massing as his evil shadow spreads ever wider Men Dwarves Elves & Ents unite forces to do battle agains the Dark Meanwhile Frodo & Sam struggle further into Mordor in their heroic quest to destroy the One Ring Impossible to describe in a few words JRR Tolkien's great work of imaginative fiction has been labelled both a heroic romance & a classic fantasy fiction By turns comic & homely epic & diabolic the narrative moves through countless changes of scene & character in an imaginary world which is totally convincing in its detail Tolkien created a vast new mythology in an invented world which has proved timeless in its appeal ...

With an Introduction & Notes by Claire Seymour University of Kent at Canterbury The Return of the Native is widely recognised as the most representative of Hardy's Wessex novels He evokes the dismal presence & menacing beauty of Egdon Heath
- reaching out to touch the lives & fate of all who dwell on it The central figure is Clym Yeobright the returning native' & the story tells of his love for the beautiful but capricious Eustacia Vye As the narrative unfolds & character after character is driven to self-destruction the presence of the Heath becomes all-embracing while Clym becomes a travelling preacher in an attempt to assuage his guilt
...

A chance encounter with a reproduction of Rembrandt's painting The Return of the Prodigal Son catapulted Henri Nouwen into a long spiritual adventure In his highly-acclaimed book of the same title he shares the deeply personal meditation that led him to discover the place within which God has chosen to dwell This Lent course which has been adapted from the book helps us to reflect on the meaning of the parable for our own lives Divided into five sessions the course moves through the parable exploring our reaction to the story the younger son's leaving & return the father's restoration of sonship the elder son's resentment & the father's compassion All of us who have experienced loneliness dejection jealousy or anger will respond to the persistent themes of homecoming affirmation & reconciliation Each session contained on the CD

Includes:: extracts from the book by Henri Nouwen & background information about Henri Nouwen's life as well as suggestions for reflection Notes for Group Leaders & written questions for group discussion are also included in the enclosed booklet

...

The first part of The History of The Lord of the Rings an enthralling account of the writing of the Book of the Century which contains many additional scenes &

Includes:: the unpublished Epilogue in its entirety The Return of the Shadow is the story of the first part of the history of the creation of The Lord of the Rings a fascinating study of Tolkien's great masterpiece from its inception to the end of the first volume The Fellowship of the Ring In The Return of the Shadow (the abandoned title of the first volume of The Lord of the Rings) we see how Bilbo's magic ring evolved into the supremely dangerous Ruling Ring of the Dark Lord; & the precise & astonishingly unforeseen moment when a Black Rider first rode in to the Shire The character of the hobbit called Trotter (afterwards Strider or Aragorn) is developed & Frodo's companions undergo many changes of name & personality The book comes complete with reproductions of the first maps & facsimile pages from the earliest manuscripts This series of fascinating books has now been repackaged to complement the distinctive & classic style of the black cover' A-format paperbacks of The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings The Silmarillion & Unfinished Tales

...

Virtually all of the Smurfs are smitten with the Smurfette which causes their zany methods of trying to win her affections to keep growing in outrageousness From building statues to baking cakes & even dressing up like the Smurfette in order to better understand her the Smurfs are in a frenzy competing for the love of the Smurfette Will this madness ever die down? Meet the Author Roland Goossand popularly known as Gos is a Belgian comics creator who was a frequent collaborator of Peyo’s & wrote several Smurf stories Gos also wrote for the comic “ Spirou” & launched his own comics titles in Belgium in the 1970’s including “ The Scrameustach” Peyo created The Smurfs in his comic strip “ Johan & Peewit” Peyo wrote & drew over 8 extremely popular titles in Europe throughout his storied career In 2008 the country of Belgium celebrated what would have been his 80th birthday by issuing a 5 Euro coin featuring his creation The Smurfs ...

A beautiful tribute to the international bestseller The Little Prince with specially commissioned illustrations by the award-winning artist Pietari Posti 160 pages Roemmers AG ...