Set in the hills of Northern Ireland in the 1960s & 1970s, A Son Called Gabriel is a deeply felt & often funny coming of age novel that is ultimately unforgettable. Gabriel Harkin, the eldest of four children in a working-class family, struggles through a loving yet often brutal childhood. It's a turbulent time in Ulster &, in the staunchly Catholic community to which Gabriel belongs, the strict code for belief & behaviour is clear. As Gabriel begins to suspect that he is not like other boys, he tries desperately to lock away his feelings, & his fears. But secrets have a a way of being discovered, & Gabriel learns that his might not be the only one in the Harkin family. ...

It is 1943 & the quiet of Harrowbeer, in Devon, is disrupted by increased activity at the nearly airfield, built at the beginning of the War. Amongst the squadrons moving in are pilots from Britain, Canada & Pol&. The airfield, with its noise & its population, has a massive impact on the peaceful villages nearby
- an impact that will affect some inhabitants for the rest of their lives. Alison, married to a pilot & newly pregnant, soon makes friends with the locals, particularly with May, who finds herself caught up in the life of the RAF, watching & waiting as the pilots & crew carry out their dangerous missions. Then, on the night when Alison's baby is born, her husband is reported missing & Alison & May find themselves facing a dilemma all too familiar to the wives & sweethearts of those who flew the Spitfires, Hurricanes & other aircraft to protect their country during this time of war.
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She faced poverty, bereavement, cruelty & abandonment many times over – yet never lost the heart to pursue true love.



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When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it's not good news.

Her husband has been missing

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' He's gone...'

When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it's not good news. Her husband

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The war is ending, perhaps ended. For the castle & its occupants the troubles are just beginning. Armed gangs roam a lawless land where each farm & house supports a column of dark smoke. Taking to the roads with the other refugees, anonymous in their raggedness, seems safer than remaining in the ancient keep. However, the lieutenant of an outlaw band has other ideas & the castle becomes the focus for a dangerous game of desire, deceit & death. Iain Bank's masterly novel reveals his unique ability to combine gripping narrative with a relentlessly voyaging imagination. The narrative technique & sheer brio of A SONG OF STONE reveal a great novelist at the height of his powers. ...

A lone gunman takes the women & doctors at a controversial abortion clinic hostage. Nobody has ended up there by choice.

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As the 20th century matures, the years bring fresh problems for the Lowrie family, first introduced to readers in The Shimmer Of The Herring. James, rejected by his betrayed & embittered wife Stella, has to fight hard to keep his beloved steam drifter, the Fidelity, while his sister Bethany struggles, inch by painful inch, to gain the financial independence she craves. Innes Lowrie, the youngest of the family, is busy raising his ever-increasing brood. As the years go by, James & Bethany find themselves battling over her beloved son, Adam: Bethany wants him to find a life far from Buckie
- & away from the danger of discovering the dark family secrets: James, father of three daughters, sees Adam as the natural successor to the Fidelity & a fisherman's life. Adam, meanwhile, is more interested in Etta Mulholl&, Innes's foster daughter. But the day must come when he has to choose between pleasing his mother or following the man he knows as his uncle.
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From the trenches of France, General Sean Courtney comes back to fame, fortune & a seat in government. Mark Anders, the courageous young South African whom he has come to regard as his own son, returns to nothing, his grandfather murdered, & his property seized by an unknown company. At the bottom of the mystery is Sean's son Dirk, the jealous, violent & power-crazed genius whose all-consuming hatred can only end in blood... ...

After training as a teacher, Pete Postlethwaite started his acting career at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre where his colleagues included Bill Nighy, Jonathan Pryce, Antony Sher & Julie Walters. After routine early appearances in small parts for television programmes such as THE PROFESSIONALS, Postlethwaite's first success came with the acclaimed British film DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES in 1988. He then received an Academy Award nomination for his role in THE NAME OF THE FATHER in 1993. His performance as the mysterious lawyer " Kobayashi" in THE USUAL SUSPECTS is also well-known, & he has appeared in many successful films including ALIEN 3, BRASSED OFF, THE SHIPPING NEWS, THE CONSTANT GARDENER, as Friar Lawrence in Baz Luhrmann's ROMEO + JULIET, & in INCEPTION with Leonardo di Caprio. He is one of the best-loved & widely admired performers on stage, TV (SHARPE, THE SINS) & in cinema. In THE ART OF DISCWORLD, Terry Pratchett said that he had always imagined Sam Vimes as 'a younger, slightly bulkier version of Pete Postlethwaite', while Steven Spielberg called him 'the best actor in the world', about which Postlethwaite says: 'I'm sure what Spielberg actually said was, the thing about Pete is that he thinks he's the best actor in the world.' This is the story of a diverse & multi-talented actor's eventful like, told in his own candid & vibrant words. ...