Laure seventeen beautiful & already abandoned twice in her young life. Once by the glamorous mother she can barely remember a woman who brought shame on the St Lazare family name & fled to America; & then again by a handsome soldier who left her pregnant & alone facing the wrath of her grandmother. Amelie caught in a world where shes neither servant nor mistress trapped between the St Lazare family shes always worked for & the simmering hostility of a country on the verge of meltdown. With a past she knows nothing about & no family of her own she yearns to find a place that can be home. Melanie the rock stars daughter who has everything money can buy except the love she craves. A daddys girl caught in a whirl of damaging relationships testing those closest to her. In one man she sees the chance to change her life for ever but at what price? In a story that begins in the relentless heat of a Haitian summer & sweeps through the luxury of Americas elite to the colourful chaos of East End London BITTER CHOCOLATE is a glorious tale of the quest for love marriage & finding a place to belong. ...

In July 2007 Zimbabwe's worsening economy saw inflation skyrocket to 7 634 per cent deepening the already chronic food shortages in a country where only one in five of the adult population is in employment. Months later on 20 November 2007 Ian Smith the former Prime Minister of Rhodesia died leaving behind him a lifetime of resistance to black majority rule & the dangers that he believed it would bring to his country. Ian Smith was a man with the ability to excite powerful emotions in all who heard his name. To those who still revere his memory he was a hero a mighty leader a man whose formidable integrity led him into head-to-head confrontation with the Labour Government of Britain in the 1960s. To others he was & remains a demon a reactionary whose intransigence long delayed majority rule in an important corner of Africa. The last decades of the twentieth century & the first years of the new millennium have seen Zimbabwe spiral into a chaos of violence & towards the brink of economic collapse prompting many to reappraise Smith's role & the prescience of his actions. In this revealing & important historical document Ian Smith charts the rise & fall of a once-great nation. He tells the remarkable story behind the signing of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence as well as the excesses of power that Mugabe has used to create the virtual dictatorship which exists in Zimbabwe today. ...

This is not a political book but simple a somewhat impressionistic study of the moods & atmospheres of Cyprus during the troubled years 1953-6." So wrote Lawrence Durrell in the preface to Bitter Lemons. Durrell who lived abroad for much of his life brilliantly captures the romance beauty excitement & sadness of the island & the lives of the people of Bellapaix where he bought a house. In a compelling & atmospheric account beautifully suited to the Spoken Word medium Durrell charts affectionately the romances & relationships of the many characters he befriended there. " Bitter Lemons of Cyprus" is both an evocative & memorable picture of village life & a social & historical document of a lost community. Written during the gradual uprising of the Greek Cypriots who wanted union with Greece Durrell observes the people's struggles on an intimate & personal level. Sadly some fifty years later the Cypriot situation remains unresolved. The reader Andrew Sachs is one of Britain's best-loved actors famous for playing the role of Manuel in Fawlty Towers." ...

Consuelo is sixteen heavily pregnant & married to an unemployed gangster. The last thing she needs is a negligent doctor. When she is rushed into the Friendship private hospital the staff are reluctant to treat her. Fortunately she has Vic Warshawski family friend & ex-lawyer with her. But Consuelo & her baby are the tragic victims of a system so corrupt that it pays her husband to keep quiet. Anyone who can discover anything about the unorthodox dealings of the Friendship is in danger. & Vic's investigations are just about to begin.. . ...

The year is 1939. Raybould Marsh & other members of British Intelligence have gathered to watch a damaged reel of film in a darkened room. It appears to show German troops walking through walls bursting into flames & hurling tanks into the air from afar. If the British are to believe their eyes a twisted Nazi scientist has been endowing German troops with unnatural unstoppable powers. & Raybould will be forced to resort to dark methods to hold the impending invasion at bay. But dealing with the occult exacts a price. & that price must be paid in blood. Ian Tregillis Bitter Seeds is a chilling masterpiece
- a tale of a twentieth century like our own & also profoundly different.
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The long-awaited companion to the New York Times bestsellers Graceling & Fire Eight years have passed since the young Princess Bitterblue & her country were saved from the vicious King Leck. Now Bitterblue is the queen of Monsea & her land is at peace. But the influence of her father a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities lives on. Her advisers who have run the country on her behalf since Lecks death believe in a forward-thinking plan: to pardon all of those who committed terrible acts during Lecks reign; & to forget every dark event that ever happened. Monseas past has become shrouded in mystery & its only when Bitterblue begins sneaking out of her castle
- curious disguised & alone
- to walk the streets of her own city that she begins to realise the truth. Her kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year long spell of a madman & now their only chance to move forward is to revisit the past. Whatever that past holds. Two thieves who have sworn only to steal what has already been stolen change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Lecks reign. & one of them who possesses an unidentified Grace may also hold a key to her heart.. . Praise for Kristin Cashore This is gorgeous storytelling: exciting stirring & accessible School Journal A WOW of a book. I HAD to know how it ended Tamora Pierce Fresh hopeful tragic & glorious Kirkus There arent enough words to describe how awesome this book is Romantic Times

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The long-awaited companion to the NEW YORK TIMES bestsellers GRACELING & FIRE. Eight years have passed since the young Princess Bitterblue & her country were saved from the vicious King Leck. Now Bitterblue is the queen of Monsea & her land is at peace. But the influence of her father a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities lives on. Her advisers who have run the country on her behalf since Leck's death believe in a forward-thinking plan: to pardon all of those who committed terrible acts during Leck's reign; & to forget every dark event that ever happened. Monsea's past has become shrouded in mystery & it's only when Bitterblue begins sneaking out of her castle
- curious disguised & alone
- to walk the streets of her own city that she begins to realise the truth. Her kingdom has been under the 35-year long spell of a madman & now their only chance to move forward is to revisit the past. Whatever that past holds. Two thieves who have sworn only to steal what has already been stolen change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. & one of them who possesses an unidentified Grace may also hold a key to her heart...

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India Taylor lived in a world of manicured lawns & neatly-maintained calendars. With four wonderful children India believed in commitment & sacrifice just as she believed in Doug the man she had married seventeen years before. She had chosen this life not the award-winning career as a photojournalist she once had & it was a choice she had never regretted
- until she began to regret it with all her heart. India couldnt pinpoint the exact moment when the price of the sacrifices she shed made began to seem high. But when she met Paul Ward a Wall Street tycoon married to a bestselling author India could share her dreams with him & offer comfort when he suffered a heartbreak of his own. India hadnt planned to become Pauls friend & anything more was unthinkable. When Paul urged India to reclaim her career Doug was adamantly against it determined to keep her tied to the home. But with Pauls encouragement India slowly painfully began to break free & find herself again. Bittersweet" is Indias story a story of freedom of having dreams & making choices. With unerring insight Danielle Steel has created a moving portrait of a woman who dares to embark on a new adventure. Her painful exhilarating journey inspires us all."
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Bizzy Bear is a busy bear today! Hes going out to play with his friend Rabbit. Toddlers can help him play on the swing & the see-saw & kick a football in a fun-packed visit to the park to which toddlers can easily relate. Bizzy Bear books are perfect for little hands with lots of chunky things to push & pull. ...

Introducing Bizzy Bear the busiest bear on the block! With chunky sliders to push & pull these robust little board books are perfect for active toddlers. Rich in visual detail & with touches of humour they are set to become firm favourites in the family library. ...