In The House of Bernarda Alba" a tyrannical matriarch rules over her house & five daughters cruelly crushing their hopes & needs. The other plays here also portray female characters whose desires are tragically & violently frustrated: a womans longing for a child in " Yerma" & a brides yearning for her lover in " Blood Wedding". All appeal for freedom & sexual & social equality & are also passionate defences of the imagination: in Christopher Maurers words poetic drama unsurpassed by any writer of our time." ...

In Northern Genabackis just before the events recounted in GARDENS OF THE MOON a raiding party of savage tribal warriors descends from the mountains into the southern flat lands. Their intention is to wreak havoc among the despised lowlanders but for the one named Karsa Orlong it marks the beginning of what will prove an extraordinary destiny. Some years later it is the aftermath of the Chain of Dogs. Coltaine revered commander of the Malazan 7th Army is dead. & now Tavore elder sister of Ganoes Paran & Adjunct to the Empress has arrived in the last remaining Malazan stronghold of the Seven Cities to take charge. Untested & new to command she must hone a small army of twelve thousand soldiers mostly raw recruits into a viable fighting force & lead them into battle against the massed hordes of Shaiks Whirlwind. Her only hope lies in resurrecting the shattered faith of the few remaining survivors from Coltaines legendary march veterans one & all. In distant Raraku in the heart of the Holy Desert the seer Shaik waits with her rebel army. But waiting is never easy. Her disparate collection of warlords
- tribal chiefs High Mages a renegade Malazan Fist & his sorceror
- is locked in a vicious power struggle that threatens to tear the rebellion apart from within. & Shaik herself suffers haunted by the private knowledge of her nemesis Tavore...her own sister. So begins the awesome new chapter in Steven Eriksons MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN
- an epic novel of war intrigue magic & betrayal from a writer regarded as one of the most original imaginative & exciting storytellers in fantasy today.


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You've devoured the Fifty Shades Trilogy. Now experience a place like no other in the... House of Decadence At twenty-three Megan Stewart feels that there should be more to life than working in a library so she answers an advert for a post in a country house
- & discover what she has been missing. Handsome Fabrizio Balocchi is far from this Tuscan home & feeling bored. But he instinctively knows that Megan will be a natural player in his games of domination & step by step he leads her into a darker world a world where pleasure is mixed with pain. Now Megan must decide how far she is willing to go in order to stay in Fabrizio's house of decadence.. . This title has also been published under the pseudonym Lucia Cubelli.
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Greece 1936. A young British diplomat & his wife have been posted to Athens. Hugh loves the life there but his spirited & unconventional wife Evadne finds it hard to fit in with the whirl of endless parties & socialising. When Hugh is sent to Crete to sort out a problem they stay in a rundown house owned by his family. His wife falls in love with the place & the people & stays on when Hugh returns to his duties. As she tries to rebuild the ramshackle home Evadne
- known as Heavenly by the locals
- makes firm friends with Anthi a young woman from the village & Christo the handsome & charismatic young builder. But the dark clouds of war are gathering & the island will become a crucible of violence & bloodshed in the days to come. For Heavenly her friends & family it will be the greatest test they have ever known.

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Newly discovered & with an introduction by Johnny Depp this is legendary American folk singer Woody Guthries only finished novel: a compelling portrait of two hardscrabble farmers struggling during the Dust Bowl. Filled with the homespun lyricism that made Guthries songs unforgettable this is the story of an ordinary couples dream of a better life in a corrupt world. Living in a precarious wooden shack Texan farmers Tike & Ella May yearn for a sturdy house to protect them from the treacherous elements. Thanks to a government pamphlet Tike knows how to build a simple adobe dwelling from the land itself- a house of earth. But while the land on which Tike & Ella May live & work is not theirs their dream remains painfully out of reach. A rural tale of progressive activism HOUSE OF EARTH is a searing portrait of hardship & hope set against a ravaged landscape. Combining the moral urgency & narrative drive of John Steinbeck with the erotic frankness of D.H. Lawrence it is a powerful tale of America from a great artist. ...

Two sisters fight to assert themselves after being plunged into devastating poverty following their fathers death. Luckily their natural flair for design soon finds them in demand as dressmakers. Beatrice is the elder & apparently wiser of the two who considers herself plain & unmarriageable & whose relationship with society photographer Jack Maddox is seared with conflict & doubt. Her younger sister is Evangeline ravishingly beautiful the victim of chancers philanderers & rogues -- but most of all the victim of her own desires. Throughout all their private turmoils their professional goal is constant: to establish a fashion house in London to rival any in Paris. Based on the massively successful television series created by Jean Marsh & Eileen Atkins this is the full story of Beatrice & Evangeline & of the strength & triumph bitterly made decisions & anguishes that accompanied the rise of the House of Eliott. ...

In the heart of Indianapolis in the mid 1960's through a twist of fate & fortune a pretty young girl came to live with a thirty-seven-year-old mother & her seven children. What began as a temporary childcare arrangement between Sylvia Likens' parents & Gertrude Baniszewski turned into a crime that would haunt cops prosecutors & a community for decades to come... When police found Sylvia's emaciated body with a chilling message carved into her flesh they knew that she had suffered tremendously before her death. Soon they would learn how many others-including some of Baniszewski's own children-participated in Sylvia's murder & just how much torture had been inflicted in one House Of Evil"." ...

House of Fun is a bumper collection of Simon Hoggart's finest & funniest sketches written since he took up the poisoned quill twenty years ago. It is instant history with added jokes. Read about how John Major learned the English language from his time in Nigeria. There is Tony Blair with his verb-free sentences which imply everything & promise nothing. Gordon Brown the grumpiest prime minister of recent years both Stalin & Mr Bean. & now David Cameron
- who really really hates being drawn with a condom on his head. Let's not forget John Prescott who can wrestle the English language to the mat & win by two falls to a submission Michael Fabricant with his hairpiece stolen from the tail of a " My Little Pony" Sir Peter Tapsell a grandee so grand that when he rises to speak Hansard writers are replaced by a crack team of monks to write up his words in illuminated lettering. Nick Clegg with his default expression of a man's whose chldren's puppy is still missing. & of course the famous 2010 press conference in the garden of Downing Street a love-in that would have been illegal in 44 American states. This book will have you laughing chuckling roaring sniggering & sometimes despairing."
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Madness are a British institution. Formed at the height of Punk London in 1976 the Nutty Boys mixed old Ska & Reggae rhythms astute social comment & music hall humour to make them the most successful UK singles band of the Eighties
- as popular with the grannies as with post-punk teenagers hungry for an alternative to the glossy pop of the age. In Thatchers Britain Madness seemed like an anachronism: resolutely working class down-to-earth & facing adversity with a glint in the eye. & yet in terms of pop music they helped define the age via hits like My Girl" " One Step Beyond" " House of Fun" & " Baggy Trousers". From their roots in North London through their emergence as part of 2-Tone & onto their fall in the late 80s & subsequent rise via the Madstock festivals " House of Fun" celebrates this very English musical phenomenon. John Reed offers an affectionate yet insightful version of events helped by candid interviews with those whove worked with Madness over the years. From the trials & tribulations of inter-band disputes accusations of racism & their eventful split to the highs of their violet patch from 1979 to 1986 when they justified their nickname of The Magnificent Seven via an unmatched succession of classic hit singles " House of Fun"
- for the first time
- tells the story of Madness."


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This is a revised edition of one of NHB's consistently best-selling theatre books
- a treasure trove of drama games & exercises.
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