Spanning four generations Isabel Allende's magnificent family saga is populated by a memorable often eccentric cast of characters. Together men & women spirits the forces of nature & of history converge in an unforgettable wholly absorbing & brilliantly realised novel that is as richly entertaining as it is a masterpiece of modern literature. ...

A legendary ruin. An ancient mystery. Will unveiling the past transform the future? San Francisco 2007. Madeline Moretti is grieving for her fiance. Nothing brings her joy any more & Maddie's grandmother a fiery Italian sends her to Tuscany to heal. Here Maddie is immersed in the mystery of a ruined villa. Destroyed centuries ago in a legendary storm on the Eve of St Agnes it has been known ever since as the Casa al Vento
- the House of the Wind. Tuscany 1347. Mia hasn't spoken since her mother's death & lives in silence with her beloved aunt. One dark night a couple seek refuge in their villa. Used to welcoming passing pilgrims Mia is entranced by the young bride's radiance & compassion but mystified by her reluctance to reveal even her name. Where has she come from & why must her presence be a secret? Centuries apart each searching for a way to step into her future Mia & Maddie will be haunted by the myth of the woman who walked unscathed from the ruins of the House of the Wind.
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Famed for their high-concept catwalk shows & extravagant collections the radical Dutch design duo Viktor & Rolf have taken the fashion world by storm over the last 15 years. This sumptuously produced book is the most comprehensive exploration of Viktor & Rolfs work to date &

Includes:: an essay by the fashion historian Caroline Evans an interview with the designers a detailed biography & perceptive texts on each collection. Particular attention is given to signature looks from such collections as Atomic Bomb & Russian Doll which showcase the duos unique blend of cool irony & surreal beauty. Featuring style shots by some of the worlds most celebrated photographers catwalk images behind-the-scenes snapshots & portraits The House of Viktor & Rolf is a stunning tribute to two of the most original designers in haute couture.

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' From the moment I crossed the mountain I fell in love. With the place which was more beautiful than any place I'd ever seen. With the people I met there. & with a way of looking at life that was deeper richer & wiser than any I'd known before. When I left I dreamt of clouds on the mountain. I kept going back.' We all lead very busy lives & sometimes it's hard to find the time to be the people we want to be. Twelve years ago Felicity Hayes-Mc Coy left the hectic pace of the city & returned to Ireland to make a new life in a remarkable house on the stunning Dingle peninsula. Beautifully written this is a life-affirming tale of rediscovering lost values & being reminded of the things that really matter. ...

If You Dont Know Me By Now " " The Love I Lost " " The Soul Train Theme " " Then Came You " " Aint No Stoppin Us Now"--the distinctive music that became known as Philly Soul dominated the pop music charts in the 1970s. In A House on Fire John A. Jackson takes us inside the musical empire created by Kenny Gamble Leon Huff & Thom Bell the three men who put Philadelphia Soul on the map. Here is the eye-opening story of three of the most influential & successful music producers of the seventies. Jackson shows how Gamble Huff & Bell developed a black recording empire second only to Berry Gordys Motown pumping out a string of chart-toppers from Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes the Spinners the OJays the Stylistics & many others. The author underscores the endemic racism of the music business at that time revealing how the three men were blocked from the major record companies & outlets in Philadelphia because they were black forcing them to create their own label sign their own artists & create their own sound. The sound they created--a sophisticated & glossy form of rhythm & blues characterized by crisp melodious harmonies backed by lush string-laden orchestration & a hard-driving rhythm section--was a glorious success producing at least twenty-eight gold or platinum albums & thirty-one gold or platinum singles. But after their meteoric rise & years of unstoppable success their production company finally failed brought down by payola competition a tough economy & changing popular tastes. Funky groovy soulful--Philly Soul was the classic seventies sound. A House on Fire tells the inside story of this remarkable musical phenomenon." ...

Athens 1942
- two sisters divided by politics & tragedy... In 2008 Antigone Perifanis returns to her old family home in Athens
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One woman's quest to discover the dark secret at the heart of a family. Actor Gwydion Morgan's dramatic appearance at Jessica Mayhew's psychotherapy practice coincides with a turbulent time in her own life
- her husband has just revealed that he's spent the night with a much younger woman. Gwydion son of the famous Evan Morgan is good looking & talented but mentally fragile tormented by an intriguing phobia. Jessica is determined to trace the cause of his distress. So when his mother phones to say he is suicidal Jessica decides to make a house call. The Morgans live in a grand cliff-top mansion overlooking a rocky bay with its own private jetty. It's a remote & somewhat sinister place. On her visit Jessica finds out that an au pair who looked after Gwydion as a child drowned in the bay in mysterious circumstances. Could it be that Gwydion witnessed her death? In her quest to help her client Jessica finds herself becoming embroiled in the Morgans' poisonous family dynamic. At the same time she has to deal with the demands of her own domestic life: her struggle to keep her marriage intact as well as her older daughter's increasingly defiant behaviour. & then of course there is the growing attraction she feels towards her new client...
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Dick Young stays in his friend Professor Magnus Lanes house in Cornwall on the understanding he will be a guinea-pig for a new drug that Magnus has developed. As a result of the experiment he is transported back to fourteenth century Cornwall. With each trip he becomes more & more involved with medieval intrigue adultery & murder. Is it merely hallucination; a subconscious escape from his own complicated life or a real journey into the past? He becomes obsessed with the world he visits & past & present eventually become inextricably & perilously mixed. ...

Dick Young is lent a house in Cornwall by his friend Professor Magnus Lane. During his stay he agrees to serve as a guinea pig for a new drug that Magnus has discovered in his biochemical researches. The effect of this drug is to transport Dick from the house at Kilmarth to the Cornwall of the 14th century. There in the manor of Tywardreath the domain of Sir Henry Champernoune he witnesses intrigue adultery & murder. As his time travelling increases Dick resents more & more the days he must spend in the modern world longing ever more fervently to get back into his world of centuries before.. . ...

The warm engrossing new novel from the No. 1 bestseller Cathy Kelly Welcome to Avalon: a quaint sleepy town on the Irish coast. Nothing has changed here for generations
- least of all the huge mansion on Willow Street; the house in which sisters Tess & Suki Power grew up. Now years later Tess is trying to save her marriage protect her glamorous sister Suki who has come back home dreams shattered. Similarly Mara Wilson is seeking refuge from a broken heart at her Aunt Danae's house. & Danae the inscrutable postmistress is hiding some dark memories of her own. Now that the big house is up for sale change is blowing on the cold sea wind. But before they can look to the future these four women must face up to the past...
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