Art reality & the strange ways the two imitate one another are at the core of Muriel Sparks delightful Loitering with Intent first published in 1981. Would-be novelist Fleur Talbot works for the snooty irascible Sir Quentin Oliver at the Autobiographical Association whose members are all at work on their memoirs. When her employer gets his hands on Fleurs novel-in-progress mayhem ensues when its scenes begin coming true. Generating hilarious turns of phrase & larger-than-life characters (especially Sir Quentins batty mother) Sparks inimitable style make this literary joyride thoroughly appealing. ...

When life with Jayni's violent-tempered father becomes too frightening to cope with Jayni her mum & her little brother Kenny are forced to escape in the middle of the night. Slipping out of the house unseen travelling up to London by train & checking into a hotel
- it's almost like playing an elaborate game. They even make up false identities to protect their secret & Jayni becomes the glamorous-sounding Lola Rose. But when money runs out & reality bites what will they do next?
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Kirsty & Rachel are excited to be entering a charity fashion show where children get to show off their own designs. Unfortunately Jack Frost thinks everyone in the world should dress like him & steals the Fashion Fairies' seven magical items to put his naughty plan into action! The day of the fashion show has arrived but Kirsty & Rachel know it will be a total disaster unless they can find Lola the Fashion Show Fairy's magical backstage pass. ...

Morfudd Richards ran a very popular London restaurant called Lolas. When she closed it in 2004 she bought an ice-cream van & started a business
- Lolas on Ice
- selling her homemade ice creams. From here springs this mouthwatering book based on four years experience of mastering the art of making ice cream & the discovery of a passion. Morfudd shares over 100 sumptuous recipes for ice creams sorbets granitas & sundaes
- for use with an ice-cream maker or by h&. She reveals why beetroot is the perfect partner for blackcurrant in a sorbet; how to make the creamiest vanilla ice cream & why your tastebuds wont fail to be tantalised by burnt orange caramel or rhubarb crumble ice cream or pea & wasabi sorbet. She also teaches you how to marry flavours to create irresistible sundaes how to make ices throughout the year using seasonal ingredients & provides a handy Q&A section to help solve your ice-cream dilemmas. With eye-catching design & stunning colour photography throughout this book is THE definitive guide to all things iced & will have you licking your bowl clean to savour every last drop of your delectable desserts.


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Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged fastidious college professor. He also likes little girls. & none more so than Lolita who hell do anything to possess. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or a monster?! Or is he all of these? ...

Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita" is one of the best-known novels of the 20th century: the controversial story of Humbert Humbert who falls in love with twelve year old Lolita beautifully repackaged as part of the Penguin Essentials range. ' Lolita light of my life fire of my loins. My sin my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of my tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap at three on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.' Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged frustrated college professor. In love with his landlady's twelve-year-old daughter Lolita he'll do anything to possess her. Unable & unwilling to stop himself he is prepared to commit any crime to get what he wants. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or a monster? Or is he all of these? "A masterpiece. One of the great works of art of our age". (" Independent"). " You read Lolita sprawling limply in your chair ravished overcome nodding scandalized assent". (Martin Amis " Observer"). " Redeeming splendid headlong endlessly comic & evocative". (John Updike). " Lolita is more the shocking because it is both intensely lyrical & wildly funny.. .a Medusa's head with trick paper snakes". (" Time"). " His command of words his joy in them his comic & ecstatic use of them.. .makes reading his work such an intense joy". (" Daily Telegraph"). "A great novel... It widens our own humanity". (" Guardian"). " There's no funnier monster in modern literature than poor doomed Humbert Humbert. Going to hell in his company would always be worth the ride". (" Independent"). Vladimir Nabokov was born in St. Petersburg in 1899. He studied at Trinity College Cambridge before moving to Berlin in 1922. Between 1923 & 1940 he published novels short stories plays poems & translations in the Russian language & established himself as one of the most outstanding Russian emigre writers. In 1940 he moved with his wife & son to America where he worked as a lecturer & professor until he retired from teaching in 1959. Nabokov published his first novel in English " The Real Life of Sebastian Knight" in 1941. His other books include " Ada"; " Laughter in the Dark"; " Despair"; " Pnin"; " Nabokov's Dozen"; " Invitation to a Beheading"; " Mary"; " Bend Sinister"; " Glory"; " Pale Fire"; " The Gift"; " The Luzhin Defense" & " Lolita" which brought him worldwide fame. In 1973 he was awarded the American National Medal for Literature. Vladimir Nabokov died in 1977." ...

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged fastidious college professor. He also likes little girls. & none more so than Lolita who he'll do anything to possess. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or a monster? Or is he all of these? ...

' Who died?' I said. ' Or is it a secret?' ' My mother Vianne Rocher.' Seeking refuge & anonymity in the cobbled streets of Montmartre Yanne & her two daughters live peacefully if not happily above their little chocolate shop. Nothing unusual marks them out; no red sachets hang by the door. The wind has stopped
- at least for a while. Then into their lives blows Zozie de l' Alba the lady with the lollipop shoes ruthless devious & seductive. With everything she loves at stake Yanne must face a difficult choice; to flee as she has done so many times before or to confront her most dangerous enemy... Herself.
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Who died? I said. Or is it a secret? My mother Vianne Rocher seeking refuge & anonymity in the cobbled streets of Montmartre Yanne & her daughters Rosette & Annie live peacefully if not happily above their little chocolate shop. Nothing unusual marks them out; no red sachets hang by the door. The wind has stopped
- at least for a while. Then into their lives blows Zozie de l Alba the lady with the lollipop shoes & everything begins to change... But this new friendship is not what it seems. Ruthless devious & seductive Zozie de l Alba has plans of her own
- plans that will shake their world to pieces. & with everything she loves at stake Yanne must face a difficult choice; to flee as she has done so many times before or to confront her most dangerous enemy... Herself.

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Lolly is Lolly Luck by name lucky by nature. She always wins magazine competitions on scratch cards & any game you can think of. But when Lollys dad loses his job & then the family home Lollys luck starts to change. & when she overhears her parents arguing she learns a secret that will change her life forever. ...