Russia 1915: Sixteen year old farmers son Georgy Jachmenev steps in front of an assassins bullet intended for a senior member of the Russian Imperial Family & is instantly proclaimed a hero. Rewarded with the position of bodyguard to Alexei Romanov the only son of Tsar Nicholas II the course of his life is changed for ever. Privy to the secrets of Nicholas & Alexandra the machinations of Rasputin & the events which will lead to the final collapse of the autocracy Georgy is both a witness & participant in a drama that will echo down the century. Sixty-five years later visiting his wife Zoya as she lies in a London hospital memories of the life they have lived together flood his mind. & with them the consequences of the brutal fate of the Romanovs which has hung like a shroud over every aspect of their marriage... ...

Six million years ago at the very dawn of the starfaring era Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male & female clones: the shatterlings. Sent out into the galaxy these shatterlings have stood aloof as they document the rise & fall of countless human empires. They meet every two hundred thousand years to exchange news & memories of their travels with their siblings. Campion & Purslane are not only late for their thirty-second reunion but they have brought along an amnesiac golden robot for a guest. But the wayward shatterlings get more than the scolding they expect: they face the discovery that someone has a very serious grudge against the Gentian line & there is a very real possibility of traitors in their midst. The surviving shatterlings have to dodge exotic weapons while they regroup to try to solve the mystery of who is persecuting them & why
- before their ancient line is wiped out of existence for ever.
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In January 1850 Dostoyevsky was sent to a remote Siberian prison camp for his part in a political conspiracy. The four years he spent there startlingly re-created in The House of the Dead" were the most agonizing of his life. In this fictionalized account he recounts his soul-destroying incarceration through the cool detached tones of his narrator Aleksandr Petrovich Goryanchikov: the daily battle for survival the wooden plank beds the cabbage soup swimming with cockroaches his strange family of boastful ugly cruel convicts. Yet " The House of the Dead" is far more than a work of documentary realism: it is also a powerful novel of redemption describing one mans spiritual & moral death & the miracle of his gradual reawakening." ...

The House of the Dead is a stark account of Dostoyevskys own experience of penal servitude in Siberia. In graphic detail he describes the suffering of the convicts
- their squalor & degradation their terror & resignation from the rampages of a pyschopath to the brief serenity of Christmas Day. Amid the horror of labour in the sub-zero work camp we hear the stories of the prisoners & live through the freezing isolation & pain of day after day of misery. We see a young intellectual forced to live eat & sleep with men from a background of cruelty coarseness & brutality. The Gambler is set in a spa town with its casino & international clientele. Alexey Ivanovitch is a young tutor in the household of a general. He is both observer & actor in the tempest which surrounds his impoverished employer as he envies & mocks the airs & pretensions of his supposed superiors. Everyone is waiting for the death of Granny the generals rich aunt but so far from dying she turns up alive & well & makes her way to the casino..
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Welcome to the house of the mosque... Iran 1950. Spring has arrived & as the women prepare the festivities Sadiq waits for a suitor to knock on the door. Her uncle Nosrat returns from Tehran with a glamorous woman while on the rooftop Shahbal longs only for a television to watch the first moon landing. But not even the beloved grandmothers can foresee what will happen in the days & months to come. In this uplifting bestseller Kader Abdolah charts the triumphs & tragedies of a family on the brink of revolution. ...

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." ...