You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight & a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames. Bougainville. 1991. A small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matildas last day of school as quietly war is encroaching from the other end of the isl&. When the villagers safe predictable lives come to a halt Bougainvilles children are surprised to find the islands only white man a recluse re-opening the school. Pop Eye aka Mr Watts explains he will introduce the children to Mr Dickens. Matilda & the others think a foreigner is coming to the island & prepare a list of much needed items. They are shocked to discover their acquaintance with Mr Dickens will be through Mr Watts inspiring reading of Great Expectations. But on an island at war the power of fiction has dangerous consequences. Imagination & beliefs are challenged by guns. Mister Pip is an unforgettable tale of survival by story; a dazzling piece of writing that lives long in the mind after the last page is finished. ...

' You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight & a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.' Bougainville. 1991. A small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda's last day of school as quietly war is encroaching from the other end of the isl&. When the villagers' safe predictable lives come to a halt Bougainville's children are surprised to find the island's only white man a recluse re-opening the school. Pop Eye aka Mr Watts explains he will introduce the children to Mr Dickens. Matilda & the others think a foreigner is coming to the island & prepare a list of much needed items. They are shocked to discover their acquaintance with Mr Dickens will be through Mr Watts' inspiring reading of Great Expectations. But on an island at war the power of fiction has dangerous consequences. Imagination & beliefs are challenged by guns. Mister Pip is an unforgettable tale of survival by story; a dazzling piece of writing that lives long in the mind after the last page is finished. ...

It's 1978 & Jack Sheffield begins his second year as headmaster of a small village primary school in North Yorkshire. There are three letter on his desk
- one makes him smile one makes him sad & one is destined to change his life forever. This is from nine-year-old Sebastian suffering from leukaemia in the local hospital who writes a heartbreaking letter addressed to ' Mister Teacher'. Jack tries to help & so begins a journey through the seasons of Yorkshire life in which the school is the natural centre of the community. There's a colourful cast of characters who accompany Jack through the ups & downs of the school year including Vera the school secretary who worships Margaret Thatcher & whose greatest ambition is to become President of the Women's Institute; Ruby the 20-stone caretaker who sings like Julie Andrews; & Dorothy the coffee shop assistant who is desperate to be Wonder Woman. Most of all there is the lovely Beth Henderson a teacher from a nearby school who with her sister Laura presents Jack with an unexpected dilemma.
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In December 1923 Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher yields to the demands of her mother & the needs of her writing career & brings her family to an old Cornish estate for Christmas. The estate occupied by the poor relations of the ancestral lord has a rich history of lore ghost stories & festering resentments some or all of which leaves them all trapped in a house with the corpse of a despotic chaplin & a murderer. Daisys husband Inspector Alec is forced to give up his Christmas break to help Daisy solve the mystery. Critical Praise for The Daisy Dalrymple novels" by Carola Dunn: The period sense remains vivid the characterizations are excellent & the mysteries are if anything more perplexing than ever
- " The Oregonian" on " Rattle His Bones." Styx & Stones is a swift deeply enjoyable read. While Dunns influences are many she ultimately makes this territory her own
- " The Register-Guard." Reading like an Agatha Christie thriller " Rattle His Bones" is a charming look at life after the first World War
- " Romantic Times." Dunn captures the melting pot of Prohibition-era New York with humorous characterizations & a vivid sense of place & with careful plotting lays out an enjoyable tale of adventure
- " Publishers Weekly" on " The Case of the Murdered Muckraker.""



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It was only a mistletoe kiss Miss. Preece told herself stepping out into the icy December evening & locking the library doors behind her. A mistletoe kiss means nothing everyone knows that; but this did not quench the warm glow inside her. Hetty Gilbert is a canal child with no permanent address so when she needs to join the library she cannot do so. Miss. Preece dislikes children but Hetty's longing for books touches a chord & she stretches the rules to allow the girl to read on the premises. Soon Hetty's chief desire is to become a librarian like her friend. But with war on the horizon their lives will never be the same. In 1939 Hetty joins in the war effort for her knowledge of canal boats is desperately needed whilst Miss. Preece can only sit & listen to the dangers her young friend faces knowing she herself can do nothing to help. But her chance will come & with it the meaning behind that fragile mistletoe kiss... ...

Based on Lucie Duff Gordons Letters from Egypt" this is a lushly evocative period novel. Lady Duff Gordon is the toast of Victorian London. But when her debilitating tuberculosis means exile she & her devoted ladys maid Sally set sail for Egypt. It is Sally who describes with a mixture of wonder & trepidation the odd menage marshalled by the resourceful Omar which travels down the Nile to a new life in Luxor. As Lady Duff Gordon undoes her stays & takes to native dress throwing herself into weekly salons; language lessons; excursions to the tombs; Sally too adapts to a new world affording her heady & heartfelt freedoms never known before. But freedom is a luxury that a maid can ill-afford & when Sally grasps more than her status entitles her to she is brutally reminded that she is mistress of nothing." ...

When Dewi Morgan arrives at Polrudden Manor it is to find a disappointing welcome. She had expected to take up the position of governess to Nathan Jagos son Beville but Nathan is determined to have a local girl for the post. It takes a dramatic rescue for Nathan to have a change of heart & by then Dewis gentle ways & sense of fun have made her a favourite with the entire household. Cornwall in the early years of the nineteenth century is a place of social upheaval & change. With the welfare of the villagers always at the front of his mind Nathan is eager to build a proper harbour at Pentuan which will bring increased prosperity & trade. But there are those who think an ex prize fighter has no business as Master of Polrudden... There are disappointments too in affairs of the heart. Nathan is much taken by Sir Kenwyn Penhaligans beautiful niece Abigail but she has given her affections elsewhere though is eager to extend the hand of friendship. & meanwhile Dewi makes herself an indispensable member of the household trying to disguise her growing affection for the handsome Cornishman who is her master... ...

Passion. Treachery. Murder...A heart-stopping epic about a Jewish slave girl & Romes greatest gladiator who become involved in a plot to assassinate an emperor Orphaned by Romes savage legions Thea a slave girl from Judaea has learned what it takes to survive. She knows only violence until a chance meeting with gladiator Arius offers a shred of tenderness. But their bond is severed when Thea is sold again condemned to rot in squalor. Years later a singer known as Athena betrays no hint of her troubled past. Catching the eye of the Emperor himself she is swept into a world of decadence & depravity. But although Domitian fears betrayal from every side he is unaware that the greatest threat lies next to him
- a slave girl who has come to be called the Mistress of Rome...
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Third in stunning reissues of Raymond Feist & Janny Wurts classic trilogy
- one of the most successful fantasy collaborations
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SHE MIGHT GRACE HIS BED BUT SHE WILL NEVER WEAR HIS RING They whisper her name in the ballroom's shadows
- the Marquis's mistress!
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