The Darke Academy is a school like no other. An elite establishment that moves to an exotic new city every term its students are impossibly beautiful sophisticated & rich. & the more new scholarship girl Cassie Bell learns about the Academy the more curious she becomes. What sinister secrets are guarded by the Few
- the select group of students who keep outsiders away? Who is the dark stranger prowling the corridors at night? & what really happened a year earlier when the last scholarship girl died in mysterious circumstances? One thing Cassie will discover is that a little knowledge may be a dangerous thing but knowing too much can be deadly...
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To the dismay of her ambitious mother Bolanle marries into a polygamous family where she is the fourth wife of a rich rotund patriarch Baba Segi. She is a graduate & therefore a great prize but even graduates must produce children & her husbands persistent bellyache is a sign that things are not as they should be. Bolanle is too educated for the white garment conmen Baba Segi would usually go to for fertility advice so he takes her to hospital to discover the cause of her barrenness. Weaving the voices of Baba Segi & his four competing wives into a portrait of a clamorous household of twelve Lola Shoneyin evokes an extraordinary Nigerian family in splashes of vibrant colour. ...

Britains birds are among the best loved in the world & also among the best studied. In recent times these studies rather like tabloid exclusives have thrown up some surprising revelations & sullied a few reputations in the process. They have above all demonstrated that many of our birds lead much more complex lives than we previously thought. Following in the footsteps of the bestselling Secret Lives of Garden Birds this trip around Britains principal habitats looks beyond the confines of our gardens & parks to expose the extraordinary hidden world of some our most familiar birds. We learn the secrets of romance from Mute Swans meet the perfect father in the Guillemot the estranged couple (of Chiffchaffs) who share the same territory & enter the bizarre high-rise society of the Dotterel in which women rule. We also meet the ultimate killers both by day (Peregrine) & by night (Barn Owl) & encounter the only true living monster in Scotl&. At the same time we find out how all these birds cope with living in seemingly inhospitable habitats such as muddy estuaries lonely moorland or open ocean. Dominic Couzens is an acclaimed writer & bird tour leader whose popular monthly columns in BBC Wildlife & Birdwatching magazines have brought a fresh & dynamic approach to writing about birds & birdwatching. His previous publications include Identifying Birds by Behaviour & Secret Lives of Garden Birds. Peter Partingtons painting is widely admired for the uniquely vibrant & fluid style in which he captures the essence of bird behaviour. His previous publications include Learn to Draw Birds & Secret Lives of Garden Birds. Whether its the duplicitous love-life of certain male Pied Flycatchers or the fragile pair-bonding of Dottorel plenty of sexy secrets are revealed. Birds Illustrated Spring 2007 ...

There is no wildlife closer to us than that found in our gardens
- or indeed in our houses
- so it follows that many of those

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Postsecret.com founder Frank Warren is back with an irresistible addition to his hugely popular Post Secret series. For The Secret Lives of Men & Women Warren has selected a never-before-seen collection of postcards bearing the explosive confessions & captivating revelations of men & women everywhere. Created using photographs collages illustrations & more the handmade cards offer a compelling dialogue on some of todays most provocative topics from marriage & infidelity to parenting office politics repressed fantasies & even abortion; daring us to consider how well we really know our friends family even ourselves. ...

For nearly sixty years Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was one of the most famous writers in the world. An enormously successful playwright & the author of over a hundred short stories & twenty-one novels
- several of which are now established classics
- Maugham expertly concealed a private life. Predominantly homosexual & deeply in love with the charming but dissolute Gerald Haxton he made a disastrous marriage to Syrie Wellcome which he would escape by travelling & writing extensively in the Far East. A talented linguist during both world wars Maugham worked for British Intelligence. In between he moved in literary & theatrical circles in London New York & Hollywood & entertained lavishly at his luxurious villa in the south of France. Outwardly his life was richly rewarding but privately he suffered anguish from an unrequited love affair & a shocking final betrayal. Acclaimed biographer Selina Hastings has had access to Maugham's extensive private correspondence as well as to important family testimony which sheds a fascinating new light on this complex & extraordinary man.

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Aimed at visitors & Londoners alike this fully updated edition of Secret London" unlocks the citys most fascinating secrets
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A half-Inuit albino & heir to a huge Northern Irish manor Light has never exactly blended in. Since her fathers mysterious disappearance in the Arctic shes felt more alone than ever. Yet as she mourns for the father who was her whole family Light starts to notice unexpected presences all around... Suddenly the mysterious world in which her father moved invades young Lights life with a bang. The Inuit folklore she vaguely knows comes alive all around her; the inscrutable violent & sometimes horrific beings of the North seem to believe she has a role to play & along with her tattoed butler & their new shark-headed friend Tupilak Light is drawn into an age-old intrigue between Setna the ruler of the sea & Frost king of the cold. Soon Light is aboard an ice-breaker bound for Nunavut having been promised help in searching for her father now suspected of being stolen away by the cruel & heartless Frost. Yet she scarcely realises the power of those who have chosen her for their enemy
- & a terrifying journey awaits her.
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The Secret Museum is a unique treasure trove of the most intriguing artifacts hidden away in museum archives from all over the world
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New York churns at a relentless pace. It is constantly being rebuilt torn down & rebuilt again to make way for the next era of commerce & culture. But it is truly the sum of its neighborhoods all of which offer a different perspective on the history & attitude of the city each of which is best explored on foot. Secret New York" delves below the surface of this vibrant city into the areas that shape New York with walking tours that consider both the prominent buildings of the skyline & the hidden gems within the grid. Navigating a city on foot is the most tangible way to discover its secrets & as a pedestrian city New York lends itself to exploration more than most. As one of the first major cities of the United States New York offers a glimpse of the country's early history & as its most international city New York combines the best of the world's art food & way of life. This book offers a great introduction to New York & its outer boroughs as well as a deeper look at the areas that fall below the radar of traditional guidebooks. Full-color photographs capture the treasures tucked behind every corner while clear easy-to-follow route maps highlight places of special interest. For travellers who want to gain familiarity with the city's more peculiar hidden life this book offers a rare perspective of a remarkable place." ...