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The Bookshop
The Bookshop
Penelope Fitzgerald
¥57.09
In a small East Anglian town, Florence Green decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop. Hardborough becomes a battleground. Florence has tried to change the way things have always been done, and as a result, she has to take on not only the people who have made themselves important, but natural and even supernatural forces too. Her fate will strike a chord with anyone who knows that life has treated them with less than justice.
The Importance of Being Kennedy
The Importance of Being Kennedy
Laurie Graham
¥57.09
A brilliant novel by Laurie Graham set in wartime London, which follows Kick Kennedy, sister of future US President JFK, as she takes London society by storm. Nora Brennan is a country girl from Westmeath. When she lands herself a position as nursery maid to a family in Brookline, Massachusetts, she little thinks it will place her at the heart of American history. But it's the Kennedy family. In 1917 Joseph Kennedy is on his way to his first million and he has plans to found a dynasty and ensure that his baby son, Joe Junior, will be the first Catholic President of the United States. As nursemaid to all nine Kennedy children, Nora witnesses every moment, public and private. She sees the boys coached at their father's knee to believe everything they'll ever want in life can be bought. She sees the girls trained by their mother to be good Catholic wives. World War II changes everything. At the outbreak of war the Kennedys are living the high life in London, where Joseph Kennedy is the American ambassador. His reaction is to send the entire household back across the Atlantic to safety, but Nora, surprised by midlife love, chooses to stay in England and do her bit. Separated from her Kennedys by an ocean she nevertheless remains the warm, approachable sun around which the older children orbit: Joe, Jack, Rosemary, and in particular Kick, who throws the first spanner in the Kennedy works by marrying an English Protestant. Laurie Graham's poignant new novel views the Kennedys from below stairs, with the humour and candour that only an ex-nursemaid dare employ.
Luciano’s Luck
Luciano’s Luck
Jack Higgins
¥57.09
The brilliant suspense thriller from the author of THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, set in the wartime battlegrounds of the Mediterranean. A brilliant suspense thriller from the wartime battlegrounds of the Mediterranean. In the historic summer offensive of 1943, the Allies stand ready to invade Sicily. The cost will be high in lives and time, unless the Sicilians themselves can be persuaded to rise against their Nazi oppressors. Only the Mafia can command an uprising – and the Godfather refuses to fight… Desperate action is needed to dent Hitler's evil pride. Someone who understands Mafia ways, and knows how to earn the loyalty the Allies crave. Someone who isn't afraid of killing his own…
Dark Times (Emily the Strange)
Dark Times (Emily the Strange)
Rob Reger
¥57.09
Emily's uniquely strange homeschool syllabus includes . . . 1. Time Travel 101 2. Advanced Spy Photography 3. Bonnet Basics 4. Great-Aunts Through the Ages 5. Intro to Germ Theory 6. Care and Feeding of 'Squito Fish 7. Fundamentals of Black Rock 8. Spiderweb Embroidery 9. Historical & Contemporary Felines 10. Pop Quizzes 11. Foodstuffs of the 1790s 12. Thwarting Ancestral Enemies 13. Techniques in Parallel Universe Management
Alfred and Emily
Alfred and Emily
Doris Lessing
¥57.09
Doris Lessing’s first book after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature revisits her childhood in Southern Africa and the lives, both fictional and factual, that her parents led. ‘I think my father'’s rage at the trenches took me over, when I was very young, and has never left me. Do children feel their parents' emotions? Yes, we do, and it is a legacy I could have done without. What is the use of it? It is as if that old war is in my own memory, my own consciousness.’ In this extraordinary book, Doris Lessing explores the lives of her parents, both of them irrevocably damaged by the Great War. Her father wanted the simple life of an English farmer, but shrapnel almost killed him in the trenches, and thereafter he had to wear a wooden leg. Her mother Emily's great love was a doctor who drowned in the Channel, and she spent the war nursing the wounded in the Royal Free Hospital. In the first half of this book, Lessing imagines the lives her parents might have made for themselves had there been no war, a story that has them meeting at a village cricket match as children but leading separate lives. This is followed by a piercing examination of their lives as they actually came to be in the shadow of that war, their move to Rhodesia, a damaged couple hulking over Lessing’s childhood in a strange land. ‘Here I still am,’ says Doris Lessing, ‘trying to get out from under that monstrous legacy, trying to get free.’
The Savage Day
The Savage Day
Jack Higgins
¥57.09
Action and blood-thirsty suspense from the master of the game. Simon Vaughan knows what it's like to fight a dirty war, he's had first-hand experience in Korea. Now he languishes in a Greek jail. When it comes to firearms and gun-running nobody does it better, but those days are behind him, until the British army propose a deal. His freedom for his help against the IRA in Belfast. He doesn't haven't any choice, if he wants his freedom back he'll have to conquer a new battlegroung…
The Journey (Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Book 2)
The Journey (Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Book 2)
Kathryn Lasky
¥57.09
The brave owls of Ga'Hoole are back in their second mythic adventure as they strive to preserve owldom from the evil that lurks around them. Join the owls in their quest for the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, the legendary place where ordinary owls are transformed into the heroes that guard the owl kingdom. Out of the darkness a hero will rise… It began as a dream. A quest for the Great Ga’Hoole Tree, a mythic place where each night an order of owls rises to perform noble deeds. There Soren, Gylfie, Twilight and Digger hope to find inspiration to fight the evil that dwells in the owl kingdom. The journey is long and arduous for Soren, Gylife, Twilight and Digger. When they finally arrive, they realize that the journey has barely started and that greater challenges lay ahead. If they succeed in following in the footsteps of their leaders, they will soon become true Ga'Hoolian owls– honest, brave, true and wise.
Angels at Christmas: Those Christmas Angels / Where Angels Go
Angels at Christmas: Those Christmas Angels / Where Angels Go
Debbie Macomber
¥57.09
Perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy' - Candis If you had one wish this Christmas… Those Christmas Angels Anne Fletcher sends a heartfelt plea in the hope that someone is looking down on her this Christmas. One wish – for her son to be happy. She doesn’t expect to have her prayer answered by three mischievous angels! They’re about to do a little matchmaking on Anne’s behalf and make her Christmas wish come true. Where Angels Go The angels are on hand again for lovely Beth Fischer who, since her divorce, is looking for romance once more. At eighty-six, Harry has prayed for peace of mind and little Carter Jackson has just one Christmas wish. Angels Shirley, Goodness and Mercy will make miracles happen this Christmas… Make time for friends. Make time for Debbie Macomber.
Scenes from Early Life
Scenes from Early Life
Philip Hensher
¥57.09
Winner of the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, this is the new novel from the author of ‘King of the Badgers’ and the Man Booker-shortlisted ‘The Northern Clemency’. “At that time, there were children you weren't supposed to play with. You knew why. Their parents had been informers during the war. And it hadn't been long since you could have got into trouble for singing a song. My grandfather hid all his Bengali poetry in the cellar. “I was a baby during the war. We stayed inside for months. All my aunts took turns in feeding me. I couldn't be heard to cry. You see, there were soldiers in the streets. They would have known what a crying baby meant. So I had to be kept silent. No, not everyone came out of the war alive.” One family’s life, and a nation – Bangladesh – are uniquely created through conversation, sacrifice, songs, bonds, blood, bravery and jokes. Narrated by a young boy born into a savage civil war, ‘Scenes from Early Life’ is a heartbreaking, funny and gripping novel by one of our finest writers.
The Drowning of Arthur Braxton
The Drowning of Arthur Braxton
Caroline Smailes
¥57.09
The bestselling modern fairytale, with a new introduction from Luke Cutforth ‘I loved it … so good!’ CARRIE HOPE FLETCHER Arthur Braxton has had enough. His mum has left, his dad is broken and he’s the laughing stock of his high school. But things are about to change. When Arthur runs away and shelters in an old abandoned bathhouse, he sees a naked woman swimming in the pool. From this point on, his sad little life will never be the same.
Three Wise Men
Three Wise Men
Martina Devlin
¥57.09
A warm, witty and wise novel about love, friendship and being in your thirties. Gloria, Eimear and Kate have been friends since they were a trio of six-year-olds cast as the Three Wise Men in the nativity play. Twenty-five years on, they’ve left Omagh for Dublin and grown up to be Three Unwise Women, all too prone to misuse the gifts they’ve been given. Eimear’s beauty captivates men but robs her of independence. Kate’s dazzling wit blinds her to the consequences of betraying a friend. And Gloria’s urge to nurture, thwarted by infertility, threatens to destroy everything she holds dear. Aided and abetted in their misdeeds by the irresistible Jack, philandering poet and seducer extraordinaire, the troika find themselves putting their friendship to a test from which it may never recover. To this black comedy Martina Devlin brings a delightful lightness of touch, a turn of phrase to treasure, and three characters to take to your heart.
The Siege (Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Book 4)
The Siege (Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Book 4)
Kathryn Lasky
¥57.09
Fourth title in a mythic adventure series in which the heroes are owls! In the owl kingdom, a war between good and evil is raging. On one side, Soren and the noble owls of the Great Ga’hoole tree. On the other, Soren’s fearsome brother Kludd, who wears a terrifying metal mask to cover his battle scars. Driven by an all-consuming lust for power, Kludd leads his forces in a brutal attack on the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. Meanwhile, Soren is asked to lead a mission back to the one place he never wanted to see again – St Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. He and his crew will have to enter St Aggie's as spies, then leave without being noticed…or caught. Soren escaped the rocky confines of St Aggie's once. If the Ga’Hoole tree is to be saved he must do it again…
Touch and Go
Touch and Go
M. R. D. Meek
¥57.09
Chance is a fine thing, thought the nurse who had watched wealthy Muriel Probert die in her Fifth Avenue apartment, so she took that chance – along with other fine things – and ran. To Lennox Kemp, Muriel’s ex-husband, the string of gambling casinos in Las Vegas left to him in her will seemed a dubious inheritance, bound to bring out the worst in everyone concerned whether they be prevaricating lawyers or predatory gangsters. But the slow legal process is undercut when a body is found in the East River, and there will soon be another victim as the hunt for the missing nurse turns murderous. Kemp would prefer the nastiness kept on the far side of the Atlantic, but when the final showdown comes it is on his own home ground of Newtown, where the local police force gets a taste of gunplay, Nevada-style.
HMS Ulysses
HMS Ulysses
Alistair MacLean
¥57.09
The novel that launched the astonishing career of one of the 20th century’s greatest writers of action and suspense – an acclaimed classic of heroism and the sea in World War II. Now reissued in a new cover style. The story of men who rose to heroism, and then to something greater, HMS Ulysses takes its place alongside The Caine Mutiny and The Cruel Sea as one of the classic novels of the navy at war. It is the compelling story of Convoy FR77 to Murmansk – a voyage that pushes men to the limits of human endurance, crippled by enemy attack and the bitter cold of the Arctic.
Friends and Rivals
Friends and Rivals
Tilly Bagshawe
¥57.09
For everyone who loves Jilly Cooper, Penny Vincenzi, Tasmina Perry and Louise Bagshawe. Cat fears she is past her prime. Her philandering husband, Ivan, who she still loves passionately after twenty years of marriage, leaves her for a younger woman. Devastated, there is only one person left who Cat trusts. Kendall is sure she has it all. But underneath her tough exterior she hides a vulnerability – she is helplessly struggling with an unrequited love. But when Kendall’s need for success consumes her, she won’t let anyone stand in her way. Ava is an innocent, plucked from obscurity and thrown into the deep-end of the glamorous world of fame. When she is pitted against Kendall, the world watches closely, wondering who will survive. As these three women try to navigate a backstabbing world of infamy, desire and fortune, will they be tempted to betray the people they hold dearest?
High-Rise
High-Rise
J. G. Ballard
¥57.09
From the author of ‘Crash’ and ‘Cocaine Nights’ comes an unnerving tale of life in a modern tower block running out of control. Within the concealing walls of an elegant forty-storey tower block, the affluent tenants are hell-bent on an orgy of destruction. Cocktail parties degenerate into marauding attacks on ‘enemy’ floors and the once-luxurious amenities become an arena for riots and technological mayhem. In this visionary tale of urban disillusionment society slips into a violent reverse as the isolated inhabitants of the high-rise, driven by primal urges, create a dystopian world ruled by the laws of the jungle. This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard’s works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Iain Sinclair, Ali Smith, Neil Gaiman and Martin Amis) and brand-new cover designs.
The Cleft
The Cleft
Doris Lessing
¥57.09
Doris Lessing, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, invites us to imagine a mythical society free from sexual intrigue, free from jealousy, free from petty rivalries: a society free from men. An old Roman senator embarks on what may be his last endeavour: the retelling of the story of human creation. He recounts the history of the Clefts, an ancient community of women living in an Edenic, coastal wilderness, in the valley of an overshadowing mountain. The Clefts have no need, or knowledge, of men – childbirth is controlled through the cycles of the moon, and their children are always female. But with the birth of a strange, new child – a boy – the harmony of their community is thrown into jeopardy. At first, the Clefts are awestruck by this seemingly malformed child, but as more and more of these threateningly unfamiliar males appear, they are rejected, and are exposed on the nearby mountainside, sacrificed to the patrolling eagles overhead. Unbeknownst to the Clefts, however, these baby males survive, aided by the eagles, and thrive on the other side of the mountain. It is not until a curious young Cleft named Maire goes beyond the geographical, and emotional, divide of the mountain that this disquieting fact is uncovered – forcing the Clefts to accept the prospect of a now shared world, and the possible vengeance of the wronged males. In this fascinating and beguiling novel, Lessing confronts head-on the themes that inspired much of her early writing: how men and women, two similar and yet thoroughly distinct creatures, manage to live side by side in the world, and how the specifics of gender affect every aspect of our existence.
Wrath of the Lion
Wrath of the Lion
Jack Higgins
¥57.09
At the height of the Cold War, a renegade submarine threatens to ignite Europe in all-out war The French submarine L Alouette prowls deep beneath the surface of the North Atlantic, its crewmembers eager to spill blood in the service of their frenzied nationalism regardless of the cost. And only one man can stop them.That man is Neil Mallory, former lieutenant colonel of the British Special Air Services and Korean War hero. Can Mallory and his team find and destroy L Alouette before it shatters Europe s fragile peace? "
Mummy’s Little Girl
Mummy’s Little Girl
Jane Elliott
¥57.09
The moving, unforgettable new novel from the author of the bestselling inspirational memoir ‘The Little Prisoner’ Life was never going to be easy for little Dani Sinclair… On a cold winter's night, a heavily pregnant teenage girl appears at a London hospital. She refuses to give her name, and gives birth to a baby girl. But immediately after the birth, she disappears, leaving the baby alone in the hospital. The child, named Dani after the midwife who delivered her, is put up for adoption. Twelve years later Dani is living with a foster family. A vulnerable and unworldly girl, Dani is an inconvenience and always being blamed for things that aren't her fault. After being wrongly accused of performing an act of petty childish spite, Dani is sent to a children's home. The home is full of difficult children, who bully and victimise Dani. Terrified of both the children and the grown-ups, she runs away. Dani spends several nights on the streets of London, begging for food. When a stranger offers her something to eat and a place to sleep, she accepts gratefully. But what she does not know is that this man is a brutal pimp who tries to drag Dani into a violent, drug-fuelled world of prostitution. Soon she is plunged into an unimaginable nightmare of abuse that she truly believes will never end. But there is one person out there searching for Dani; one person who has her best interests at heart; one person who will do anything to save her. It's just a matter of whether she can find her in time…
Brixton Beach
Brixton Beach
Roma Tearne
¥57.09
Opening dramatically with the horrors of the 2005 London bombings, this is the profoundly moving story of a country on the brink of civil war and a child’s struggle to come to terms with loss. London. On a bright July morning a series of bombs brings the capital to a halt. Simon Swann, a medic from one of the large teaching hospitals, is searching frantically amongst the chaos and the rubble. All around police sirens and ambulances are screaming but Simon does not hear. He is out of breath because he has been running, and he is distraught. But who is he looking for? To find out we have first to go back thirty years to a small island in the Indian Ocean where a little girl named Alice Fonseka is learning to ride a bicycle on the beach. The island is Sri Lanka, and its community is on the brink of civil war. Alice’s life is about to change forever. Soon she will have to leave for England, abandoning her beloved grandfather, and accompanied by her mother Sita, a woman broken by a series of terrible events. In London, Alice grows into womanhood. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she has a son. Slowly she fulfils her grandfather's prophecy and becomes an artist. Eventually she finds true love. But London in the twenty-first century is a mass of migration and suspicion. The war on terror has begun and everyone, even Simon Swann, middle class, rational, medic that he is, will be caught up in this war in the most unexpected and terrible way.
The Falconer’s Tale
The Falconer’s Tale
Gordon Kent
¥57.09
An exhilarating new tale of modern espionage and international intrigue – sure to appeal to the many fans of Tom Clancy, Dale Brown and Patrick Robinson. Jerry Piat has been on the run from the FBI for two years, but he’s about to be made an offer he cannot refuse. Clyde Partlow an upper CIA executive needs him for a mission that involves a member of the Saudi ruling clique, a fearsome man who’s been cheating his own associates out of their funding for terrorism against the West ,and using the money for his own personal profit. Piat’s job is to entice former agent Digger Hackbutt into working for the CIA again. Hackbutt will use his exemplary skills as a falconer as bait for the Saudi aristocrat, which in turn will hatch a daring plan for blackmail. Meanwhile behind the scenes Alan Craik is highly suspicious of Clyde Partlow’s intentions and sets about trying to find out exactly what is going on. With the bait set and Jerry Pitat about to be a free man for the frist time in years, everything is set for success. But the best laid plans seldom run smoothly and the ultimate disaster is just moments away.