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75615 WHERE THE HEART IS by Annie Groves


Three years into the war and the country is facing its darkest days. The changes have affected everyone, not least the Campion family. Eldest son Luke is fighting on the African Front, Emily is harbouring romantic thoughts about Wilhelm, the German POW, and Bella still pines for her forbidden love. The war effort has steered twins Lou and Sasha on different paths, but has it driven a wedge between them? The family along with the rest of the nation must face their fears and endure, since all their tomorrows depend upon it. 425pp, paperback. £6.99 NOW £2


76022 ARTIST OF


DISAPPEARANCE by Anita Desai Set in modern India, where history still casts a long shadow, the novel gives us glimpses into three very different lives. A government official inspects a faded mansion of forgotten treasures, and makes an extraordinary discovery; a middle-aged woman has a life-changing meeting with a former friend at a school reunion; and a man living hermit-like in the burnt-out shell of his family home retreats further and further from life. Remarkable in their clarity and sensuous in their telling, these stories remind us of the extraordinary yet delicate power of this pre-eminent writer. 156pp in paperback.


£7.99 NOW £2.75


76023 GHOST OF LILY PAINTER by Caitlin Davies


The first time Annie Sweet sees 43 Stanley Road, the house is so perfect she almost feels as though it has chosen her. She longs to move in, but with her husband increasingly distant and her daughter wrapped up in her friends and new school, Annie is left alone to mull over the past. Soon she becomes consumed by the house and everyone who has lived there before her, especially a young chorus girl called Lily Painter, a rising star of the music hall whose sparkling performances were the talk of the town. As Annie delves further into her past she begins to unravel a dark episode from Edwardian London, that of two notorious baby farmers. Based on real facts. 340pp, paperback.


£12.99 NOW £4


74926 22 BRITANNIA ROAD by Amanda Hodgkinson


‘Housekeeper of housewife?’ the soldier asks Silvana as she and seven year old Aurek board the ship that will take them to England at the end of World War Two and where her husband Janusz is waiting for them. ‘Survivor’ she answers. Janusz wants them to be a proper English family and is determined to forget the ghosts of war. He pins his hopes for a normal life on a small house 22 Britannia Road with an English garden out back. Having spent the war hiding, Aurek is wild, almost feral, and doesn’t know how to tie his shoelaces or sleep in a bed. Here are the private terrors of two Polish survivors. 321pp. ONLY £2.50


75601 SEASON OF LEAVES by Catherine Law


A bundle of unopened letters from Rose Pepper’s Czech lover Krystof, discovered in her old age, lead her and her daughters to Prague, and the truth that is buried there. Her extraordinary story takes Rose from the bombed-out rubble of Plymouth in World War Two to a farm on the windswept cliffs of Cornwall and then to post-war Prague, seething with spies and informers. Awaiting her in England with terrible patience is the cold, controlling man she married. Dare she open Krystof’s crumbling letters and come face to face with what happened to him? 344pp, paperback. £7.99 NOW £2


75025 THE TWELFTH


ENCHANTMENT by David Liss Lucy Derrick is a young woman of good breeding and poor finances. Just as she is on the cusp of accepting a life of misery, events take a stunning turn when a handsome stranger, the poet and notorious rake Lord Byron, arrives at her house, stricken by what seems to be a curse, and with a cryptic message for Lucy. Lucy must harness newfound mystical skills and, enthralled with two exceptional men with designs on her heart, she must master her own desires to claim the destiny she deserves. 400 roughcut pages, small remainder mark. $26 NOW £3


74997 BALLAD OF TRENCHMOUTH TAGGART


by Glenn Taylor


Meet Early ‘Trenchmouth’ Taggart, a man born and orphaned in 1903, one time inventor, snake handler, cunnilinguist, sniper, woodsman, harmonica man and newspaper man. His is an epic story, a tall tale in the tradition of Mark Twain, chronicling more than 100 years of exile and outrunning trouble. It is the love song of an outlaw and like the best of ballads, it etches its mark deep upon the memory with a jump-off-the-page character. 310pp in paperback.


£7.99 NOW £2


75985 LARK RISE by Flora Thompson


Laura is born in the rural hamlet of Lark Rise, where life has followed an unchanging pattern for centuries and the days are governed by the rhythms of nature. Whether it is describing ancient traditions like the Mayday garland procession, bringing the harvest home and singing ballads in the local inn or introducing characters such as Laura’s radical father, pioneering Mrs Spicer, eccentric bee-keeping Queenie or the ladies who wear bustles to feed the pigs, the first part of this autobiographical ‘Lark Rise to Candleford’ trilogy captures a vanished corner of rural England and childhood freedom. 241pp in paperback. £7.99 NOW £3


75242 THE LAST STORYTELLER: A


Novel of Ireland by Frank Delaney Ben MacCarthy is living through the tumultuous events of Ireland in 1956 when the national mood is downtrodden, poverty, corruption and an armed rebellion rattle the countryside. Ben wants no part of the upstart insurrection along the northern border. He unknowingly falls in with an IRA sympathiser and is compromised into running guns, yet despite his perilous circumstances, all he can think about is finding his former wife and true love, the actress Venetia Kelly. Parted forcibly from Ben years ago, Venetia has returned to Ireland with her new husband, a brutal man. 385pp, roughcut pages. £22.50 NOW £3.50


74689 ELGAR: The Erotic Variations


and DELIUS: A Moment with Venus by Ken Russell


Filmmaker Ken Russell made a celebrated BBC Monitor television film on Elgar, the Worcestershire composer. Here is his portrayal as a devoted husband whose career hinged largely on the support of his wife. In the novel, he emerges from his Victorian morality complete with mistresses and muses including Rosa Burley. The second novel Delius: A Moment with Venus is largely based on the recollections of the composer’s amanuensis, Eric Fenby. The baptism of Frederick Delius the Yorkshire man, as ‘Fritz’ is the hilarious starting point for the revelations about the secret life of this cantankerous old Pagan genius. 190pp in paperback.


£12.95 NOW £4


75003 THE DOVEKEEPERS by Alice Hoffman


900 Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived. Alice Hoffman’s novel is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful and sensuous women, each of whom has come to Masada by a different path. Yael’s mother died in childbirth, and her father, an expert assassin, never forgave her for that death. Revka, a village baker’s wife, watched the murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers. She brings to Masada her young grandsons, rendered mute by what they have witnessed. Aziza is a warrior’s daughter and Shirah is wise in the ways of magic and medicine. All are dovekeepers and all are keeping their own secrets. 505pp in paperback. $16 NOW £4.50


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75760 A POSSIBLE LIFE: A Novel in Five Parts


by Sebastian Faulks


Here are five transporting stories and five unforgettable characters. Geoffrey Talbot adores sports. At university between the world wars he studies languages and his father hopes he will become a diplomat. He enlists and in France meets dark-eyed Giselle and his life veers off track forever. In Victorian London, Billy is sent to the workhouse. Too small to be considered a friend by the bigger boys, he instead becomes lifelong companion with Alice and another girl. Across 21st century Europe, governments have collapsed. Elena Duranti, once a wild natured child and now a brilliant scientist, collaborates on a startling discovery about human consciousness. In rural France in the 1800s, orphan Jeanne works in the laundry, then in a dairy and then for the rest of her days, as a nursemaid. 287pp. $25 NOW £6.50


75569 DAISY CLUB by Charlotte Bingham


The novel begins in the autumn of 1938. Twistleton is a village untouched by time. Daisy, Jean, Freddie and their friends Aurelia and Laura are devoted to the place, so when war breaks out the village becomes the embodiment of everything for which they are fighting. Twistleton is requisitioned by the Army. Turfed out of their homes, the villagers take refuge at Twistleton Hall. It is here that the evacuees from the East End, butler and countryman weld together to fight common enemies, whether drunken troops in the village, bombs in the air or rationing and the bitter weather. Love is their one all-too- fleeting consolation, and also their final triumph. 474pp. Paperback. £6.99 NOW £2.50


75589 LAND OF MARVELS by Barry Unsworth


Archaeologist John Somerville is excavating the ruins of Tell Erdek to discover the secrets of ancient Mesopotamia. The year is 1914 and he is in a race against the beginning of World War I and the German, French and Russian advances in the Near East. Somerville’s Bedouin contact Jehar has his own agenda as he seeks to raise a hundred gold pounds to marry a beautiful Circassian girl. Somerville’s fellow archaeologist Howard Palmer has a limited commitment to the cause and is falling in love with his assistant Patricia. Edith herself is attracted to Elliott, an American who is there to keep an eye on Major Manning. When Elliott tells Edith that Manning is also spying for a hostile power, a train of events is put in motion that results in tragedy. 287pp.


£18.99 NOW £2 75565 CHRIST THE LORD: The


Road to Cana by Anne Rice Anne Rice’s second book in her hugely ambitious and scrupulously researched life of Christ. We see Jesus, Yeshua Bar Joseph during a winter of no rain, endless dust and disruption in Judea. Whispers of a virgin birth have long surrounded Jesus. His brothers, mother and friends wait for some sign of the path he will take. Now aged 30, this quiet man of Nazareth emerges from his baptism in the River Jordan to confront his mission - and the devil. He is urged to call on Israel to rise up and cast off the yoke of Rome, but his is a different and greater calling. 242pp in large softback. £11.99 NOW £2.50


76102 CONFUSION


by Elizabeth Jane Howard During the long, dark days of war, the divided Cazalet family begin to find the battle for survival echoing the confusion in their own lives. Michael seems more interested in his ship and his mother, to whom he is extraordinarily close, than in his young bride. Polly and Clary, now in their late teens, finally fulfil their ambition of living in London, but the reality is not quite as they hoped. Polly is coming to terms with the death of her mother and looking after her grieving father, while clever, sharp Clary is acutely aware she is neither beautiful like Polly nor striking like Louise - and is also the only Cazalet who seems to believe that her father might not be dead. 481pp in paperback. £8.99 NOW £3


74928 A LESSON IN SECRETS: A Maisie Dobbs Novel


by Jacqueline Winspear In the summer of 1932, Maisie Dobbs’ career takes an exciting new turn when she accepts an undercover assignment directed by Scotland Yard’s Special Branch and the Secret Service. Posing as a junior lecturer, she is sent to a private college in Cambridge. When the college’s controversial pacifist founder and principal Greville Liddicote is murdered, Maisie is directed to stand back as others spearhead the investigation. Maisie must overcome a reluctant Secret Service, discover shameful hidden truths about Britain’s conduct during the Great War, and face off the rising powers of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, the Nazi Party, in Britain. 321pp.


$25.99 NOW £3.75


76131 THREE VILLAGE NOVELS by Rebecca Shaw


A terrific omnibus of Village Gossip, Trouble in the Village and A Village Dilemma from the very popular Turnham Malpas series by the former school teacher turned novelist. Rural peace is disrupted when a famous actor comes to stay - a marriage is wrecked, a proud man humbled and two people are brought together closer as gossip, scandal and jealousy mount. Peter the rector and his wife Caroline appoint a new verger who causes trouble in the village as his past haunts him, bringing violence and danger to their peace. In the third novel an unwelcome visitor arrives. Why is Bryn Fields, who fled four years ago, back? 682pp in mammoth softback. Line art map. £16.99 NOW £4


75646 A MOTHER’S SECRET by Dilly Court


When 17 year old Belinda Phillips falls in love with a handsome Anglo-Indian officer, she knows that he is a man she can never hope to marry. When he is reported missing, believed killed in action, Belinda discovers that she is pregnant. Facing disgrace and ruin, she has no option other than to accept an arranged marriage with a middle-aged widower, knowing she must keep the secret of her child’s birth for ever. Reluctantly she sends her beloved daughter to a foster mother in Cripplegate, little realising she has entrusted Cassy’s care to Biddy Henchard, a woman who runs a notorious baby farm. Yet Cassy survives the cruel neglect and all the while dreams of saving her mother, but when Biddy dies suddenly, 10 year old Cassy finds herself destitute. 474pp. £19.99 NOW £3


Fiction & Romance 13


76567 GRAIL KNIGHT: A Novel of Robin Hood by Angus Donald


When past crimes resurface, Sir Alan Dale, loyal lieutenant of the Earl of Locksley, better known as the murderous thief Robin Hood, faces terrible vengeance at the hands of those he and his master have wronged. With his beloved wife on her deathbed, Sir Alan must seek salvation by following Robin into the lair of their enemy, the mysterious leader of a band of renegade Templars, on the trail of the most precious object in the world, the Holy Grail. As vengeful Templars hound Robin and his men across England and France, deals done with mighty lords turn to bloody battle. The companions must find the Cup of Christ before they face certain destruction. 536pp, paperback. £6.99 NOW £3.25


75854 THE LATCHKEY KID by Helen Forrester


Mrs Olga Stych, daughter of an immigrant Ukrainian pig farmer, has finally made it to the top of the social pyramid of Tollemarche, a small town in Canada’s Bible Belt. But to get there she not only had to see off her most determined rival, she also had to neglect her son Hank. With enemies outside her home, and a latchkey kid inside - Hank was left to fend for himself - Olga little realises that the moment of her decline is to arrive just when she appears to be at her most triumphant. As a member of the Committee of the Preservation of Morals, Olga has mounted a passionate campaign against the latest ‘immoral’ bestseller, but the author of the book turns out to be her own son, Hank. 240pp in paperback reprint of the 1971 original. £5.99 NOW £2.50


76542 BLOOD AND BEAUTY: The Borgias by Sarah Dunant A window into the extraordinary machinations and skulduggery of the Borgias transforming these black-hearted figures and the conniving courtiers and cardinals of Renaissance Europe into fully rounded characters. Sarah Dunant sets up a resonant dynamic between the political dangerous machinations of the papal conclave and the domestic. Here are the great paterfamilias Alexander, Falstaffian, uxorious, charming and ruthless; the sinister Master of Ceremonies, Johannes Burchardt; and the handsome, vicious Cesare, who matures marvellously from a rake decked out in the latest fashions to a savage melancholic, mired in violence and dressed in black. Here are the smells, sounds and simmering tensions of 15th century Rome. 529pp, paperback. £7.99 NOW £3


75814 MOTHERLAND by William Nicholson


Summer of 1942 and Kitty, an army driver stationed in Sussex, meets Ed, a Royal Marine commando and Larry, a liaison officer with Combined Operation under the command of Mountbatten. Kitty falls instantly in love with Ed, who falls in love with her. So does Larry. Both men go off to war and Ed wins the highest military honour for his bravery. But sometimes heroes don’t make the best husband. 548pp in large softback. £14.99 NOW £3.25


76550 DEBORAH GOES TO DOVER: The Travelling Matchmaker by M. C. Beaton


Destined for Dover, Miss Hannah Pym has her matchmaking work cut out for her when she encounters the pretty, boisterous Lady Deborah Western. Encouraged by an unruly twin brother, golden haired Lady Western seems set on acting the tomboy, much to the dismay of her handsome neighbour, the Earl of Ashton. He challenges her to a horse race and the outcome is certainly unexpected, but fortunately for the handsome, green-eyed Earl, Miss Pym is on hand to make sure the gorgeous girl is introduced to some more feminine pursuits! 186pp in paperback.


£6.99 NOW £3.50


76588 PLAIN JANE by M. C. Beaton The author of Agatha Raisin will delight all Regency enthusiasts. It’s up to the servants at 67 Clarges Street to hatch a scheme and arrange a match. Plain Jane Hart joins her sister for the Season, because the Lord Tregarthan might notice her. While it is Euphemia’s fate to flit her way through balls and into the arms of a Marquis, Jane’s is to stay at home - until the household staff transform her into the Season’s sensation and send her waltzing into a darling liaison with the man of her dreams! 216pp in paperback. £6.99 NOW £3.50


75979 FORTUNATE PILGRIM by Mario Puzo


From the barren farms of Italy to the cramped tenements of New York, the Angeluzzi-Corbos family are struggling with an adopted life. At their head stands Lucia Santa, wife, widow and mother of two families. It is her formidable will that steers them through the Depression and the early years of the war. But she cannot prevent the conflict between Italian and American values, nor the violence and bloodshed which must surely follow. Facsimile reprint of the 1965 original in 301 page paperback. £7.99 NOW £2


75949 MAY BRIDE by Suzannah Dunn


All that is known about Katherine Filliol - or Filioll or Fillol, is that, by the time her father’s will was written in 1527, her marriage to Edward Seymour had broken down. When her eldest brother brings his bride home to Wolf Hall, Jane Seymour is a shy, dutiful 15-year-old. She thinks that Katherine Filliol is the perfect match for Edward, and is captivated by the older girl. Over the course of a long, hot, country summer, the two become close friends and allies, while Edward is away, busy building alliances at Court and advancing his career. A short two years later, the family is torn apart by a dreadful allegation made by Edward against his wife. Changed forever by what happened to Katherine Filliol, Jane comes to realise that, in a world where power is held entirely by men. Fiction, 308 pages. £12.99 NOW £3.50


76024 OBJECT LESSONS: The Paris Review Presents: the


Art of the Short Story edited by Lorin and Sadie Stein Since its founding in 1953, The Paris Review has been a laboratory for new fiction. The idea of this book is that 20 masters of the genre of short story have been asked to choose a story from the archives, a personal favourite, and to describe the key to its success as a work of fiction. Dinner at the Bank of England by Guy Davenport is introduced by Norman Rush, Several Garlic Tales by Donald Barthelme is introduced by Ben Marcus, Why Don’t You Dance by Raymond Carver is introduced by David Means and Likely Lake by Mary Robison is introduced by Sam Lipsyte. 358pp, softback. £12.99 NOW £3


76028 TECHNOLOGISTS by Matthew Pearl


Spring 1868 and the population of Boston is being terrorised by a series of mysterious attacks - first a magnetic storm causes ships in the harbour to collide in flames, then every piece of glass in the financial district spontaneously melts - clocks, windows, spectacles. The city’s fate relies on four young students, Civil War veteran Marcus Mansfield, brash Bob Richards, meticulous Edwin Hoyt and the eccentric but brilliant Ellen Swallow. Together, they are The Technologists. In a climate of rising hysteria, these four courageous individuals must uncover the mastermind before he can stage his greatest outrage. 555pp in paperback. £7.99 NOW £2


75561 BLOOD OF HONOUR by James Holland At Hiraklion, Jack Tanner and the rest of the 2nd Battalion Yorks Rangers find themselves battling in vicious close-quarter fighting against the German paratroopers. Leading a counter-attack, it is Peploe and Tanner’s B Company that helps drive the enemy back, but this success is short-lived. Not only has a new subaltern Guy Liddell recently arrived on the island determined to make life difficult, but Tanner has offended Alopex, a powerful kapitan on Crete who has sworn to kill him. Now the Germans are invading and enemy bombers ensure their attempted evacuation is scuppered. Tanner is forced to flee to the mountainous interior where only Alopex can help. Set in May 1941. 381pp. £14.99 NOW £2


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