Title search results
Showing 2881 - 2900 of 5790 items
The Breakers
By Claudie Gallay. 2008
In the storm-swept landscapes of Normandy's coastline lies a village that might just be at the ends of the earth.…
A woman has recently arrived to seek healing for some deep sorrow, and spends her days cataloguing migratory birds. On the day of a battering storm a stranger appears in the bar, arousing her curiosity. He stirs up suspicion in the village, looking for answers to apparently unanswerable questions about his family lost long years ago in an accident at sea. What actually happened? How was it that the lighthouse did not guide them safely to shore? The eccentric inhabitants of this desolate village seem riveted to old hatreds, determined to leave secrets buried. Gradually the bird-watcher succeeds in unravelling a tragedy at the heart of a community in which many are suffering still from the loss of people they have loved. And in the process finds her own peace. The Breakers is an immensely satisfying and evocative mystery of great depth. Claudie Gallay unpeels the emotions of her unforgettable characters with such subtlety that the reader is captivated.A Summer In Gascony: The Other South of France
By Martin Calder. 2008
The only travel writing book on Gascony, A Summer in Gascony is a charming and humorous tale of an extraordinary…
summer spent in this relatively unknown part of south-western France, the home of D Artagnan, Cyrano de Bergerac, gutsy red wine, fine sweet wine Armagnac and sunflowers. It is a tale of two love affairs: an idyllic summer romance and a lifelong love affair with Gascony with its village festivals, dusty roads and sun-baked wine country. Stretching from Toulouse in the east to the Atlantic coast in the west, from the river Garonne in the north to the Pyrenees in the south, Gascony is a golden land of rolling hills and wide horizons, swathed with vineyards, sunflowers, maize and pastures. It has a distinct identity which sets it apart from the rest of France and old affinities with England: the Gascons fought alongside the English in the Middle Ages and the Napoleonic Wars against their common foe the French. In the tiny hamlet of Peguilhan, Martin Calder is introduced to the Gascon way of life: working in the fields, shepherding and slaughtering sheep, feeding the cattle, harvesting the wheat, watering the crops. He discovers a unique people, fiercely proud of their independent heritage. Full of colourful characters: the charismatic and convivial Jacques-Henri, the hardworking farmer whose family take Martin into their home and hearts; the yoga-practising Germans; Pattes, the mischievous stray dog; Madame Parle-Beaucoup , the town gossip and Monsieur Fustignac, whose pride in his Gascon heritage is unforgettable. But the real star of the book is Gascony itself, with its strong spirit of independence and the simple pleasures it provides. Written by a true Francophile who has come to know the people and understands their way of life, A Summer in Gascony evokes the spirit, sights, smells and sounds of this still relatively unknown and unspoiled other South of France.The Sweetness of Life
By Paulus Hochgatterer. 2006
It is Christmas in the alpine town of Furth am See and a six-year-old girl is playing ludo with her…
grandfather. The doorbell rings, and the old man goes to answer. The next time the girl sees him, he is lying with his skull broken, his face a red pulp against the white snow. From that time on, she does not speak a single word. Raffael Horn, the psychiatrist engaged to treat the silent child, reluctantly becomes involved in solving the murder along with Detective Superintendent Ludwig Kovacs. Their parallel researches sweep through the town: a young mother who believes her new-born child is the devil; a Benedictine monk who uses his iPod to drown the voices in his head; a high-spending teenager who tortures cats. The psychological profile of this claustrophobic, winter-held town is not reassuring - which, if any, of its inhabitants was the brutal night-time slayer of the suffering girl's grandfather?The First Fingerprint
By Xavier-Marie Bonnot. 2008
In an underwater cavern off the coast west of Marseille are the first human engravings known to man. Among them…
is a crude drawing of a three-fingered hand, which has long puzzled archaeologists. Is it a hunting signal? A mystic sign invoking the spirits? Or is it, as many believe, evidence of ritual mutilation in a Shamanistic world? "The Hunter" evidently believes the latter. Driven by inhuman voices to maim and kill, he severs the body parts of his victims - and signs his savagery with a print of a three-fingered hand. Commandant Michel de Palma, of the Marseille murder squad, heads to the university in Aix-en-Provence to investigate further, but the clique of pre-history professors he encounters are as hard to unravel as the meaning of the cave-drawing itself. As he gets closer to the truth, the group of academics close ranks. Slowly and alone, de Palma begins pursuing a mystery that dates back to the Ice age.The First Fingerprint introduces a policeman as polished as he is brutal, as charming as he is deceptive. Michel de Palma, called "the Baron" by his colleagues, knows the dark underside of the city of Marseille as do none of his rivals. But his enemies are everywhere: in the crime-infested sinks of the suburbs; in the sleek and squalid bars of the old quarter; even in the police ranks themselves.Quiet the Mind
By Matthew Johnstone. 2012
In a world where finding even ten minutes to 'do nothing' can be difficult, the benefits of meditation can be…
profound. Meditation is simply a way of giving our brains a well-deserved break and can actually help our brains to function healthily and happily. This beautifully illustrated guide is an inspiring and practical book which shows you how to meditate without the need for uncomfortable lotus positions or prayer beads! With his typical gentle and insightful humour, Matthew's guide to meditation will enable to you to feel more present, more youthful, have more energy and greater concentration, improve your mood and sleep more soundly.The Olive Harvest: A Memoir of Love, Old Trees, and Olive Oil
By Carol Drinkwater. 2004
The third episode of a bestselling story which began with THE OLIVE FARM - now in a gorgeous new look."The…
stars shimmer like spilled handfuls of glitter. The day is beginning to rise with a faint mist. As I turn my head, ghostly halos, auras of light, appear and disappear ... The silence is truly awesome. Not a bird, not a whisper of wind, not a breath of life. Only the two of us, a most implausible pair, standing shoulder to shoulder gazing upon an awakening heaven"Returning to their home after an extended absence Carol and her husband Michel are looking forward to summer together on the farm. A shocking blow leaves Carol alone and the future is uncertain. Feeling isolated and with no olives to harvest, Carol ventures beyond the farm to explore other aspects of Provencal life - from hunting to bee-keeping, the ancient language to the ever-present demands of family and friends. And ultimately, Provence's generous diversity - and Carol's own persistence in sharing it with those she loves - paves a path to joy.The Villa Girls
By Nicky Pellegrino. 2011
Four friends, a sun-drenched escape, and a holiday that will change everything...THE VILLA GIRLS is the story of four young…
women who decide that wherever they are in the world and whatever they're doing they'll meet every few years for a holiday together somewhere sunny. Despite life taking them in very different directions, their snatched days in the sun in little hidden villas are crucial to them all. Escape, celebration, recovery - over the years the holidays change their lives.Rosie was always the odd one out - initially only invited as the others felt sorry for her, but it seems that in the end, she might be the one whose life is touched the most by her villa days. For it's there that she meets Enzo. The eldest son of an olive oil dynasty in southern Italy, he is being groomed to take over one day as head of the family.Rosie and Enzo have a holiday romance that seems set to become something more serious until she discovers he is not entirely what he seems. Years later they meet again and this time Rosie must decide how much she is prepared to compromise for the sake of love...Child Wonder
By Roy Jacobsen. 2009
Finn lives with his mother in a working-class suburb of Oslo. It is 1961, before oil, before anyone had any…
money at all. One day a mysterious half-sister appears, turning their lives upside down - why is she so different from every other child? When his mother takes a lodge, Finn is enthralled by the bad language and Bakelite T.V. he brings with him, but the newcomer has his own plans for the family. And throughout the long summer, Finn cannot help feeling his mother is keeping a powerful secret from him, pushing them further and further apart.The Nation's Favourite: A Book of the UK's Best-loved Things
By Mathew Clayton. 2010
In the last 100 years mankind has split the atom, walked on the moon and broken the sound barrier but...…
we haven't got any better at making biscuits. The nation's favourite biscuit, McVitie's Chocolate Digestive, was first baked in 1892. This is just one of the fascinating facts you will find in The Nation's Favourite. What is the UK's favourite karaoke song, or wedding first dance song? What is our favourite cereal, painkiller, pet or garden tool? The Nation's Favourite brings together 220 lists which provide the answers to these questions and many more. The result is amusing, surprising and reveals a fascinating picture of the tastes and habits of the UK population.The Voice of the Spirits: A Commandant Michel de Palma Investigation
By Xavier-Marie Bonnot. 2010
Commandant Michel de Palma follows an anonymous tip-off to a gated mansion by the coast and finds a body whose…
face is obscured by a fearsome tribal mask. Beneath it is a mysterious wound that could not have been caused by a bullet. Surrounded by scores of masks and painted skulls, de Palma hears the haunting strains of a primal flute from the floors above. With few leads to go on, de Palma delves into an account of the murdered doctor's voyage to Papua New Guinea seventy years earlier. But when his chief suspect is found dead, killed by the same method as Delorme, he begins to wonder whether the bodies on his hands are not the victims of spirits intent on revenge.Breathless
By Anne Swärd. 2010
Lo enjoys a sheltered safe childhood, but when she is six years old a fire breaks out in a field…
by her home, and in the aftermath she makes a new friend. Lukas is thirteen and Lo's family are deeply suspicious of his motives for befriending such a young girl. The pair are forced to meet in secret, sleeping side by side by the lake every summer. For her fifteenth birthday, Lukas takes Lo to the Tivoli pleasure gardens in Copenhagen. Senses dulled by dancing, drink and fairy lights, she falls early to sleep, and wakes to find their lives and friendship changed forever.Tell Me Something: What do you do when the life you always wanted disappears?
By Adele Parks. 2008
In this addictive novel, from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Lies Lies Lies, a marriage crumbles, cultures…
clash and love affairs begin in in glorious sun-drenched Italy.Don't miss Adele's gripping new novel, the No. 1 bestseller Just My Luck, out now!Acclaim for Adele's compelling, twisty and acutely observed novels: 'Tightly plotted, brilliantly conceived and totally gripping' Lisa Jewell 'Twisty, unputdownable and utterly engrossing' Jenny Colgan 'Brilliant storyline, great characters, very clever, loved it!' B A Paris 'Addictive and perceptive' Lucy AtkinsWILL THE ITALIAN DREAM BE WHAT SHE'S ALWAYS IMAGINED?Elizabeth has two goals in life. Once she fulfils the first - finding a sexy Italian husband - she thinks the second will come easy. But getting pregnant is proving difficult.So when the couple move to Italy for Roberto to run the family business, Elizabeth hopes the relaxing lifestyle will boost her chances of conceiving.But Italy is anything but peaceful...Elizabeth's wily mother-in-law seems to instantly hate her, Roberto's gorgeous ex is lingering a little too close for comfort... And. Still. No. Baby.Will Elizabeth's hunger for a bambino be enough to hold her marriage together? Or will she find herself dreaming of something else all together?What readers are saying about Tell Me Something:'The story is a rollercoaster ride full of ups and downs for Elizabeth, and Parks' clever and unpredictable twists and turns are thoroughly enjoyable' 'Elizabeth's character is highly developed and expertly portrayed. It's been a while since I read a book which made me laugh and cry simultaneously, for being both happy and sad'More praise for Adele Parks: Dark, funny and observant' Cosmopolitan 'Guaranteed to keep you hooked until the end' She magazine 'Deliciously down to earth' The Times 'Wonderfully absorbing' Stylist 'Will captivate you from the first page' CloserA Journey to Nowhere: Among the Lands and History of Courland
By Jean-Paul Kauffmann. 2009
Courland is an entity that no longer exists. With the Gulf of Riga to the north, the Baltic to the…
west and Lithuania at its southern border, and now part of modern Latvia, the region was occupied by Nazi Germany and returned to Soviet Russia after the war, remaining largely inaccessible until 1991. It is now a nowhere land of wide skies and forests, deserted beaches, ruined castles and ex-KGB prisons. For years Jean-Paul Kauffmann has been irresistibly drawn to this buffer between the Germanic and Slav worlds. His digressive travels at the wheel of a Skoda become an investigation into the whereabouts of a former lover, a search for an excavator of tombs, and a journey in the footsteps of Louis XVIII, for whom Courland was once a place of exile.The Expo Files: Articles by the Crusading Journalist
By Stieg Larsson. 2011
Now almost exclusively known as the author of the bestselling Millennium Trilogy, as a professional journalist Stieg Larsson was an…
untiring crusader for democracy and equality. As a reporter and editor-in-chief on the journal Expo he researched the extreme right both in Sweden and at an international level. Collected here for the first time are essays and articles on right-wing extremism and racism, on violence against women and women's rights, on homophobia and honour killings. Larsson never ceased to fight for and write about his most firmly held principles; it was his commitment to these which gave his best-selling novels their explosive force.Gardens Of Delight
By Erica James. 2005
A gorgeous, heart-warming tale set among the gardens of Italy from bestselling author Erica James.The Gardens of Delight brochure promises…
the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful gardens in the Lake Como area of Italy. For Lucy, the chance to go to Italy offers more than just gardens. Lake Como is where her father lives, and the last time she saw him was when she was just a teenager. Recently married Helen and her wealthy husband have just moved into the Old Rectory. With her husband spending so much time away from home, Helen throws herself into caring for the garden. But Helen needs help - and friends - and so decides to take the plunge and join the local Garden Club. Conrad isn't the least bit interested in gardening. Widowed for five years, his life revolves around work and humouring Mac, his elderly uncle who lives with him, and who has expressed a desire to go on the Gardens of Delight tour. Reluctantly, Conrad agrees to accompany him. 'Anything for a peaceful life,' he concedes. But a peaceful life is the last thing any of them are in for...The Wines of Spain
By Julian Jeffs. 2006
The transformation of the Spanish wine industry over the last 20 years has been astonishing. From a state of very…
considerable decay it has re-invented itself with great vigour and style. Four decades ago such reputation as the wines of Spain had rested on the declining quality of Sherry and the occasional majestic Rioja towering above the surrounding sea of mediocre, oxidised table wines. "How things have changed!" exclaims Julian Jeffs in the introduction to his valuable The Wines of Spain, the latest addition to Faber and Faber's series of wine books. Over the course of two years Jeffs put in a great deal of intensive research in Spain, travelling the length and breadth of the country, visiting growers and tasting their wines. The effort has paid off in a wealth of engrossing detail.The volume is organised into sections dealing with the main provinces or geographical regions--Aragon, Catalunya, Andalucia and so on--then within those by the individual Denominacion de Origen (DO). Within each DO the leading or most interesting bodegas are profiled, allowing Jeffs to build up a cumulative portrait of the regional characters. Especially evocative are the portions of the book dealing with the ancient and distinguished Sherry houses in Andalucia, many of them of course founded in the 18th or 19th centuries by British or Irish merchants. The account of the great Bodegas Vega Sicilia in Castilla is emblematic of the progress of the entire Spanish wine industry: Producing some of the world's finest wine up to the 1920s, it fell into poor practices and the quality and reliability of the wine suffered badly. Under the modernising current owners the wine has regained its former reputation. According to Julian Jeffs, Vega Sicilia "is on a Wagnerian scale, with all that master's subtlety and complexity." --Robin Davidson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.The Generals (Wellington and Napoleon 2)
By Simon Scarrow. 2007
THE GENERALS is the compelling second novel in Simon Scarrow's bestselling Wellington and Napoleon quartet. A must read for fans…
of Bernard Cornwell.In the turbulent aftermath of the French Revolution Napoleon Bonaparte stands accused of treachery and corruption. His reputation is saved by his skill in leading his men to victory in Italy and Egypt. But then he must restore order in France and find peace or victory over her enemies: England - and Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington).Wellesley is leading a vast army in India, where British interests are under threat. The campaign will result in the creation of the Raj - the jewel in the British Empire's crown. Wellesley returns to England a hardened veteran and more determined than ever to end France's domination of Europe.Both Wellesley and Napoleon intend to win - whatever the cost. Who will ultimately succeed?Man on the Move
By Otto De Kat. 2004
In January 1935, Rob leaves Holland for Cape Town, a young man thirsting for adventure and wanting above all to…
leave his family's suffocating hold on him behind. After a brutal stint in the diamond mines, he sails to Java to join the Dutch forces in their last stand against the invading Japanese. Here he finds Guus, a fellow countryman and the best friend he will ever have. Elegant, painterly and poetic, Man on the Move is an unforgettable portrait of friendship, and the heart-wrenching story of a journey away from family into lonely adulthood, through war and captivity.Nights of Rain and Stars: The perfect summer read
By Maeve Binchy. 2004
'The perfect summer read' Mail on SundayMaeve Binchy at her very best - the superb novel of one summer, and…
four people whose lives are irrevocably changed.'The setting is wonderfully seductive . . . Binchy weaves her usual magic . . . Binchy is degrees better than most other novelists and her storytelling ability is second to none' Sunday ExpressFour strangers, with nothing in common but a need to escape, meet in a Greek taverna high above the small village of Aghia Anna. From Ireland, America, Germany and England they have each left behind their homes and their old lives, when a shocking tragedy throws them unexpectedly together.Nights of Rain and Stars is the story of one summer and four people, each with a life in turmoil - and Vonni, the Irish exile who would very much like to help them, but has demons of her own to battle . . .'It's always a treat to read one of Maeve Binchy's novels and this is no exception . . . she introduces us to a group of characters - a random group of holidaymakers thrown together by tragedy - and leaves us caring about them as if they are our friends' Best***********************The phenomenal international bestseller - 100 million copies of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series sold worldwide.One of the…
Bookseller's 30 most influential books of the last 30 years."What a cracking novel! I haven't read such a stunning thriller debut for years. Brilliantly written and totally gripping" Minette WaltersWith an Introduction by Val McDermidForty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.Stieg Larsson's groundbreaking trilogy is continued in The Girl in the Spider's Web, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye and The Girl Who Lived Twice by David Lagercrantz