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Showing 1041 - 1060 of 2566 items
By Josep Maria Espinàs. 1957
Espinàs converteix l'experiència de la caminada en una crònica viva en la qual el lector s'aventura amb l'escriptor per camins…
desconeguts del Pallars i la Vall d'Aran. L'últim traginer ens transporta a un temps en què el Pallars i la Vall Aran no tenien estacions d'esquí, els guàrdies civils anaven amb bicicleta i la centraleta de telèfons de Salardú la feia funcionar, manualment, una noia en un racó de menjador d'una antiga fonda. El lector s'aventura amb l'escriptor pels camins i les valls d'aquestes contrades, en una crònica que reviu un món rural perdut i nostàlgic de mitjan anys cinquanta. Josep M. Espinàs, a través d'aquesta crònica del 1956, reviu uns fets, uns personatges i un paisatge que avui ja formen part del passat, però que l'autor manté vius per sempre amb el seu testimoni de narració viva.By Josep Maria Espinàs. 1990
On és exactament la Llitera? Com s'hi viu? Quin català es parla en aquesta comarca de l'Aragó? La passió per…
caminar i descobrir ha dut a Josep M. Espinàs, aquesta vegada, a una terra plena d'interrogants per a molta gent. On és exactament la Llitera? Quin català es parla en aquesta comarca de l'Aragó? La passió per caminar i descobrir va dur Josep M. Espinàs a una terra de pas plena d'interrogants per a molta gent. El 1990, caminant per la Llitera amb sol i amb tempestes, amb totes les sorpreses d'un viatge com aquest, Espinàs converteix l'experiència d'anar a peu en una narració viva, en una crònica que es llegeix com si el lector també s'aventurés amb l'escriptor per camins desconeguts. "Tota la Llitera a peu?, això no ho ha fet mai ningú!", li van dir els lliterans. Viatge a la frontera de la llengua és una obra excepcional en la literatura de viatges de Josep M. Espinàs, tant per l'escenari com pels fets que s'hi narren. Amb aquest llibre, l'autor aporta un testimoni directe i apassionat dels pobles de la comarca.By Ross King. 2000
Brunelleschi's Dome is the story of how a Renaissance genius bent men, materials, and the very forces of nature to…
build an architectural wonder we continue to marvel at today. Denounced at first as a madman, Brunelleschi was celebrated at the end as a genius. He engineered the perfect placement of brick and stone, built ingenious hoists and cranes (among some of the most renowned machines of the Renaissance) to carry an estimated 70 million pounds hundreds of feet into the air, and designed the workers' platforms and routines so carefully that only one man died during the decades of construction--all the while defying those who said the dome would surely collapse and his own personal obstacles that at times threatened to overwhelm him. This drama was played out amid plagues, wars, political feuds, and the intellectual ferments of Renaissance Florence-- events Ross King weaves into the story to great effect, from Brunelleschi's bitter, ongoing rivalry with the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti to the near catpure of Florence by the Duke of Milan. King also offers a wealth of fascinating detail that opens windows onto fifteenth-century life: the celebrated traditions of the brickmaker's art, the daily routine of the artisans laboring hundreds of feet above the ground as the dome grew ever higher, the problems of transportation, the power of the guilds. Even today, in an age of soaring skyscrapers, the cathedral dome of Santa Maria del Fiore retains a rare power to astonish. Ross King brings its creation to life in a fifteenth-century chronicle with twenty-first-century resonance.By Jeremy Vine. 2020
'The lives of the characters get entangled in this powerful read' WOMAN'S OWN'A pacy, gripping tale of secrets, love and…
betrayal in 1950s Catalonia, written with skill and colour. It gave me enormous pleasure to read such a satisfying novel.' SANTA MONTEFIORE 'If you're in desperate need of a far-Flung getaway, indulge in this slice of escapist fiction' HEAT'Being transported to a Spanish summer in 1951... I feel the cool of the shadows under the trees and hear the sea as it glistens in the rippling heat. I think you might like it too!' FERN BRITTON'As colourful, rich and mesmerising as one of Dali's paintings, this absorbing, poignant rollercoaster of a read is utterly satisfying and will stay with you long after you've put it down.' PATRICIA SCANLAN 'a tale of intrigue, love, politics and scandal. Mixing fact and fiction The Diver and The Lover keeps up the pace and excitement to the very end.' JOAN BAKEWELL'This tale intrigued me and captured my imagination in equal measure. I loved being whisked back to the 1950s and felt the heat of the Spanish sun as I fell in love with the sisters' unique relationship. Be prepared to be taken on a dramatic journey confronting pain, tragedy and passion along the way ' SARA COX'We'll never look at one of the world's best known paintings in the same way again. [Jeremy Vine] has managed to weave truth and fiction together to bring us a most unexpected love story.' FIONA BRUCE'A touching love story set in General Franco's postwar Spain is hallmark Vine - fresh, well-researchedand packed with female protagonists.' - COUNTRYSIDE MAGSoaked in sunlight, love and the mysteries surrounding a famous artist The Diver and the Lover is a novel inspired by true events.It is 1951 and sisters Ginny and Meredith have travelled from England to Spain in search of distraction and respite. The two wars have wreaked loss and deprivation upon the family and the spectre of Meredith's troubled childhood continues to haunt them. Their journey to the rugged peninsula of Catalonia promises hope and renewal. While there they discover the artist Salvador Dali is staying in nearby Port Lligat. Meredith is fascinated by modern art and longs to meet the famous surrealist. Dali is embarking on an ambitious new work, but his headstrong male model has refused to pose. A replacement is found, a young American waiter with whom Ginny has struck up a tentative acquaintance. The lives of the characters become entangled as family secrets, ego and the dangerous politics of Franco's Spain threaten to undo the fragile bonds that have been forged. A powerful story of love, sacrifice and the lengths we will go to for who - or what - we love.By Sheila O'Flanagan. 2011
FOLLOW ME is a fabulously warm, witty and romantic novella from the No. 1 bestselling author Sheila O'Flanagan.Pippa Jones seems…
to have it all. The only thing that the high-flying career girl is missing is love. When she spots a gorgeous man who seems to be following her everywhere she goes, she wonders if fate is trying to throw them together. But with her job on the line can she afford to make time for this handsome, mysterious stranger?By Kajsa Kinsella, Arrow Film Distributors Ltd. 2015
You've watched every Scandi TV series going, you have Nordic light fittings, and you want Birgitte Nyborg as your Prime…
Minister. Yes it's fair to say there is a general love-in with everything related to the northern countries.Over the last decade, the Nordic nations have quietly and unassumingly come to hold us in their thrall; but what is it, exactly, that we covet about their culture?Nordicana celebrates the objects, aesthetics and traditions that have inspired our obsession, with a quick introduction to 100 icons of Scandi style and Nordic cool, accompanied by beautiful illustrations.By Michel Bussi. 2018
A #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A SUNDAY TIMES CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH'Outrageously entertaining' The Times'A tantalising story that wraps the…
reader in myriad enigmas - utterly spellbinding'Daily Mail'As exhilarating as Bussi's breakthrough novel After the Crash' The Sunday Times 'Agatha Christie updated and then cranked up to 11: a blast' Shots Magazine REVENGE IS WORTH WAITING FOR... Jamal loves to run. But one morning - as he is training on a path winding up a steep cliff - he stumbles across a woman in distress.It's a matter of seconds: suddenly she is falling through the air, crashing on the beach below.Jamal is only an unlucky bystander - or is he?His version of events doesn't seem to fit with what other eyewitnesses claim to have seen. And how to explain the red scarf carefully arranged around the dead woman's neck?Perhaps this was no accident after all.Or perhaps there is something more sinister afoot - a devilish plan decades in the making, masterminded by someone hell-bent on revenge.MICHEL BUSSI: THE MASTER OF THE KILLER TWISTBeloved by readers... 'I didn't anticipate all the twists and turns in this cleverly plotted novel''The final twist is a bit of a jaw dropper''Twists and turns aplenty!''A twisting, turning story which clobbers you with a number of cracking twists!''Fast-paced and chock full of twists, turns and red herrings' ...and critics 'A novel so extraordinary that it reminded me of reading Steig Larsson for the very first time . . . I doubt I'll read a more brilliant crime novel this year' Sunday Times on After the Crash'A dazzling, unexpected and haunting masterpiece' Daily Mail on Black Water Lilies'Inventive, original and incredibly entertaining' Sunday Mirror on Don't Let Go'Combines an extraordinarily inventive plot with characters haunted by long-ago events - and demonstrates why he has such a hold on readers' Sunday Times on Time is a KillerBy Einar Karason. 2018
"This gripping novel is as good at describing the magnificent seascapes and the unforgiving elements as it is at examining…
the inner lives of the besieged crew, toiling ceaselessly against implacable nature" -Financial Times BOOKS OF THE YEAR"Gripping and Exciting" The Sunday Times BOOKS OF THE YEARIn February 1959, several Icelandic trawlers were caught in a storm off Newfoundland's Grand Banks. What happened there is the inspiration for this novel. Not since The Perfect Storm has there been a book which captures the sheer drama and terror of a crisis at sea. Karason is an exceptional storyteller, an Icelandic Erskine Caldwell or William Faulkner.The side trawler Mafurinn is hit by a major storm just as they prepare to turn for home. Thirty-two men aboard, and a hold full of redfish. The sea is cold enough to kill a man in minutes, and the trawler quickly ices up in the biting frost and violent tempest. The heavy icing weighs down the already fully laden craft, which is pummelled by one breaker after another - and here, out on the open sea, there is no exit route. Distress signals from other ships in the same circumstance and be heard from the fishing grounds around them. It is a battle of life and death.Translated from the Icelandic by Quentin BatesBy Prof Bernhard Schlink. 2018
A #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER'Bernhard Schlink speaks straight to the heart' New York Times'Brilliant... A tale of love and loss in…
20th century Germany' Evening Standard'A cleverly-constructed tale of cross-class romance' Mail on Sunday'A poignant portrait of a woman out of step with her time' Observer Olga is an orphan raised by her grandmother in a Prussian village around the turn of the 20th century. Smart and precocious, she fights against the prejudices of the time to find her place in a world that sees her as second-best.When she falls in love with Herbert, a local aristocrat obsessed with the era's dreams of power, glory and greatness, her life is irremediably changed.Theirs is a love against all odds, entwined with the twisting paths of German history, leading us from the late 19th to the early 21st century, from Germany to Africa and the Arctic, from the Baltic Sea to the German south-west.This is the story of that love, of Olga's devotion to a restless man - told in thought, letters and in a fateful moment of great rebellion.By George East. 2006
In the bestselling tradition of Peter Mayle, the second hilarious instalment of George and Donella East's adventures in Normandy.In FRENCH…
KISSES the Easts continue their adventures in a land where time is cheap, good friends priceless, and reluctant tractors are brought to life on a frosty morning with a shot of moonshine brandy. During an eventful year at the Mill of the Flea, we encounter a host of new improbable characters including the moustache-growing champion of Northern France and the vegetarian couple who discover they have set up residence next to a veal farm.But the clock is ticking as the couple struggle to make ends meet at the Mill of the Flea and placate their ever despairing bank manager. A series of survival schemes are increasingly ill-fated, and a plan to set up a programme of exchange visits threatens to flood Britain with illegal immigrants. Soon it appears that the Mill of the Flea will be lost and George and Donella find themselves forced into leaving their small corner of Paradise. Will this spell the end of the couple's adventures in France, or will the Easts once again survive the casual backhands of cruel fate? If you're a fan of France, life and laughter, you cannot fail to be enchanted by FRENCH KISSES ...By Diccon Bewes. 2013
In June 1863 an English lady set off by train on the trip of a lifetime: Thomas Cook's first Conducted…
Tour of Switzerland. A century and a half later, travel writer Diccon Bewes, author of the bestselling Swiss Watching, decided to go where she went and see what she saw. Guided by her diary, he followed the same route to discover how much had changed and how much hadn't. She went in search of adventure, he went in search of her, and found far more than he expected. Slow Train to Switzerland is the captivating account of two trips through the Alps: hers glimpsing the future of travel, his revisiting its past. Together they make a journey to remember.This is a tale of trains and tourists, of the British and the Swiss, of a Victorian traveller and a modern-day Englishman abroad. It is the story of a tour that changed both Switzerland and the world of travel forever.By Adam Ruck. 2012
Both a practical companion and a story of exploration and rediscovery, France on Two Wheels offers detailed descriptions of useful…
routes, stop-off points and watering-holes, along with detours into subjects as varied as wine, windmills, Wodehouse, and beer. It is vivid proof that the only way to experience the French countryside is on a bike.Adding insight to anecdote, this book is packed with practical tips: on rail travel with a bicycle, mending a puncture in French, and the best stopovers along the route - small hotels, B&Bs and chateaux, every one "a cultural treasure worth celebrating".A journey along the seemingly endless Russian border - from North Korea in the Far East through Russia's bordering states…
in Asia and the Caucasus, crossing the Caspian Ocean and the Black Sea along the way."Erika Fatland [is] shaping up to be one of the Nordics' most exciting new travel writers" National Geographic**SHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORDS DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020**"A hauntingly lyrical meditation to the contingencies of history" Wall Street Journal"[An] impressive mix of history, reportage and travel memoir" Washington PostThe Border is a book about Russia and Russian history without its author ever entering Russia itself; a book about being the neighbour of that mighty, expanding empire throughout history. It is a chronicle of the colourful, exciting, tragic and often unbelievable histories of these bordering nations, their cultures, their people, their landscapes.Through her last three documentary books - one about terrorism in Beslan, one about the 2011 terror attacks in Norway and one about post-Soviet Central Asia - social anthropologist Erika Fatland has established herself as a sharp observer and an outstanding interviewer at the forefront of Nordic non-fiction.Translated from the Norwegian by Kari DicksonBy Rick Steves. 1982
Hit Europe's can't-miss art, sights, and bites with Rick Steves Best of Europe!Expert advice from Rick Steves on what's worth…
your time and moneyItineraries for one to four days in the top destinations in England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and SwitzerlandRick's tips for beating the crowds, skipping lines, and avoiding tourist trapsThe best of local culture, flavors, and haunts, including walks through the most interesting neighborhoods and museumsTrip planning strategies like how to link destinations and design your itinerary, what to pack, where to stay, and how to get aroundOver 100 full-color maps and vibrant photosCoverage of London, Paris, Provence, the French Riviera, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, the Swiss Alps/Berner Oberland, Munich, Rothenberg and the Romantic Road, the Rhine Valley, Berlin, and AmsterdamExperience the best of Europe with Rick Steves!By Daniel Glattauer. 2012
Judith, in her mid-thirties and single, meets Hannes when he steps on her foot in a crowded supermarket. Before long…
he turns up in the exclusive little lighting boutique that Judith runs with the help of her assistant Bianca. Hannes is an architect - single and in the prime of life. Not only is he every mother-in-law's dream, but Judith's friends are also bowled over by him. At first Judith revels in being put on a pedestal by this determined man who seems to have eyes only for her. But as time goes by, she finds his constant displays of affection increasingly wearying and his intensive attention becomes oppressive and overwhelming. In the end she feels cornered, controlled and stifled. All her attempts to get him out of her life fail. He seems to follow her all the way into her dreams, and when she wakes up he's already waiting on her doorstep to pamper her afresh...By Mikael Niemi. 2021
"So much to relish here . . . the plot is gripping, there's a beautifully handled thread on reading and…
writing, and the writing is just lovely!" DIANE SETTERFIELD, author of Once Upon A River"The year's most memorable narrator . . . An unusual and intriguing crime story" SUNDAY TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR"Niemi succeeds in constructing a story that works as a murder mystery and as a compelling study of a dangerously inward-looking community" SUNDAY TIMES"A riveting, psychologically astute mystery . . . It is not to be missed" BOOKLIST"An original and gripping crime story" THE TIMES**NOW SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER**It is 1852, and in Sweden's far north, deep in the Arctic Circle, charismatic preacher and Revivalist Lars Levi Læstadius impassions a poverty-stricken congregation with visions of salvation. But local leaders have reason to resist a shift to temperance over alcohol.Jussi, the young Sami boy Læstadius has rescued from destitution and abuse, becomes the preacher's faithful disciple on long botanical treks to explore the flora and fauna. Læstadius also teaches him to read and write - and to love and fear God. When a milkmaid goes missing deep in the forest, the locals suspect a predatory bear is at large. A second girl is attacked, and the sheriff is quick to offer a reward for the bear's capture. Using early forensics and daguerreotype, Læstadius and Jussi find clues that point to a far worse killer on the loose, even as they are unaware of the evil closing in around them. To Cook a Bear explores how communities turn inwards, how superstition can turn to violence, and how the power of language can be transformative in a richly fascinating mystery."Superb suspense . . . Simply a great literary experience!" V.G. (Sweden) "A masterpiece of narrative" La Vanguardia (Spain)"A philosophical novel, a crime novel, a historical novel and a coming-of-age story complement one another" La Stampa (Italy)"One is transported into a strange time and a fascinating world that is both beautiful and brutal" Politiken (Denmark)"Formidable delivery . . . Unlike anything else you have read . . . An incredible novel" AdresseavisenTranslated from the Swedish by Deborah Bragan-TurnerBy Marie NDiaye. 2009
Forty-year-old Norah leaves Paris, her family and her career as a lawyer to visit her father in Dakar. It is…
an uncomfortable reunion - she is asked to use her skills as a lawyer to get her brother out of prison - and ultimately the trip endangers her marriage and her relationship with her own daughter, and drives her to the very edge of madness. Fanta, on the other hand, leaves Dakar to follow her husband Rudy to rural France. And it is through Rudy's bitter and guilt-ridden perspective that we see Fanta stagnate with boredom in this alien, narrow environment. Khady is forced into exile from Senegal because of poverty, because her husband is dead, because she is lonely and in despair. With other illegal immigrants, she embarks on a journey which takes her nowhere, but from which she will never return.By Otto De Kat. 2018
"He was a Fula. I say 'was', because I haven't seen him for a long time. I don't know if…
he's still alive or where he might be. He just disappeared."Maria is independent, unconventional and unafraid. She is trying to find an explanation for the disappearance of Ishmael, a refugee from Sierra Leone who came to her door as a newspaper boy and stayed for seven years. He was like a son to her. Vincent is a psychologist. Once he and Maria had an all-encompassing relationship, but since their break-up he has been living in a kind of haze. One day, Maria asks for his help. In the encounters that follow, Ishmael is pushed into the background by a rekindling of the old love between Vincent and Maria. The stories and memories that resurface come to replace the sadness at the loss of the boy. But despite the distraction of their new situation, Ishmael proves impossible to forget.Otto de Kat is known for concise novels that are beautifully observed, subtle and precise, and Freetown is no exception. Translated from the Dutch by Laura WatkinsonBy Otto De Kat. 2012
June 1941. Dutch diplomat Oscar Verschuur has been posted to neutral Switzerland. His family is spread across Europe. His wife…
Kate works as a nurse in London and their daughter Emma is living in Berlin with her husband Carl, a 'good' German who works at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Briefly reunited with her father in a restaurant in Geneva, Emma drops a bombshell. A date and a codename, and the fate of nations is placed in Verschuur's hands: June 22, Barbarossa. What should he do? Warn the world, or put his daughter's safety first? The Gestapo are watching them both. And with Stalin lulled by his alliance with Hitler, will anyone even listen? Otto de Kat is fast gaining a reputation as one of Europe's sharpest and most lucid writers. News from Berlin, a book for all readers, a true page-turner driven by the pulse of a ticking clock, confirms him as a storyteller of subtly extravagant gifts.By Mariapia Veladiano. 2011
Rebecca's parents were born to very different families. One wealthy, one all but destitute, they were united only by their…
striking mutual beauty. But the sole child to bless their great romantic fairy tale is a daughter of startling ugliness. The shock of having given birth to such a monster leads the mother to withdraw both herself and her daughter from the world. Only by keeping her child indoors, away from strangers' eyes, can she protect her from their disgust. But against all odds, with a little help from some remarkable friends, Rebecca discovers a talent for music that proves that inner beauty can outshine any other. A Life Apart is an irresistible modern fable that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt that they don't belong.