Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 20 items
Mesmerized
By Alissa Walser. 2010
Mozart's Vienna. A crucible for scientific experimentation and courtly intrigue, as Europe's finest minds vie for imperial favour. In a…
colourful, chaotic private hospital that echoes with the shrieks of hysterical patients, Franz Anton Mesmer is developing a series of controversial cure-alls for body and mind. When he is asked to help restore the sight of a blind musical prodigy favoured by the Empress herself, he senses that fame, and even immortality, is within his grasp. Mesmer knows that he will have to gain her trust if he is to open her eyes. But at what cost to her fragile talent? And will their intimacy result in scandal?Olga: A Novel
By 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.Firestorm
By Tamara McKinley. 2013
If you love Lesley Pearse, you're sure to fall for Tamara McKinley. A tale of hardship, hidden identities and our…
shared struggle to survive. Becky Jackson's family has been managing the hospital in far-flung Morgan's Reach for three generations. When Becky's husband is tragically lost at war, she and her young son Danny must leave the city and return to her birthplace to start over. But for all its charm, Morgan's Reach is a divided community, where blood is thicker than water and grudges run deep. So when a mysterious stranger appears outside the town and Danny begins to act strangely, it is not only Becky's newfound stability that's threatened. And what of the fact that there's not been a drop of rain in over three years? The risk of wildfire looms large and the hospital is already pushed to breaking point. A single spark could level the area in minutes - burning away everything for which the town has worked so hard; exposing the secrets they've fought to keep so close.The President's Gardens
By Muhsin Al-Ramli. 2016
One Hundred Years of Solitude meets The Kite Runner in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. "A contemporary tragedy of epic proportions. No…
author is better placed than Muhsin Al-Ramli, already a star in the Arabic literary scene, to tell this story. I read it in one sitting". Hassan Blasim, winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for The Iraqi Christ. On the third day of Ramadan, the village wakes to find the severed heads of nine of its sons stacked in banana crates by the bus stop.One of them belonged to one of the most wanted men in Iraq, known to his friends as Ibrahim the Fated.How did this good and humble man earn the enmity of so many? What did he do to deserve such a death?The answer lies in his lifelong friendship with Abdullah Kafka and Tariq the Befuddled, who each have their own remarkable stories to tell.It lies on the scarred, irradiated battlefields of the Gulf War and in the ashes of a revolution strangled in its cradle.It lies in the steadfast love of his wife and the festering scorn of his daughter.And, above all, it lies behind the locked gates of The President's Gardens, buried alongside the countless victims of a pitiless reign of terror.Translated from the Arabic by Luke LeafgrenMesmerized
By Alissa Walser. 2010
Mozart's Vienna. A crucible for scientific experimentation and courtly intrigue, as Europe's finest minds vie for imperial favour. In a…
colourful, chaotic private hospital that echoes with the shrieks of hysterical patients, Franz Anton Mesmer is developing a series of controversial cure-alls for body and mind. When he is asked to help restore the sight of a blind musical prodigy favoured by the Empress herself, he senses that fame, and even immortality, is within his grasp. Mesmer knows that he will have to gain her trust if he is to open her eyes. But at what cost to her fragile talent? And will their intimacy result in scandal?Firestorm
By Tamara Mckinley. 2013
If you love Lesley Pearse, you're sure to fall for Tamara McKinley. A tale of hardship, hidden identities and our…
shared struggle to survive. Becky Jackson's family has been managing the hospital in far-flung Morgan's Reach for three generations. When Becky's husband is tragically lost at war, she and her young son Danny must leave the city and return to her birthplace to start over. But for all its charm, Morgan's Reach is a divided community, where blood is thicker than water and grudges run deep. So when a mysterious stranger appears outside the town and Danny begins to act strangely, it is not only Becky's newfound stability that's threatened. And what of the fact that there's not been a drop of rain in over three years? The risk of wildfire looms large and the hospital is already pushed to breaking point. A single spark could level the area in minutes - burning away everything for which the town has worked so hard; exposing the secrets they've fought to keep so close.The President's Gardens
By Muhsin Al-Ramli. 2017
One Hundred Years of Solitude meets The Kite Runner in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. "A contemporary tragedy of epic proportions. No…
author is better placed than Muhsin Al-Ramli, already a star in the Arabic literary scene, to tell this story. I read it in one sitting". Hassan Blasim, winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for The Iraqi Christ. On the third day of Ramadan, the village wakes to find the severed heads of nine of its sons stacked in banana crates by the bus stop.One of them belonged to one of the most wanted men in Iraq, known to his friends as Ibrahim the Fated.How did this good and humble man earn the enmity of so many? What did he do to deserve such a death?The answer lies in his lifelong friendship with Abdullah Kafka and Tariq the Befuddled, who each have their own remarkable stories to tell.It lies on the scarred, irradiated battlefields of the Gulf War and in the ashes of a revolution strangled in its cradle.It lies in the steadfast love of his wife and the festering scorn of his daughter.And, above all, it lies behind the locked gates of The President's Gardens, buried alongside the countless victims of a pitiless reign of terror.Translated from the Arabic by Luke LeafgrenDignity: From the award-winning author of Pigeon
By Alys Conran. 2019
Magda lives alone in her a huge house by the sea. Bad tempered and elderly, Magda does not need help…
from anyone, despite being wheelchair bound. With her sharp tongue, she gets through carers at a rate of knots, until Susheela arrives. And Susheela, it turns out, is in even more trouble than Magda. Still reeling from the recent death of her mum and trying to prop up her dad who is at risk of losing the family business, she finds she is pregnant. The future suddenly looks uncertain and frightening. But Magda and Susheela strike up an unlikely and sometimes uneasy friendship. Magda finds herself thinking back to her early childhood in colonial India before she was sent "home" to England; a childhood filled with servants and privilege but also terrible secrets. We also follow the story of her mother, Evelyn, once a warm hearted, and free spirited school teacher who slowly has all life and optimism ground away by a controlling husband and the misery of being a respectable member of the ruling classes. What becomes clear is that Evelyn searched for home for a long time, just like Magda, just like Susheela. And Magda begins to realise that home might not be a fortress to be ferociously defended, but may mean something else altogether. Thoughtful, clever, and beautifully observed Dignity considers the legacy of the Raj in Britain today, but more importantly what it means to belong to a place and to other people.(p) Orion Publishing Group Ltd 2019Meet Florence Nightingale - An eStory
By Charles Margerison. 2011
Meet Florence Nightingale, also known as The Lady with the Lamp. From a very young age, she was on a…
mission to care for others. She laid the foundations for the first nursing school and demonstrated amazing courage during the Crimean War, taking care of countless injured soldiers. Be inspired by her amazing story reflected in her BioView®.Each story comes to life through BioViews®. These are short biographical narratives, similar to interviews. They provide an easy way of learning about amazing people who made major contributions and changed our world.Doctor Rat
By William Kotzwinkle. 1976
Winner of the World Fantasy Award"DOCTOR RAT is dazzlingly original, witty and insanely satiric. It is also occasionally quite beautiful.…
Kotzwinkle's tale is a dizzying montage...from scenes of gross black humor in the experimental lab to idyllic glimpses of the animal kingdom. Designed to shock us into ecological awareness, Kotzwinkle's lab experiments are hair-raising."--Los Angeles TimesA bloodcurdling novel in the spirit of ANIMAL FARM and 1984, DOCTOR RAT is a trip through a laboratory worthy of a Nazi mad doctor, except this doctor is a wisecracking rodent who could have been played by Groucho Marx. The London Times called DOCTOR RAT, "a splendidly nutty animal Magnificat with echoes of William Blake.""Mr. Kotzwinkle is a first-rate fabulist."--The New York TimesThe Mind Tree: A Miraculous Child Breaks the Silence of Autism
By Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay. 2011
Well-received on initial publication, The Mind Tree is truly an enthralling read. Although he is severely autistic and nearly nonverbal,…
Tito's ability to communicate through his extraordinary writing is astonishing. At the age of three, Tito was diagnosed with severe autism. But his mother, with boundless hope and determination, read to him and taught him to write in English. She also challenged him to write his own stories. The result of their efforts is this remarkable book-written when he was eight to eleven years old-comprised of profound and startling philosophical prose and poetry. During a New York Times interview, Tito scrawled on a yellow pad, "I need to write . . . It has become a part of me."That Scandalous Summer: Rules for the Reckless 1 (Rules for the Reckless #2)
By Meredith Duran. 2013
Meredith Duran returns with, That Scandalous Summer, a witty, humorous and smart romance beginning her Rules for the Reckless series.…
Fans of Julia Quinn, Jane Feather and Eloisa James will delight in Meredith's trademark headstrong heroine, cunning hero and tale of deep emotional intensity!One daring widow meets one reluctant suitor ...In the social whirl of Victorian England, Elizabeth Chudderley is at the top of every guest list, the life of every party, and the belle of every ball. But her friends and admirers would be stunned to know the truth: that the merriest widow in London is also the loneliest. Behind the gaiety and smiles lies a secret longing - for something, or someone, to whisk her away . . . Raised in scandal, Lord Michael de Grey is convinced that love is a losing gamble - and seduction the only game worth playing. But when duty threatens to trump everything he desires, the only way out is marriage to a woman of his brother's choosing. Elizabeth Chudderley is delightful, delicious - and distressingly attractive. With such a captivating opponent, Michael isn't quite sure who is winning the game. How can such passionate players negotiate a marriage of necessity - when their hearts have needs of their own?Want more Rules for the Reckless? Don't miss Your Wicked Heart, Fool Me Twice, Lady Be Good and Luck Be A Lady.Every Rising Sun: For a thousand and one nights Shaherazade told stories. This is hers.
By Jamila Ahmed. 2023
Before she was the legendary Persian queen who spun a thousand tales, Shaherazade was a girl who saw something she…
shouldn't have.She told the king.She thought she was doing what was right.She couldn't have imagined what was to come.The Seljuk Empire is on fire and the king is on a rampage after learning of his wife's infidelity. Unsated by her execution, he has gone on to wed and behead a new wife night after night. Fear spreads through the city and Shaherazade must do something, anything, to halt the horror she has set in motion. When the king starts searching for his next bride, Shaherazade steps forward.As the sun sets on her wedding night, she begins to weave a tale that will go down in history.'A sumptuous, moreish novel infused with the joys of storytelling' LEILA ABOULELA, author of Minaret'I was entranced by this marvel of a book, wound about by the weave of its tales, unable to put it down' CLAIRE GILBERT, author of I, JulianEvery Rising Sun: For a thousand and one nights Shaherazade told stories. This is hers.
By Jamila Ahmed. 2023
FOR A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS SHAHERAZADE TOLD STORIES. THIS IS HERS. A spellbinding reimagining of the Arabian Nights and…
the fearless woman at the heart of it all: Shaherazade.Before she was the legendary Persian queen who spun a thousand tales, Shaherazade was a girl who saw something she shouldn't have.She told the king.She thought she was doing what was right.She couldn't have imagined what was to come.The Seljuk Empire is on fire and the king is on a rampage after learning of his wife's infidelity. Unsated by her execution, he has gone on to wed and behead a new wife night after night. Fear spreads through the city and Shaherazade must do something, anything, to halt the horror she has set in motion. When the king starts searching for his next bride, Shaherazade steps forward.As the sun sets on her wedding night, she begins to weave a tale that will go down in history.If you had to tell one story to save your life, what would it be?(P) 2023 Macmillan AudioDignity: From the award-winning author of Pigeon
By Alys Conran. 2019
Shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year award'I loved this... Magda is a real stand-out character for me in…
books I've read recently, I can't quite stop thinking about her' Jane Garvey, BBC Woman's Hour 'Brilliant... A truly convincing state-of-the-nation novel' Daily Mail 'Packs a powerful punch and makes you smile while breaking your heart'Woman's Weekly 'Fierce and compassionate'Mail on Sunday 'Conran's work is subtle and complex: there is no one right story about the Empire. Instead we are offered multiple views, ironies and contradictions that only one of most talented, tender writers in Wales could portray'New Welsh Review 'Fierce, compassionate, angry, but above all, heart-breakingly real. I was drawn in from the very first page'Claire Fuller, author of Bitter Orange 'An Indian household can no more be governed peacefully without dignity and prestige, than an Indian Empire' The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook, Flora Annie Steel & Grace Gardiner Magda is a former scientist with a bad temper and a sharp tongue, now living alone in a huge house by the sea. Confined to a wheelchair, her once spotless home crumbling around her, she gets through carers at a rate of knots. Until Susheela arrives, bursting through the doors of Magda's house, carrying life with her: grief for her mother's recent death; worry for her father; longing for a beautiful and troubled young man.The two women strike up an unlikely friendship: Magda's old-fashioned, no-nonsense attitude turns out to be an unexpected source of strength for Susheela; and Susheela's Bengali heritage brings back memories of Magda's childhood in colonial India and resurrects the tragic figure of her mother, Evelyn, and her struggle to fit within the suffocating structure of the Raj's ruling class. But as Magda digs deeper into her past, she unlocks a shocking legacy of blood that threatens to destroy the careful order she has imposed on her life - and that might just be the key to give the three women, Evelyn, Magda and Susheela, a place they can finally call home.'An exquisite novel: compassionate, beautiful and unflinching. I'm full of admiration for the skill with which it draws connections between the past and present, and manages to feel both timeless and achingly contemporary'Fiona McFarlane, author of The Night Guest'I loved this exquisitely written novel and drank in every word. The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant is a reminder…
of the redemptive nature of love, and that it can be found in the most unexpected places.' Fiona Valpy, bestselling author of The Dressmaker's Gift and The Beekeeper's PromiseAn abandoned woman...1951. Esther Durrant, a young mother, is committed to an asylum by her husband. Run by a pioneering psychiatrist, the hospital is at first Esther's prison - but can captivity lead to freedom?A forbidden love...2018. When free-spirited marine scientist Rachel Parker is forced to take shelter on an isolated island off the Cornish Coast during a research posting, she discovers a collection of hidden love letters. Captivated by their passion and tenderness, Rachel is determined to find the intended recipient. A dangerous secret...Meanwhile, in London, Eve is helping her grandmother write her memoirs. When she is contacted by Rachel, it sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to reveal secrets kept buried for more than sixty years. Three women bound together by a heartbreaking secret. A love story that needs to be told.This beautifully haunting and atmospheric novel, will sweep fans of Kate Morton, Elizabeth Gilbert and Emily Gunnis away this summer.'If you enjoyed "City of Girls," by Elizabeth Gilbert, read "The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant," by Kayte Nunn' Washington PostNetGalley reviewers are falling in love with The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant:'Loved, loved this book. The multi layers wove an intriguing tale, and this was a well researched engaging and heart rending story.''Beautifully written''An absorbing tale set mainly in the Channel Islands. I wanted to know what the resolution would be, so stayed up to read to the end!'Praise for Katye Nunn's The Botanist's Daughter:'A sweeping and exotic read. I was completely swept away. Perfect for readers of Kate Morton.' Lorna Cook, bestselling author of 'The Forgotten Village''The whole book is a delight... Perfect reading whilst sipping a g & t in a beautiful garden somewhere in the sun!' Rosanna Ley, bestselling author of 'The Lemon Tree Hotel''I loved this book and really look forward to reading the next book by Kayte Nunn; perfect for reading in the garden with a glass of something cold.' Bookliterat'Fast-moving and full of surprises...while delivering a poignant and heart-warming story of romance and new beginnings ' Kate Forsyth'The Botanist's Daughter is a quick paced but mysterious read, which transports you across time and place and is filled with an abundance of flowers.' Foreword Books'The Botanist's Daughter is an intriguing story about the strength of women who, for their own reasons, are willing to travel halfway across the world and end up with the same goal. It's also a family mystery that slowly reveals its secrets, just like a blooming flower.' The Bookish Gurl 5/5 starsA novel inspired by the brave nurses and doctors from the first NHS hospital, the Trafford General, opened after the…
end of World War II. An inspiring and romantic read for fans of Call the Midwife and The Nightingale Girls.It's May 1945 and at 3pm, nurse Kitty Longthorne listens, together with the other surgical staff at South Manchester's Park Hospital, to Winston Churchill's broadcast on the radio. Germany has signed a declaration of complete surrender. The war is over in Europe and that day is to be celebrated as VE Day. The mood in Park Hospital - still full of wounded American soldiers - is jubilant and hopeful, though Kitty is anything but. Her clandestine squeeze and the man she hopes to marry, James Williams has been giving her the cold shoulder for the last week, and she can't work out why. Furthermore, her twin brother, Ned, is still missing in action - his last known whereabouts point to him being in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.An uplifting, heart-wrenching novel based on the true story of the first ever NHS hospital, for fans of Donna Douglas and Nancy Revell. Praise for NURSE KITTY'S SECRET WAR A galloping read that conjures up life in a late 1940s hospital, complete with fierce matrons and handsome doctors. Nurse Kitty is a feisty heroine who sticks her neck out to protect her patients, while trying to resolve her own family problems and heal her broken heart. It's engaging and atmospheric. - Gill PaulI'm sure readers will love Nurse Kitty as she struggles to find true love when everything is going against it. I loved the end-of-WW2 setting, which is vividly imagined, and the sheer energy of Maggie Campbell's pacy prose. A perfect escapist read. - Kitty Danton, author of A Wartime WishA novel inspired by the brave nurses and doctors from the first NHS hospital, the Trafford General, opened after the…
end of World War II. An inspiring and romantic read for fans of Call the Midwife and The Nightingale Girls.It's May 1945 and at 3pm, nurse Kitty Longthorne listens, together with the other surgical staff at South Manchester's Park Hospital, to Winston Churchill's broadcast on the radio. Germany has signed a declaration of complete surrender. The war is over in Europe and that day is to be celebrated as VE Day. The mood in Park Hospital - still full of wounded American soldiers - is jubilant and hopeful, though Kitty is anything but. Her clandestine squeeze and the man she hopes to marry, James Williams has been giving her the cold shoulder for the last week, and she can't work out why. Furthermore, her twin brother, Ned, is still missing in action - his last known whereabouts point to him being in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.An uplifting, heart-wrenching novel based on the true story of the first ever NHS hospital, for fans of Donna Douglas and Nancy Revell. Praise for NURSE KITTY'S SECRET WAR A galloping read that conjures up life in a late 1940s hospital, complete with fierce matrons and handsome doctors. Nurse Kitty is a feisty heroine who sticks her neck out to protect her patients, while trying to resolve her own family problems and heal her broken heart. It's engaging and atmospheric. - Gill PaulI'm sure readers will love Nurse Kitty as she struggles to find true love when everything is going against it. I loved the end-of-WW2 setting, which is vividly imagined, and the sheer energy of Maggie Campbell's pacy prose. A perfect escapist read. - Kitty Danton, author of A Wartime WishHeart and Soul
By Maeve Binchy. 2008
Clara Casey has more than enough on her plate. Her daughters are a handful and Clara, a senior cardiac specialist,…
has a new job to cope with... For Ania, meeting Clara Casey is a miracle: she had never intended to leave her beloved Poland, but after the love of her life has turned sour, her world seems rather empty. Perhaps a new job in a new country will mend her broken heart? Declan is looking forward to joining the clinic - but what should have been a straightforward six-month posting brings him far more than he expected. Then there's Father Brian Flynn, whose life is turned upside down when his reputation is threatened; and the beautiful, cheerful nurse, Fiona, who can't leave her troubled past behind...Read by Maureen O'Brien(p) 2008 Audible LtdSmall Pleasures: Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction
By Clare Chambers. 2020
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021'A WORD-OF-MOUTH HIT' Evening Standard 'A very fine book... It's witty and sharp…
and reads like something by Barbara Pym or Anita Brookner, without ever feeling like a pastiche'David Nicholls'Perfect'India Knight 'Beautiful' Jessie Burton'Wonderful'Richard Osman 'Miraculous'Tracy Chevalier 'A wonderful novel. I loved it'Nina Stibbe 'Effortless to read, but every sentence lingers in the mind' Lissa Evans 'This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I honestly don't want you to be without it'Lucy Mangan'Gorgeous... If you're looking for something escapist and bittersweet, I could not recommend more' Pandora Sykes'Remarkable... Small Pleasures is no small pleasure'The Times'An irresistible novel - wry, perceptive and quietly devastating'Mail on Sunday'Chambers' eye for undemonstrative details achieves a Larkin-esque lucidity' Guardian'An almost flawlessly written tale of genuine, grown-up romantic anguish' The Sunday Times 1957, the suburbs of South East London. Jean Swinney is a journalist on a local paper, trapped in a life of duty and disappointment from which there is no likelihood of escape. When a young woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, it is down to Jean to discover whether she is a miracle or a fraud. As the investigation turns her quiet life inside out, Jean is suddenly given an unexpected chance at friendship, love and - possibly - happiness. But there will, inevitably, be a price to pay.Book of the Year for: The Times, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, Daily Express, Metro, Spectator, Red Magazine and Good Housekeeping