When Kitty is sent to an orphanage after the death of her father, she meets Georgie, a lively cockney girl who, through the following difficult years, becomes her loyal friend. Convinced that her feelings for Harry will ruin the brilliant future that lies ahead of him, Kitty turns her back on his love. Together with Georgie, she strives to find fulfilment in other places and other relationships, but when fate throws her back together with Harry she begins to wonder if true love can ever die . . .

    Includes: The Bean Trees, Homeland and Other Stories, Animal Dreams, and Pigs In Heaven.

    Drawing on interviews with over one hundred A-10 pilots who served in the Persian Gulf during the 1990-91 hostilities, Smallwood (himself an aviator and Korean War vet) offers riveting perspectives on aerial combat. Setting the stage with an informative briefing on how, in the 70's, the Air Force developed the A-10 (a.k.a. ``Warthog'') as a means of supporting ground troops with massive firepower, he moves into anecdotal vignettes detailing the ways in which so-called ``hog drivers'' and their commanders whiled away the weary hours of the calm before the storm in Saudi Arabia's inhospitable clime. At the heart of his narrative, however, are vivid accounts of how A-10s accomplished their tank-busting missions and then some once the battle was joined. Tasked, among other objectives, to take out missile launchers and artillery emplacements far behind the front lines (assignments normally reserved for jet fighters), the slow-moving, heavily armed Warthogs were credited with over half the bomb damage inflicted on Iraqi forces and installations. Employing improvisational tactics, A-10s also flew reconnaissance and assisted in rescues of coalition pilots; they even scored air-to- air kills, downing a couple of enemy choppers. Indeed, the plane's ungainly Gatling-gun platform performed so well that pilots demanded their craft be redesignated ``RFOA-10'' (for ``reconnaissance/fighter/observation/attack'').

    To quote the Los Angeles Times: "Impelled by a profound love of the land, the ten stories in In the Loyal Mountains are a reminder that American literature draws its unique strength from a powerful sense of place." In this luminous collection, Rick Bass firmly establishes himself as a master of the short story, with tales that embrace vibrant images of ordinary human life and exuberant descriptions of the natural world.

    It analyzes his evolution from a painter of religious and mythological images to an artist who explored the psychological nuances of human endeavour.

    In this collection of stories, predominated by winter and its festivals, George Mackay Brown re-establishes the tradition of ancient, hearthside story-telling.

    The book tries to make sense of a world which is chaotic with unemployment, in-and-out affairs, street violence, hip vicars and terrorism among many other themes.

    Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

    When Felicity is widowed, everyone expects George to pop the question. He does, but to the astonishment of Kate and Cass, his intended bride is not Felicity. With her usual generous helping of tears and laughter, Marcia Willett again provides her fans with a treat to be savored.

    

    McCurdy's beautiful scratchboard illustrations evoke the splendid realities of times past. Full color.

    But like the answer to a prayer, her twin sister Kellie comes to her rescue. Kellie, recently married, insists Abby go to her husband's ranch in Montana for a few weeks to rest, consider her options, plan for the future. There's a problem though: Abbey's never met Max Sutherland, Kellie's husband. And for some reason, Kellie hasn't told him she's got a twin sister. Still, Max is supposed to be away on business for a month... But Max comes home - to find the wrong woman in his bed. A pregnant woman who looks just like his wife. His wife, who's disappeared...9 MONTHS LATER: Pregnant...and on her own!