Laugh out loud as they encounter ‘crocodiles’ on the wall, strange African customs and unintelligible Afrikaans accents. Cringe with them as their visiting in-laws embarrass them in front of their new SA friends.If you enjoyed Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine you will recognise Mavis Turner.Set in the 1970s, But Can You Drink The Water? uses subtle observational humour with an underlying pathos to portray the upsets, hurt and changing family dynamics that emigration brings. (The story is based on a 13-part sitcom) ReviewWith a droll, witty, utterly British voice, this manuscript tackles playfully and sincerely the age-old fish out of water tale. What sustains this book, however, is the narrative voice, the dry and self-deprecating humor, and the ability of this author to tell a story simply and well. Publisher’s Weekly reviewer for the ABNA semi-finals.

    She leaves the cold shack she shares with her father for the warmth of her kneading table at Cameron's store and gets caught in a snow storm, sparking events that expose the raw humanity of those around her. Loyalty and betrayal, guilt and shame, and faith and doubt collide as the dirty secrets of the bleak coal mining community throw lives into turmoil. A series of brutal attacks, a murder, and an ambitious sergeant intent on seeing someone hang, reveal a town, oppressed as much by its dreary prospects, as it is by its institutionalized corruption, sexism and racism.Mabel just wants to bake bread, but she has her own secrets to protect.The Bread Maker is a rich, beautifully told narrative that seamlessly weaves humour and tragedy into a touching story about life, love and the potential of the human spirit to overcome great odds....

    . .1901. When The Earl of Stainton dies in a tragic hunting accident, Giles, the eldest son of the noble Tallant family must step forward to replace him as the head of the family. But Giles has avoided the Castle and his stifling relatives for years, deciding instead to forge his own path away from the spotlight. Now, he must put aside his ambitions and honour his duty to the family.With their world upended, the Tallants and their servants struggle to find their place in the house - and society - once again. And Giles realises that, along with the title and the castle, he's also inherited his father's significant financial troubles that threaten the security of his entire family.In Kensington, Kitty Bayfield, the painfully shy but moneyed daughter of a Baronet, has just left school with her penniless companion Nina. Nina captures the new Earl's heart, but only Kitty can save his family from their debts, and soon Giles must choose between his duty and his heart . . .The Secrets of Ashmore Castle is the first in a brand new historical family drama series, filled with heartbreak, romance and intriguing secrets waiting to be uncovered. The perfect read for fans of Downton Abbey, Bridgerton and rich period dramas

    The baby is a warm weight in my arms and I pause to adjust her, trying not to think about what we left behind. I can’t look back now, I need to keep this child safe…Ireland 1939. When hardworking chambermaid Rose meets an American businessman in the hotel where she works in Cork, he makes her an offer she can’t refuse. Rose doesn’t want to leave home, but her widowed mammy and three younger sisters need the money she’d earn in her new job as a nanny to David Townsend’s two young children.Just as Rose is settling into her new life caring for Raphael and new-born baby Sarah, the world is plunged into war and David is called back to New York, leaving Rose to follow by boat with his wife and children. But disaster strikes when the ship they are on is hit by a torpedo. Separated from her group in the awful chaos, Rose has an impossible decision to make. Does she stay and search for the family she owes so much to? Or does she leave on the lifeboat to save the tiny baby left in her care?Landing on American shores, all Rose’s hopes of leaving the howling air-raid sirens and deafening bombs behind her are shattered as tragic news arrives from Pearl Harbor. Looking down at the innocent child in her arms, Rose knows that she must find the strength to survive and reunite this little girl with her family. But as fear and panic grips the country, what heartbreaking sacrifices will she have to make to protect her precious charge?An emotional, heart-wrenching story of love and family set across Ireland and America during the Second World War. Perfect for fans of Jean Grainger, Lisa Wingate and Diney Costeloe.

    Devastated, Lizzy joins forces with her old school friend Dolly and Clara, an escaped evacuee, and vows to find her mother whatever it takes.But the war rages on and demands on the home front take Lizzy’s life in a host of unexpected directions, and hopes of finding her mother gradually start to fade.If Lizzy can muster the strength to keep searching, she might just get her Christmas wish after all.

    A daughter’s courage... When Elizabeth and her four sibling are orphaned, she and her brother are sent to a children’s home; their younger sisters into foster care.Life in the home is hard, but she is determined to look after her brother and make a better life for them both. Working as a nurse gives her a purpose but she risks everything by falling for wounded officer Jack Benson. Far above her in wealth and station, Elizabeth cannot marry him and she risks losing her nursing place if there is any hint of impropriety about her conduct.Then Elizabeth learns that her sister, Jenny, has been adopted by an abusive farmer. Torn between her hopeless love for Jack and her sister, must Elizabeth make an extreme sacrifice to reunite her family?

     Rebecca is 42, has a beautiful child and a wonderful husband. But she just hasn’t been feeling herself recently… Rebecca thinks a great night out should involve a packet of Marlboro’s, six double vodkas and snogging a colleague. Not gormlessly drinking a zero-alcohol No-hito while Instagramming a vegan chicken wing. Rebecca wants to ride on a Harley Davidson, to crowd surf till dawn, then collapse in a heap after swigging from a bottle of Jack Daniels . . . not sit in a soul-destroying meeting surrounded by 'blue sky thinking' and men half her age who interrupt all the time.She's had enough of commuting to an office that is so cold people have to wear blankets all day. And she can't help asking herself why her adorable daughter must spend all week in a containment zone for pre-schoolers.Rebecca wants to feel that there's MORE coming her way, rather than less . . .In short – Rebecca wants out.But where to?

    With degrees in both Medicine and Law, at the age of seventeen, Clint still felt empty and dissatisfied. He struck up a bargain with his father, to be allowed four years to go West and see the lands, experience life, then return to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a doctor in the family practice. When he boarded the train west with fifty thousand dollars set up in a bank account, Clint had no way of knowing just how much his life would turn in a completely different way.

    

    Titles in this collection are: The Lost Symbol, Digital Fortress, Angel & Demons, Deception Point, The Davinci Code Dan Brown is the bestselling author of Digital Fortress, Deception Point, Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code. He is a graduate of Amherst College and Phillips Exeter Academy, where he has taught English and creative writing. He lives in New England.

    1800s. The family of a young Royal Navy officer killed in action on a mission to capture a French privateer in 1798 install a memorial tablet in their church to commemorate his life and service to King and country. Lieutenant Oliver Anson, a distant relative of the illustrious circumnavigator George Anson and the younger son of a Kent clergyman, led the raid bidding to capture the gun brig Égalité hiding in a small Normandy harbour. But when it all goes wrong, Anson is felled by a musket ball in the head and is among the dead and wounded left ashore after his shipmates seek the refuge of their ship HMS Phryne. Only – and despite official newspaper reports to the contrary – the less-than-god-fearing Anson turns out not to be dead at all but very much alive, and stuns even fellow seamen with his miraculous resurrection. It is, however, far from plain sailing for the prisoners to escape from behind enemy lines and get back across the Channel. And the resourceful and ambitious Anson is then dealt a hammer blow by the admiralty when he is later denied a new sea-going appointment. Instead his future is to be an unattractive-looking, land-based role with the Sea Fencibles – tasked with foiling any potential French invasion attempt along the Kent coastline. Perhaps worse, sea rover Anson finds himself falling into the clutches of a local bigwig’s voluptuous and determined daughter who is desperate to find a husband… The Normandy Privateer charts the ups and downs of Lieutenant Anson and shines a poignant light on the loneliness and responsibilities of command. ‘An enlightening historical thriller.’ – Thomas Waugh David McDine OBE, is a former Deputy Lieutenant of Kent and a former Royal Navy Reserve officer and Admiralty information officer. He is also the author of Unconquered: The Story of Kent and its Lieutenancy. The Five Horseshoes, his debut novel in the Animal Man series, is sure to appeal to fans of Tom Sharpe, Alexander McCall Smith, PG Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh.

    Granddaughter of a local hero, Mercy Bennington moves out of the shadow of her elder brother to become a leader of the protestors, finding the strength to confront the enemies who endanger the survival of her village and her own life. Yet the violence wreaked upon the fragile fenlands unleashes a force no one can control – flood.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    From the award-winning author of All She Wants and the writer of Coronation Street and What Does the K Stand For? comes this big-hearted novel by Jonathan Harvey.

    She is cold, hungry and with child but not without hope or resources. A skilful hunter, she draws on her intuitive understanding of how to stay alive… and knows that she must survive.In present-day London, geneticist Dr Eloise Kluft wrestles with an ancient conundrum as she unravels the secrets of a momentous archaeological find. She is working at the forefront of contemporary science but is caught in the lonely time-lock of her own emotional past.Bone Lines is the story of two women, separated by millennia yet bound by the web of life. A tale of love and survival – of courage and the quest for wisdom – it explores the nature of our species and asks what lies at the heart of being human.Although partly set during a crucial era of human history 74,000 years ago, Bone Lines is very much a book for our times. Dealing with themes from genetics, climate change and migration to the yearning for meaning and the clash between faith and reason, it also paints an intimate portrait of two extraordinary characters. The book tackles some of the big questions but requires no prior or special knowledge of any of the subjects to enjoy.