Rosetta is a runaway slave who bears the scars, inside and out, of a life of servitude to a cruel and unforgiving master. Her flight is fueled by a passion and determination only a mother could feel, and she would rather die than let anyone drag her back to hell. In a dark, volatile time prior to the Civil War, fate has bound the hunted and hunter on a remarkable odyssey from Virginia to Boston and back again—an extraordinary test of character and will, mercy and compassion, that will change them both forever.

    He's putting aside childish things, starting his first business serving food to the workers in Cape Town. His Pa is proud.At the same time, Mattie is pulled toward an altogether different version of masculinity, in which oiled and toned bodies cavort for him at the click of a mouse. His porn addiction threatens his relationship with his boyfriend, Jack, and imperils his inheritance.Pa’s days as a swaggering businessman are done, but even as cancer shrivels him, his ancient authority intensifies. While the family wrestles with his patrimony, around them a new South Africa moves forward, demanding they confront the challenges of the future as well as the past.

    He took murder out of the Venetian vase and dropped it into the alley. He was spare, frugal, hard-boiled, but he did over and over again what only the best writers can ever do at all. He wrote scenes that seemed never to have been written before - Raymond ChandlerNot just the first of a tough school of crime-writing but the best... Hammett had seen the rotten underbelly of his country and wanted others to see it - The TimesHammett's is the America of Prohibition days and over all is the stink of corruption and cordite and hard liquor - Oxford TimesNobody else ever did it quite like this, and no one has ever done it since - The Times Literary SupplementCover illustration by Nancy Slomins

    

    But as her three oldest, Lylah, Amos, and Owen, each decide to go their own ways, none seem to follow the path Marian has laid out for them. Set at the turn of the twentieth century, this first of the American Century series tells the story of a time of growth and opportunity. Filled with historical figures such as Theodore Roosevelt and James Randolph Hearst, this fascinating book will draw readers into the exciting events of the time and the lives of the family it follows. As the Stuarts mature, so does a young nation racked with uncertainty and growing pains of its own.Previously published as A Time to Be Born

    Henry is one of the most widely published of modern authors. His works-more than six hundred stories-have been translated into nearly every language. Although his first literary success took Latin America for its setting, he is best known for his tales about the people of New York City- "Baghdad-on-the-Subway" -stories that are inventive, ironic, and surprisingly contemporary. This collection of O. Henry's works contain 30 of his best-loved pieces, including the eternal Christmas classic "The Gift of the Magi."

    After moving to Gabriel’s homeland and welcoming a baby daughter, Catherine knew she had to acclimate herself to the strange new world. Yet both her husband and her surroundings became more volatile and threatening than she could have ever imagined.When Gabriel forbids her to return to the States, Catherine devises a plan to deceive him, but she vastly underestimates how far he will go to punish her. And after her daughter, Ann Marie, is abducted and taken deep into the mountains of Beirut—protected by family, culture, and law—the only thing on Catherine’s side is the fierceness of a mother’s love. She’s prepared to move heaven and earth to find her child.Told from alternating points of view—that of a daughter whose past is a mystery and of a mother with painful secrets to share—this profoundly moving story of impossible risks will resonate with anyone whose love has no boundaries.

    Here's how Dr Coleman describes this book: `However good your doctor is, and however much you may trust him or her, you must share the responsibility for your own health, and you must know when to tell your doctor if you think that the treatment with which he or she is providing you, could be causing problems. After all, if things go wrong, your nice friendly doctor is more likely to kill you than is a burglar a deranged relative or a drunken motorist. Remember: one in six people in hospital are there because they have been made ill by a doctor. I have built this book around ther twelve basic laws of medicine which I have, over the years, formulated for my own benefit as a doctor, an observer and a patient. I have illustrated each of the 12 laws with clinical anecdotes and scientific data.' Here, for example, is Coleman's First Law of Medicine: `If you are receiving treatment for an existing disease and you develop new symptoms then, until proved otherwise, you should assume that the new symptoms are caused by the treatment you are receiving.' Dr Vernon Coleman is the author of over 100 books - many of them international bestsellers. His books have sold over two million copies in hardback and paperback in the UK alone and have been translated into 25 languages. Dr Coleman has written columns and articles for many of the world's leading newspapers and magazines and has presented numerous TV and radio programmes based on his books. In the mid 1980s he devised the world's first medical software for use on home computers. For more information about Dr Coleman's books please see the Vernon Coleman page on Amazon or visit www.vernoncoleman.com What the papers say: Vernon Coleman writes brilliant books - Good Book Guide The calmest voice of reason - The Observer A godsend - Daily Telegraph Brilliant - The People No thinking person can ignore him - The Ecologist Marvellously succinct, refreshingly sensible - The Spectator Probably one of the most brilliant men alive today - Irish Times King of the media docs - The Independent Britain's leading health care campaigner - The Sun Britain's leading medical author - The Star Perhaps the best known health writer for the general public in the world today - The Therapist The patient's champion - Birmingham Post A persuasive writer whose arguments, based on research and experience, are sound - Nursing Standard The doctor who dares to speak his mind - Oxford Mail He writes lucidly and wittily - Good Housekeeping The man is a national treasure - What doctors don't tell you Compulsive reading - The Guardian His message is important - The Economist Revered guru of medicine - Nursing Times His advice is optimistic and enthusiastic - British Medical Journal It's impossible not to be impressed - Western Daily Press Outspoken and alert - Sunday Express Hard hitting - inimitably forthright - Hull Daily Mail Refreshingly forthright - Liverpool Daily Post Dr Coleman made me think again - BBC World Service

    Napoleon III has installed a foreign monarch in Mexico to squash the current regime. Maximilian von Habsburg of Austria accepts the emperor’s crown. But it is his wife, the brilliant and ambitious Princess Charlotte, who throws herself passionately into the role. Known to the people as Empress Carlota, she rules deftly from behind the scenes while her husband contents himself with philandering and decorating the palace.But Carlota bears a guilty secret. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she’s thrown herself into a reckless affair. Desire has blinded Carlota to its consequences, for it has left her vulnerable to her sole trusted confidante. Carlota’s devious lady-in-waiting has political beliefs of her own—and they are strong enough to cause her to betray the empress and join a plot to depose her from the throne. As Carlota grows increasingly, maddeningly defenseless, both her own fate and that of the empire are at stake.A sweeping historical novel of forbidden love, dangerous secrets, courtly intrigue, and treachery, The Empress passionately reimagines the tragic romance and ill-fated reign of the most unforgettable royal couple of nineteenth-century Europe during the last throes of the Second Empire.

    Caregivers, friends, and family members are provided with valuable insights into the power of the Catholic faith and prayer in ministering to a dying person. Poetic, practical, and credible, this book is an invaluable guide for anyone who accompanies others during their final pilgrimage here on earth--and helps in their birthing to eternal life.

    Her birth plan is explicit: she wants no fetal monitor, no IV, no epidural. Franckline, a nurse in the maternity ward—herself on the verge of showing—is patient with the young woman. She knows what it’s like to worry that something might go wrong, and she understands the pain when it does. She knows as well as anyone the severe challenge of childbirth, what it does to the mind and the body.Eleven Hours is the story of two soon-to-be mothers who, in the midst of a difficult labor, are forced to reckon with their pasts and re-create their futures. Lore must disentangle herself from a love triangle; Franckline must move beyond past traumas to accept the life that’s waiting for her. Pamela Erens moves seamlessly between their begrudging friendship and the memories evoked by so intense an experience. At turns urgent and lyrical, Erens’s novel is a visceral portrait of childbirth, and a vivid rendering of the way we approach motherhood—with fear and joy, anguish and awe.

    What he discovers there leads him—and the reader—on an unforgettable journey through the secret life of Jess's father, Joe Robert, which culminates in a moment of profound mystery and comedy.

    Unlocking the secrets of our genomes opens the door to understanding why we are the way we are and potentially fixing what ails us, from cancer and diabetes to obesity and male pattern baldness. But what exactly will happen to this information? Will it be a boon or just another marketing tool?Here Is a Human Being is the first in-depth look at personal genomics—its larger-than-life research subjects; its entrepreneurs and do-it-yourselfers; its technology developers; and the bewildered physicians and regulators who must negotiate with it—and what it means to be a “public genome” in a world where privacy is already under siege.

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

    All except one. And Alison doesn't take kindly to people who don't fit her mould . . . A story of abuse and survival, of falling down and of starting again, and of one woman's battle to learn to love herself for who she is, The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir is Lesley Allen’s startlingly honest debut novel, perfect for fans of Rowan Coleman and Julie Cohen.