A resident with a secret past. A woman starting over, unsure what the future holds.Working as an Occupational Therapist in a busy London hospital, Cassie loves her job but is looking forward to early retirement in five years when she reaches fifty. However, her husband has other ideas…Suddenly single, Cassie needs a fresh start. Responding to an ad for a live-in position, Cassie arrives at Fletchling Hall, a grand stately home, its corridors echoing with stories from the past.Her new position seems too good to be true, living in a cottage in the grounds, the commute into work a glorious stroll through the gardens to the imposing house in the Sussex countryside.In the cellar, a forgotten diary has languished undisturbed for nearly seventy years. When Cassie discovers the diary, she unravels the heartfelt story of two young souls from the war years, and a little boy called Ted, a young evacuee. It reveals the surprising connection Cassie, a Canadian, has to the house and its resident.An unforgettable tale of a secret spanning decades, love found, and the importance of belonging.

    Heartbroken, she tries to piece her life together. But she soon discovers she is pregnant, and fearing her parents would throw her out if they knew, she decides to help the war effort by leaving home to become a nurse. However, she is soon forced to give up her duties. And alone and desperate, she has little choice but to have the baby adopted. Determined to put her sorrows behind her, Christabel hopes to build a better future for herself. But circumstances compel her to return home again. And here she finds her situation ever more difficult. She envies her brother's wife Violet who has just had a new baby. She is filled with remorse and regret about what she has done. She had no alternative, for her sake and the baby's, but she wonders if she'll ever be free from the fateful decision she made...

     I can’t say what terrified me more, the cold anger in his eyes or the crazy things in his locked study. A talking trunk. Squirming coats. A bookshelf whose titles shifted before my eyes. And one chilling title in particular: Book of Souls. Ten years later and I’m en route to a Romanian monastery, in search of that lost book. But I’m not the only one. Three others have beaten me to the local village: two researchers and… Well, I’m not sure who Flor is, other than Spanish, secretive, and sexier than a summer dress. Can I trust her — or any of them? I don’t know, but we’ve got werewolves on our scent, not to mention an ancient curse hanging over the remote ruins. Getting there and back is going to require serious cooperation. Or serious magic. BOOKS IN THE CROFTVERSE Prof Croft Series Preq 0: Book of Souls Book 1: Demon Moon Book 2: Blood Deal Book 3: Purge City Book 4: Death Mage Book 5: Black Luck Book 6: Power Game *More to come* Blue Wolf Series Book 1: Blue Curse Book 2: Blue Shadow Book 3: Blue Howl Book 4: Blue Venom * More to come *

    A penetrating look at small-town America from the award-winning author of The Night Birds, Little Wolves weaves together elements of folklore and Norse mythology while being driven by a powerful murder mystery; a page-turning literary triumph.

    He's a man whose average working day involved defeating witches and banishing werewolves, while ensuring the Royal pot of tea never crossed the thin line separating 'brewed' from 'stewed.' What's more, 1,500 years after that golden age, he's still doing it - here in the modern world, right under our noses.When King Arthur and six of his knights are exposed as living among us, Merlin is unleashed and a grim apocalypse unfolds, uncovering secrets from the past that King Arthur would rather stay buried. When Lucas is forced to confront his own peculiar destiny, will he choose to sacrifice his true love and lay down his life in the service of his master? Sleepless Knights  is a tale of high adventure and warm humor, with a spring in its step, a twinkle in its eye and, at its heart, the ultimate butler."I suggest you find something to hold on to," I said. "I fancy this will be somewhat unorthodox."I edged the car onto the embankment at the side of the road, which got progressively steeper the closer we got to the tanker. Realising that I was not about to stop for him, or indeed his vehicle, the driver ran for the safety of the surrounding fields. Between the cab of the tanker and the side of the road there was a gap exactly half the width of the Jaguar. I took the last few metres of the embankment at top speed.The car swung up onto its right side. The wheels left the ground, and we shot up and clear through the gap. The weight of the Grail on the roof turned us upside down in mid-air, and the momentum of the jump flipped us back round again in a perfect side roll. We landed upright on the road, on the other side of the tanker, just as its engine caught fire.The world exploded.

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    Some are "Momotaro, "The Son of a Peach", "The Jellyfish and the Monkey", "The Mirror of Matsuyama", "The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Child", "The Stones of Five Colors and the Empress Jokwa."

    Sections group tales together by theme or juxtapose variations of individual tales, inviting comparison and analysis across cultures and genres. An accessible section of critical selections provides a foundation for readers to analyze, debate, and interpret the tales for themselves. An expanded introduction by the editors looks at the history of folk and fairy tales and distinguishes between the genres, while revised introductions to individual sections provide more detailed history of particular tellers and tales, paying increased attention to the background and cultural origin of each tale. A selection of illustrations from editions of classic tales from the 19th to the 21st centuries is also included.

    Tolkien's imagination, "The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun" is an important non Middle-earth work to set alongside his other retellings of existing myth and legend, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, The Fall of Arthur and The Story of Kullervo.Unavailable for more than 70 years, this early but important work is published for the first time with Tolkien's 'Corrigan' poems and other supporting material, including a prefatory note by Christopher Tolkien.Set 'In Britain's land beyond the seas' during the Age of Chivalry, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun tells of a childless Breton Lord and Lady (the 'Aotrou' and 'Itroun' of the title) and the tragedy that befalls them when Aotrou seeks to remedy their situation with the aid of a magic potion obtained from a corrigan, or malevolent fairy. When the potion succeeds and Itroun bears twins, the corrigan returns seeking her fee, and Aotrou is forced to choose between betraying his marriage and losing his life.Coming from the darker side of J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination, The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, together with the two shorter 'Corrigan' poems that lead up to it and which are also included, was the outcome of a comparatively short but intense period in Tolkien's life when he was deeply engaged with Celtic, and particularly Breton, myth and legend.Originally written in 1930 and long out of print, this early but seminal work is an important addition to the non-Middle-earth portion of his canon and should be set alongside Tolkien's other retellings of myth and legend, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, The Fall of Arthur and The Story of Kullervo. Like these works, it belongs to a small but important corpus of his ventures into 'real-world' mythologies, each of which in its own way would be a formative influence on his own legendarium.

    Interspersed with spotlight features on faery folklore, including fascinating quotes drawn from medieval manuscripts and both written and oral folklore, these tales cover faery morals, elvish misdemeanors, the spells cast by goblins, and the sightings of the creatures, as well as their dealings with mortals. The enchanting stories, rewritten to engage a new generation, are each attributed to a British region. With charming illustrations from favorite illustrators throughout, this book reminds readers of the enduring appeal of folklore and mystery for all generations.

    It is said that even the Czarina Anastasia Romanova had received one in her trousseau. The workers come from the three neighboring villages on the border of Romania and Ukraine. Nourished, dressed and educated, they are the envy of all at a time when a famine programmed by Stalin sweeps the countryside and cannibalism rages from city to town to farm. But what is the secret of this factory and why does the Grazyn family protect its employees so scrupulously?The Bone Mother revives the great figures of Slavic mythology on the eve of the Second World War, from rusalka and Baba Yaga--The Bone Mother herself--to the golem. The existence of mortals is intimately linked to that of witches and vampires, in a universe where strigois rub shoulders with mermaids, ghosts and seers...and all are in peril from the Nichni Politsiyi, the Night Police, which wish to eradicate them.

    That all goes out the window the night Mars, god of war, demands her grandfather abandon her and return to Olympus for the brewing war. Now Old Vulcan is racing around the world and across higher planes with Sehkmet to gather allies, leaving Linn and an old immortal friend to protect the farm and the very special litter. But even the best wards won't last forever, and when the farm goes up in flames, she is on the run with a daypack, a strange horse, a sword, and an armful of kittens. Linn needs to grow up fast and master her powers, before the war finds the unlikely refugees...

    Her father has been dead for years. One of her brothers has been conscripted into the Tsar’s army, the other taken as a servant in the house of the local landowner. Her mother is dying, slowly, in their tiny cabin. And there is no food. But then a train arrives in the village, a train carrying untold wealth, a cornucopia of food, and a noble family destined to visit the Tsar in Saint Petersburg — a family that includes Ekaterina, a girl of Elena’s age. When the two girls’ lives collide, an adventure is set in motion, an escapade that includes mistaken identity, a monk locked in a tower, a prince traveling incognito, and — in a starring role only Gregory Maguire could have conjured — Baba Yaga, witch of Russian folklore, in her ambulatory house perched on chicken legs

    Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Social Science / Folklore

    Here are traditional tales about the trees and plants that shape our landscapes and our lives through the seasons. They explore the complex relationship between people and plants, in lowlands and uplands, fields, bogs, moors, woodlands and towns.Suitable for all ages, this is an essential collection of stories for anyone interested in botany, the environment and our living heritage.