For fans of Nadine Dorries, Maeve Binchy, Freda Lightfoot and Dilly Court. Lives are on the line as the workers fight back in the Welsh countryside… 1829, Wales For centuries. generations of the Jenkins family have eked out a living from their Carmarthenshire hill farm. But when a fire destroys virtually all of their possessions the children witness their lives crumbling around them. Mary and William find they have barely enough land left to provide for their basic needs. Their only option is to take on more work, but William longs for action, and Mary begins to suspect that he has become embroiled with the Rebecca-ites, a shadowy group of nationalists pitted against the English landowners whose tolls have bankrupted so many Welshman. As tensions mount, Mary becomes ever more torn between her mistrust of the rebels’ violence and her growing attraction to Jac Tŷ Isha, one of their leaders. And when the British government decides to put a stop to the revolt, the danger to the men she loves increases a hundredfold… REBECCA’S CHILDREN is a poignant, beautifully crafted saga of love and betrayal, set against the background of Wales in mid-1800s – a country aflame with political and social unrest. "An accomplished first novel." - The Times "A well-handled tale of passion, social injustice and nationalist fervour in nineteenth century Wales." - The Liverpool Post “Kate Dunn is a fine storyteller.” - Ben Elton

    He has big plans that could set him up financially for life. And although he spends his time trying to get a coworker to bed, he still pines for an old girlfriend from his troubled childhood.

    A spare and chilling account of the day-to-day experience of Sloper, a janitor in a big-city office building, WASTE explores the import of the discarded--for those who generate it, those who dispose of it, and those who are themselves discarded. From the humble prospect of his station, Sloper uncovers ominous possibility in lives he barely brushes. Brian Evenson says, "Only Eugene Marten can keep a reader enthralled with the minutiae of a janitorial existence.... Precisely and exquisitely detailed, WASTE is a stark little masterpiece." And Dawn Raffel writes, "[P]itch-perfect. WASTE wastes nothing--not a syllable, a beat, a ragged breath." And Sam Lipsyte writes, "There is nothing quite like the controlled burn of Eugene Marten's prose."

    Jim Tomlinson’s characters each face the desire to reclaim dreams left behind, along with something of the dreamer that was also lost. Starkly rendered, these spiraling characters inhabit a specific place and class---small-town Kentucky, working-class America---but the stories, told in all their humor and tragedy, are universal.In each story the characters face conflict, sometimes within themselves, sometimes with each other. Each carries a past and with it an urge to return and repair. In “First Husband, First Wife,” ex-spouses are repeatedly drawn together by a shared history they cannot seem to escape, and they are finally forced to choose between leaving the past or leaving each other. LeAnn and Cass are grown sisters who conspire to help their prideful mother in “Things Kept.” “Prologue” is a voyeuristic journey through the surprisingly different lives of two star-crossed friends, each with its successes and pitfalls, told through their letters over thirty-five years. In “Stainless,” Annie and Warren divide their possessions on the final night of their marriage. Their realtor has advised them to “declutter” the house they are leaving, but they discover that most of the clutter cannot be so easily removed. The choices are never simple, and for every thing kept, something must be abandoned. Tomlinson’s characters struggle but eventually find their way, often unknowingly, to points of departure, to places where things just might change.

    Understanding that history is nothing but a fable purged of grit and grime, Ruland transforms historical fiction into something slick, brutal and weird. Whether he's spinning a lurid yarn about the previous adventures of Popeye, imagining Dick Tracy as a San Fernando Valley police detective, or retelling the story of Little Red Riding Hood in Nazi Germany, Ruland's tales are full of crime and punishment. He isn't afraid to set a teenage mob story in St. Petersburg, Florida, or tell the story of an unlucky pair of pants in the style of a catechism--and every line resonates with the truth of lessons learned the hard way.

    A New York Times Notabale Book of the Year, this is a "highly imaginative" (Newark Star-Ledger) collection of stories from "one of the sprightliest and wittiest of living prose writers" (San Francisco Chronicle). Illustrated by the Author.

    Now on her own and with bills to pay, she works at the Butterball Turkey Emergency Squad, fielding phone calls from folks in desperate need of turkey-prep advice. As she faces another Thanksgiving, estranged from her family and pining after her married best friend, she receives a series of calls that force her to confront the reality of her deepening loneliness.With turns both humorous and heartbreaking, Butterball explores one woman’s hopeful attempts to connect during the holidays.

    It's November 2001 and Shepherd is sent on a dangerous mission to a Taliban stronghold on the trail of the most wanted man in the world - Osama Bin Laden.Friendly Fire is just under 14,000 words, about thirty pages, perfect if you have half an hour to spare.

    I didn't understand what it meant, and I didn't know how it was done. This worried me. Days after his ex-girlfriend's suicide, Wayne, a recent film school grad, flies to San Francisco for her funeral. When he learns that she aborted their child, Wayne embarks on a search for meaning that takes him to unusual places and through some of the most influential events of the past ten years. Wayne's journey becomes a series of meditations on modern life, and he draws on everything from the ancient philosophy of Siddhartha Gautama, the warrior-aristocrat who exacted the Four Noble Truths, to a visit with Gregorio Fuentes, Hemingway's fishing guide and inspiration for the protagonist in The Old Man and the Sea. Haunted by regret and wonder about what could have been, Wayne's quest for connection leads him up and down the East Coast on foot and across the American West in an RV, and finally to the Costco Soulmate Trading Outpost in the middle of the Black Rock Desert. Listi weaves innovative flashes of nonfiction throughout the story -- lists, quotations, and strange facts -- and creates a deeply emotional exploration of love, death, escape, and maturation. Highly original and effortlessly readable, Attention. Deficit. Disorder. exhibits an unforgettable voice that is Listi's alone.

    She is obsessed. She can't sleep. She sits on the porch all night lying in wait. Then she throws bricks, bowling balls, cans of paint. She loves the sound as they connect, meeting metal and glass.

    You’ll get the low-down on everything you’ll need to demonstrate how well you understand the text and write the best essays.There are sample answers, essay plans and specialist guidance on understanding the questions you’ll be asked in an exam, together with an array of handy quotes, checklists, study tips, grade boosters and revision activities to help you learn, revise efficiently and remember everything you’ll need to write the very best answers.It’s the ultimate guide to revision and exam success.For over 25 years, York Notes has been helping students just like you achieve the very best grade they can in their exam. So if you’re looking for straightforward, easy-to-use advice on how to boost your grades to the next level, York Notes for GCSE is the only guide you’re going to need.

    Wrong. Life is lived somewhere in between.Duchess Day Radley is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Rules are for other people. At school the other kids make fun of her—her clothes are torn, her hair a mess. But let them throw their sticks, because she’ll throw stones. Duchess might be a badass, but she’s really just trying to survive. She is the fierce protector of her five-year-old brother, Robin. She is the parent to her mother, Star, a single mom incapable of taking care of herself, let alone her two kids.Walk has never left the coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He’s the chief of police, trying to keep Cape Haven, with its beautiful bluffs overlooking the sea, not only safe, but safe from becoming a cookie-cutter tourist destination for the rich. But he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. And he’s in overdrive protecting Duchess and her brother as their mother slides deeper into self-destruction.Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released. As soon as he steps one foot back into his childhood town, trouble arrives. It shows up on Walk’s and Duchess’s doorsteps, and they will be unable to do anything but usher it in, arms wide closed.We Begin at the End looks at families—the ones we are born into and the ones we create. Duchess and Walk—and everyone they love and whose hearts they break, who deserve so much more than life serves them—will sear your heart in this extraordinary novel.

    Amid the maelstrom of personal conflicts, Elvis and his enigmatic partner Joe Pike are forced to consider a troubling lead - one indicating that Ben's disappearance is connected to a terrible, long-held secret from Elvis Cole's past.The Forgotten Man: Responding to a gunshot, the LAPD has found an injured man in an alleyway. He has told the officer on the scene that he is looking for his son, Elvis Cole. Minutes later, the man is dead. Elvis turns to the one person who can help him navigate the minefield of his past ? his longtime partner and confidant, Joe Pike. At the same time, Elvis has no way of knowing he has awakened a sleeping monster.Hostage: In a sleepy suburb north of Los Angeles, a convenience-store robbery turns violent. With the police on their tail, three criminals flee the scene and invade a home in an exclusive gated community, taking captive a panicked father and his two children. Police chief Jeff Talley, a former hostage negotiator with the LAPD's SWAT unit, is now thrown back into the high-pressure world that he has so desperately tried to leave behind. But Talley's nightmare has barely begun?

    The perfect companion to Suzanne Collins' "Mockingjay: The Hunger Games - Book One," this study guide contains a chapter by chapter analysis of the book, a summary of the plot, and a guide to major characters and themes.BookCap Study Guides do not contain text from the actual book, and are not meant to be purchased as alternatives to reading the book.

    Very shy. He’s the quietest fifth-grader at Birch Ridge Elementary School. Peter just blends into the crowd, never does anything to draw attention. Attention is the last thing he wants. But when his father becomes the principal of his school, Peter’s whole world is suddenly turned upside down. Students tease him. Kids he doesn’t know stare at him in the hallways. Teachers treat him differently. And then there’s Darren Kalder, the troublemaker who torments Peter. Things turn even worse when Peter and Darren are paired up for a homework assignment—they must prepare a fictitious petition. They decide on a petition to reinstate recess at their school. And what starts out as a simple homework assignment turns into much more when their classmates ask to sign the petition. It’s up to Peter and Darren to follow through and present the petition to the school committee. But this involves speaking at a televised public meeting. And when Darren backs out at the last minute, Peter must decide whether to back out…or make a bold move that will forever change him. REVIEWS "Plot and action unfold quickly in this fast paced, 134-page chapter book, and interest in the outcome is kept high by excellent story crafting. 'The Principal's Son' has lots of intrigue, action, character development, and turning points to keep reader interest/involvement at a steady maximum." The Midwest Book Review "I enjoyed the story thoroughly. The book has a very positive feel to it which makes it a winner all the way." Readers' Favorite