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Trickster


Vinaya Bhagat - 2018
    As far as she knows, she’s alonein the world – till a mysterious letter arrives from India.Suddenly, Diya has a chance at being part of a family again.But moving from Boston to India also brings Diya closer tothe place where the horror of the Chakwa – the MasterTrickster – first started. As bodies and tragedies pile uparound her, Diya’s belief in the urban legend of the Chakwaincreases. Will the monster that ruined her parents’ life nowdestroy Diya’s happiness? Or will she manage to defeat it atits own game? With the help of her newly discovered friendsand family, Diya must fight not just the monster from hernightmares, but also make sense of a fast-unravelling web oflies that makes up her life.VINAYA BHAGAT is an IT professional and author. Her shortstories have been published in anthologies and have beenshort-listed in national and international writing competitions.Trickster is her debut novel.Vinaya lives in Bangalore, India with her husband, who isa radiologist and her eight-year-old son. Weekends find herinventing stories and games with her son.

Loving Protector


Sally Quilford - 2013
    Later, when he valiantly steps in to prevent an unpleasant earl from claiming Calista as his wife, she fears that Brook is only being chivalrous and will never love her as she loves him. When there is a threat to Brook’s life, she is forced to pit her wits against his mercurial father, The Duke of Midchester.

Valley of the Shadow


Stephanie Grace Whitson - 2001
    Forced there against her will, Gen eventually finds friendship. When she meets a wounded Dakota warrior taken in by the missionaries, love blossoms. Gen and Two Stars are just beginning to find their way in the new world controlled by whites when the Dakota War of 1862 drags them both into the valley of the shadow of death. Risking everything to protect missionary friends and children, the couple are forced apart. Will their love survive? Will they?

Honeysuckle House


Christina Jones - 2003
    Her husband, Leon, tells her he’s leaving her, her three children are very unhappy and unsettled, and even her beloved home, Honeysuckle House, is at risk. Without Leon and the painful disruption to everyone’s lives, the family is also finding it hard to cope with the running of the family restaurant, Cookery Nook. However, although Rosie could never have imagined it, Leon’s leaving isn’t the end, but a new beginning for everyone…

The Haunting of Quist House


Amy Cross - 2021
    She has no memory, no idea who she is or where she came from. Blood runs from a wound on one side of her head. She hears strange sounds coming from one of the rooms upstairs. She still doesn't remember anything, but she's starting to realize the awful truth.She's trapped inside a haunted house.Not even knowing her own name, the woman starts searching for clues. The strange sounds continue. Is she truly alone, or are there others in the house? And if there are others, are they friend or foe? After making her first shocking discovery, the woman begins to fear the worst. Time is running out. The doors and windows are sealed shut. Nothing makes sense, but a grandfather clock in the hallway seems to offer clues.Who is this woman? What was she doing in the house before she lost her memory? And even if she remembers in time, will she be able to stop the evil that lurks in the shadows?

Tokyo Bay: A Novel of Japan


Anthony Grey - 1996
    Set in July 1853, this tale of the first clash between the fledgling modern nations of America and Japan illustrates the civilian hysteria provoked by the arrival of the Americans on steam-driven warships, and the mutual fears this set in place. A fleet of ships billowing black smoke steam past Japan’s tributary islands in July 1853, setting off panic among a people who have been sealed off from the rest of the world for over two hundred years. Commodore Matthew Perry has arrived, sent by the US president to open Japan to American ships and trade—by force, if necessary. Navy lieutenant Robert Eden, an idealistic New Englander, immediately recognizes that the colonial intentions of his countrymen will ignite a violent conflict with the feudal, sword-wielding samurai. Inspired to pursue peace, he jumps ship and finds himself plunged into a world of frightful and noble warriors, artfully exotic geishas, and a distraught populace who view the Americans as monsters. Eden tries to bridge the divide between two proud, unyielding cultures in the name of morality, but he may not survive to see the lasting harmony he hopes to create.

The Rice Mother


Rani Manicka - 2002
    At fourteen, she finds herself traded in marriage to a stranger across the ocean in the fascinating land of Malaysia. Duped into thinking her new husband is wealthy, she instead finds herself struggling to raise a family with a man too impractical to face reality and a world that is, by turns, unyielding and amazing, brutal and beautiful. Giving birth to a child every year until she is nineteen, Lakshmi becomes a formidable matriarch, determined to wrest from the world a better life for her daughters and sons and to face every new challenge with almost mythic strength.By sheer willpower Lakshmi survives the nightmare of World War II and the Japanese occupation -- but not unscathed. The family bears deep scars on its back and in turn inflicts those wounds on the next generation. But it is not until Lakshmi's great-granddaughter, Nisha, pieces together the mosaic of her family history that the legacy of the Rice Mother bears fruit.

Long Walk To The Sun


William Peter Grasso - 2012
    When a Japanese regiment lands on Australia’s desolate and undefended Cape York Peninsula, Jock Miles, a US Army captain disgraced despite heroic actions at Pearl Harbor, is ordered to locate the enemy’s elusive command post. Conceived in politics rather than sound tactics, the futile mission is a “show of faith” by the American war leaders meant to do little more than bolster their flagging Australian ally. For Jock Miles and the men of his patrol, it’s a death sentence: their enemy is superior in men, material, firepower, and combat experience. Even if the Japanese don’t kill them, the vast distances they must cover on foot in the treacherous natural realm of Cape York just might. When Jock joins forces with Jillian Forbes, an indomitable woman with her own checkered past who refused to evacuate in the face of the Japanese threat, the dim prospects of the Allied war effort begin to brighten in surprising ways.

The Dressmaker's Son


Abbi Sherman Schaefer - 2013
    Rachael's family comes to America to start a new life after fleeing the pogroms in Russia. Rebekah comes to America with her son, Samuel, fleeing his father, Misha, a Russian soldier with whom she had an affair and has threatened to take him away from her so he will not grow up as a Jew and the son of a cobbler. Set in the Lower East Side of New York and pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg, Russia, both women adjust to life in America until Misha kidnaps Samuel and returns with him to Russia. How Rebekah rises to the challenge of earning enough money as a designer of women's gowns to return to St. Petersburg to find her son, and the difficulties she encounters while there, including murder and prison, show the reader the full extent of a mother's ingenuity and determination when it comes to her child. Rachael also faces the possibility of losing a child to war when her son Solomon enlists in the army as America's entry into World War I approaches.

Following the Wrong God Home


Catherine Lim - 2001
    She will become a dutiful wife, not the existence of her dreams, but the Chees’ money and influence is essential, for her mother has cancer and they cannot abandon a faithful old servant, Ah Heng Cheh. However, the mapping out of Ling’s future doesn’t proceed smoothly. Almost against her will, and through her poetry, she meets outspoken American professor, Ben Gallagher, who threatens to overturn everything. Ling must make her choice: east or west, head or heart. The birth of a son makes her moral predicament even more agonizing.

Letters from Alice: A tale of hardship and hope. A search for the truth.


Petrina Banfield - 2018
    One secret. Will they be able to keep it under wraps?It was a stormy evening in 1920s London. When newly qualified almoner, Alice, stepped into the home of Charlotte, a terrified teenager who had just given birth out of wedlock, she did not expect to make a pact that would change her life forever. Thrown into secrecy after an unexpected turn, Alice was determined to keep bewildered Charlotte and her newborn baby safe. But when a threatening note appeared, she realised that Charlotte may need more protection than she first thought. But from who?Based on extensive research into the archive material held at the London Metropolitan Archives, and enriched with lively social history and excerpts from newspaper articles, LETTERS FROM ALICE is a gripping and deeply moving tale, which brings the colourful world of 1920s London to life. Full of grit, mystery and hope, it will have readers enthralled from the very first page.

The Street Orphans


Mary Wood - 2018
    When her father is killed in an accident and her family evicted from their cottage, she hopes to leave her old life behind, to start afresh in the Blackburn cotton mills. But tragedy strikes once again, setting in motion a chain of events that will unravel her family’s lives. Their fate is in the hands of the Earl of Harrogate, and his betrothed, Lady Katrina. But more sinister is the scheming Marcia, Lady Katrina’s jealous sister. Impossible dreams beset Ruth from the moment she meets the Earl. Dreams that lead her to hope that he will save her from the terrible fate that awaits those accused of witchcraft. Dreams that one day her destiny and the Earl’s will be entwined.

Resistance


Christopher Nicole - 2003
     In May 1940, Captain James Barron who is serving as an intelligence officer with the BEF in Flanders, attends the wedding of a prosperous French wine merchant’s daughter in the city of Chartres. As he is greeted with an abundance of wealth and lavish hospitality, he finds comfort in the beauty of the three de Gruchy daughters. It is looking out to be a decadent weekend until he awakes to find out that the German army has crossed the frontier... As wars ensues, the Gruchy family is torn apart but James manages to make an escape to England via Dunkirk. His role soon moves into the newly formed Special Operations Executive, leaving him in charge of several agents in France, members of the De Gruchy family being amongst them. James’ job is made all the more difficult when he realises he has fallen hopelessly in love with one of the daughters. Resistance manages to evoke the terror and betrayal taking place in the 1940s, perfect for fans of an enticing war drama that leaves you wanting more. Praise for Christopher Nicole: “Fast-paced, entertaining, appealing!” – Library Journal Christopher Nicole’s novels have been read by millions all over the world. From Severn House, his McGann family chronicles concluded with Raging Sea, Searing Sky and The Passion and The Glory, whilst more recent publications have included The Triumph, Dragon’s Blood and The Command.

The Little Victoria


Ursula Bloom - 2016
     It follows little "Vikki" from childhood as she blossoms into a formidable young woman who becomes queen, and falls in love with Albert, the cousin who will be her prince. The story begins with the intriguing circumstances surrounding the marriage of Victoria's parents, and her own birth. A fascinating novelisation of a great woman's life, The Little Victoria is set in Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, and other royal residences. It lifts the curtain on the political intrigue, royal gossip, family feuds and romances that played a part in the destiny of the little girl who would one day be queen. Perfect for fans of the British Royal Family, historical fiction and TV historical dramas such as Victoria, War and Peace and Poldark.

At the End of the Matinee


Keiichirō Hirano - 2016
    Their bond forms instantly.Upon their first meeting, after Makino’s concert in Tokyo, they begin a conversation that will go on for years, with long spells of silence broken by powerful moments of connection. She’s drawn by Makino’s tender music and his sensitivity, and he is intrigued by Yoko’s refinement and intellect. But neither knows enough about love to see it blooming nor has the confidence to make the first move. Will their connection endure, weaving them back together like instruments in a symphony, or will fate lead them apart?Blending the harmonies of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Nocturnes and the sensuality of Ian McEwan’s Enduring Love, At the End of the Matinee is an enchanting and thought-provoking love story.