She lives isolated in the Pennsylvania countryside with her affluent and secretive family. When her father dies suddenly, Mary becomes pained with grief and increasingly suspicious of those around her. A humble servant girl has the chance of a lifetime to become a lady's companion. Costly dresses, exquisite rooms, and fine dinners are pleasant distractions from what is really happening in the house.

    . . . This is atrue story made in heaven for a writer as talented as Mitchell Zuckoff. Whew—what an utterly compelling and deeplysatisfying read!" —Simon Winchester, author of Atlantic Award-winning former Boston Globe reporter Mitchell Zuckoffunleashes the exhilarating, untold story of an extraordinary World War IIrescue mission, where a plane crash in the South Pacific plunged a trio of U.S.military personnel into a land that time forgot. Fans of Hampton Sides’ Ghost Soldiers, Marcus Luttrell’s Lone Survivor, and David Grann’s The Lost Cityof Z will be captivated by Zuckoff’s masterfullyrecounted, all-true story of danger, daring, determination, and discovery injungle-clad New Guinea during the final days of WWII.

    You are searching. You are here to find yourself, fill some kind of hole in your heart...there's no other reason why such fine men would be here but to find--or maybe lose--yourselves. Which is it?"Fall into the year 1900 at Kitty Hawk, NC, when life consists of shipwrecks, shoot-outs…and flying machines. When Orville and Wilbur Wright arrive to conduct flight experiments, their posh dignity stands in stark contrast to a community of rough old salts who believe in a “good God, a bad devil, a hot hell, and more than anything else, that the same good God did not intend for man to ever fly.”The Wright brothers may be able to defy divine edicts, theorize about relative velocities and engineer the world’s first flying machine. But when it comes to women, they are terribly love-shy.That doesn't deter Kitty Hawker Madeleine Tate. When she meets these two odd bicycle mechanics from Ohio, she is immediately struck by the brothers’ intellect, dandy appearance—and their grip on bachelorhood. Their shyness and fixation on flight puzzles her, too, but she finds her growing fondness for Orville hard to resist. He represents a splendid taste of the Outside World, the place where she can escape the poverty and fear that define life on a stormy sandbar.And Orville is flattered by her affections, but he has long-accepted the fact that he and Wilbur are social misfits who let one bad experience with courtship harden their hearts forever. He finds his shyness, obsessions and memories tough obstacles to overcome. But Madeleine is determined to break through his shell to find out who he really is--a brilliant inventor? A lunatic risking his life for the sake of something the world deems impossible? Or is he someone just like her, with real hurts, dreams and desires?With stunning detail that rings true of early twentieth century life, author Tara Staley artfully depicts the story of two individuals who both, in their own unique ways, learn to spread their wings and fly."Gorgeously written, with the time, the place and the people evoked so dazzlingly, you can hear the wings of the Wright's flying machine, wafting in the air." Caroline Leavitt, NYT bestselling author, PICTURES OF YOU

    “Win Blevins has painted an epic saga of life in the early West on a huge canvas of vivid colors.”–Tony Hillerman "Blevins is a true storyteller in the tradition of Native American people.” Lee Francis, Director, Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. In 1822, Sam Morgan dreams of following in the footsteps of the Lewis and Clark expedition. When he steals away on a flatboat headed west, Sam’s epic adventure begins. Along the way, he meets a cast of unforgettable characters, including Capt. William Clark himself and fur traders Jedediah Smith and Irish Tom Fitzpatrick, mountain men well on their way to becoming legends. In a brigade led by the heroic Smith, Sam crosses the fierce deserts to California—a first. But the land of the Golden Bear confronts him with dazzling perils. He must trek the Sierra Nevada and walk thirsty across the Great Basin Desert to save his comrades. Sam learns that he can survive, love, live with nature, and thrive, by trusting himself, by pushing himself—and his dreams—to the limit. REVIEWS "The glory years of frontier life, fresh and rich.”—Kirkus Reviews “Blevins’ sweeping vision of the American frontier is just plain irresistible.” – Michael and Kathleen Gear, The First Americans series. “No one writes about the fur trappers' westering experience better than Blevins. He has a poet's way with words, and imagery to match the wilderness reality. Win has re-created that long-ago world where the improbable was commonplace, where courage and audacity made anything possible.”—Lucia St. Clair Robson, author of Ride the Wind, member of the Western Writers Hall of Fame. SO WILD A DREAM In the Ree villages, Sam faces treachery and death. While among the Crows, he falls in love with a woman named Meadowlark. From the Bois Brulés, Snakes, and Pawnees, he learns native crafts, lore, and mysticism. But Sam’s best teacher is hard-won experience. On a grueling seven-hundred-mile trek, alone and on foot, across the Great Plains to Fort Atkinson on the Missouri River, he endures a devastating prairie fire and comes to grips with the price of survival. BEAUTY FOR ASHES Rich in historical detail, Beauty for Ashes continues Sam Morgan’s epic quest. Sam yearns for more than wealth—he dreams of Meadowlark, the Crow Indian woman who taught him love. When his companions set a course for the Wind River country and Meadowlark’s village, Sam will have one more chance to win his heart’s desire. First, however, he must survive the arduous journey, from cruel winter storms to debilitating illnesses. Sam learns to hunt buffalo and track beaver, and battles warriors of the Pawnee, Lakota, and Blackfeet tribes. Held captive by the Sioux, he makes a daring escape, and faces his most difficult challenge yet when Meadowlark’s family demands that he perform a great deed to prove himself worthy of her love. DANCING WITH THE GOLDEN BEAR Sam faces his harshest test yet. Jedediah Smith puts together a brigade for a trip into uncharted territory—Mexican California. Sam Morgan eagerly joins up, bringing his Crow wife, Meadowlark, along.

    A reporter photographs the miracle, and wealthy, skeptical, Jewish psychiatrist Camillo Lombardi arrives in Naples to investigate. When she materializes the ghost of his dead mother, he risks his reputation and fortune to finance a tour of the Continent, challenging the scientific and academic elite of Europe to test Alessandra's mysterious powers. She will help him rewrite Science. His fee will help her escape her sadistic husband Pigotti and start a new life in Rome. Newspapers across Europe trumpet her Cinderella story and baffling successes, and the public demands to know - does the "Queen of Spirits" really have supernatural powers? Nigel Huxley is convinced she's simply another vulgar, Italian trickster. The icy, aristocratic detective for England's Society for the Investigation of Mediums launches a plot to trap and expose her. Meanwhile, the Vatican is quietly digging up her childhood secrets, desperate to discredit her supernatural powers; her abusive husband Pigotti is coming to kill her; and the tarot cards predict catastrophe. Inspired by the true-life story of controversial Italian medium Eusapia Palladino (1854-1918), The Witch of Napoli masterfully resurrects the bitter,19th-century battle between Science and religion over the possibility of an afterlife.

    Kitty McCulley, a young and inexperienced nurse tossed into a stressful and chaotic situation, is having a difficult time reconciling her duty to help and heal with the indifference and overt racism of some of her colleagues and with the horrendously damaged soldiers and Vietnamese civilians whom she encounters during her service at the China Beach medical facilities.She is unexpectedly helped by the mysterious and inexplicable properties of an amulet, given to her by one of her patients, an elderly, dying Vietnamese holy man, which allows her to see other people's "auras" and to understand more about them as a result. This eventually leads to a strange, almost surrealistic journey through the jungle, accompanied by a one-legged boy and a battle-seasoned but crazed soldier and, by the end of the journey, McCulley has found herself and a way to live and survive through the madness and destruction.

    Charlotte, James and their seven children are independent spirits, united by strong family values.Living in a mining community is never easy, and when the shadow of impending war threatens, they must pull together to face the hardship to come. Can this close-knit family overcome whatever tragedy life throws at them?The Black Mountains, a moving saga of love, happiness and heartbreak, is perfect for fans of Rosie Goodwin and Katie Flynn. ‘Sensitive and exceptionally polished’ Manchester Evening News The Hillsbridge Sagas The Black Mountains The Emerald Valley The Hills and the Valley A Family Affair

    So begins The Dying Place, David Maurer’s unflinching look at MACV-SOG, Vietnam, and a young man’s entry into war. Fresh from the folds of the Catholic Church, Sgt. Sam Walden is quickly embraced by another religion, jungle warfare. After four years there may be no resolution between the two; God knows Sam has tried. But how many Hail Mary’s will absolve him of what he has done in Laos? Walden is a war-weary Green Beret, regularly tested beyond normal limits by the ever-changing priorities of the puzzle palace in Saigon. And yet he overcomes, staying alive to go on mission after mission with his one-one and his little people. To them he is everything – strength, compassion, courage. He will not let them down. David Maurer’s own experiences at MACV-SOG’s Command and Control North come to life in this tense action-packed story. The U.S. was not supposed to be in Laos during the Vietnam War and by all accounts, we weren’t. Some know better, and fortunately, Maurer is one of those. With a fine ear for dialogue Maurer takes you back and sets you down squarely on the LZ, where inner turmoil is quelled and external conflict takes over, if only for awhile. If you’re lucky, you just might make it out alive.

    It is then, at the young and vulnerable age of seventeen, when Lady Anna Maria Berezowska loses both of her parents and must leave the only home she has ever known. With Empress Catherine's Russian armies streaming in to take their spoils, Anna is quickly thrust into a world of love and hate, loyalty and deceit, patriotism and treason, life and death. Even kind Aunt Stella, Anna's new guardian who soon comes to personify Poland's courage and spirit, can't protect Anna from the uncertain future of the country. Anna, a child no longer, turns to love and comfort in the form of Jan, a brave patriot and architect of democracy, unaware that her beautiful and enigmatic cousin Zofia has already set her sights on the handsome young fighter. Thus Anna walks unwittingly into Zofia's jealous wrath and darkly sinister intentions. Forced to survive several tragic events, many of them orchestrated by the crafty Zofia, a strengthened Anna begins to learn to place herself in the way of destiny--for love and for country. Heeding the proud spirit of her late father, Anna becomes a major player in the fight against the countries who come to partition her beloved Poland. PUSH NOT THE RIVER is based on the true eighteenth century diary of Anna Maria Berezowska, a Polish countess who lived through the rise and fall of the historic Third of May Constitution. Vivid, romantic, and thrillingly paced, it paints the emotional and unforgettable story of the metamorphosis of a nation--and of a proud and resilient young woman.

    But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of swing dancing and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. THE MINE is a love story that follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.

    Though they are separated by almost 100 years, the similarities in their experiences are striking.When Derrick Wolf left the U.S. for Vietnam in 1970 on January 6th, the day of Epiphany, little did he realize what a prophetic day it would turn out to be for him. Boys for Men is a journal of his tour of duty. Wolf tells of the grim daily routine of a tank crew near the De-militarized Zone just south of North Vietnam. From the near constant rain during monsoon to the unbearable high temperatures and humidity of the dry season, life becomes a series of long periods of boredom and hardship interrupted abruptly by deadly situations.Combined with Wolf’s stories are excerpts of the previously unpublished 1876 journal of Sylvester Waltz, an infantryman during the Great Sioux War. Waltz was a member of the Yellowstone Expedition, which culminated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn where General George Armstrong Custer was killed and his forces defeated.

    The battle to convert the natives is savage and unrelenting and into this holy war is thrust Conrad Wolff, a young native of the city of Lübeck whose family has suffered a terrible injustice. Forced to leave his homeland to seek sanctuary in Livonia, Conrad’s fate is soon entwined with that of the Sword Brothers, the order of warrior monks that fights to defend and expand Christendom in the Baltic. But as Conrad begins his training to become a member of the brethren, the enemies of the Bishop of Riga gather and soon Livonia is surrounded and battling for its very existence. Conrad and the order soon find themselves fighting for their lives as the enemies of the Sword Brothers close in on all sides. This, the first volume in the Crusader Chronicles, tells the story of Conrad Wolff and the Baltic Crusade during the first years of the thirteenth century.

    This shameful memento came to symbolize not only his father’s tragically misguided allegiance but also a shattered marriage and ultimately the unconscionable separation of a mother and son.In this revelatory memoir, the author confronts his parents’ complex past as he reconstructs the fortunes and disillusions of an entire family upheaved during the changes of twentieth-century Europe. The Münninghoffs were driven by greed, rebellion, and rage. An embattled dynasty, they were torn between the right and the wrong side of history. Their saga haunted Alexander’s life for the next seventy years.Only in reconciling with them can this man find the courage to move forward as son and heir to the startling legacy of a flawed yet grand tradition.

    Yet, the battle was not at all what he expected and he soon found himself alone and stranded in Scotland. Thirteen-year-old Kannak’s problem was just as grave. Her father deserted them and the only way to survive, she decided, was to take a husband over her mother‘s objections. Suddenly she was helping a hated Viking escape. Could Kannak successfully hide a Viking in the middle of a Scottish Clan? And why was someone plotting to kill the clan's beloved laird?

    The insights into racial politics elevate this novel to a status above mere entertainment, although it provides that aplenty.”—Publishers Weekly It’s 1941, and an alliance of peace holds in check the most powerful nations of the world—but it is an uneasy peace. Japan dominates the Pacific, the Russian tsar rules Alaska, and England, under Winston Churchill, chafes for a return to its former glory. Behind this façade of world order, America is a bomb waiting to explode. Jake Featherston, the megalomaniacal leader of the Confederate States of America, is just the man to light the fuse. Opposite him is Al Smith, a Socialist U.S. president in the Philadelphia White House. Smith is a living symbol of hope for a nation that has been through the hell of war and depression. Featherston and his Freedom Party are determined to conquer their Northern neighbor at any cost. After crushing a Negro rebellion in his own nation, Featherston sends Confederate army planes to attack Philadelphia. In the aftermath of the CSA blitzkrieg, the war machine spins a vortex of destruction, betrayal, and fury that no one—not even Jake Featherston himself—can control. “Turtledove plays heady games with actual history, scattering object lessons and bitter ironies along the way. [Return Engagement features] strong, complex characters against a sweeping alt-historical background.”—Kirkus Reviews “Another absorbing installment of [Turtledove’s] character-centered alternate-history saga.”—Booklist