But while everyone cheers on Jo March, based on Louisa herself, Amy March is often the least favorite sister. Now, it’s time to learn the truth about the real “Amy”, Louisa’s sister, May.Stylish, outgoing, creative, May Alcott grows up longing to experience the wide world beyond Concord, Massachusetts. While her sister Louisa crafts stories, May herself is a talented and dedicated artist, taking lessons in Boston, turning down a marriage proposal from a well-off suitor, and facing scorn for entering what is very much a man’s profession.Life for the Alcott family has never been easy, so when Louisa’s Little Women is published, its success eases the financial burdens they’d faced for so many years. Everyone agrees the novel is charming, but May is struck to the core by the portrayal of selfish, spoiled “Amy March.” Is this what her beloved sister really thinks of her?So May embarks on a quest to discover her own true identity, as an artist and a woman. From Boston to Rome, London, and Paris, this brave, talented, and determined woman forges an amazing life of her own, making her so much more than merely The Other Alcott.

    In Derry they both start to realise that sometimes you have to say goodbye to what you thought you always wanted, in order to find what you have needed all along. Editorial Reviews “One of the most scrumptious books i think I’ve ever read”All Things Books“Like a hug in a book! ... ideal book for those who doubts there's such a thing as having it all” – Woman’s Way“An amazing story of first love and how, even years later, the feelings can still exist. Based on a true story, this was my favourite tale of true love in recent years. Sweet, warm and endearing, it stayed with me for weeks after I had finished it. For all of us that believe there is a soulmate out there for everyone.” Bleach House LibraryQuite simply, this is one of the nicest, warmest and moving love stories I have read in years and I found myself very emotional while reading it. It had some personal meaning to me, as it was a similar tale to a relative of mine, and I had to stop reading a few times in order to pull myself together. I didn’t want it to end and the lump in my throat remains with me, even as I write this review. Writing.ieI LOVED this book. I was completely absorbed in it ...I really couldn't put it down - At Home with Mrs M“A feel-good, touching and amusing tale which readers will find hard to put down” – Irish Independent

    ACP Agni Mitra finds out about her adulterous ways as he startsinvestigating into the murder. The miffed husband, a lecherous boss, one of hermany jilted admirers – anyone could have killed her.The investigation is stuck in myriad perplexing questions when the murder ofMeenakshi Menon, a Director with Altius Finance, hits the headlines.As more murders rock the city, it is not too long before the battle of wits with hisunseen adversary turns personal for Agni.A ruthless killer walking the rain-washed streets of Kolkata.A detective battling storms brewing in his private life.Human relations infested with deceit. A generation struggling to copewith fast-changing ambitions and desires.In the Shadows of Death is a gripping page-turner with a heart-rendingemotional core.

    The night her family’s hotel burns to the ground, Valentia knows she can no longer wait. Risking a perilous Atlantic voyage, she heads to Ireland to discover her heritage.But the journey exacts a terrible toll, and her health deteriorates. Struggling to navigate a new country, cope with the desperate poverty, and untangle a complicated web of family secrets, Valentia fears she’ll never find the brooch in time to save her sanity—until she discovers a clue which sends her on a desperate trek across the Irish countryside, despite the dangers.As the clock ticks down, her grasp on sanity slips through her fingers, forcing her to fight for a centuries-old legacy or lose everything.Legacy of Hunger is the first book in The Druid’s Brooch Series. If you like strong female characters, heartwarming relationships, and a touch of fairy magic, you’ll love Christy Nicholas’ historical adventure.Buy Legacy of Hunger now to delve into the magic of Ireland’s past.

    However, Angel’s plans are disrupted when she becomes stranded in an unfamiliar town. With no means to leave and no place to stay, Angel finds aid in an unexpected place: Nathan, a childhood acquaintance with scars of his own.All nineteen-year-old Nathan wants is to leave every memory of his father far, far behind. But when Nathan’s path leads him to Angel, he begins to realize that his father’s influence has reached further than he could ever have imagined.As Nathan and Angel face the prejudices of the townspeople together, their tenuous friendship begins to grow into something more. However, when Nathan’s father returns, Angel and Nathan must decide whether they are willing fight for the life they’ve created for themselves, or whether they will once again leave everything they love—including each other—behind.

    No one can hear her, just us boys. We're the dead Finnegans – Ma, Thomas, Ben and me.Ten-year-old John Finnegan can't leave his garden. Ever since they were murdered he, his brothers and his ma have been stuck there, caught between the worlds of the living and the dead. Unseen and unnoticed, he watches the events after his life unfold – including the actions of his murderer.James Stack is born dirt-poor on an Irish tenant farm and the great famine shadows his childhood. But his clever sister's lace making may save the family – until Aileen is sent to the other side of the world on a convict ship. To save her, James joins the redcoats and follows her across dangerous waters to a hopeful new land. But can he ever leave the death and hunger of his homeland behind?Based on the 1865 Otahuhu murders, Purgatory is a startling, gripping novel from an immensely talented new author.

    When her ageing father asks her to go with him to his native France, she has no idea that shes embarking on an adventure that will shake her complacency and utterly transform her. Returning to the place of his youth sparks unexpected memories—recollections that will lead Camille, her father, and her daughter, Julie, who has accompanied them, back to the dark, terrifying days of the Second World War, where they will uncover their family’s surprising history.While Provence offers answers about her family’s past, it also holds the key to Camille’s future. Along the way, Camille meets a handsome American historian who stirs a passion deep within her she thought she’d never experience again.

    She finds herself falling for the attractive estate manager, who carries secrets of his own. As the tension grows more unbearable, Ellen will have to risk everything she holds dear to discover the secrets that lurk in the shadows of the Chateau D'Arc.

    With so many young men lost in the Great War, including her own brothers, her life is empty and her future without hope. Until, desperate to break out of her mundane existence, she decides to take up the position of nursery maid in the London home of acclaimed playwright Harold Berridge.Befriended by the actress Maud Ling and thrown into the glamorous but fickle world of cinema, Phyllis falls passionately in love with Maud’s young brother Teddy. But Teddy’s heart lies elsewhere, and when tragedy strikes the Berridge household a heartbroken Phyllis is forced to leave.Six months later, Phyllis has started to rebuild her life but her world is turned upside down once more when is invited to a party at Maud Ling’s film studios. For there she falls under the spell of the charming but devious American actor, Denver Towers, with disastrous consequences. . .

    As an expert in her field, she must trace the history of each painting and discover who has concealed them for so long.Thrown in amongst the glamorous Vermeil family as they move between Paris and Antibes, Flora begins to discover that things aren't all that they seem, while back at home her own family is recoiling from a seismic shock. The terse and brooding Xavier Vermeil seems intent on forcing Flora out of his family's affairs - but just what is he hiding?

    But when they become engaged, Max’s father insists on a ‘left-handed marriage’, a custom among the German aristocracy in cases where the bride does not have the required pedigree. This means that, although Diana will be Max’s lawful wife, neither she nor their children will have any claim to Max’s eventual title or wealth. Deeply in love, Max and Diana agree to these terms and the newlyweds dazzle from Ascot to the Riviera and host lavish skiing parties at their estate in the Alps. However, as the dark clouds of war gather across Europe, Diana becomes concerned by her loving husband’s unpredictability and what she suspects are sinister secrets beneath his family’s glamorous lifestyle. When war is declared Diana finds herself caught between two sides, as her own Anglo-Irish family are fighting for the British and Max is an officer in the German army. Diana, refusing to leave her beloved husband, becomes a figure of mistrust in Germany and is portrayed as a treasonous woman in the British press. When Max is reported missing presumed dead, Diana is rejected by his family. Widowed, penniless, her reputation in tatters and her own family in Ireland destroyed by the war, Diana sets out to rebuild her life. *** A. O’Connor once more draws us irresistibly into the past and spins an extraordinary tale that holds us spellbound. Here again is that mixture of impeccable research and powerful storytelling that made The House and The Secrets of Armstrong House bestsellers

    Her surprisingly attractive new neighbor, Hector, warns her to stay out of the basement at night. Tenants have reported strange noises after midnight—laughter, clinking glasses, jazz piano—even though the space has been empty for decades. Back in the Roaring Twenties, the place hid a speakeasy.In 1924, Geneva "Gin" Kelly, a smart-mouthed flapper from the hills of western Maryland, is a regular at this Village hideaway known as the Christopher Club. Caught up in a raid, Gin becomes entangled with Prohibition enforcement agent Oliver Anson, who persuades her to help him catch her stepfather Duke Kelly, one of Appalachia’s most notorious bootleggers.Headstrong and independent, Gin is no weak-kneed fool. So how can she be falling in love with the taciturn, straight-arrow Revenue agent when she’s got Princeton boy Billy Marshall, the dashing son of society doyenne Theresa Marshall, begging to make an honest woman of her? While anything goes in the Roaring Twenties, Gin’s adventures will shake proper Manhattan society to its foundations, exposing secrets that shock even this free-spirited redhead—secrets that will echo from Park Avenue to the hollers of her Southern hometown.As Ella discovers more about the basement speakeasy, she becomes inspired by the spirit of her exuberant predecessor, and decides to live with abandon in the wicked city too. . . .

    What happens next in this brilliantly crafted novel of literary suspense will change Emma Smith’s life forever—and ignite a dark, erotic drama of suspicion, loss, and awakening.In the year 1898, Emma makes a New Year’s resolution: to become a better person. So, under the tutelage of her novelist husband, she begins an innocent correspondence with Chance Wood, a man serving his sentence for the murder of his wife. But from the beginning, in words that shock and intrigue her, Chance dares Emma to unveil her unspoken thoughts and desires. And when Chance receives a pardon, Emma is set dangerously free. She will use her freedom—and Chance’s—to pursue the fantasies that have been swirling dizzily around her. Slowly, recklessly, Emma exchanges all that was familiar and safe for her new, dangerous double life. As the risks mount and a friend turns blackmailer, Emma cannot stop her fall. For once she has given in to her truest, basest desires, she cannot avoid the ones that come next.…

    To save them from the workhouse, Nell returns to the family home - a mere two rooms at the top of a condemned tenement.Nell finds work at a biscuit factory and, at first, they scrape through each week. But then eight-year-old Róisín, a delicate from birth, is admitted to hospital with rheumatic fever and fifteen-year-old Kate, rebellious, headstrong and resentful of Nell taking her mother's place, runs away.When Liam finds work in London, Nell stays to struggle on alone - her unwavering devotion to her sisters stronger even than her love for him. She's determined that one day the Dublin girls will be reunited and only then will she be free to follow her heart. Look for more gripping, heartwrenching page-turners from Cathy Mansell - don't miss A Place to Belong, out now.

    But all that changes when she encounters…ARISuccessful and charming, Ari Onassis is a man who promises her the world. Yet soon after they marry, Jackie learns that his heart also belongs to another…MARIAA beautiful, famed singer, Maria Callas is in love with Jackie’s new husband – and she isn’t going to give up.Little by little, Jackie and Maria’s lives begin to tangle in a dangerous web of secrets, scandal and lies. But with both women determined to make Ari theirs alone, the stakes are high. How far will they go for true love?Readers love The Second Marriage:‘Glamorous and highly seductive, this compelling story explores the lives of two complex, powerful women complete with all their talents and flaws.’ Dinah Jefferies, author of The Tuscan Contessa‘Heart-breaking. Brilliant. Powerful. Its intensity and perception knocked me out; I guarantee that this fascinating love-triangle story will have you enthralled.’ Kate Furnivall, author of The Guardian of Lies‘I was completely enthralled, wholly swept up in the characters, the glamour, and the fascinating story of these iconic women. An utter treat from beginning to end – readers far and wide will fall under its spell.’ Jenny Ashcroft, author of Beneath a Burning Sky‘I can't rave highly enough about this book – it's my favourite Gill Paul novel to date. A dazzling yet moving portrait of two very different iconic women, it's brilliantly researched, compellingly told and completely fascinating. I just loved it.’ Tracy Rees, author of Amy Snow‘A compelling and fascinating story about powerful personalities.’ Rosanna Ley, author of The Lemon Tree Hotel‘Addictive and so well-researched. I read it in a day.’ Kate Riordan, author of The Heatwave‘A truly compelling story… This is the best of historical fiction – leaving you wanting to learn more.’ Liz Trenow, author of The Forgotten Seamstress