He was an anti-monarchist Royalist, an atheist who converted to Christianity and a lyric poet who revelled in pornography. The play centres on the moment his cynicism is confounded when he falls in love in earnest.Thoroughly modern in its attitude to Rochester's sexual indulgence, the play is also a thrillingly convincing portrait of the period and an accomplished comedy of manners.Commissioned and directed by Max Stafford-Clark for Out of Joint, The Libertine was first performed on tour and at the Royal Court Theatre alongside the Restoration comedy, The Man of Mode, which offers another, contemporary view of Rochester. Stephen Jeffreys is the author of A Going Concern, The Clink and Valued Friends, which won him the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award. He also adapted A Jovial Crew for the RSC.

    Braced for death, she finds herself instead saving a man's life - a young Chinese cockle picker, one of the only survivors of a tragic mass drowning.

    To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Reduced Shakespeare Company's classic farce, two of its original writer/performers (Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield) have thoroughly revised the show to bring it up to date for 21st-century audiences, incorporating some of the funniest material from the numerous amateur and professional productions that have been performed around the world. The cultural touchstone that is The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) was born when three inspired, charismatic comics, having honed their pass-the-hat act at Renaissance fairs, premiered their preposterous masterwork at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987. It quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, earning the title of London's second-longest-running comedy after a decade at the Criterion Theatre. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) is one of the world's most frequently produced plays, and has been translated into several dozen languages. Featured are all 37 of Shakespeare's plays, meant to be performed in 97 minutes, by three actors. Fast paced, witty, and physical, it's full of laughter for Shakespeare lovers and haters alike.

    Her new life is strange and confusing and sometimes frightening. Amanda can barely understand Arabic and the treatment of the women of the family seems wrong to a girl raised in Wales. To add to her problems, Mohammed proves to be verbally and physically abusive - especially once they have their own flat away from the protection of the wider family. Somehow Amanda must escape, but not without her children.

    A stunning, immense beautiful novel about courage, family and the meaning of love, when everything seems lost… In sixteen-year-old Abida’s small Pakistani village, there are age-old rules to live by, and her family’s honour to protect. And, yet, her spirit is defiant and she yearns to make a home with the man she loves. When the unthinkable happens, Abida faces the same fate as other young girls who have chosen unacceptable alliances – certain, public death. Fired by a fierce determination to resist everything she knows to be wrong about the society into which she was born, and aided by her devoted father, Jamil, who puts his own life on the line to help her, she escapes to Lahore and then disappears. Jamal goes to Lahore in search of Abida – a city where the prejudices that dominate their village take on a new and horrifying form – and father and daughter are caught in a world from which they may never escape. Moving from the depths of rural Pakistan, riddled with poverty and religious fervour, to the dangerous streets of over-populated Lahore, No Honour is a story of family, of the indomitable spirit of love in its many forms … a story of courage and resilience, when all seems lost, and the inextinguishable fire that lights one young woman’s battle for change.

    Truly entertaining reading." -- Jackie Collins For Hannah Fairchild, jaded Hollywood trust fund baby and aspiring astronomer, life as she knows it (financially secure, albeit emotionally frail) goes out of orbit when her father -- the larger-than-life legendary actor and playboy, Leo Fairchild -- drops dead while making love to a nineteen year-old C-list television starlet. Not only has Leo's conniving fourth wife frozen Hannah's trust fund -- putting a pinch on her ability to gaze at the only stars she feels are worth watching -- but the grieving widow has also been having an affair with Hannah's indie producer boyfriend. Faced with credit card bills that rivals the national debt, Hannah is forced to put her planet search project on hold while she takes the job of personal assistant to British actor and People's "Sexiest Man Alive," Louis Trollope. Because Louis is just as egotistical, self-centered, insecure, demanding, flirtatious -- and yes, irresistible -- as her father had been, Hannah is determined to keep him and his super-model girlfriend, bad boy entourage, and over-sexed agent at arm's length. Besides, she's falling in love with his best friend, the screenwriter Mick Bradshaw. *** PLEASE NOTE: Previously published as "True Hollywood Lies" *** "…The tone is confessional, the writing laced with venomous humor..." –The Wall Street Journal "Brown captures the humor of working for a megalomaniac...[A] well-paced, entertaining story." –Publishers Weekly "A fine piece of literary work." –New York Post, Page Six "Josie Brown does an outstanding job capturing the glitz and glamour of Hollywood living yet illuminating the stark loneliness present beneath the façade. Filled with good-natured humor and witty repartee..." –Romance Reader's Connection Before you check out the stars walking the red carpet at next Sunday's Oscars, spend time with Josie Brown's new satirical novel, about an irritating actor nominated for an Academy Award, his harried personal assistant and all the angst endured from the moment the nominations are announced until the winning name is read out loud. Brown, a journalist with her share of celeb interviews, drops names a-plenty." –Lowell (MA) Press "With tongue-in-cheek dialogue, Josie Brown provides a fascinating look at the jet set lifestyle of the rich and for-the-moment famous.... You will laugh, cry, and wonder if it's worth it to be rich and famous." –Romance Reviews Today

    Her boss made a pass at her and she said no so she got a pink slip with her check. Julie's broke and disillusioned, so she drinks and turns on the stereo full blast to make the pain go away. Then her roommate comes home in the midst of an eating frenzy; her boyfriend has gone back to his wife so Alice has turned to food to forget. Julie suggests another way to vent their man

     Suzanne and Gertrude is a tale of intermittent griefs and wonderments. How do we live, not just with each other, but with memories, with impermanence, with the inevitable melancholy of being?   Suzanne and Gertrude is a spare novel with a profound impact.

    Fall River, Massachusetts, is a once-prosperous industrial center haunted by its history, the Durfee High School basketball team begins its annual drive for a state championship: a quest that inspires and sometimes consumes kids, coaches, families, teachers, and all of Fall River.Fall River Dreams is the story of one season's quest-a classic book about sports, youth, time, hope, and memory in American today.

    Heyer’s writing is lively, witty, and charming, and full of vividly realized characters and well researched historic locales. Simply put, she had no equal among her contemporaries. We have gathered Heyer’s first four novels and a short story together in this omnibus edition. There are 350,000 and over 950 pages of fantastically written romance fiction. Included are 'The Transformation of Philip Jettan', 'The Black Moth', 'The Great Roxhythe', 'Instead of the Thorn', and 'A Proposal To Cicely.'

    

    Noor isn't prepared for the village that seems deeply rooted in magic — where villagers pray to local ghosts, spend their evenings watching live possessions in the middle of a forest clearing, have innumerable stories of encounters with demons, or where she is told of people who are haunted to death. Then there's Kalki, the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, the local black magician, who is always in her way. He may be trouble, but Noor knows he can help her unravel the mystery of her friend’s death, or so she tells herself. Caught between magic and reality, Noor is increasingly drawn to the mysticism and drama of her hometown, even as dark forces gather and danger closes in on her. Will she be able to run away? Will she want to?

    You didn’t choose it and you can’t get out of it. After a lifelong quest to find “the one” a British writer living in L.A. finds herself single again in her mid-thirties and admits defeat. But instead of blaming the string of past ex-boyfriends, she turns the spotlight on herself. Taking a year off dating men, she tries to date herself in a search for some answers. A fun “honeymoon period” concludes with a shocking discovery. She starts to dig deeper, seeking the source of her problems, but the truth is a bitter pill to swallow. The Girl Who Dated Herself begins as an entertaining “rom com for one” but evolves into an engaging and thought-provoking journey that ultimately questions our preconceptions about love and the foundations of self worth. A book for women and men of all ages, this creative memoir is endlessly amusing and endearing. It touches on subjects painfully familiar to some and uncomfortably shocking to others. A journey of self-discovery, it is also a beautiful love letter to Los Angeles, taking the reader to the real world behind the glitz and gloss of Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

    Turned out of their home by the ruthless pit owner, Fern and her mother Wynne are forced to seek a new life in Cardiff. Whilst Wynne finds work in a factory, Fern attends the local school. But here she is bullied and is soon selling flowers outside Cardiff Central station to help make ends meet. When her mother is taken from her in an influenza epidemic, Fern has no one to protect her from her violent and possessive uncle. She longs to escape from the brutality and squalor around her and make something of herself. But with no money and her only friend away at sea, there seems little hope of her ever leaving her life of poverty behind, let alone finding the love she so yearns for.

    . . . As Isabel put her arm around Carrie Kenny’s waist, Carrie laid her head on Isabel’s shoulder and whispered, “He looks like he’s sleeping.” “The lad is sleeping. He’s sleeping in the Lord,” Isabel responded, offering the only comfort she knew how to give. “And he’s free from the pits.” . . . George offered a short and simple prayer. “God take home to yourself this wee laddie and give his parents comfort, we pray, in the knowledge that he is with Thee and not in the pits.” From the dark, dangerous, and deadly pits of the Scottish coal mines, to the crowded and bustling streets of Edinburgh, to the perilous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, to the long and arduous trek across the plains to a “promised land,” The Light Above takes readers on an unforgettable journey. In this exceptionally heartfelt and moving historical novel, gifted LDS author Jean Mathews has created a riveting and well-researched story of the Scottish Saints, whose courage in the face of relentless odds lifts them from the depths of despair and guides them to triumphant faith in an eternal destiny.