Joaquin Fraxedas's The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera is profoundly moving tribute to one of the great tragedies of our time. In the middle of a moonless night on a deserted beach east of Havana three men lash inner tubes together to make a flimsy raft they slide into the surf. Desperate to escape a society gone wrong, they risk an incredible journey across the more than ninety miles of treacherous waters that separate the island of Cuba from the Florida Keys.In this powerful and lyrical novel, J. Joaquin Fraxedas has crafted an epic story of three courageous men, men willing to endure the hazards of the open sea, men caught in the mindless violence of a hurricane with nothing to hang on to but an inner tube, men willing to die in their attempt to gain freedom.

    But when you’re a living ringer for one of the country’s best-loved historical figures, privacy is hard to come by—especially when your face is on money. Across town, Norma Greenberg, one of the world’s many Marilyn Monroe clones, is struggling with identity issues of a different sort. It’s not easy going through life as a copy of the beautiful Norma Jeane Baker! When Abe is taken away by government agents eager to discover the secrets of his illustrious ancestor, Norma could be Abe’s last hope of escape—or, thanks to her kleptomania, his worst chance of recapture. With only their wits, a cigarette lighter, a bottle of perfume, and the disembodied arm of Richard Nixon, can Abe and Norma make it back to safety and anonymity? Advance Praise: “A gorgeous, funny romp along the seam between reality and artifice, fame and obscurity, history and Disney, Roufa has a deft, hilarious touch. This is a wry, gleeful take on the choice between destiny, authenticity, love, and the eternal call of the stovepipe hat.” – Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor, Slate “A perfect gem with terrifically simple and funny twists.” – Josh Kilmer-Purcell, New York Times bestselling author of I Am Not Myself These Days and The Bucolic Plague

    In the second part, Petal's grandson, Solomon, describes how he surveyed the best route down the mountain in preparation for building the region's first road. In the third part, Solomon's son David, tells of building the first turnpike through the wilderness.

    Trained in combat since he was a youth, and taught the dark arts of war by a brilliant ex-monk, he is determined to prove wrong those who say he is unfit for command. As he follows the trail of devastation left by the raiders, he discovers that Valentina, his half-brother's betrothed, has been taken captive. The mission that he has viewed merely as an adventure now turns into a personal quest to save the headstrong daughter of his father's closest ally from the slave markets of Arabia.In the capital of Toledo, the sudden death of the monarch unravels old alliances, sparking a fierce competition for the throne. As the country descends into civil war, Musa ibn Nosseyr, Caliph al-Walid's ambitious governor in Carthage, sees the Iberian nation's troubles as an opportunity to expand the reach of the caliphate into Europe.

    Mary, HerefordshireI am really not sure why I am writing this. A foolish whim by a foolish old lady and it will probably sit in a box unread and decay much like its writer when Death makes his careless decision.But perhaps someone will find it. Someone will care enough to read and somehow I know that will happen.April 2000, Clematis Cottage, Stoke St. Mary, HerefordshireTired of her life in London, freelance illustrator Rachel buys the beautiful but dilapidated Clematis Cottage and sets about creating the home of her dreams. But tucked away behind the water tank in the attic and left to gather dust for decades is an old biscuit tin containing letters, postcards and a diary. So much more than old scraps of paper, these are precious memories that tell the story of Henrietta Trenchard-Lewis, the love she lost in the Great War and the girl who was left behind.

    Emotionally distant but highly successful Edward Feathers, his beautiful wife Betty, and his devilishly handsome professional rival (and Betty's one-time lover) Edward Veneering are the anchors of this series, with each novel focusing on a differenct character. Feathers was a "raj orphan"--children bown in Far East British colonies and raised in England--while Veneering's own path to legal renown is a Dickensian as his name. Filth and his circle tell a bittersweet tale of enduring friendship while contending with the disappointments and consolations of age as a once-insurmountable empire declines around them. Told with Jane Gardam's customary wit, the Old Filth trilogy is a deeply humane and often comic portrait of aging and a reminder that the experiences we choose to take with us in our twilight years are as unforgettable--and unpredictable as life itself.

    

     Cassandra, or Cassie to her friends, sticks out like a redheaded weed amidst her family of tidy blooms. At Bramfield Park, Cassie’s prim parents and attractive older sister, Sophia, wish for nothing but an advantageous marriage for their eldest and prettiest—and for Cassie to stay out of the way. But when the surprisingly charming Lord Peter Courtney pays Bramfield a visit to take in Cassie’s father’s renowned collection of art—and, if the Earl of Wychhaven has anything to say about it, to add his daughter Sophia to Courtney’s own collection—fate throws Cassie and the Lord together under most extraordinary circumstances. What began with a simple ruse to aid a friend grows more complex as Cassie’s feelings for Lord Peter grow stronger, and soon she finds herself in over her head. From the beloved author of the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series, M.C. Beaton’s Regency Romance novella, The Summer of Discontent, delivers an enchanting summertime tale of mistaken identities, unlikely friendships, and unexpected love. About the Author M. C. Beaton is the pen name of bestselling novelist Marion Chesney. She is a prolific writer of historical romances and small village mysteries. Born in Scotland, the author began her writing career as a fiction buyer for a Glasgow bookstore and has worked as a theater critic, newspaper reporter, and editor. The author has written under various names, most notably as M. C. Beaton for her Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series. She also has written under the names Sarah Chester, Helen Crampton, Ann Fairfax, Marion Gibbons, Jennie Tremaine, and Charlotte Ward. The author lived in the United States, but now splits her time between the Cotswolds, England and Paris, France.

    A microcosm of the deep horrors of civil war, the Shelton Laurel Massacre as it came to be known, pitted neighbor against neighbor, touching every family with violence at their own front door. Told by those who lived it– Confederate and Unionist alike--Keith, who ordered the execution, Polly, whose children’s death precipitated the massacre, Judy and Marthy, who bore torture to protect their men, and Sim, conscripted by the Confederates and haunted by his part in the Massacre—the novel offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of five people tangled in history’s web, caught up together in love and hate. And all five will bear the mark of the massacre long after the event, struggling to come to terms with the bleak consequences of civil war. Based on an actual event and historical characters, And the Crows Took Their Eyes is a richly imagined portrait of a dark and bitter time—illuminated by gleams of humanity at its best

    He traces her ship, The Lady Isabella, back to a small port in Cornwall where he meets Gabrielle Ellis, the woman who is going to restore her to her former glory. Together they begin to trace jigsaw pieces of the lives of the carver, Tom Welland and the real Lady Isabella.Gabrielle becomes increasingly haunted by Isabella's lost life. As Gabrielle's own life becomes inextricably involved with Mark's, her story runs parallel with the lives of Isabella, her husband Richard and Tom Welland, the carver.Two women, living more than a hundreds years apart yet against the same wild backdrop of sea and landscape, make a rash bid for freedom to live another life. But for both of them, that choice means a loss which will greatly affect the next generation.

    But when he learns that the young spy sent by the OSS to Prague is a woman, he has misgivings about working with her. He had expected a man—a man who could handle his assignment with the help of Janak and his fellow Resistance workers. It doesn’t take long, however, for Janak to realize the beautiful blonde spy has enough daring and resourcefulness to do what it takes in the occupied city. The Nazis are everywhere, but Tereza’s knowledge of Czech and German allows her to fit right in.Both of them have an unspoken determination to keep their relationship professional, to keep distractions at a minimum, but is that going to be possible when every day might be their last? The bond that develops between them can only be destroyed by death, but that’s a real possibility for covert activists in Nazi-occupied Prague.

    Pantelis Kokkinis and his family live under the dark cloud of Italian occupation. As the horrors of the war draw nearer, reality for the Kokkinis family grows more and more fraught. Long-held secrets, raw emotions, and the fear of what’s coming leave them scrambling to hold their emotions in check and their family together.When Pantelis meets Violetta Dalmedikos, the beautiful daughter of a prominent local Jewish family, he is instantly smitten. Unfortunately, love between a Christian and a Jew is strictly forbidden.In 1943, the German commander demands a list with all the Jewish residents of the island. The Mayor and the Christian bishop hand in a list with only two names: theirs. Overnight, the Jewish population goes into hiding as Christian Zantiots make a great sacrifice. Pantelis and Violetta come closer, and a medieval treasure suddenly vanishes.80 years later, Pantelis’ grandson is looking for the treasure. What he unearths is a shipwreck, a manslaughter, and a truth he never expected.

    Using her body and beauty has earned her the title, “Project Queen”. She’s got it, and was born to flaunt it! She’s determined to break away from her abusive mother, and leave her impoverished lifestyle far behind.When she begins dating a notorious drug dealer, she assumes all of her problems are over. She couldn’t be further from the truth. She finds out that beauty is only skin deep, and all of the money, spinning rims, and glitter, can come at a violent price.

    and piecing together a mosaic of the reigns of the five Amarnan kings, threaded through by the memories of princess Beketaten-Scarab, a tapestry unfolds of the royal figures lost in the mists of antiquity.A chance discovery in Syria reveals answers to the mystery of the ancient Egyptian sun-king, the heretic Akhenaten and his beautiful wife Nefertiti. Inscriptions in the tomb of his sister Beketaten, otherwise known as Scarab, tell a story of life and death, intrigue and warfare, in and around the golden court of the kings of the glorious 18th dynasty.The narrative of a young girl growing up at the centre of momentous events--the abolition of the gods, foreign invasion, and the fall of a once-great family--reveals who Tutankhamen's parents really were, what happened to Nefertiti, and other events lost to history in the great destruction that followed the fall of the Aten heresy.

    “Birdie Carlucci” claims he has lived there since 1933, hiding out in the storeroom of a Harvey House restaurant. Kansas City cop Lieutenant Randy Benton decides to discover the truth behind Birdie’s tale—and finds himself on a ride that leads ever backward into our country’s bloodstained past.Benton’s investigation reveals the story of young Birdie, incarcerated in a brutal insane asylum where the preferred method of treatment is beating with a baseball bat. In that hopeless environment, though, he’s befriended by another patient, Josh Lancaster, once dismissed as a lost cause but snatched back from the brink by a compassionate doctor. But what is the secret of Lancaster’s involvement in an infamous Civil War encounter between Confederate bushwhackers and Union soldiers? And what truly happened after Birdie escaped from the asylum on the famous Flying Crow train?As Benton returns to the present day, he wonders: How much, if any of it, really took place? What were the true public and private traumas of these two troubled men who can’t forget what they’ve seen or merely imagined?Inspired by real events, Flying Crows is a novel that moves as inexorably as a train in the night to a shattering conclusion—one that reveals the many meanings of imprisonment and escape, and all the eccentricities and tragedies of the American soul.