But after all those steps forward, The Wildwater Walking Club is doing some serious backsliding. Now they’re dodging each other in the neighborhood, and Noreen is spending time working on pints of Ben & Jerry’s instead of her romance with Rick, the also-lost boyfriend she met at career counseling. A new adventure might be just what they need. Their destination: Provence, the ultimate lavender trip. It turns into the trip of a lifetime, filled with Van Gogh and vineyards, wine and chocolate, plus lavender and more lavender. Join Noreen, Rosie and Tess as they get back on track!

    . . Ironside's landscapes are rich, if decimated, and her characters extraordinarily intriguing--"Birmingham Post" (UK).

     A new world is being born and the old regime is going to its death… A time when the shadow of the guillotine falls over a nation at war with itself. In France under the last Bourbon king, the extravagance grows more outrageous and the unrest of the poor more dangerous. Into this ferment, are swept the innocent English Sophie Luttrell, visiting France for the first time, the French aristocrat Héloise de Guinot who hates the man her parents have arranged for her to marry and Marie-Victoire , the loyal maid, who finds herself immersed in revolutionary politics. They are the daughters of the storm which is sweeping France – and over the world. Three women whose lives will be forever marked by this turning point in history and whose passionate struggle for love, liberty… and for life… have such unexpected consequences. About the Author Elizabeth Buchan began her career as a blurb writer at Penguin Books after graduating from the University of Kent with a double degree in English and History. She moved on to become a fiction editor at Random House before leaving to write full time. Her novels include the prizewinning Light of the Moon and Consider the Lily – reviewed in the Independent as ‘a gorgeously well written tale: funny, sad and sophisticated’. A subsequent novel, Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman became an international bestseller and was made into a CBS Primetime Drama. This was followed by several other novels, including The Second Wife, Separate Beds and Daughters. She has just finished a novel about the SOE operating in Denmark during the Second World War, to be published in the summer of 2014. Elizabeth Buchan’s short stories are broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in magazines. She has chaired the Betty Trask and Desmond Elliot literary prizes, and also been a judge for the Whitbread (now Costa) awards. She is a patron of the Guildford Book Festival and of The National Academy of Writing.

    Which words of French unlock a warm welcome? What should you expect in hotels? Taxis? In cafe restrooms? What is the code for getting great customer service? What is all the fuss about food and French restaurants? Do you know how to charm French waiters? How do you entertain business contacts, intrigue French women and French men?

    Their social and political lives are intricately intertwined within a rigid hierarchy of etiquette.Behind the brilliant facade of lavish festivities lies a shadowy world of intrigue, promiscuity, sorcery, and murder.When human remains and a silver locket are unearthed on the neighboring estate of her husband’s lover, the duchess Elisabeth Charlotte d’Orleans investigates their origin and jeopardizes her own safety when her discoveries lead to the criminal involvement of her most powerful enemies at court.

    The tale of a young girl who challenges conventions to engage in Jewish learning; Set in 11th-century Troyes, France, Rashi’s Daughter, Secret Scholar tells the story of Joheved, eldest daughter of Salomon ben Isaac (known as Rashi), one of the great medieval Jewish Bible commentators. At a time when women traditionally were barred from studying Jewish texts, Rashi secretly teaches first Joheved, then her sister Miriam. By day, Joheved helps in running the household and the family winemaking business, and by night she studies Talmud with her father. As she nears marriageable age, Joheved finds her mind and spirit awakened by religious study, but she must keep her passion for learning and prayer hidden. When she becomes betrothed to Meir ben Samuel, she is forced to choose between marital happiness and being true to her love of the Talmud. Will she fulfill the expected role of a Jewish woman or pursue a path of Jewish learning?