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  The Walled Garden - Unearth the...

  Sarah Hardy

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  'Richly evocative' STACEY HALLS'Heartbreaking' RACHEL HORE'Touching, absorbing'' DAILY MAIL'Poignant . . . There'll be tears' WOMAN & HOME'An enveloping story to savour' KATE SAWYERA luminous debut novel of a love affair set against the terrible aftermath of war, for readers of IN MEMORIAM by Alice Winn, WAKE by Anna Hope and THE OUTCAST by Sadie JonesNo one survives war unscathed. But even in the darkest days, seeds of hope can grow.It is 1946 and in the village of Oakbourne the men are home from the war. Their bodies are healing but their psychological wounds run deep. Everyone is scarred - those who fought and those left behind.Alice Rayne is married to Stephen, heir to crumbling Oakbourne Hall. Once a sweet, gentle man, he has returned a bitter and angry stranger, destroyed by what he has seen and done, tormented by secrets Alice can only guess at.Lonely and increasingly afraid of the man her husband has become, Alice must try to pick up the pieces of her marriage and save Oakbourne Hall from total collapse. She begins with the walled garden and, as it starts to bear fruit, she finds herself drawn into a new, forbidden love.Set in the Suffolk countryside as it moves from winter to spring, The Walled Garden is a captivating love story and a timeless, moving exploration of trauma and the miracle of human resilience.'A heartbreaking tale, vividly dramatised' Rachel Hore'Tender and lyrical . . . This beautiful book had notes of both Elizabeth von Arnim and Elizabeth Jane Howard. More please!' Natasha Solomons'Touching, absorbing . . .  A beautifully written story that will especially appeal to Rachel Hore fans' Daily Mail'A poignant drama . . . What happens when war ends? How do people move on after what they've seen and possibly done? Hardy explores these complex themes in this gentle but powerful novel. There'll be tears, but this evocative read is worth every one' Book of the Month, Woman and Home'Written with great delicacy and feeling' Elizabeth Buchan, author of Two Women in Rome'Hardy's supremely observed novel blossoms like a rose-sharp and pointed, and stunningly beautiful' Inga Vesper, author of The Long, Long Afternoon'A poignant, powerful novel about aftermath, trauma and hope' Katie Lumsden, author of The Secrets of Hartwood HallLONGLISTED FOR THE HWA GOLD CROWN AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL FICTION NOVEL OF THE YEAR**20th September 2023 https://www.historiamag.com/the-2023-hwa-crown-awards-longlists/

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  The Rappahannock Line

  Martin Hicks

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  The Rappahannock Line continues the story of Irish immigrant Daniel Ryan who serves in Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. As the year 1862 draws to its close, the powerful Union army gathers its strength on the Rappahannock River in Virginia to renew its advance on the Confederate capital. Lee's army confronts it there bringing on a further bloody collision. 
  Ryan and his comrades endure the Winter that follows the brutal battle of Fredericksburg, as the Confederate army suffers critical supply shortages, while, across the river, the enemy, under a new commander, reorganises and strengthens itself again for the Spring resumption of campaigning, which will test the skills of General Lee and the courage and resolve of his outnumbered soldiers as never before.

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  The Man Within

  Graham Greene

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  Step into the gripping world of The Man Within, Graham Greene’s compelling debut novel that delves into themes of betrayal, morality, and the search for redemption. With its vivid characters and introspective narrative, this audiobook captures the emotional struggles of a man torn between his conscience and his loyalties. 
  The story follows Andrews, a smuggler plagued by guilt after betraying his comrades to the authorities. Fleeing from their wrath, he finds refuge with a kind and understanding woman, Elizabeth, whose compassion challenges his cynical worldview. As Andrews wrestles with his inner demons and the possibility of a better life, Greene masterfully explores the complexity of human nature and the thin line between cowardice and courage. 
  Narrated with intensity and depth, this audiobook brings Greene’s richly atmospheric world to life, offering listeners a powerful exploration of fear, love, and self-discovery. 
  Perfect for fans of classic literature and psychological drama, The Man Within is a must-listen for those who appreciate profound storytelling and timeless themes. 
  Start listening to The Man Within today and immerse yourself in Graham Greene’s evocative and thought-provoking debut novel!

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  When Emperors Wept: The First...

  Gaurav Garg

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  This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice.   
  The late twelfth century. Japan stands on a precipice. The once-glorious Heian era fades, its refined courtly culture overshadowed by the burgeoning power of the warrior class. At the zenith of this new order stands the Taira clan, their crimson banners a symbol of absolute authority under the formidable, yet increasingly tyrannical, Taira no Kiyomori. His ambition knows no bounds, culminating in the manipulation of the Imperial succession – an act of sacrilege that plunges a nation into the abyss of civil war. 
  From the embers of past defeats, the Minamoto clan, the Genji, stirs. Minamoto no Yoritomo, an exile for two decades, his spirit tempered by hardship and a burning desire for retribution, receives a desperate call to arms from a wronged Imperial Prince. Cautious, calculating, and possessed of an unshakeable will, Yoritomo begins to weave a web of alliances in the Kanto, his stronghold of Kamakura destined to become the heart of a new warrior government. 
  "When Emperors Wept: The First Shogun's War" sweeps readers into the heart of the Genpei War, a five-year epic of ambition, honor, loyalty, and devastating betrayal. It is a story of towering personalities – the ruthless Kiyomori, the calculating Yoritomo, the tragic hero Yoshitsune, the indomitable warrior-monk Benkei, and the astute Hōjō Masako. Witness the fall of one age and the violent birth of another, as the

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  The Windfall - A tale about the...

  Vicente Blasco Ibáñez

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  Vicente Blasco Ibáñez was born in Valencia, Spain on 29th January 1867.  
   
  At university, he studied law and graduated in 1888 but never felt the urgency to practice - he was more interested in politics, journalism, literature and women.   
   
  Politically he was a militant Republican partisan and, in his youth, founded a newspaper, El Pueblo (The People). The newspaper was taken to court many times and he made many enemies. In one incident he was shot and almost killed. In 1896, Ibáñez was arrested and sentenced to a few months in prison. 
   
  Despite this colourful background he found time to write novels. His first published work was ‘La Araña Negra’ (The Black Spider) in 1892, a work that he later repudiated although at the time it was a useful vehicle for him to express his anti-clerical views. 
   
  In 1894, he published ‘Arroz y Tartana’ (Airs and Graces), about a late 19th Century widow in Valencia trying to keep up appearances in order to marry her daughters well.   
   
  Ibáñez’s next sequence of books studied rural life in the farmlands of Valencia and failed to gain much of an audience.   
   
  His writing now took on a new direction with its now familiar sensational and melodramatic themes in 1908 with ‘Sangre y Arena’ (Blood and Sand), which follows the career of Juan Gallardo from his poor beginnings as a child in Seville, to his rise to becoming a famous matador in Madrid 
   
  However, his greatest success was ‘Los Cuatro Jinetes del Apocalipsis (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) in 1916, which tells a tangled tale of the French and German sons-in-law of an Argentinian land-owner who find themselves fighting on opposite sides in the First World War.  It was a literary and commercial sensation and became the best-selling book of 1919.  It also propelled Rudolph Valentino to stardom in the 1921 film. 
   
  Ironically his fame in the English-speaking world has come not as a novelist but as the stories behind some of Hollywood’s greatest silent movies. 
   
  Vicente Blasco Ibáñez died in Menton, France on January 28th, 1928, the day before his 61st birthday.

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  The Girl From Jonestown

  Sharon Maas

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  When journalist Zoe Quint loses her husband and child in a tragic accident, she returns home to Guyana to grieve, but her curiosity leads her to the Americans who have set up camp in a rundown village nearby. Their leader, Jim Jones, dark-eyed and charismatic, claims to be a peaceful man who has promised his followers a paradise. But everything changes when Zoe meets one of his followers, Lucy. Lucy grabs Zoe’s arm, raw terror in her eyes, and passes her a note with a phone number, begging her to call her mother in America. Zoe is determined to help Lucy, but locals warn her to stay away from the camp. She knows they are right, but she can’t shake the frightened woman’s face from her mind. Then she discovers there are young children in the camp, so she acts fast. Zoe’s only route to the lost people is to get close to their leader, Jim Jones. If she is accepted, will she be able to persuade the frightened followers to risk their lives and escape under the cover of darkness? And when Jim Jones hears of her plans, could she pay the highest price of all?

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