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  A Warning to the Curious - From...

  M R James

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  Montague Rhodes James is cited as perhaps the greatest English writer of ghost stories, an opinion few would disagree with. 
  James was born on 1st August 1862 at Goodnestone Parsonage in Kent, where his father was Curate but at age 3 the family went to live at Livermere, near Bury St Edmunds in East Anglia.  
  From early childhood he had a passion for mediaeval books and antiques. He was educated initially as a boarder at Temple Grove School in East Sheen, west London, before gaining a scholarship to Eton and thence Cambridge where he gained a double first, becoming a distinguished linguist and mediaevalist.  
  Before the Great War vacations were usually spent touring Europe absorbing cultures and references for his later writing. 
  A man of enormous knowledge it was said he timed his breakfast egg whilst he completed the Times crossword.  
  Many of his elegant yet terrifying tales were created by discarding the prevailing gothic cliches and placing his characters and narrative in a realistic setting.  Thereby the stories gained atmosphere and menace on a grand scale and he was famed as the originator of the antiquarian ghost story. 
  Although story-telling and writing these 30 or so tales was a hobby, when published their effect transformed the genre and still chill the bones in our more modern times. 
  James was also a medievalist scholar and translator whose work remains highly respected. He was also Provost of Eton College between 1918 and 1936. 
  M R James died on 12th June 1936 at Eton in Buckinghamshire.  He was 73.

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  The Queen of Spades - The...

  Alexander Puskin

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  Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born on 26th May 1799 in Moscow into a family of Russian nobility. 
   
  Raised by nursemaids and French tutors in French he learnt Russian only via the household staff. 
   
  He graduated from the prestigious Imperial Lyceum, near St Petersburg and plunged into the vibrant and raucous intellectual youth culture of what was then the capital of the Russian Empire.  
   
  In 1820, he published his first long poem, ‘Ruslan and Ludmila’, with much controversy about both subject and style.  Pushkin was heavily influenced by the French Enlightenment and gravitated, with other literary radicals, towards social reform angering the Government. 
   
  His early literary work and reputation was poetic and written as he travelled around the Empire or engaged himself in various rebellions against the Ottoman Empire.  A clash with his own government after his poem, ‘Ode to Liberty’, was found among the belongings of the Decembrist Uprising rebels meant two years of internal exile at his mother's rural estate.  His friends and family continually petitioned for his release, sending letters and meeting with Tsar Alexander I and then Tsar Nicholas I.   
   
  In 1825, whilst at his Mother’s estate, Pushkin wrote his most famous play, the drama ‘Boris Godunov’.  
   
  Upon meeting with Tsar Nicholas I, Pushkin obtained his release and began work as the Tsar's Titular Counsel of the National Archives.  However, because of the earlier problems the tsar retained control of everything Pushkin published, and he was banned from travelling at will. 
   
  Around 1828, Pushkin met the 16-year-old Natalia Goncharova, one of the most talked-about beauties of Moscow.  After much hesitation, Natalia accepted his marriage proposal after she received assurances that the government had no intentions to persecute the libertarian poet.  When the Tsar gave Pushkin the lowest court title, Gentleman of the Chamber, he became enraged, feeling that the Tsar intended to humiliate him. 
   
  In the year 1831, during Pushkin's growing literary influence, he met Nikolai Gogol.  Recognising his gifts Pushkin supported him and published his short stories in his own magazine ‘The Contemporary’. 
   
  By the autumn of 1836, Pushkin was falling into greater and greater debt and facing scandalous rumours that his wife was having an affair.  
   
  In January 1837, Pushkin sent a ‘highly insulting letter’ to his wife’s pursuer, Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès.  The only answer could be a challenge to a duel. 
   
  It took place on 27th January.  D'Anthès fired first, critically wounding Pushkin; the bullet entered at his hip and penetrated his abdomen.  Two days later Alexander Pushkin died of peritonitis.  He was 37. 
   
  One of Pushkin’s most lauded stories ‘The Queen of Spades’ takes on gambling and the need for just a tiny piece of information that will turn the game in his favour and take life to a level that is sure to be both deserved and his by right.

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  Caliburn's Fight

  Christopher Cartwright

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  The video was everywhere – a viral sensation sweeping across social media. 
  A golden retriever puppy in Bilbao, Spain. It was placed on a series of different rugs, its fur shifting in real time to match the colors and even the intricate patterns woven into the fabric. The internet was in a frenzy, with hundreds of thousands of comments debating whether it was an elaborate hoax, a genetic anomaly, or something else entirely. 
  But Sam Reilly knew the truth the moment he saw it. 
  This wasn’t a trick. 
  Caliburn, his dog, shared the same genetic trait. 
  The golden retriever was an engineered chimera infused with human and octopus DNA. He was originally designed as a classified military experiment rooted in the legendary craftsmanship of the blacksmith Merlin, who designed King Arthur’s greatest weapons – Excalibur and Caliburn. 
  If the puppy was real, then so too was the danger that followed it. 
  The hunt for Caliburn’s offspring leads Sam into the depths of a forgotten cave – where he stumbles upon an antique Basque Astrolabe that shouldn’t exist. The discovery sets off a chain reaction, dragging Sam into a deadly conflict with a Secret Society that has been protecting a hidden truth since the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804. Meriwether Lewis was murdered to keep the secret buried. 
  The question remains, can Sam work out what to do with the truth, before it gets him killed too?

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  Beryl the Croucher and the Rest...

  Thomas Burke

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  Thomas Burke was born Sydney Thomas Burke on November 29th, 1886 in Eltham, London (at the time it was part of Kent). 
  An author in the early years of the 20th Century Burke brought his skills of pen and eye to parts of London, specifically the Limehouse district of the East End, to write with drive and vigour about the characters he met and the places that he knew.  Whether he turned that material into fiction or non-fiction the words seep quality.  His publications ranged from these wonderful vignettes of down-at-heel London to writings on homosexuality and the English Countryside. 
  Thomas Burke died in the Homeopathic Hospital in Queens Square, Bloomsbury on 22 September 1945.

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  Summertime Forgiveness

  Kimberly Thomas

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  Losing a loved one is hard—losing three is heart shattering. Within less than a year, Josephine has lost the three most important men in her life in two separate accidents. How does one come back from a hurt that grips you so tightly that it's hard to even breathe? 
   
   
   
  When her estranged father leaves a will naming her and her sisters the sole heirs of the inn and restaurant in Oak Harbor, Jo finds herself putting her pride aside and heading back to the one place she'd vowed never to return. 
   
   
   
  Josephine is finally finding her way after being lost for so long, but when secrets that should have been buried start resurfacing, she runs the risk of losing the most important person in her life. She now realizes the life she's hanging onto is about to become shattered into pieces. 
   
   
   
  She's found her footing with her once estranged sisters, but one wrong word is all it could take to topple this fragile bond. Add in a terminally ill mother and you can understand why she's hesitant to give in to the beginning of a new love. 
   
   
   
  Will the loss and fragility of her relationships be too much for Josephine to bear or can she open her heart to an enduring love?

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  The Wrong Suitcase

  Laura Jane Williams

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  When you lose your luggage, the last thing you expect to find is love… 
  RIGHT PLACE 
  As she touches down in Italy, Izzy couldn’t be more excited. She’s needed a reason to let her hair down, and she knows that the wedding of the year in a lavish Tuscan castle will be just the ticket… 
  RIGHT TIME 
  On the morning of his best friend’s wedding, everything is going wrong for Sam. And when he finally reaches the hotel and unzips his luggage, his day goes from bad to worse… 
  WRONG SUITCASE 
  Izzy has a case full of men’s shirts and chinos. Sam has a case full of make-up palettes and bikinis. Could a fateful meeting to switch their bags back be the start of something special? Because in losing their luggage, they’re about to find each other… 
  A warm-hearted novella packed with love, longing and lost luggage, this is the perfect Valentine’s day treat from the internationally bestselling author of smash-hit rom com, Our Stop. 
  Readers totally love The Wrong Suitcase: 
  ‘Full of humour and wit, romance and warmth […] I simply did not want it to end!’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
  ‘This gorgeous novella may be a shorter book but it is large on the great story it delivers. An easy five stars from me.’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
  ‘A delightful, romantic, uplifting and heartwarming novella, which really cheered me up.’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
  ‘The perfect read when you are looking for something short and sweet to open your heart and make you feel all gooey inside!’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
  ‘What a witty, bold and funny short story!’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
  ‘Such a dreamy listen on a cold winter’s day.’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
  ‘An easy, heartwarming read that has sunshine leaping off the page! A must-add addition to your bookshelf.’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
  ‘Really got me in the mood for summer […] made me laugh, cry and even swoon!’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
  ‘I loved it. I couldn’t stop laughing. […] full of witty characters and one-liners.’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
  ‘Not only is Laura a great writer but she is a great narrator too!’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 
  The Wrong Suitcase is a comedy-infused holiday fiction that tells the stories of Izzy and Sam, two strangers whose paths cross in the most unexpected of ways. Their journey, filled with laughter and romance, is a testament to the unpredictability and beauty of life. 
  For fans of Sophie Cousens (Is She Really Going Out With Him?), Casey Mcquiston (The Pairing), Rosie Walsh (The Love of My Life), Emily Henry (Beach Read), and Abby Jimenez (Say You'll Remember Me). 
  HarperCollins 2022

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