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  A Bright Young Thing

  Brianne Moore

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  In 1931 England, Astra Davies defies all the conventions. Clever, witty, and determined, she smokes, drinks, plays a mean piano, and gallivants around London with her beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. But she finds herself in a tight spot when her parents die suddenly, leaving her with a raft of debts. With few marketable skills and a closet full of family secrets, she has two choices: find a rich husband or make her own way. A fiercely driven woman like Astra is not about to cast her lot in with a man, especially out of desperation. And since the only man she fancies—Jeremy Harris, the Earl of Dunreaven—is as hard up as she is, her way forward is clear. But the path to independence is a bumpy one fraught with hazards and heartbreaking choices: a blackmailing socialite threatens to derail Astra's reputation, a brainless business partner just might drive her even further into debt, and a series of bruising scandals dogs her every step of the way. From the bustle of London to the country estates of the aristocracy, Astra embarks on a journey that tests her brains, wit, and mettle as never before. But one way or another, Astra Davies is dead set on proving she's no ordinary Bright Young Thing.

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  The Axeman's Jazz

  Ray Celestin

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  New Orleans, 1919. As a dark serial killer - The Axeman - stalks the city, three individuals set out to unmask him. As Michael, Luca and Ida each draw closer to discovering the killer's identity, the Axeman himself will issue a challenge to the people of New Orleans: play jazz or risk becoming the next victim. And as the case builds to its crescendo, the sky will darken and a great storm will loom over the city…

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  Dance of the Jakaranda

  Peter Kimani

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  “This funny, perceptive and ambitious work of historical fiction by a Kenyan poet and novelist explores his country’s colonial past and its legacy.” —The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice 
   
  Set in the shadow of Kenya’s independence from Great Britain, Dance of the Jakaranda reimagines the special circumstances that brought black, brown and white men together to lay the railroad that heralded the birth of the nation. 
   
  The novel traces the lives and loves of three men—preacher Richard Turnbull, the colonial administrator Ian McDonald, and Indian technician Babu Salim—whose lives intersect when they are implicated in the controversial birth of a child. Years later, when Babu’s grandson Rajan—who ekes out a living by singing Babu’s epic tales of the railway’s construction—accidentally kisses a mysterious stranger in a dark nightclub, the encounter provides the spark to illuminate the three men’s shared, murky past. 
   
  With its riveting multiracial, multicultural cast and diverse literary allusions, Dance of the Jakaranda could well be a story of globalization. Yet the novel is firmly anchored in the African oral storytelling tradition, its language a dreamy, exalted, and earthy mix that creates new thresholds of identity, providing a fresh metaphor for race in contemporary Africa. 
   
  “Destined to become one of the greats . . . This is not hyperbole: it’s a masterpiece.” —The Gazette 
   
   
   
  “A fascinating part of Kenya’s history, real and imagined, is revealed and reclaimed by one of its own.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune 
   
  “Kimani’s novel has an impressive breadth and scope.” —Los Angeles Review of Books 
   
  “Highlighted by its exquisite voice, Kimani’s novel is a standout debut.” —Publishers Weekly 
   
  “Lyrical and powerful.” —Kirkus Reviews

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  A Christmas Gathering

  Anne Perry

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  A cold case adds an extra chill to the holiday season as best-selling author Anne Perry whisks listeners to an elegant home in the English countryside for a Christmas of secrets, soul-searching, and forgiveness.As beautiful as it may be, their friends’ country house is not where Lady Vespasia wishes to spend Christmas with her new husband, Victor Narraway. She’d have preferred a relaxing holiday at home with him — especially as Victor, former head of the London Special Branch, seems to be hiding undercover dealings with the other guests who have gathered at the spacious estate.As tensions grow, the young and beautiful Iris Watson-Watt becomes the center of several men’s focus. Unbeknownst to Vespasia, Iris carries a sensitive package that she must pass to Victor in the hope of unmasking a British traitor. While Victor plots his moves, he is reminded of a similar case from 20 years before, when a young Frenchwoman also carried a clandestine message — one that resulted in her murder, unsolved to this day. Victor has always been tormented by his failure to protect her, and now, with all eyes on Iris, Victor must act fast before history repeats itself.With the joy of Christmas at risk of being forgotten and Vespasia feeling alone with a distracted husband, Victor must ultimately learn to forgive himself in order to save both his country and the spirit of the holiday.

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  Beyond Passing - The Further...

  Nella Larsen

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  Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing is hailed today as a significant literary work of Harlem Renaissance, though for several decades it, like all of her works, was out of print. As history rights a wrong and recommits Larsen’s name to memory, it is beneficial to look at the other writings she published over her short career, collected here in Beyond Passing: The Further Writings of Nella Larsen. Contained within are her autobiographical novel Quicksand, and three short stories “Freedom,” “The Wrong Man,” and “Sanctuary.” 
  With a growing number of titles under its Magna Releases banner, CSRC Storytelling promotes and provides positivity, power and presence in print, restoring literary classics across genres and making them newly accessible to modern readers. This edition of Nella Larsen’s Passing is a CSRC Storytelling Magna Release.

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  The Young Carthaginian

  G. A. Henty

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  Typically, Henty's heroes are boys of pluck in troubled times, and this is no different. Detailed research is embellished with a vivid imagination, especially in this novel set in the Punic wars, about which knowledge is limited: "...certainly we had but a hazy idea as to the merits of the struggle and knew but little of its events, for the Latin and Greek authors, which serve as the ordinary textbooks in schools, do not treat of the Punic wars. That it was a struggle for empire at first, and latterly one for existence on the part of Carthage, that Hannibal was a great and skilful general, that he defeated the Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannae, and all but took Rome, and that the Romans behaved with bad faith and great cruelty at the capture of Carthage, represents, I think, pretty nearly the sum total of our knowledge. " (from the preface)

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