Publisher: Honno Press
1815. Life is hard for Fannie, working at the factory with only sweet memories of her 'gentleman' and daughter to sustain her. But when she is revealed to be an unmarried mother and dismissed, she is forced to take greater and greater risks to provide for her child. A story of desperation, but also of love and the soaring power of hope. A haunting reimagining of Les Misérables' Fantine.
"A murder will occur tonight at Beecham House . . ." Who could resist such a compelling invitation? Of course, the murder in question purports to be a party game, and Phyllida looks forward to using some of the deductive skills she has acquired thanks to her employer, Mrs. Agatha, who is unable to attend in person.The hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Wokesley, are new to the area, and Phyllida gladly offers their own overwhelmed housekeeper some guidance while events get underway. Family friends have been enlisted to play the suspects, and Mr. Wokesley excels in his role of dead body. Unfortunately, when the game's solution is about to be unveiled, the participants discover that life has imitated art. Mr. Wokesley really is dead!In the absence of Inspector Cork, Phyllida takes temporary charge of the investigation, guiding the local constable through interviews with the Murder Game actors. At first, there seems no motive to want Mr. Wokesley dead . . . but then Phyllida begins to connect each of the suspects with the roles they played and the motives assigned to them. It soon becomes clear that everyone had a reason to murder their host—both in the game and in real life. Before long, Phyllida is embroiled in a fiendishly puzzling case, with a killer who refuses to play by the rules . . .Show book
The Devil's Bible. Once considered an eighth wonder of the world, the ancient book is shrouded in mystery. No one knows who wrote it or where it was written. Even dry-boned scholars whisper about the secrets hidden in the book: How it calls to the power-hungry. How it drives people mad. How it was written in the shadows by the hand of the devil himself.But no one knows the truth—no one except Mouse.She's been running from the truth at the heart of the Devil's Bible for so long that no one even knows her name anymore. She calls herself Emma Nicholas—a normal name for a normal college professor living a normal life. But all of it is a lie, and, when forces emerge that threaten to expose her, Mouse has no choice but to take flight once more.Desperate and on the run, Mouse unexpectedly finds hope in a stranger's kindness. But it will take more than hope to win this game of souls—a battle between good and evil set in motion long ago at the birth of the Devil's Bible.Show book
Read the book Kirkus Review calls "An inspiring tale of a quest for purpose." Handsome and quick-witted Drucker May is miserable in the privileged life that he leads working at a bank in Atlanta. So he runs away. He wants to find what it is that he’s really supposed to do with his life and he wants to have a good time doing it. Because the year is 1890, the people who he meets after he leaves Atlanta have no easy way to find out who he really is, allowing Drucker to reinvent himself in each stop that he makes along the way to California. As he travels, he explores late 19th century America as well as his own identity – both real and mistaken – all while solving a mystery, falling in love and getting caught up in a wild west caper gone awry. This story isn't just a rollicking ride from one town and one mistaken identity to the next, though. It's the tale of a man trying to strike a balance between his responsibility to his family and his desire to be his own man. Alternately moving and laugh out loud funny, A Northern Gentleman chronicles the adventures that unfold when one man decides to leave his boring desk-work behind to seek out the life he's meant to lead and to find that special something that his life has been missing. "The tale is full of engrossing historical details, including information about the various towns and political climates that Drucker encounters as he travels west. It also effectively brings to life the experience of 19th-century rail travel. ...Everett’s prose is full of compassion and insight as she explores the psyche of a character who’s discontented with the status quo. As Drucker tries to determine his place in the world, readers will find themselves rooting for him the whole way. An inspiring tale of a quest for purpose." - Kirkus ReviewShow book
The Naval Service of the Honorable East India Company, popularly known as the Bombay Marine, operated in romantic areas in perilous times. From the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea, from Calcutta to Canton, the Company ships were famous for their speed and daring. The "Bombay Buccaneers" who sailed them were the stuff of legend.For Percival Merewether, 1806 would be a year to remember. For in January of that year he was promoted from First Lieutenant to become the junior Captain in the Company's Service and given the command of his first ship-the Rapid.Armed with ten 9-pounders, the Rapid was a match for any pirate ship that crossed its bows, and in it Captain Merewether was to spend as action-packed and eventful a first year as any ambitious young seafarer could have wished.Merewether had quick wits and daring to match his ambition. And with mutinies, diplomatic intrigues, and skirmishes with the French to occupy him, he soon found that he needed both qualities as never before . . .Show book
An English orphan’s psychic ability launches her into a shadowy world of intrigue and danger in this gothic romance by a New York Times bestseller. A penniless yet strikingly beautiful orphan, Marianne Ransom’s indomitable spirit enables her to survive a cruel life on the backstreets of Victorian London. But it is her gift of second sight that carries her into the world of money and privilege—a power brought on by a strange twist of fate. In the opulent home of a wealthy duchess, Marianne is being called upon to summon her late father—a noted mystic—from the grave. But Marianne’s exceptional abilities have become a perilous trap. And suddenly knowing too much could prove fatal.Show book
A married vicar with a passion for a young single woman, a bitter publican, a Peeping Tom, a resentful church warden: our human frailties are still much as they always have been. Over three hundred years ago, the Reverend Robert Foulkes arrived as the new incumbent at the wealthy parish of Stanton Lacy, Shropshire. Charismatic, 'exceedingly followed and admired', he set off a chain of events which led to his hanging at Tyburn in 1679. What irrational impulse could have brought a man of the Church to such a squalid end? Historian Peter Klein has pieced together remarkable documentary evidence which shows a village seething with jealousies, covetousness and sexual intrigue. Their eloquent new vicar was the catalyst for the moving and powerful tragedy that followed. Awaiting execution, in Newgate gaol, Foulkes wrote his confessional pamphlet, An Alarme for Sinners, which was an immediate C17th best-seller. Today the ancient church of Stanton Lacy still stands and there inscribed on a wall plaque, along with other less notorious vicars, is the name of Reverend Robert Foulkes and the dates he served there. In this remarkable book, Peter Klein unfolds the full story of Robert Foulkes for the first time. From the scaffold, Foulkes addressed the crowd: 'You may in me see what sin is, and what it will end in.' A true story "more real than any historical novel - more moving, more evocative, more human." John FowlesShow book
