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  Little Dorrit

  Charles Dickens

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  When Arthur Clennam returns to England after many years abroad, he takes a kindly interest in Amy Dorrit, his mother's seamstress, and in the affairs of Amy's father, William Dorrit, a man of shabby grandeur, long imprisoned for debt in Marshalsea prison. As Arthur soon discovers, the dark shadow of the prison stretches far beyond its walls to affect the lives of many, from the kindly Mr Panks, the reluctant rent-collector of Bleeding Heart Yard, and the tipsily garrulous Flora Finching, to Merdle, an unscrupulous financier, and the bureaucratic Barnacles in the Circumlocution Office. A masterly evocation of the state and psychology of imprisonment, Little Dorrit is one of the supreme works of Dickens's maturity.

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  Stranger at the Dower House

  Mary Kingswood

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  A widow moves into the long disused Dower House and makes a horrible discovery in the wine cellar. 
  Thirty-year-old widow Louisa Middlehope is determined to escape from her late husband’s family and live life for herself for the first time. The tiny village of Great Maeswood offers her the peace and quiet her heart craves, and perhaps it might provide a little entertainment, too. But the house she has leased has been empty for a quarter of a century and who knows what secrets it holds? 
  Laurence Gage is still mourning his beloved wife, while raising his two children, and at forty, declining gently into a rather dull middle age. Until, that is, the intriguing Mrs Middlehope arrives in the village and upends his placid life. She’s nothing at all like his perfect wife, but he’s oddly drawn to her anyway and to his surprise, she seems to like him too. Whoever would have thought it? But what exactly is she looking for? Friendship, marriage — or something else entirely? 
  This is a complete story with a happy ever after. Book 1 of a 6 book series. A traditional Regency romance, drawing room rather than bedroom.

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  The Almanack

  Martine Bailey

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  The philosophy of time, destiny and the stars pervade this intricate historical mystery in which a young woman determines to avenge her mother’s death. 
   
  1752, Midsummer. Following a desperate summons from her mother, Tabitha Hart departs London for her home village of Netherlea – only to discover that her mother has drowned. Determined to discover the truth about the Widow Hart’s death, Tabitha consults her almanack and uncovers a series of cryptic notes describing her mother’s terror of someone she names only as ‘D’. Teaming up with young writer Nat Starling, Tabitha begins a race against time to unmask ‘D’ before more deaths follow. But as the summer draws to a close and the snow sets in, cutting off Netherlea from the outside world, Tabitha and Nat are forced to face the darkest hours of their lives. 
   
  “I was enthralled by the riddles and puzzles leading through many twists and surprises to a satisfying conclusion.” PAULA BRACKSTON

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  Death in Summer

  William Trevor

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  William Trevor has established himself among the most celebrated authors of the past century. In 1997, he was named honorary Commander of the British Empire for his contributions to literature. A New York Times best-seller, Death in Summer is hailed as "astonishing" by the Los Angeles Times Book Review. Thaddeus Davenant's wife has just died in an automobile accident, leaving him to raise their infant daughter alone. Haunted by his wife's sudden death, Thaddeus agrees with his mother-in-law that the househould needs a nanny to help raise the child. Although she doesn't get the job, one young woman forms an immediate, secret attachment to Thaddeus and the baby-an attachment that will eventually become dangerous. Death in Summer is Trevor at his finest-his fluid, poetic prose and profound understanding of human nature make for an amazingly graceful novel. Simon Prebble delivers a sumptuous reading that equals the deep compassion of this remarkable book.

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  With Frederick The Great: A...

  G. A. Henty

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  Among the great wars of history there are few, if any, instances of so long and successfully sustained a struggle, against enormous odds, as that of the Seven Years' War, maintained by Prussia--then a small and comparatively insignificant kingdom--against Russia, Austria, and France simultaneously, who were aided also by the forces of most of the minor principalities of Germany. The population of Prussia was not more than five millions, while that of the Allies considerably exceeded a hundred millions. Prussia could put, with the greatest efforts, but a hundred and fifty thousand men into the field, and as these were exhausted she had but small reserves to draw upon; while the Allies could, with comparatively little difficulty, put five hundred thousand men into the field, and replenish them as there was occasion. That the struggle was successfully carried on, for seven years, was due chiefly to the military genius of the king; to his indomitable perseverance; and to a resolution that no disaster could shake, no situation, although apparently hopeless, appall. Something was due also, at the commencement of the war, to the splendid discipline of the Prussian army at that time; but as comparatively few of those who fought at Lobositz could have stood in the ranks at Torgau, the quickness of the Prussian people to acquire military discipline must have been great; and this was aided by the perfect confidence they felt in their king, and the enthusiasm with which he inspired them. ( Summary by G .A .Henty )

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  Three Hot Air Balloons

  Matylda Laurence

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  A poignant short story based on a real life observation set in the Cambridgeshire countryside of England. Just as Destiny touched me I was to meet a stranger, not face to face but by 13 words he wrote that day in a little red book. Only later did the irony become significant through words, photographs and a meeting of minds. Was this by chance? Or rather perhaps a time capsule of events and connections resulting in this most interesting of outcomes. Suffice to say that one thing definitely leads to another when researching the archives of English history. Fascinating...

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