The lives of three generations of women intertwine in the Scottish stone cottage of Agatha, a spinster aunt with more than a helping of spunk. For Agatha's niece Margaret, born in the States but with her own secret connection to the cottage, packing her resentful daughter Hope off to Scotland the summer after her parents have split seems like the cleanest solution to the kind of messy emotions Margaret hates. Margaret spends her summer finding out who she is other than a wife and mother — and she likes it. Hope has to reinvent herself and her vision of her dad, tricky seas to navigate even without trying to figure out how to eat a bannock and remember which way to look when skateboarding across the road. And gentle Aunt Agatha wonders what would have happened if she'd made room in her life for romance and adventure, instead of just for family. Told from the perspective of each woman, The Thorn Tree weaves together the complexities of love and life for each generation, and shows the strength of family ties.
From award-winning author S. A. Hunt comes a blockbuster fantasy tale inspired by such old-school fantasy classics as Stephen King's The Dark Tower, C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. After coming home from a stint in Afghanistan, veteran Ross Brigham learns that his father has passed away. Dearly departed Dad was a famous fantasy novelist, and the 300 fans that show up for the funeral demand that Ross finish E. R. Brigham's long-running magnum opus. Ross and two of the author's devotees investigate his untimely death and discover that he might have been murdered...and the time-bending gunslingers of Dad's steampunk novels might be real. As they try to acclimate to the arid deserts of the author's fantasy world, the three damaged heroes become pawns in a war for humanity's survival. The Muses have grown tired of immortality and now incite atrocities on Earth, trying to lure down a leviathan from the stars. Can Ross and his new friends stop the scheming satyrs before both worlds are eaten?
Walk with an African adventurer, whose ancestors arrive in Cape Town when Napoleon is conquering Europe. Befriending Shaka, chief of the Zulu, they settle in Rhodesia, today's Zimbabwe. Deep insights and experience of living and fighting for survival through Colonial occupation to Nationalist 'free' Africa today. An extraordinary continent, that excites, inspires and baffles. Living in the beautiful, remote Zambezi valley through the country's 'freedom fighter' war, Rob and wife, Sandy, pioneer a big Safari lodge in Zimbabwe - Fothergill Island on Lake Kariba - raising their family of three daughters there. Laugh, cry, and discover in escapades that stretch the imagination, where 'doing your thing' isn't always plain sailing. Huge challenges. Meet with the Creator of the awesome wilderness, in a worldwhere nothing is ever the same, where angels dare to walk, and thorn bushes entangle.
Three tiny, ancient beings - Moss, Burnet and Cumulus, once revered as Guardians of the Wild World - wake from winter hibernation. But when their home is destroyed, they set off on an adventure. Can they find a way to survive in a precious, disappearing world?
One of the most beloved novels of all time, Colleen McCullough's magnificent saga of dreams, struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian outback has enthralled readers the world over. The Thorn Birds is a chronicle of three generations of Clearys—an indomitable clan of ranchers carving lives from a beautiful, hard land while contending with the bitterness, frailty, and secrets that penetrate their family. It is a poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit. Most of all, it is the story of the Clearys' only daughter, Meggie, and the haunted priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart—and the intense joining of two hearts and souls over a lifetime, a relationship that dangerously oversteps sacred boundaries of ethics and dogma.