"Here is a saga of romance rich with excitement and danger - the fiery, mystic spirit of roaming gypsy bands... the dark, deadly shadow of the Inquisition... the foreboding gaiety of Fiesta... the ever-awesome presence of a mighty, trembling volcano, threatening to bring an end to the tormented House of Alvarado- and Carlota's rapturous affair... Wild Gypsy Love, a breathtaking tale of tempestuous love and sweeping adventure." --Back cover.
As the poor relation to a wealthy family, lovely Meg Shaw is obliged to be a governess companion to their daughter. But when her charge runs away, and Meg's position with the family is threatened, she embarks on a search of her own to find the missing heiress and clear her good name. Little did she expect that her path would cross Daffyd Reynard, a wealthy and dashing gentleman with the wild heart of a gypsy. Though Meg doesn't trust the glib and handsome rogue, and by polite society's rules cannot travel alone with a man, she reluctantly accepts Daffyd's help in her mission. Now all she has to do is find the missing heiress, keep her identity a secret, prevent her reputation from being ruined and fight the temptation of Daffyd's kiss...
AN ABANDONED ROAD There is a path now where once there was a road Where smooth brown earth and jaded rocks Fell away in deep depression The trail of wheels and neighing horses and of lighter walks It grows thick and tall, the grass that was once held at bay Dared not to rise where tramping feet would crush But staged on edge where cruel ungainly winds Vent their wrath unceasingly with rain and dust It has conquered now, for slowly the grinding ceased And the lighter steps dwindled with the laughter it had known It dared to rise between the ruts and bend To hide the scars from some stray steps that roam And intrude upon their sanctuary, where conquered winds Hold not the lash of yore, but with gentleness obey The lull moods of quiet rains, the brushed air That shrouds the stillness of an abandoned road
"I believe in possibility. Of magic, of omens, of compasses, of love. Some of it's a little bit true." Sixteen-year-old Tal is a Wanderer—a grifter whose life is built around the sound of wheels on the road, the customs of her camp, and the artful scams that keep her fed. With her brother, Wen, by her side, it's the only life she's ever known. It's the only one she's ever needed. Then, in a sleepy Southern town, the queen of cons picks the wrong mark when she meets Spencer Sway—the clean-cut Socially Secured boy who ends up hustling her instead of the other way around. For the first time, she sees a reason to stay. As her obligations to the camp begin to feel like a prison sentence, the pull to leave tradition behind has never been so strong. But the Wanderers live by signs, and all the signs all say that Tal and Spencer will end disaster and grief. Is a chance at freedom worth almost certain destruction? Wandering Wild is an achingly romantic journey of tradition and self-discovery—a magical debut.
The great violinist Viktoria Mullova's story is one of striking contrasts and huge challenges. As a young musician she was a bright star in the Soviet musical firmament, but she stunned the world when she escaped the KGB and fled to the West, leaving behind her family, friends and all she knew. And in her flight from Finland, Viktoria also abandoned on her hotel bed the priceless Stradivarius she'd played during her triumph at the International Tchaikovsky Competition. From Russia to Love recounts the journey of a remarkable woman. Armed only with her violin bow and her exceptional talent, Viktoria went on to conquer the West. As her new life unfolded, first in America and then in Europe, Viktoria met fellow exiles Nureyev and Rostropovich, fell in love with conductor Claudio Abbado and learned to throw off the shackles of her Russian training. Granted unparalleled access to her subject, Eva Maria Chapman paints an intimate, truthful and sensitive portrait of a unique artist.
Millions of readers know and love him for his lyrical portraits of his life, from the moving and nostalgic tales of childhood and innocence found in the pages of Cider with Rosie, to the nomadic wanderings through Spain retold in As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, to his dramatic experiences fighting Franco's forces in A Moment of War. As a poet, playwright, broadcaster and writer, Laurie Lee created a legend around himself that would see him safely secured in the literary canon even within his own lifetime. Yet, though he wrote exclusively about his own life, Lee never told the whole story. His readers know him as a man devoted to two women: his wife and his daughter, 'the firstborn'. Among the pages of his published works there is little trace of the girls he left behind. He never identifi ed in print the girl who inspired him to go to Spain, or the woman who supported him there. He never named the beautiful mistress he came home to, who was the great love of his young life and who led him into literary London, bore his child and broke his heart. In The Life and Loves of Laurie Lee, acclaimed biographer Valerie Grove delves into the letters and diaries he kept hidden from the world, building on her magisterial study of the charismatic poet to capture the essence of this romantic, elusive enigma and bring him to life once more.
