It's 1981 and Belfast is burning. So, too, is freshly widowed Bessie Halstone: she burns with a desire to break with her troubled past. With her feckless husband gone, she leaves home hurriedly with her naughty nine-year-old son, Herkie, and not much else. The Dentist, an IRA enforcer, is on her tail. He's convinced that Bessie, with her "yella hair all puffed up like Merlin Monroe's," has absconded with the takings from a bank heist. But car trouble strands mother and son in Tailorstown, a sleepy Ulster village. Bessie finds temporary work as housekeeper for the handsome and mysterious parish priest. In the meantime, Lorcan Strong, an artist and a native of the village, is summoned home. He's been shanghaied into forging paintings for the IRA. It's work he cannot refuse; his mother and their business are under threat. Yet things are not what they seem in quirky Tailorstown. There is a "sleeper" in the village. But who? Bizarrely, it is young Herkie, due to his childish curiosity, who unravels the mystery and saves the day.
This beautifully rendered portrait of life in rural Ireland charms and delights with its authentic characters and gentle humor. This vivid portrayal of the universal search for love brings with it a darker tale, one that is heartbreaking in its poignancy.
As part of an online project on short stories, East of the Web presents the full text of "An Unfinished Story." This short story was written by the American author William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), whose pseudonym was O. Henry.
A Sunday Times Bestseller England’s Forgotten Queens ‘O’Brien cleverly intertwines the personal and political in this enjoyable, gripping tale.’ -The Times 'I was a penniless, landless petitioner, my Neville blood a curse, my future dependent on the charity of those who despised me...’
After her husband’s death, Lady Catherine Granville opened an academy for young ladies in Bath. Her relatives were scandalized by her behavior and sent the Marquess of Charlmont to try to dissuade her. But Catherine and Lucian had met and been attracted to each other in Catherine’s first season. He disappeared, betraying her trust, and now they have to deal with the consequences. Regency Romance by Evelyn Richardson; originally published by Signet
From the USA TODAY bestselling author. "I consider Elizabeth Thornton a major find." —Mary Balogh, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of ONLY ENCHANTING Ignoring the dangers still lingering in the aftermath of Waterloo, Annabella Jocelyn arrives in Paris on a mission—to purchase the publishing rights to a scandalous dairy written by a notorious femme fatale. An astute businesswoman, Annabella knows that securing this diary will certainly bring both fame and fortune to her fledgling press. All that stands in her way is a cadre of dangerous gentlemen determined to bury their indiscretions, and a brave war hero (and incorrigible rogue) determined to keep her safe, preferably in his bed. David Falconer, the Earl of Dalmar, knows how to fight and win, be it for his country or any woman who takes his fancy. His need to possess the cool, composed Annabella is unrelenting and deliriously consuming, yet his duty as a gentleman to keep her safe from the hands of merciless men is growing even stronger. Both desires are proving treacherous at best, for fearless Annabella is a formidable match for his skills for both soldiering—and for seduction...
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE • ROXANE GAY'S AUDACIOUS BOOK CLUB PICK Shortlisted for the The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction "Moving and thought-provoking . . . offering psychological insights in lyrical prose while seriously exploring speculative conceits." — New York Times Book Review "Haunting and luminous . . . Beautiful and lucid science fiction. An astonishing debut." — Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen and V for Vendetta Recommended by New York Times Book Review • Los Angeles Times • NPR • Wall Street Journal • Entertainment Weekly • Esquire • Good Housekeeping • NBC News • Buzzfeed • Business Insider • Bustle • Goodreads • The Millions • The Philadelphia Inquirer • Minneapolis Star-Tribune • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • PopSugar • Literary Hub • and many more! For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, a spellbinding and profoundly prescient debut that follows a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague—a daring and deeply heartfelt work of mind-bending imagination from a singular new voice. In 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of his recently deceased daughter at the Batagaika Crater, where researchers are studying long-buried secrets now revealed in melting permafrost, including the perfectly preserved remains of a girl who appears to have died of an ancient virus. Once unleashed, the Arctic plague will reshape life on Earth for generations to come, quickly traversing the globe, forcing humanity to devise a myriad of moving and inventive ways to embrace possibility in the face of tragedy. In a theme park designed for terminally ill children, a cynical employee falls in love with a mother desperate to hold on to her infected son. A heartbroken scientist searching for a cure finds a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects—a pig—develops the capacity for human speech. A widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter embark on a cosmic quest to locate a new home planet. From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead to interstellar starships, Sequoia Nagamatsu takes readers on a wildly original and compassionate journey, spanning continents, centuries, and even celestial bodies to tell a story about the resilience of the human spirit, our infinite capacity to dream, and the connective threads that tie us all together in the universe. "Epic . . . Sequoia Nagamatsu is a writer whose imagination is matched only by his compassion, the kind we need to light our way through the dark." — Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists "Wondrous, and not just in the feats of imagination, which are so numerous it makes me dizzy to recall them, but also in the humanity and tenderness with which Sequoia Nagamatsu helps us navigate this landscape. . . . This is a truly amazing book, one to keep close as we imagine the uncertain future." — Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here
A MADAM OF ESPIONAGE MYSTERY Whether running a brothel or running from danger as a spy for Her Majesty, India Black knows how to use the tricks of her trade. This time she's off to Scotland to ensure that the Queen doesn't end up getting killed... When Queen Victoria attends a séance, the spirit of her departed husband, Prince Albert, insists she spend Christmas at their Scottish home in Balmoral, a deviation from her usual practice. The prime minister suspects that Scottish nationalists are planning to assassinate the Queen, and sends the ever-resourceful India and the handsome British spy French to the Scottish Highlands undercover. French takes the high road, looking for a traitor among the Queen's guests - and India takes the low road, disguised as a servant in case an assassin is hiding among the Queen's staff. For her part, India doesn't need a medium to predict that someone at Balmoral is determined that this Christmas will be her Majesty's last... "Fast, funny and entertaining." RT BOOK REVIEW "Plenty of derring do...close calls and narrow escapes." MYSTERIOUS REVIEWS "Fans of historical murder mysteries should rejoice at the appearance of a second India Black adventure and the prospect of more - the madam comes highly recommended." OPEN LETTERS MONTHLY
