Janis Cooke Newman

(May 20th)
Mrs Mary Lincoln admitted today – from Chicago – Age 56 – Widow of ex-President Lincoln – declared insane by the Cook County Court May 19th – 1875.

Patient Progress Reports for Bellevue Place Sanatorium.

Incarcerated in an insane asylum after committal proceedings instigated by her own son, Mary Lincoln resolves to tell her own story in order to preserve and to prove her own sanity. Details of her first encounters with Abraham Lincoln, their courtship, marriage and troubled relationship are interspersed with disturbing accounts of the ‘treatment’ and behaviour of the women around her as she fights to be released from the sanatorium.

Reviews

‘I could not put [Mrs Lincoln] down and as I read it, I wept. I cannot recommend a book more… a very powerful novel.’ Pat Schroeder, President of the Association of American Publishers

‘…one of those rare books that turns the reader into an admiring fan of both the author and her subject. You feel a compulsion to urge others to read it…Newman gives Mary a riveting voice.’ USA Today

‘… immensely readable, close-to-life story of America’s best known and most controversial First Lady. Sensitive to the facts as well as graced by realistic dialogue and an empathetic portrayal of places and people, including Abraham Lincoln, Mary finally tells her own story. This is historical fiction at its best.’ Jean H. Baker, author of Mary Lincoln: A Biography

Sally Zigmond

Stoical and industrious Carrie and carefree and vivacious May lose both home and livelihood when their Leeds pub is sold out from under them to make way for the coming of the railway. They head for Harrogate to find work and lodging in the spa town’s burgeoning hotel trade. But the sisters fall prey to fraudsters and predators and are also driven apart by misunderstanding, pride and a mutual sense of betrayal and resentment. May’s fate is a high-class brothel from which her escape leads only to hunger in the slums of Paris. Carrie becomes a virtual slave to the vicious hostess of a filthy boarding house and the victim of her vindictive son.

Alex Sinclair, a bold and warm-spirited Scot, has eschewed the wishes of his father to become a railway engineer. His companion, Charles Hammond is the dissolute heir to a vast fortune, withheld from him by an overbearing mother and grasping stepfather. Charles bides his time as a physician, a profession for which he lacks both aptitude and enthusiasm. The futures of both men will become bound up with those of the two sisters.

As time passes the sisters overcome their adversities: May becomes the most sought after dressmaker in Paris; Carrie, the proprietor of the most successful hotel in Harrogate. Feeling spurned by Carrie, Alex pours himself obsessively into new railway projects. Meanwhile, having been almost destroyed through gambling, drunkenness and self-loathing, Charles starts on the long and difficult road to redemption and fulfilment.

Carrie and May have now been estranged for several years. There seems little hope of reconciliation or of either of them or finding love and lasting happiness. But this is 1848, the ‘Year of Revolutions’. The streets of Paris erupt in bloody insurrection… while Alex Sinclair is commissioned to bring the railway to Harrogate.

Reviews

‘This novel is almost an epic, which jumps from Harrogate to Paris and back again as the two sisters pursue happiness, with friends, but also enemies and at times the reader wonders if either will ever have a quiet life. . . as far as a rollicking story goes, this should satisfy readers who like epic novels.’ Historicalnovelreviews

Elizabeth Ashworth

Young Richard Fitz-Eustace’s return from Palestine is far from joyous. Damned by leprosy he must bid his mother, grandmother and sisters a final and sorrowful farewell and leave his estates at Halton Castle forever. Condemned to shun the company of others he must now find a place of solitude where he can seek forgiveness for sins committed in the Holy Land for which he is certain he has earned God’s curse. Resolved to live out his life as a hermit, he journey’s north into the newly named county of Lancashire. But this is no arbitrary journey; there is one last obligation undertaken for his grandmother: that he will seek out her kinsman, Sir Robert de Lacy, at Cliderhou Castle and there press his consideration of her claim to his estate.

Meanwhile, at Halton, Richard’s headstrong fourteen-year-old sister, Johanna is distraught. The fate of her beloved elder brother has done more than leave her bereft. Her other brother, ruthless and ambitious Roger has returned to take his place as head of the family. He and Johanna’s mother have contrived a marriage for her to a wealthy old landowner, and without Richard’s protection there seems little she can do about it – unless of course she can escape and find him. 

Reviews

‘This is an appealing tale of daily life in the 12th century. The subject of lepers and their place in the community is fascinating. Although not billed as a young adult novel, I feel The de Lacy Inheritance would especially suit this particular market.’ Historicalnovelsociety.org

David Morrell

On Christmas Eve in snow-covered Santa Fe, New Mexico, tens of thousands of pedestrians stroll through the festively decorated streets. Among them is Paul Kagan, a spy on the run trying desperately to protect a special package; a baby who just might be the key to a lasting peace in the Middle East. He is pursued closely by three extremely dangerous men, members of the Russian mafia whom he has just betrayed.

Attempting to elude his hunters, Kagan seeks refuge in a quiet house on the outskirts of the town. Once inside he discovers it is occupied by a woman and her 12-year-old son hiding from other evils and whom he has now put in mortal danger as his hunters manage to track him down. In the tense hours that follow, Kagan tries to calm the woman and the boy by telling them the spy’s version of the traditional Nativity story as he prepares the house for the onslaught he knows to be coming…

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Reviews

‘Master storyteller David Morrell gives us an amazing holiday classic that thrills us with heart-pounding suspense while tugging at our emotions.’ Tess Gerritson, bestselling author of The Bone Garden 

‘…the father of the modern action novel delivers a unique, edge-of-your seat thriller with amazing twists and riveting characters.’  Vince Flynn, bestselling author of Power Play

Samantha David

When Camilla bumped into the Pirate on the net, she never dreamed that she’d fall in love with him. He was old, fat and irascible. He wasn’t Errol Flynn. For his part the Pirate didn’t give a bugger what she thought. She was beautiful and he was old enough to be optimistic about life. So he inveigled her onto his pirate ship in the Caribbean…

She finds that her Pirate is real enough: he sails a sixty-foot ketch, has a loyal crew and makes a living from smuggling, racketeering and things that Camilla would rather not think about. But Johnny Depp he certainly ain’t!

The Pirate is the most outrageous lover in literary history, and Camilla is adorable, intelligent, brave and nutty. Together they inhabit a bohemian world of musicians and artists, buccaneers and eccentrics that will seduce you and leave you gasping for more.

Laugh-aloud-funny, adventurous, romantic and filled with sunshine, I Married a Pirate is escapism with a capital ‘E’.

Reviews

‘A rip-roaring ride.  Huge fun and a really interesting new voice.’  
Katie Fforde

‘Pure joy – this unlikely romance between the phlegmatic Camilla and her atypical pirate lover sizzles from start to finish.’
Trisha Ashley

‘A swashbuckling lesson to us all… Samantha David got me hook, line and sinker.’ 
Guardian Abroad

‘An excellent read… I couldn’t put it down… I heartily recommend you get a copy!’ 
Expats Radio

‘Samantha David’s wicked sense of humour will have you laughing out loud on many an occasion as you read this riotous romp! I Married a Pirate is hilarious, innovative and thoroughly original and… had me giggling from the first page till the very last.’
Julie Bonello, Single Titles Reviews