I Capture the Castle

Three women, haunted by the past and the secrets they hold Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined—an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times Notable Book The Hazards of Good Breeding. Amid the ashes of Nazi Germany’s defeat, Marianne von Lingenfels returns to the once-grand castle of her husband’s ancestors, an imposing stone fortress now fallen into ruin following years of war. The widow of a resister murdered in the failed July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Marianne plans to uphold the promise she made to her husband’s brave conspirators: to find and protect their wives, her fellow resistance widows. First Marianne rescues six-year-old Martin, the son of her dearest childhood friend, from a Nazi reeducation home. Together, they make their way across the smoldering wreckage of their homeland to Berlin, where Martin’s mother, the beautiful and naive Benita, has fallen into the hands of occupying Red Army soldiers. Then she locates Ania, another resister’s wife, and her two boys, now refugees languishing in one of the many camps that house the millions displaced by the war. As Marianne assembles this makeshift family from the ruins of her husband’s resistance movement, she is certain their shared pain and circumstances will hold them together. But she quickly discovers that the black-and-white, highly principled world of her privileged past has become infinitely more complicated, filled with secrets and dark passions that threaten to tear them apart. Eventually, all three women must come to terms with the choices that have defined their lives before, during, and after the war—each with their own unique share of challenges. Written with the devastating emotional power of The Nightingale, Sarah’s Key, and The Light Between Oceans, Jessica Shattuck’s evocative and utterly enthralling novel offers a fresh perspective on one of the most tumultuous periods in history. Combining piercing social insight and vivid historical atmosphere, The Women in the Castle is a dramatic yet nuanced portrait of war and its repercussions that explores what it means to survive, love, and, ultimately, to forgive in the wake of unimaginable hardship.

Three women, haunted by the past and the secrets they holdSet at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined—an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times Notable Book The Hazards of Good Breeding. Amid the ashes of Nazi Germany’s defeat, Marianne von Lingenfels returns to the once-grand castle of her husband’s ancestors, an imposing stone fortress now fallen into ruin following years of war. The widow of a resister murdered in the failed July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Marianne plans to uphold the promise she made to her husband’s brave conspirators: to find and protect their wives, her fellow resistance widows.First Marianne rescues six-year-old Martin, the son of her dearest childhood friend, from a Nazi reeducation home. Together, they make their way across the smoldering wreckage of their homeland to Berlin, where Martin’s mother, the beautiful and naive Benita, has fallen into the hands of occupying Red Army soldiers. Then she locates Ania, another resister’s wife, and her two boys, now refugees languishing in one of the many camps that house the millions displaced by the war.As Marianne assembles this makeshift family from the ruins of her husband’s resistance movement, she is certain their shared pain and circumstances will hold them together. But she quickly discovers that the black-and-white, highly principled world of her privileged past has become infinitely more complicated, filled with secrets and dark passions that threaten to tear them apart. Eventually, all three women must come to terms with the choices that have defined their lives before, during, and after the war—each with their own unique share of challenges.Written with the devastating emotional power of The Nightingale, Sarah’s Key, and The Light Between Oceans, Jessica Shattuck’s evocative and utterly enthralling novel offers a fresh perspective on one of the most tumultuous periods in history. Combining piercing social insight and vivid historical atmosphere, The Women in the Castle is a dramatic yet nuanced portrait of war and its repercussions that explores what it means to survive, love, and, ultimately, to forgive in the wake of unimaginable hardship.

Visual Selling provides salespeople with tools to sell in an increasingly image-oriented culture. More so than ever before, the way a salesperson looks and acts, the images on a screen or in handouts, and even room environments can impact people’s trust, satisfaction and willingness to buy. The authors believe that, to sell most effectively, the seller must be the visual focal point. This book draws on 25 years of experience coaching individuals and organizations in the art of visual selling, sharing stories and techniques used in big-dollar competitive presentations and pitches to senior management. Divided into three sections (the Seller as Focal Point, Getting Ready to Sell and Selling Situations), Visual Selling will appeal to a wide variety of business readers because it can be used to help salespeople sell one-on-one, as well as to assist corporate presenters at selling new programs or products in-house. Section I – The Seller as Focal Point Section II – Getting Ready to Sell Section III – Selling Situations

How can you tap into your team’s creativity to tackle today’s toughest business challenges? In The Firefly Effect, Kimberly Douglas presents inspiring yet pragmatic insights into getting your entire team firing on all cylinders and aiming in the right direction. Comparing the difficult act of harnessing and capturing creativity to the act of catching fireflies on a summer night, she will explain: What to do when the fireflies don’t show up (or when creativity dries up) How to know when it’s time to find a new meadow (or a new approach, place or process) What to do if the leader is keeping too tight a lid on the jar (and team innovation is gasping for air) How to get inventive when it rains on your firefly hunt (or parade of ideas) What happens when everyone is too busy to join in (and group problems remain unresolved)

The Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller.Two women, centuries apart. Linked in a place haunted by its history . . .Separated by more than six hundred years of history, two women are drawn together by Sleeper’s Castle, a house steeped in memory and magic. This is an epic tale of forbidden love, cruel revenge and a war that time can’t forget.Grieving and lost, Miranda has moved to Hay to escape, and slowly she feels herself coming to life in the solitude of the mountains. But her vivid dreams at Sleeper’s Castle introduce her to Catrin, a young women whose gift for foretelling the future embroiled her in a bloody revolt against English rule – many centuries ago.An unbreakable connection is forged across history. Catrin is reaching out . . . and only Miranda can help. But time is running out…Sunday Times bestselling author Barbara Erskine returns to Hay in the year that marks the 30th anniversary of her sensational debut bestseller, Lady of Hay.