Crying Shame

Throughout her lifetime, Jane Austen wrote countless letters to her sister. But why did Cassandra burn them all? 1840: twenty three years after the death of her famous sister Jane, Cassandra Austen returns to the village of Kintbury, and the home of her family's friends, the Fowles. She knows that, in some dusty corner of the sprawling vicarage, there is a cache of family letters which hold secrets she can never allow to be revealed. As Cassandra recalls her youth and her relationship with her brilliant yet complex sister, she pieces together buried truths about Jane's history, and her own. And she faces a stark choice: should she act to protect Jane's reputation, or leave the contents of the letters to go unguarded into posterity? Based on a literary mystery that has long puzzled biographers and academics, Miss Austen is a wonderfully original and emotionally complex novel about the loves and lives of Cassandra and Jane Austen.

Number One bestselling author Philippa Gregory's new historical novel tracks the rise of the Tidelands family in London, Venice and New England. Midsummer Eve, 1670. A turbulent time to seek the truth . . . A wealthy man waits outside a poor London warehouse to meet with Alinor, the woman he failed twenty-one years before. He has everything to offer: money, land, status. He believes she has the only thing he cannot buy: his son and heir. Meanwhile in New England, Alinor's brother Ned cannot find justice in the New World, as the King's revenge stretches across the Atlantic and turns the pioneers against each other and against the American Indians. Then, a beautiful widow, Livia, arrives from Venice. She claims Alinor as her mother-in-law and has come with the news that Alinor's son Rob has drowned in the dark tides of the lagoon. But is this true or could this woman be an imposter . . . ? From London to New England and Venice, the dark tides always rise, and with them come secrets and enemies . . . 'A gripping read spanning London, Venice and New England, all beautifully observed by Gregory' Woman & Home Praise for Tidelands, the first in the Fairmile series: 'A gripping and intelligent portrait of a woman fighting to survive in a hostile world' The Times 'The first in a planned series . . . The author crafts her material with effortless ease. Her grasp of social mores is brilliant, the love story rings true and the research is, as ever, of the highest calibre' Elizabeth Buchan, Daily Mail 'Vivid and beguiling - Philippa Gregory at her best' Woman & Home 'A compelling novel that shines a light on the struggles of 17th century women' Daily Mirror 'The novel's power lies in Gregory's evocative portrayal of the tidelands and the everyday lives of those who are bound to them' Sunday Express 'Philippa Gregory returns with an English Civil War novel that excels in everything she does best. Historical events are written with breathless immediacy, keeping the reader enthralled even if they know the outcome' Alys Key, The i 'If this novel is the first sign of what's to come then readers are in for a treat' Emma Lee-Potter, Daily Express

Captivating and suspenseful, Best Kept Secret is the third novel in international bestseller Jeffrey Archer's outstanding the Clifton Chronicles sees our hero Harry Clifton and Giles Barrington, brother of Harry's beloved wife Emma, become entwined in the fate of the Barrington family fortune. It is 1945 and the House of Lords' vote on who should inherit the Barrington estate ends in a tie, casting a long shadow on the lives of those involved. Author Harry begins to promote his novel, whilst Emma, after her father's mysterious death, searches for the girl found abandoned in his office on the night he died. Politician Giles defends his seat in the House of Commons and finds not only his future but his family's fortune at stake. Ultimately his fate is dictated by Harry's son Sebastian, even as Sebastian himself becomes embroiled in an international art fraud. As they move out of the shadows of war, a new generation of Cliftons and Barringtons comes to the fore, and a thrilling new episode of Jeffrey Archer's captivating family saga begins.

A time of conflict It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages, and England faces attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Life is hard, and those with power wield it harshly, bending justice according to their will - often in conflict with the king. With his grip on the country fragile and with no clear rule of law, chaos and bloodshed reign. Three lives intertwined Into this uncertain world three people come to the fore: a young boatbuilder, who dreams of a better future when a devastating Viking raid shatters the life that he and the woman he loves hoped for; a Norman noblewoman, who follows her beloved husband across the sea to a new land only to find her life there shockingly different; and a capable monk at Shiring Abbey, who dreams of transforming his humble abbey into a centre of learning admired throughout Europe. The dawn of a new age Now, with England at the dawn of the Middle Ages, these three people will each come into dangerous conflict with a ruthless bishop, who will do anything to increase his wealth and power, in an epic tale of ambition and rivalry, death and birth, and love and hate. Thirty years ago we were introduced to Kingsbridge in The Pillars of the Earth, and now in this masterful prequel international bestseller Ken Follett will take us on a journey into a rich past, which will end where his masterpiece begins.

Cometh the Hour opens with the reading of a suicide note, which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and Lady Virginia. Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue Karin, the woman he loves, from behind the Iron Curtain. But is Karin truly in love with him, or is she a spy? Lady Virginia is facing bankruptcy, and can see no way out of her financial problems, until she is introduced to the hapless Cyrus T. Grant III from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who's in England to see his horse run at Royal Ascot. Sebastian Clifton is now the Chief Executive of Farthings Bank and a workaholic, whose personal life is thrown into disarray when he falls for Priya, a beautiful Indian girl. But her parents have already chosen the man she is going to marry. Meanwhile, Sebastian's rivals Adrian Sloane and Desmond Mellor are still plotting to bring him and his chairman Hakim Bishara down, so they can take over Farthings. Harry Clifton remains determined to get Anatoly Babakov released from a gulag in Siberia, following the international success of his acclaimed book, Uncle Joe. But then something unexpected happens that none of them could have anticipated.