In this "energetic"(Kirkus Reviews) re-creation of Anne Boleyn's tragic life -- and death -- Robin Maxwell offers a pitch-perfect version of a bawdy and exuberant time filled with lust, betrayal, love, and murder. When the young Queen Elizabeth I is entrusted with Anne Boleyn's secret...  more

In this "energetic"(Kirkus Reviews) re-creation of Anne Boleyn's tragic life -- and death -- Robin Maxwell offers a pitch-perfect version of a bawdy and exuberant time filled with lust, betrayal, love, and murder. When the young Queen Elizabeth I is entrusted with Anne Boleyn's secret diary, she discovers a great deal about the much-maligned mother she never knew. And on learning the truth about her lascivious and despotic father, Henry VIII, she vows never to relinquish control to any man. But this avowal doesn't prevent Elizabeth from pursuing a torrid love affair with her horsemaster, Robin Dudley -- described with near-shocking candor -- as too are Anne's graphic trysts with a very persistent and lustful Henry. Blending a historian's attention to accuracy with a novelist's artful rendering, Maxwell weaves compelling descriptions of court life and devastating portraits of actual people into her naughty, page-turning tale. The result is a masterpiece of historical fiction -- so prophetic of our time that one would think it were ripped from today's headlines.

Reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha, a re-imagining of the life of Pan Yuliang and her transformation from prostitute to post-Impressionist. Down the muddy waters of the Yangtze River and into the seedy backrooms of "The Hall of Eternal Splendor," through the raucous glamour of...  more

Reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha, a re-imagining of the life of Pan Yuliang and her transformation from prostitute to post-Impressionist. Down the muddy waters of the Yangtze River and into the seedy backrooms of "The Hall of Eternal Splendor," through the raucous glamour of prewar Shanghai and the bohemian splendor of 1920s Paris, and back to a China ripped apart by civil war and teetering on the brink of revolution: this novel tells the story of Pan Yuliang, one of the most talented and provocative Chinese artists of the twentieth century. Jennifer Cody Epstein's epic brings to life the woman behind the lush, Cezannesque nude self-portraits, capturing with lavish detail her life in the brothel and then as a concubine to a Republican official who would ultimately help her find her way as an artist. Moving with the tide of historical events, The Painter from Shanghai celebrates a singularly daring painting style, one that led to fame, notoriety, and, ultimately, a devastating choice: between Pan's art and the one great love of her life.

Evelina Cooper, the niece of the great Sherlock Holmes, is poised to enjoy her first Season in London Society. But there’s a murderer to deal with -- not to mention missing automatons, a sorcerer, and a talking mouse. In a Victorian era ruled by a council of ruthless steam barons,...  more

Evelina Cooper, the niece of the great Sherlock Holmes, is poised to enjoy her first Season in London Society. But there’s a murderer to deal with -- not to mention missing automatons, a sorcerer, and a talking mouse. In a Victorian era ruled by a council of ruthless steam barons, mechanical power is the real monarch and sorcery the demon enemy of the Empire. Nevertheless, the most coveted weapon is magic that can run machines -- something Evelina has secretly mastered. But rather than making her fortune, her special talents could mean death or an eternity as a guest of Her Majesty’s secret laboratories. What’s a polite young lady to do but mind her manners and pray she’s never found out? But then there’s that murder. As Sherlock Holmes’s niece, Evelina should be able to find the answers, but she has a lot to learn. And the first decision she has to make is whether to trust the handsome, clever rake who makes her breath come faster, or the dashing trick rider who would dare anything for her if she would only just ask.

A midwife working in the tenements of turn-of-the-last-century New York, Sarah Brandt is summoned by the wealthy Lintons to confirm their worst fear: their teenaged daughter is with child. It's a mystery, however, since the young woman-mentally still a child herself-is never left alone. With...  more

A midwife working in the tenements of turn-of-the-last-century New York, Sarah Brandt is summoned by the wealthy Lintons to confirm their worst fear: their teenaged daughter is with child. It's a mystery, however, since the young woman-mentally still a child herself-is never left alone. With the help of her friend Detective Sergeant Malloy, Sarah vows to crack this delicate case, especially since suspicion is on those close to the Lintons. Then, when one of the suspects is poisoned, Sarah knows she must uncover the truth before more lives are ruined.

Though her own San Francisco law firm barely tolerates her, gutsy young attorney Sarah Woolson flouts proper feminine behavior in this nineteenth-century answer to Legally Blonde. While her mother begs her to settle down, her chauvinistic boss tries to come up with ever more spiteful ways to...  more

Though her own San Francisco law firm barely tolerates her, gutsy young attorney Sarah Woolson flouts proper feminine behavior in this nineteenth-century answer to Legally Blonde. While her mother begs her to settle down, her chauvinistic boss tries to come up with ever more spiteful ways to pressure his only female associate into quitting. Naturally, Sarah digs in her heels and vows to retain her position at any cost. Besides, she has no intention of straying too far from the action.  When the wife of wealthy society entrepreneur Leonard Godfrey drops dead of an apparent heart attack at a charity dinner for the new Women and Children’s Hospital, Sarah’s curiosity gets the better of her. But no one will believe in her theory that Caroline Godfrey’s death was not natural---until several more people affiliated with the hospital die of inexplicable causes. Meanwhile, when a pregnant widow whose husband has died in a sweatshop fire asks for Sarah’s help in finding the owner so that she can sue for recompense, our feisty heroine insists on taking the case against her boss’s orders. With the help of her colleague Robert Campbell and an eager young hansom cabdriver named Eddie, Sarah goes on a manhunt for Killy Doyle, the menacing head of the factory underworld. But she can't ignore the mysterious deaths at the Women and Children’s Hospital---especially when the hospital’s Chinese chef is arrested for the murders and the Chinese community’s most powerful Tong Lord asks her to defend him. Faced with her first criminal trial, Sarah stops at nothing to determine the killer’s identity.  But in trying to exonerate her client, she places her own life in danger. Will Sarah figure out who the murderer is, or will she be the final victim?

It's 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's...  more

It's 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls -- and their foray into the spiritual world -- lead to?

Once the king's captain of archers, now he must penetrate a poisoner's secrets... Christmastide, 1363-and, at an abbey in York, two pilgrims die mysteriously dead of an herbal remedy. Suspicious, the Archbishop sends for Owen Archer, a Welshman with the charm of the devil, who's lost one eye...  more

Once the king's captain of archers, now he must penetrate a poisoner's secrets... Christmastide, 1363-and, at an abbey in York, two pilgrims die mysteriously dead of an herbal remedy. Suspicious, the Archbishop sends for Owen Archer, a Welshman with the charm of the devil, who's lost one eye to the wars in France and must make a new career as an honest spy. Masquerading as an apprentice to Apothecary Nicholas Wilton, whose shop dispensed the fatal potion, Owen's dark curls, leather eyepatch and gold earring intrigue Wilton's wife. But is this lovely woman a murderess? and what links the Wiltons to bumbling Brother Wulfstan, ascetic Archdeacon Anselm and his weaselly agent Potter Digby, and the ragged midwife Magda the Riverwoman? Answers as slippery as the frozen cobblestones draw Owen into a dangerous drama of old scandals and tragedies, obsession and unholy love... The Apothecary Rose marks the arrival of a bold and quick-witted detective in this expertly detailed, engrossing tale of medieval life-and death.

South of Rome on the Gulf of Puteoli stands the splendid villa of Marcus Crassus, Rome's wealthiest citizen. When the estate overseer is murdered, Crassus concludes that the deed was done by two missing slaves, who have probably run off to join the Spartacan Slave Revolt. Unless they are...  more

South of Rome on the Gulf of Puteoli stands the splendid villa of Marcus Crassus, Rome's wealthiest citizen. When the estate overseer is murdered, Crassus concludes that the deed was done by two missing slaves, who have probably run off to join the Spartacan Slave Revolt. Unless they are found within five days, Crassus vows to massacre his remaining ninety-nine slaves. To Gordianus the Finder falls the fateful task of resolving this riddle from Hades. In a house filled with secrets, the truth is slow to emerge. And as the hour of the massacre approaches, Gordianus realizes that the labyrinthine path he has chosen just may lead to his own destruction...

An elderly pilgrim dies in Hawkenlye Vale. Nothing suspicious about that: he was gravely ill when he arrived. Meanwhile Josse d'Acquin has a visit from Prince John. Accompanied by his seer, the Prince urgently seeks news of a stranger, Galbertius Sidonius. Hurrying to Hawkenlye Abbey to...  more

An elderly pilgrim dies in Hawkenlye Vale. Nothing suspicious about that: he was gravely ill when he arrived. Meanwhile Josse d'Acquin has a visit from Prince John. Accompanied by his seer, the Prince urgently seeks news of a stranger, Galbertius Sidonius. Hurrying to Hawkenlye Abbey to enlist the Abbess Helewise's help, Josse finds that she has a problem of her own: a decomposing body has been discovered. Naked, and killed by an expert hand. Josse's brother, Yves, arrives; a visitor at Acquin has been asking for the brothers' father, Geoffroi, who went to Outremer with King Louis and Queen Eleanor. Josse, Yves and the Abbess are hurled into a mystery whose roots stretch back much further than the Second Crusade. And, watching them with his strange dark eyes, is the enigmatic figure of the Prince's Magister...

One unseasonably warm spring morning in 80 B.C., Gordianus the Finder is summoned to investigate a murder. Sextus Roscius is accused of killing his own father. This, in a society rife with deceit, betrayal, and conspiracy, where neither citizen nor slave can be trusted to speak the truth. But...  more

One unseasonably warm spring morning in 80 B.C., Gordianus the Finder is summoned to investigate a murder. Sextus Roscius is accused of killing his own father. This, in a society rife with deceit, betrayal, and conspiracy, where neither citizen nor slave can be trusted to speak the truth. But even Gordianus is not prepared for the spectacularly dangerous fireworks that will attend the resolution of this ugly, delicate case....

Her name is Barbara—in Russian, Varvara. Nimble-witted and attentive, she’s allowed into the employ of the Empress Elizabeth, amid the glitter and cruelty of the world’s most eminent court. Under the tutelage of Count Bestuzhev, Chancellor and spymaster, Varvara will be...  more

Her name is Barbara—in Russian, Varvara. Nimble-witted and attentive, she’s allowed into the employ of the Empress Elizabeth, amid the glitter and cruelty of the world’s most eminent court. Under the tutelage of Count Bestuzhev, Chancellor and spymaster, Varvara will be educated in skills from lock picking to lovemaking, learning above all else to listen—and to wait for opportunity. That opportunity arrives in a slender young princess from Zerbst named Sophie, a playful teenager destined to become the indomitable Catherine the Great. Sophie’s destiny at court is to marry the Empress’s nephew, but she has other, loftier, more dangerous ambitions, and she proves to be more guileful than she first appears. What Sophie needs is an insider at court, a loyal pair of eyes and ears who knows the traps, the conspiracies, and the treacheries that surround her. Varvara will become Sophie’s confidante—and together the two young women will rise to the pinnacle of absolute power.

It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III's England. Then a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol found at the scene and the damning testimony of a...  more

It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III's England. Then a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol found at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man -- Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experience in the Napoleonic Wars

When beautiful, wealthy Yukiko and low-born artist Noriyoshi are found drowned together in a shinju, or ritual double suicide, everyone believes the culprit was forbidden love. Everyone but newly appointed yoriki Sano Ichiro. Despite the official verdict and warnings from his superiors, the...  more

When beautiful, wealthy Yukiko and low-born artist Noriyoshi are found drowned together in a shinju, or ritual double suicide, everyone believes the culprit was forbidden love. Everyone but newly appointed yoriki Sano Ichiro. Despite the official verdict and warnings from his superiors, the shogun's Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People suspects the deaths weren't just a tragedy -- they were murder. Risking his family's good name and his own life, Sano will search for a killer across every level of society -- determined to find answers to a mystery no one wants solved. No one but Sano... As subtle and beautiful as the culture it evokes, Shinju vividly re-creates a world of ornate tearooms and guady pleasure-palaces, cloistered mountaintop convents and dealthy prisons. Part love story, part myster, Shinju is a tour that will dazzle and entertain all who enter its world.

Simon Basset, the irresistible Duke of Hastings, has hatched a plan to keep himself free from the town's marriage-minded society mothers. He pretends to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. After all, it isn't as if the brooding rogue has any real plans to marry -- though there is...  more

Simon Basset, the irresistible Duke of Hastings, has hatched a plan to keep himself free from the town's marriage-minded society mothers. He pretends to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. After all, it isn't as if the brooding rogue has any real plans to marry -- though there is something about the alluring Miss Bridgerton that sets Simon's heart beating a bit faster. And as for Daphne, surely the clever debutante will attract some very worthy suitors now that is seems a duke has declared her desirable. But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, she soon forgets that their courtship is a complete sham. And now she has to do the impossible and keep herself from losing her heart and soul completely to the handsome hell-raiser who has sworn off marriage forever!

When Cora Kensington learns she is the illegitimate daughter of a copper king, her life changes forever. Even as she explores Europe with her new family, she discovers that the most valuable journey is within. The first book in the Grand Tour series takes you from the farms of Montana through...  more

When Cora Kensington learns she is the illegitimate daughter of a copper king, her life changes forever. Even as she explores Europe with her new family, she discovers that the most valuable journey is within. The first book in the Grand Tour series takes you from the farms of Montana through England and France on an adventure of forgiveness, spiritual awakening, and self-discovery.

By the Queen's command, she carried a letter that could alter the course of history -- or eclipse her own future.... Eager for a respite from her role as handmaiden to Queen Elizabeth I, Ursula Blanchard agrees to travel to France to help her first husband's father bring his young...  more

By the Queen's command, she carried a letter that could alter the course of history -- or eclipse her own future.... Eager for a respite from her role as handmaiden to Queen Elizabeth I, Ursula Blanchard agrees to travel to France to help her first husband's father bring his young ward home to England. But duty soon calls. Fearing that the pro-Catholic forces threatening to tear France asunder will spread to Protestant England, the Queen instructs Ursula to deliver a secret letter personally to Catherine de Médicis, offering to mediate the crisis. Not only will the perilous journey separate Ursula from her young daughter, it will bring her closer to a man she can neither trust nor forget -- her estranged second husband, Matthew de la Roche, avowed Catholic and enemy of Elizabeth. As it becomes clear that someone seeks to thwart her mission, she realizes she can trust no one but herself, and that only she can uncover the truth hidden in the shadows of treason, greed, and desire that darken her way.

From the icy blast of reveille through the sweet release of sleep, Ivan Denisovich endures.  A common carpenter, he is one of millions viciously imprisoned for countless years on baseless charges, sentenced to the waking nightmares of the Soviet work camps in Siberia.  Even...  more

From the icy blast of reveille through the sweet release of sleep, Ivan Denisovich endures.  A common carpenter, he is one of millions viciously imprisoned for countless years on baseless charges, sentenced to the waking nightmares of the Soviet work camps in Siberia.  Even in the face of degrading hatred, where life is reduced to a bowl of gruel and a rare cigarette, hope and dignity prevail.  This powerful novel of fact is a scathing indictment of Communist tyranny, and an eloquent affirmation of the human spirit.

What happened in North America between Columbus' sailing in 1492 and the Pilgrims' arrival in 1620? On a visit to Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz realizes he doesn't have a clue, nor do most Americans. So he sets off across the continent to rediscover the wild era when Europeans first...  more

What happened in North America between Columbus' sailing in 1492 and the Pilgrims' arrival in 1620? On a visit to Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz realizes he doesn't have a clue, nor do most Americans. So he sets off across the continent to rediscover the wild era when Europeans first roamed the New World in quest of gold, glory, converts, and eternal youth. Horwitz tells the story of these brave and often crazed explorers while retracing their steps on his own epic trek---an odyssey that takes him inside an Indian sweat lodge in subarctic Canada, down the Mississippi in a canoe, on a road trip fueled by buffalo meat, and into sixty pounds of armor as a conquistador reenactor in Florida. A Voyage Long and Strange is a rich mix of scholarship and modern-day adventure that brings the forgotten first chapter of America's history vividly to life.

From the award-winning author of One Thousand White Women, a novel in the tradition of Little Big Man, tracing one man's search for adventure and the wild Apache girl who invites him into her world. When Ned Giles is orphaned as a teenager, he heads West hoping to leave his troubles behind. He...  more

From the award-winning author of One Thousand White Women, a novel in the tradition of Little Big Man, tracing one man's search for adventure and the wild Apache girl who invites him into her world. When Ned Giles is orphaned as a teenager, he heads West hoping to leave his troubles behind. He joins the 1932 Great Apache Expedition on their search for a young boy, the son of a wealthy Mexican landowner, who was kidnapped by wild Apaches. But the expedition's goal is complicated when they encounter a wild Apache girl in a Mexican jail cell, victim of a Mexican massacre of her tribe that has left her orphaned and unwilling to eat or speak. As he and the expedition make their way through the rugged Sierra Madre mountains, Ned's growing feelings for the troubled girl soon force him to choose allegiances and make a decision that will haunt him forever. In this novel based on historical fact, Jim Fergus takes readers on a journey of magnificent sweep and heartbreaking consequence peopled with unforgettable characters. With prose so vivid that the road dust practically rises off the page, The Wild Girl is an epic novel filled with drama, peril, and romance, told by a master.

A physician trained in the Chinese healing arts, the courageous and cunning Lady Aoi stands witness to the violence that has invaded the Imperial palace: a mysterious fire ignited, the Princess' quarters assailed, a young girl inexplicably murdered, a noble Minister accused. And now the Lady...  more

A physician trained in the Chinese healing arts, the courageous and cunning Lady Aoi stands witness to the violence that has invaded the Imperial palace: a mysterious fire ignited, the Princess' quarters assailed, a young girl inexplicably murdered, a noble Minister accused. And now the Lady herself has become the target of a deadly enemy, and she must flee through a court filled with spies, criminals, and illicit lovers. For at its center lies shocking essential secrets Aoi must reveal.

In 1874 the great Cheyenne chief, Little Wolf, had an idea to help his people assimilate into the new white culture. He asked President Ulysses S. Grant for "the gift of 1000 white women as wives." Since all children born in the Cheyenne culture become members of their mother's...  more

In 1874 the great Cheyenne chief, Little Wolf, had an idea to help his people assimilate into the new white culture. He asked President Ulysses S. Grant for "the gift of 1000 white women as wives." Since all children born in the Cheyenne culture become members of their mother's tribe, Little Wolf reasoned that as a result of these unions, "the next generation of Cheyenne children would be born into the the white man's tribe with the full privileges attendant on that position." His request was NOT granted. But what if it HAD been? Through the fictional journals of May Dodd, Jim Fergus explores this idea, introducing the reader to many of these adventurous brides and the native people they come to live among.

Performing at the wedding of Sir Edmund Deneby's daughter, the player Joliffe has another task to perform--as a spy. As he uncovers the secrets of the Denebys' sordid history, it becomes clear that this wedding celebration is destined to end in tragedy.

A Chinese woman chronicles the struggle of her grandmother, her mother, and herself to survive in a China torn apart by wars, invasions, revolution, and continuing upheaval, from 1907 to the present.

In ancient Egypt, a forgotten princess must overcome her family's past and remake history. The winds of change are blowing through Thebes. A devastating palace fire has killed the Eighteenth Dynasty's royal family -- all with the exception of Nefertari, the niece of the reviled former...  more

In ancient Egypt, a forgotten princess must overcome her family's past and remake history. The winds of change are blowing through Thebes. A devastating palace fire has killed the Eighteenth Dynasty's royal family -- all with the exception of Nefertari, the niece of the reviled former queen, Nefertiti. The girl's deceased family has been branded as heretical, and no one in Egypt will speak their names. A relic of a previous reign, Nefertari is pushed aside, an unimportant princess left to run wild in the palace. But this changes when she is taken under the wing of the Pharaoh's aunt, then brought to the Temple of Hathor, where she is educated in a manner befitting a future queen. Soon Nefertari catches the eye of the Crown Prince, and despite her family's history, they fall in love and wish to marry. Yet all of Egypt opposes this union between the rising star of a new dynasty and the fading star of an old, heretical one. While political adversity sets the country on edge, Nefertari becomes the wife of Ramesses the Great. Destined to be the most powerful Pharaoh in Egypt, he is also the man who must confront the most famous exodus in history. Sweeping in scope and meticulous in detail, The Heretic Queen is a novel of passion and power, heartbreak and redemption.

Spring 1366, Beverley, England--a ghostly pale young woman claims to be the resurrected Joanna Calverley, a nun who died of a fever some months before. It would be a matter for the Church alone, were it not for the murders that seem to follow in her wake. Owen Archer finds the case a...  more

Spring 1366, Beverley, England--a ghostly pale young woman claims to be the resurrected Joanna Calverley, a nun who died of a fever some months before. It would be a matter for the Church alone, were it not for the murders that seem to follow in her wake. Owen Archer finds the case a frustrating one. Dame Joanne is by turns cagey and hysterical, while always clutching her secrets tightly. And worse yet, the nun's keepers ask Owen's pregnant wife, Lucie, to use to healing skills on Joanna's behalf, placing the Archer family in gravest danger...

In 119 A.D., the Ninth Roman Legion marches north into the wilds of Britain -- and disappears without a trace. Fifteen years later, Marcus Flavius Aquila, the son of the unit's commander, embarks upon a quest to recover the lost eagle standard of the Ninth.

It is the late 17th century, and the Countess Anastasia Ashby de la Zouche, former mistress to King Charles II, is in dire financial straits, forced by a stint in debtor?s prison to make a living as a writer for the scandal sheets. Hired to investigate a husband?s possible adultery, the Countess...  more

It is the late 17th century, and the Countess Anastasia Ashby de la Zouche, former mistress to King Charles II, is in dire financial straits, forced by a stint in debtor?s prison to make a living as a writer for the scandal sheets. Hired to investigate a husband?s possible adultery, the Countess and her maidservant trail him all around London only to find themselves implicated in a murder. A witty, bawdy first in a series that blends mystery with elements of Restoration comedy.

Octavia Voss is an ethereal singer whose poise and talent belie her young age. In truth, she is a centuries-old vampire who once "shared the tooth" with Mozart himself. To protect her secret, Octavia's even more ancient friend Ugo stalks the streets to find the elixir that feeds...  more

Octavia Voss is an ethereal singer whose poise and talent belie her young age. In truth, she is a centuries-old vampire who once "shared the tooth" with Mozart himself. To protect her secret, Octavia's even more ancient friend Ugo stalks the streets to find the elixir that feeds his muse's soul. With Mozart's musical prowess coursing through her veins, the ageless Octavia reinvents herself with each new generation. But just as she prepares to take the stage at La Scala, Ugo inexplicably disappears, leaving Octavia alone—and dangerously unprotected... Octavia vows to find Ugo, but his fate is in the hands of forces much darker than she could ever imagine. And when she learns the truth behind his disappearance, Octavia realizes too late that the life hanging most in the balance is her own...  

Jan and Antonina Zabinski were Christian zookeepers horrified by Nazi racism, who capitalized on the Nazi's obsession with rare animals in order to save over three hundred doomed people. Their story has fallen between the seems of history, as radically compassionate acts sometimes do. But in...  more

Jan and Antonina Zabinski were Christian zookeepers horrified by Nazi racism, who capitalized on the Nazi's obsession with rare animals in order to save over three hundred doomed people. Their story has fallen between the seems of history, as radically compassionate acts sometimes do. But in wartime Poland, when even handing thirsty Jew a cup of water was punishable by death, their heroism stands out as all the more startling.

The dawn of 1921 finds Mary Russell, Sherlock Holmes's brilliant young apprentice, about to come into a considerable inheritance. Nevertheless, she still enjoys her nighttime prowls in disguise through London's grimy streets, where one night she encounters an old friend, now a charity...  more

The dawn of 1921 finds Mary Russell, Sherlock Holmes's brilliant young apprentice, about to come into a considerable inheritance. Nevertheless, she still enjoys her nighttime prowls in disguise through London's grimy streets, where one night she encounters an old friend, now a charity worker among the poor. Veronica Beaconsfield introduces Russell to the New Temple of God, led by the enigmatic, electrifying Margery Childe. Part suffragette, part mystic, she lives quite well for a woman of God from supposedly humble origins. Despite herself, Russell is drawn ever deeper into Childe's circle. When Veronica has a near-fatal accident -- and turns out to be the fourth bluestocking in the group to meet with misadventure after changing her will -- Russell and Holmes launch a quiet investigation. But the Temple may bring the newly rich Russell far closer to heaven than she would like...

1558. Kate Haywood, a simple musician in the employ of a princess, will find herself involved in games of crowns as she sets out to solve the murder of the queen's envoy ...   England is in tumult under the rule of Queen Mary and her Spanish husband. Confined to house arrest at...  more

1558. Kate Haywood, a simple musician in the employ of a princess, will find herself involved in games of crowns as she sets out to solve the murder of the queen's envoy ...   England is in tumult under the rule of Queen Mary and her Spanish husband. Confined to house arrest at Hatfield House, young Princess Elizabeth is the country's greatest hope. Far from court intrigues, Elizabeth finds solace in simple things: the quiet countryside and peaceful recreation, including the melodies of her chief musician and his daughter, Kate Haywood.   But Kate will prove herself most valuable when an envoy of the queen -- sent to flush out heretics in the princess's household -- is found dead on the grounds of Hatfield. Acting as Elizabeth's eyes and ears, Kate is sent out on the trail of a killer whose mission could destroy her family, friends -- and the future of England.

Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each sister is handed a...  more

Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each sister is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue that takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story. Eighty years earlier in the Rio of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to complete his vision. Izabela—passionate and longing to see the world—convinces her father to allow her to accompany him and his family to Europe before she is married. There, at Paul Landowski’s studio and in the heady, vibrant cafes of Montparnasse, she meets ambitious young sculptor Laurent Brouilly, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again.

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the real-life inspiration and setting for Julian Fellowes?s Emmy Award-winning PBS show, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants, Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Drawing on a rich store of...  more

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the real-life inspiration and setting for Julian Fellowes?s Emmy Award-winning PBS show, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants, Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Drawing on a rich store of materials from the archives of Highclere Castle, including diaries, letters, and photographs, the current Lady Carnarvon has written a transporting story of this fabled home on the brink of war.   Much like her Masterpiece Classic counterpart Lady Cora Crawley, Lady Almina was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, Alfred de Rothschild, who married his daughter off at a young age, her dowry serving as the crucial link in the effort to preserve the Earl of Carnarvon's ancestral home.  Throwing open the doors of Highclere Castle to tend to the wounded of World War I, Lady Almina distinguished herself as a brave and remarkable woman.   This rich tale contrasts the splendor of Edwardian life in a great house against the backdrop of the First World War and offers an inspiring and revealing picture of the woman at the center of the history of Highclere Castle.

This is the untold story of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph... a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy. From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his...  more

This is the untold story of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph... a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy. From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson's oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother's death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France. It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her father's troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love with her father's protégé William Short (a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat). Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William's wife and still be a devoted daughter. Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father's reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.

It is 1509 and, for the people of the Burren in western Ireland, the Michaelmas Fair is a joyous time for trade and celebration, signaling the start of autumn. It’s a chance to gather, buy and sell their wares, and pay tribute to the lord of their clans. But this year is different. The...  more

It is 1509 and, for the people of the Burren in western Ireland, the Michaelmas Fair is a joyous time for trade and celebration, signaling the start of autumn. It’s a chance to gather, buy and sell their wares, and pay tribute to the lord of their clans. But this year is different. The steward of the MacNamara clan has decided to raise the amount demanded for its tribute, and it’s not long before tempers are running high. hen the steward’s body is found in the local churchyard, it falls upon Mara, the Burren’s Brehon Judge, to piece the puzzle together. Was it revenge, greed, or something more sinister that motivated the murder? When another body is discovered, it is up to Mara -- despite the distraction of a surprising marriage proposal -- to bring the killer to justice before there can be yet another death.

When Huy is sent away from his family's farm to a prestigious school for a chance at a better life as a scribe, he is soon befriended by the family of the local governor. But just as Huy starts to feel at home with his aristocratic new friends, an unexpected attack shockingly takes his life....  more

When Huy is sent away from his family's farm to a prestigious school for a chance at a better life as a scribe, he is soon befriended by the family of the local governor. But just as Huy starts to feel at home with his aristocratic new friends, an unexpected attack shockingly takes his life. After five days in a crypt being prepared for his own burial, Huy miraculously revives. His mysterious return to life makes him a pariah, and although he longs to lead a normal life, Huy finds himself haunted by visions of the deaths of those around him. An ingenious and suspenseful novel of ancient Egypt, The Twice Born is a treat for all fans of historical or fantasy fiction.

When Marcus Didius Falco, a Roman “informer” who has a nose for trouble that’s sharper than most, encounters Sosia Camillina in the Forum, he senses immediately all is not right with the pretty girl. She confesses to him that she is fleeing for her life, and Falco makes the...  more

When Marcus Didius Falco, a Roman “informer” who has a nose for trouble that’s sharper than most, encounters Sosia Camillina in the Forum, he senses immediately all is not right with the pretty girl. She confesses to him that she is fleeing for her life, and Falco makes the rash decision to rescue her—a decision he will come to regret. For Sosia bears a heavy burden: as heavy as a pile of stolen Imperial ingots, in fact. Matters just get more complicated when Falco meets Helena Justina, a Senator’s daughter who is connected to the very same traitors he has sworn to expose. Soon Falco finds himself swept from the perilous back alleys of Ancient Rome to the silver mines of distant Britain—and up against a cabal of traitors with blood on their hands and no compunction whatsoever to do away with a snooping plebe like Falco….

“My wooing began in passion, was defined by violence and circumscribed by land; all these elements molded my soul.” So writes Charles O’Brien, the unforgettable hero of bestselling author Frank Delaney’s extraordinary new novel -- a sweeping epic of obsession, profound...  more

“My wooing began in passion, was defined by violence and circumscribed by land; all these elements molded my soul.” So writes Charles O’Brien, the unforgettable hero of bestselling author Frank Delaney’s extraordinary new novel -- a sweeping epic of obsession, profound devotion, and compelling history involving a turbulent era that would shape modern Ireland. Born into a respected Irish-Anglo family in 1860, Charles loves his native land and its long-suffering but irrepressible people. As a healer, he travels the countryside dispensing traditional cures while soaking up stories and legends of bygone times -- and witnessing the painful, often violent birth of land-reform measures destined to lead to Irish independence. At the age of forty, summoned to Paris to treat his dying countryman -- the infamous Oscar Wilde -- Charles experiences the fateful moment of his life. In a chance encounter with a beautiful and determined young Englishwoman, eighteen-year-old April Burke, he is instantly and passionately smitten -- but callously rejected. Vowing to improve himself, Charles returns to Ireland, where he undertakes the preservation of the great and abandoned estate of Tipperary, in whose shadow he has lived his whole life -- and which, he discovers, may belong to April and her father. As Charles pursues his obsession, he writes the “History” of his own life and country. While doing so, he meets the great figures of the day, including Charles Parnell, William Butler Yeats, and George Bernard Shaw. And he also falls victim to less well-known characters -- who prove far more dangerous. Tipperary also features a second “historian:” a present-day commentator, a retired and obscure history teacher who suddenly discovers that he has much at stake in the telling of Charles’s story. In this gloriously absorbing and utterly satisfying novel, a man’s passion for the woman he loves is twinned with his country’s emergence as a nation. With storytelling as sweeping and dramatic as the land itself, myth, fact, and fiction are all woven together with the power of the great nineteenth-century novelists. Tipperary once again proves Frank Delaney’s unrivaled mastery at bringing Irish history to life.

Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy and Sarah Brandt are not the only ones who have recently tied the knot. Family friend Mrs. O’Neill was delighted when her daughter Una wed the seemingly wealthy and charming Randolph Pollock. She didn’t wonder why such an affluent man would want to...  more

Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy and Sarah Brandt are not the only ones who have recently tied the knot. Family friend Mrs. O’Neill was delighted when her daughter Una wed the seemingly wealthy and charming Randolph Pollock. She didn’t wonder why such an affluent man would want to marry a poor Irish girl, no matter how pretty she was. But now Mrs. O’Neill has a problem. Pollock’s servants have found their employer bludgeoned to death with Una cradling his body. Rendered mute by the horror of her husband’s death, Una cannot explain what happened, so the police have charged her with murder and locked her away in the Tombs to await trial. Mrs. O’Neill would like Frank to investigate the case and save Una, yet with Frank and Sarah still on their honeymoon, it’s up to the other members of their newly formed household to do some detective work. But solving the mystery behind Pollock’s death means first discovering the truth about who he really is...

In an adventure filled with highway bandits, unscrupulous politicians, and renegade monks, The Dragon Scroll introduces readers to the lively world of eleventh-century Japan and an irrepressible hero -- Sugawara Akitada. On his first official assignment, Akitada -- an impoverished nobleman and...  more

In an adventure filled with highway bandits, unscrupulous politicians, and renegade monks, The Dragon Scroll introduces readers to the lively world of eleventh-century Japan and an irrepressible hero -- Sugawara Akitada. On his first official assignment, Akitada -- an impoverished nobleman and earnest young government clerk in the Ministry of Justice -- is sent from the capital city on a nearly impossible mission to the distant province of Kazusa to discover why tax convoys are disappearing. In the politically murky world of the Japanese court, he has been set up to fail. Against the odds, the ever-resourceful Akitada, his elderly servant Seimei, and his impudent bodyguard Tora are determined to fulfill their mission and discover the truth in a town of dangerous secrets.