Download Now Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings by Diana Pavlac Glyer

An inspiring look at the creative process

C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Inklings met each week to read and discuss each other's work-in-progress, offering both encouragement and blistering critique. How did these conversations shape the books they were writing? How does creative collaboration enhance individual talent? And what can we learn from their example?

Featuring full-page illustrations by James A. Owen, Bandersnatch offers an inside look at the Inklings of Oxford, and a seat at their table at the Eagle and Child pub. It shows how encouragement and criticism made all the difference in The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and dozens of other books written by the members of their circle. You'll learn what made these writers tick, and more: inspired by their example, you'll discover how collaboration can help your own creative process and lead to genius breakthroughs in whatever work you do. Read Online Book Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings by Diana Pavlac Glyer Full Free

Review :

 No one knows more than Diana Pavlac Glyer about the internal workings of the Inklings. In Bandersnatch, she shows us how they inspired, encouraged, refined and opposed one another in the course of producing some of the greatest literature of the last one hundred years. A brilliant and beautifully clear case study of iron sharpening iron. --Michael Ward, coeditor of C.S. Lewis at Poets Corner

The Inklings are about as important a group as ever existed in the literary world. This tremendous new book about them is much anticipated and hugely welcome! --Eric Metaxas, New York Times Bestselling author of Bonhoeffer and Miracles

What a gift! Bandersnatch is a joy to read and helps dispel that dangerous myth that our greatest writers created in solitude. We all need community in order to do our best work, and this book will show you how some of the greatest minds of the twentieth century did just that. You won't be able to read this book just once. --Jeff Goins, founder of Tribe Writers and author of The Art of Work  

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Free Reading Moonlight Over Paris: A Novel by Jennifer Robson

An aristocratic young woman leaves the sheltered world of London to find adventure, passion, and independence in 1920s Paris in this mesmerizing story from the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of Somewhere in France and After the War is Over.

Spring, 1924

Recovering from a broken wartime engagement and a serious illness that left her near death, Lady Helena Montagu-Douglas-Parr vows that for once she will live life on her own terms. Breaking free from the stifling social constraints of the aristocratic society in which she was raised, she travels to France to stay with her free spirited aunt. For one year, she will simply be Miss Parr. She will explore the picturesque streets of Paris, meet people who know nothing of her past—and pursue her dream of becoming an artist.

A few years after the Great War’s end, the City of Light is a bohemian paradise teeming with actors, painters, writers, and a lively coterie of American expatriates who welcome Helena into their romantic and exciting circle. Among them is Sam Howard, an irascible and infuriatingly honest correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. Dangerously attractive and deeply scarred by the horror and carnage of the war, Sam is unlike any man she has ever encountered. He calls her Ellie, sees her as no one has before, and offers her a glimpse of a future that is both irresistible and impossible.

As Paris rises phoenix-like from the ashes of the Great War, so too does Helena. Though she’s shed her old self, she’s still uncertain of what she will become and where she belongs. But is she strong enough to completely let go of the past and follow her heart, no matter where it leads her?

Artfully capturing the Lost Generation and their enchanting city, Moonlight Over Paris is the spellbinding story of one young woman’s journey to find herself, and claim the life—and love—she truly wants. Read Online Book Moonlight Over Paris: A Novel by Jennifer Robson Full Free

Review :

“Returns with mastery once more to the World War I era…. This is a moving and memorable book.” (Pam Jenoff, bestselling author of The Winter Guest)

“Meticulously researched and richly detailed, Moonlight Over Paris paints an enchanting picture... The elegance of Robson’s prose flows through every page, sweeping the reader from London’s aristocracy to the Parisian art scene and beyond... a heartwarming love story that left me aching for a journey back in time.” (Kristina McMorris, New York Times bestselling author of The Edge of Lost)

“The vibrant whirl of the Paris art community is the ideal setting for this novel of healing and growth. Robson’s lovely prose allows the reader to savor the atmosphere of the Lost Generation, as well as the personal struggles of her characters.” (RT Book Reviews)

“Robson is a master of evoking atmospheric detail that transports readers back in time and place. I loved every page!” (Renee Rosen, author of White Collar Girl)

“Robson gives the concept of self-discovery amid the enchanting streets of Paris a fresh spin in MOONLIGHT OVER PARIS. Delightful and romantic, readers will devour Robson’s latest work.” (Heather Webb, author of Rodin's Lover)

“Robson’s historical research is evident in her great attention to detail, adding realism to a magnetic novel that’s complete with actual historical figures. The blooming romance between Sam and Ellie is intensified by the magic of Paris in the 1920s, where new artists and musicians collaborated to create original masterpieces.” (Publishers Weekly)

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Free Ebook Download: The Dressmaker's War: A Novel from Mary Chamberlain

For readers of Amy Bloom, Sarah Waters, and Anthony Doerr, The Dressmaker’s War is the story of a brilliant English seamstress taken prisoner in Germany during World War II: about her perseverance, the choices she makes to stay alive, and the haunting aftermath of war.
 
London, 1939. Ada Vaughan is a young working-class woman with an unusual skill for dressmaking who dreams of opening her own atelier. When she meets Stanislaus von Lieben, a Hungarian aristocrat, a new, better life seems to arrive. Stanislaus sweeps Ada off her feet and brings her to Paris. But when war breaks out and Stanislaus vanishes, Ada is abandoned and alone, trapped on an increasingly dangerous continent.
 
Taken prisoner by the Germans, Ada does everything she can to survive. In the bleak horror of wartime Germany, Ada’s skill for creating beauty and glamour is the one thing that keeps her safe. But after the war, attempting to rebuild her life in London, Ada finds that no one is interested in the messy truths of what happened to women like her. And though Ada thought she had left the war behind, her past eventually comes to light, with devastating consequences.
 
Gorgeously written and compulsively readable, The Dressmaker’s War introduces us to an unforgettable heroine—Ada Vaughan, a woman whose ambition for a better life ultimately comes at a heartbreaking cost. Read Online Book The Dressmaker's War: A Novel from Mary Chamberlain Full Free

Advance praise for The Dressmaker’s War
 
“Mary Chamberlain’s clear, bright prose is river-swift and Ada Vaughan is a character rich with beautiful, flawed humanity. This is a gripping story about limits and the haunting, brutal way they can be drawn and redrawn in war.”—Priya Parmar, author of Vanessa and Her Sister
 
“A thrilling story, brilliantly told—I couldn’t put it down. Ada Vaughan is a character to fall in love with: utterly real, flawed, and beguiling.”—Saskia Sarginson, author of The Twins and Without You
 
“I found myself completely swept up in this tale of love, ambition, and vanity.”—Juliet West, author ofBefore the Fall
 
“The Dressmaker’s War is a powerful and gripping tale of longings and dreams, and how a chance meeting that seems to offer the answers and more instead comes with devastating consequences. It’s a story about what a person will do and can do under force. The world before, during, and after World War II is amazingly well-drawn. But it is the character of Ada Vaughan that lingers: her resolve, her passion, and her flaws.”—Cecilia Ekbäck, author of Wolf Winter

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Free Reading High Dive: A Novel by Jonathan Lee

“Devastating . . . Inspired . . . We make so many complex emotional investments in the lives of Lee’s characters that it takes a monk’s restraint not to flip to the very end of the book before you get there.” —Jennifer Senior, New York Times

In September 1984, a bomb was planted at the Grand Hotel in the seaside town of Brighton, England, set to explode in twenty-four days when the British prime minister and her entire cabinet would be staying there. High Dive not only takes us inside this audacious assassination attempt—a decisive act of violence on the world stage—but also imagines its way into a group of unforgettable characters. Nimbly weaving together fact and fiction, comedy and tragedy, the story switches among the perspectives of Dan, a young IRA explosives expert; Moose, a former star athlete gone to seed, who is now the deputy hotel manager; and Freya, his teenage daughter, trying to decide what comes after high school. Over the course of a mere four weeks, as the prime minister’s arrival draws closer, each of their lives will be transformed forever.  

A bold, astonishingly intimate novel of laughter and heartbreak, High Dive is a moving portrait of clashing loyalties, guilt and regret, and how individuals become the grist of history. Read Online Book High Dive: A Novel by Jonathan Lee Full Free

Review :

“A masterly novel . . . Achingly good . . . At his best—and he is at it often—Lee displays a nimble metaphysical wit and a verbal ingenuity on a par with Martin Amis’s.”
—Thomas Mallon, The New Yorker 

“High Dive is a novel so smart and compassionate and beautifully written that it asks for total immersion. A reader will hold her breath for long, perfectly-paced stretches, and she will surface, dizzied, at the end.”
—Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies 

“A beautifully realized novel about the intertwining of loyalty, family, ambition and politics…. Long after the bomb goes off, long after I closed the book, I found myself wondering about Moose and Freya and Dan. That persistence of interest is a testament to how fully realized those characters are, and how astonishingly well executed this novel is....Exquisitely rendered.”
—The Washington Post
“Inspired . . . Lee creates a sympathetic ensemble both at the Grand Hotel and in the streets of Belfast, all while making expert use of the dramatic tension inherent in waiting for a lethal explosion . . . [There’s] a sort of phyllo-dough layering that makes High Dive so rich . . . We make so many complex emotional investments in the lives of Lee’s characters that it takes a monk’s restraint not to flip to the very end of the book before you get there . . . There’s great range and compassion and high-definition imagery in Lee’s writing . . . Devastating.”
—Jennifer Senior, New York Times

“A mongrel blend of political thriller, dark comedy, and pathos  . . . Tolstoy’s sense—of an overpowering momentum of events, in which humans may act but ultimately fade back into insignificance—hovers in a ghostly way around the pages of High Dive . . . Boldly imagine[d].”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Highly amusing and ultimately very moving . . . Lee draws the reader into his characters’ lives with such sympathy and affection that when that inevitable explosion occurs, its impact is all the more devastating.”
 —Wall Street Journal
“A tender story about the hopes and flaws of ordinary people made extraordinary by events . . . Lee keeps the drama taut.”
—New York Times Book Review
 
“Brilliant, urgent, unstoppable . . . An incredible novel of rare insight, velocity, depth, and daring.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred, boxed) 

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Read Online The Stopped Heart: A Novel from Julie Myerson

“Bloody brilliant.”—Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train

Internationally bestselling author Julie Myerson’s beautifully written, yet deeply chilling, novel of psychological suspense explores the tragedies—past and present—haunting a picturesque country cottage.

Mary Coles and her husband, Graham, have just moved to a cottage on the edge of a small village. The house hasn’t been lived in for years, but they are drawn to its original features and surprisingly large garden, which stretches down into a beautiful apple orchard. It’s idyllic, remote, picturesque: exactly what they need to put the horror of the past behind them.

One hundred and fifty years earlier, a huge oak tree was felled in front of the cottage during a raging storm. Beneath it lies a young man with a shock of red hair, presumed dead—surely no one could survive such an accident. But the red-haired man is alive, and after a brief convalescence is taken in by the family living in the cottage and put to work in the fields. The children all love him, but the eldest daughter, Eliza, has her reservations. There’s something about the red-haired man that sits ill with her. A presence. An evil.

Back in the present, weeks after moving to the cottage and still drowning beneath the weight of insurmountable grief, Mary Coles starts to sense there’s something in the house. Children’s whispers, footsteps from above, half-caught glimpses of figures in the garden. A young man with a shock of red hair wandering through the orchard.

Has Mary’s grief turned to madness? Or have the events that took place so long ago finally come back to haunt her…? Read Online Book The Stopped Heart: A Novel from Julie Myerson Full Free

Review :

“Can’t remember who…drew my attention to the new Julie Myerson, but whomever it was, thank you. It’s bloody brilliant.” (Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train)

“Increasingly gripping…. What Myerson writes about so well: that eerie sense when something is both familiar and unfamiliar.” (Katharine Weber, New York Times Book Review)

“Gripping parallel narrative.” (New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice)

“On the first page, it’s clear that something indescribably horrific has happened…. This novel is impossible to put down; it will be read compulsively to learn the what of what has happened, if not the why. A stunner.” (Booklist (starred review))

“Just as frightening as Edgar Allan Poe…. Scary, suspenseful, and the most intriguing novel yet. This new thriller by Julie Myerson is incredible.” (San Francisco Book Review)

“Myerson twines a delightfully twisted tale, exposing the dark underbelly of love and the gaping, raw wounds of grief… By turns terrifying and heartbreaking; an enthralling spine-chiller.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“In this hair-raiser, Mary Coles moves to a country cottage that seems too good to be true…and it turns out, she’s right. Goose-bumps ensue.” (Cosmopolitan)

“Beautifully written and cleverly told…. An extraordinarily potent experience and not for the faint-hearted.” (The Guardian)

“The story is heart wrenching, unremittingly grisly…. A thriller and…a page-turner…. The Stopped Heart exposes the flesh of the lives cut in half, the pain and loves of the past, and why they are no less real than the present.” (Independent (UK))

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Free Ebook Download: The Return of the Witch: A Novel by Paula Brackston

Paula Brackston's debut novel, The Witch's Daughter, was the little book that could--with a captivating story, remarkable heroine, and eye-catching package, it has now netted over 200,000 copies in all formats. Now Paula returns with its sequel The Return of the Witch, another bewitching tale of love and magic, featuring her signature blend of gorgeous writing, a fabulous and intriguing historical backdrop, and a headstrong and relatable heroine readers will cheer for.

After five years in the Summerlands, Gideon has gained his freedom. Elizabeth knows he will go straight for Tegan, and that she must protect the girl she had come to regard as her own daughter. In the time since she the dramatic night in Batchcombe woods, Tegan has traveled the world learning from all manner of witches, and she is no longer the awkward teenager and novice spellcaster she once was. However, her skills are no match for Gideon's dark, vengeful power, and he succeeds in capturing her. Will Elizabeth be able to find her? Will they be able to defeat their nemesis once and for all?

In a breathless journey that takes them through history to the 17th and 19th centuries, witch pursues warlock. Three people steeped in magic weave a new story, but not all will survive until the end. Read Online Book The Return of the Witch: A Novel by Paula Brackston Full Free

Review :

"By Chapter Four I was cheering 'Yes! We're going back to the seventeenth century.' Dark events trigger a fascinating chase through the centuries that will appeal to fantasy and historical readers alike. Elizabeth and Tegan are back in a heart-warming tale of witchery, female power and tantalising time travel." - Martine Bailey, author of A Taste for Nightshades

Praise for The Witch's Daughter:

"A riveting tale of sorcery and time travel."-Marie Claire

"Well-crafted characters in an absorbing plot and an altogether delicious blend of historical fiction and fantasy." --Booklist

"This pleasantly romantic historical fantasy debut flips lightly between the past experiences of ageless witch Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith and her present-day life in Matravers, England... Bess's adventures are fascinating." --Publishers Weekly

"Stretching her tale over several centuries, British-based Brackston brings energy as well as commercial savvy to her saga of innocence and the dark arts." --Kirkus

“The Witch's Daughter is a must read for anyone who loves magic set in the real world, who craves a well-written novel with historical elements along with romance and witchcraft tied into a tension-filled plot and vivid imagery, and, of course, who seeks an escape from their own lives if only for a moment.” ―Huffington Post

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Download Ebook: Journey to Munich: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Working with the British Secret Service on an undercover mission, Maisie Dobbs is sent to Hitler’s Germany in this thrilling tale of danger and intrigue—the twelfth novel in Jacqueline Winspear’s New York Times bestselling “series that seems to get better with each entry” (Wall Street Journal).

It’s early 1938, and Maisie Dobbs is back in England. On a fine yet chilly morning, as she walks towards Fitzroy Square—a place of many memories—she is intercepted by Brian Huntley and Robert MacFarlane of the Secret Service. The German government has agreed to release a British subject from prison, but only if he is handed over to a family member. Because the man’s wife is bedridden and his daughter has been killed in an accident, the Secret Service wants Maisie—who bears a striking resemblance to the daughter—to retrieve the man from Dachau, on the outskirts of Munich.

The British government is not alone in its interest in Maisie’s travel plans. Her nemesis—the man she holds responsible for her husband’s death—has learned of her journey, and is also desperate for her help.

Traveling into the heart of Nazi Germany, Maisie encounters unexpected dangers—and finds herself questioning whether it’s time to return to the work she loved. But the Secret Service may have other ideas. . . . Read Online Book Journey to Munich: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear Full Free

Review :

“In Winspear’s skilled hands, the storyline shimmers with intelligence, the Third Reich setting simmers with evil, and the author’s silken prose sweeps the reader from page to page. But towering above all the novel’s assets is Maisie herself…. ‘Journey to Munich’ soars with class and courage, heart and humanity.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

“Paints a keen picture of a woman and a country struggling to remain calm in the face of sweeping changes.... Deftly blending historical detail with taut suspense and her usual thoughtful exploration of Maisie’s inner life, Winspear turns in another satisfying entry in her beloved series.” (Shelf Awareness)

“Maisie Dobbs has found herself another war…. Sizzling.” (Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review)
“Taut, tense, beautifully written.… What you may not expect is the inventiveness of Winspear’s twists, the on-edge excitement they provoke, or the philosophical issues and psychological depths they all her to explore.” (Robert Bianco, USA Today)

“Elegantly balances Maisie’s emotional turmoil and dogged patriotism with the growing tensions of a Europe on the brink of war.” (Kirkus)

“Maisie Dobbs proves herself wily and fiercely determined again in this twelfth series entry.” (Booklist)

“A detective series to savor.” (Time)

“For readers yearning for the calm and insightful intelligence of a main character like P.D. James’s Cordelia Gray, Maisie Dobbs is spot on.” (Boston Globe)

“Maisie Dobbs is a revelation.” (Alexander McCall Smith)

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Read Free Book: The North Water: A Novel by Ian McGuire

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice 

A nineteenth-century whaling ship sets sail for the Arctic with a killer aboard in this dark, sharp, and highly original tale that grips like a thriller.

Behold the man: stinking, drunk, and brutal. Henry Drax is a harpooner on the Volunteer, a Yorkshire whaler bound for the rich hunting waters of the arctic circle. Also aboard for the first time is Patrick Sumner, an ex-army surgeon with a shattered reputation, no money, and no better option than to sail as the ship's medic on this violent, filthy, and ill-fated voyage.

In India, during the Siege of Delhi, Sumner thought he had experienced the depths to which man can stoop. He had hoped to find temporary respite on the Volunteer, but rest proves impossible with Drax on board. The discovery of something evil in the hold rouses Sumner to action. And as the confrontation between the two men plays out amid the freezing darkness of an arctic winter, the fateful question arises: who will survive until spring?

With savage, unstoppable momentum and the blackest wit, Ian McGuire's The North Water weaves a superlative story of humanity under the most extreme conditions. Read Online Book The North Water: A Novel by Ian McGuire Full Free

Review :

"The North Water...is a great white shark of a book ― swift, terrifying, relentless and unstoppable."―Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“Riveting and darkly brilliant….The North Water feels like the result of an encounter between Joseph Conrad and Cormac McCarthy in some run-down port as they offer each other a long, sour nod of recognition.”
―Colm Toibin, The New York Times Book Review

"[An] audacious work of historical suspense fiction...It's the poetic precision of McGuire's harsh vision of the past that makes his novel such a standout...absolutely transporting."
―Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air

“The North Water is a conspiracy thriller stuffed into the skin of a blood-and-guts whaling yarn… The novel is a stunning achievement, by turns great fun and shocking, thrilling and provocative. . . . Behold: one of the finest books of the year.”
―Independent

“McGuire delivers one bravura set-piece after another….The North Water has, in places, a Conrad–Melville undercurrent, but for the most part it is Dickens’s influence that is most keenly felt….This is a stunning novel, one that snares the reader from the outset and keeps the tightest grip until its bitter end.”
―Financial Times

“McGuire’s prose is fresh and vivid and his novel as a whole is atmospheric and intellectually fecund. Its surface might be awash with blood; but beneath it flows a current of dark and transporting beauty.”
―Spectator

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Free Download Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen: A Novel (Six Tudor Queens) by Alison Weir

Bestselling author and acclaimed historian Alison Weir takes on what no fiction writer has done before: creating a dramatic six-book series in which each novel covers one of King Henry VIII’s wives. In this captivating opening volume, Weir brings to life the tumultuous tale of Katherine of Aragon, Henry’s first, devoted, and “true” queen.
 
A princess of Spain, Catalina is only sixteen years old when she sets foot on the shores of England. The youngest daughter of the powerful monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Catalina is a coveted prize for a royal marriage—and Arthur, Prince of Wales, and heir to the English throne, has won her hand. But tragedy strikes and Catalina, now Princess Katherine, is betrothed to the future Henry VIII. She must wait for his coming-of-age, an ordeal that tests her resolve, casts doubt on her trusted confidantes, and turns her into a virtual prisoner.
 
Katherine’s patience is rewarded when she becomes Queen of England. The affection between Katherine and Henry is genuine, but forces beyond her control threaten to rend her marriage, and indeed the nation, apart. Henry has fallen under the spell of Katherine’s maid of honor, Anne Boleyn. Now Katherine must be prepared to fight, to the end if God wills it, for her faith, her legitimacy, and her heart. Read Online Book Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen: A Novel (Six Tudor Queens) by Alison Weir Full Free

Praise for Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen
 
“As always, Weir demonstrates a keen eye for crafting dramatic scenes of beautiful, accurate detail, instilling in the reader’s mind’s eye a definite you-are-there sense. . . . If this greatly impressive inaugural installment is any indication, Tudor lovers have much to look forward to.”—Booklist (starred review)
 
“Vividly detailed . . . Weir brings considerable expertise to her fictional retelling of the life of Katherine of Aragon. . . . [The author] portrays her sympathetically as both credulous and steely.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“The novel provides a fascinating glimpse into the personal life of Queen Katherine behind the intricate and vicious political intrigues of the Tudor court. . . . Meticulous research, combined with Alison Weir’s empathy for her subject, makes this an illuminating and engaging portrait of ‘the true queen.’”—Historical Novels Review
 
“[Weir’s] fresh approach to Henry’s first wife [is] a wonderful place to start for those unfamiliar with Katherine’s story. Weir’s portrayal is far from that of a weak, victimized woman, but one of a courageous, strong, devoted queen fighting for her life and rights. An easy, quick read to begin the series.”—RT Book Reviews

“In this first novel of the Six Tudor Queens series, Alison Weir dazzlingly brings Katherine of Aragon to life. Based on extensive new research, it is a portrayal that shatters the many myths about Henry VIII’s long-suffering first wife. Far from being the one-dimensional victim of history, she emerges as a charismatic, indomitable, and courageous heroine whose story never fails to enthrall.”—Tracy Borman, author of Thomas Cromwell
 
“Yet again, Alison Weir has managed to intertwine profound historical knowledge with huge emotional intelligence, to compose a work that throws light on an endlessly fascinating figure. But her real gift in all of this is making it feel so fresh and alive.”—Charles Spencer, author of Killers of the King

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Online Reading Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay

The bestselling author of the groundbreaking novels Under Heaven and River of Stars, Guy Gavriel Kay is back with a new book, set in a world inspired by the conflicts and dramas of Renaissance Europe. Against this tumultuous backdrop the lives of men and women unfold on the borderlands—where empires and faiths collide.
 
From the small coastal town of Senjan, notorious for its pirates, a young woman sets out to find vengeance for her lost family. That same spring, from the wealthy city-state of Seressa, famous for its canals and lagoon, come two very different people: a young artist traveling to the dangerous east to paint the grand khalif at his request—and possibly to do more—and a fiercely intelligent, angry woman, posing as a doctor’s wife, but sent by Seressa as a spy.
 
The trading ship that carries them is commanded by the accomplished younger son of a merchant family, ambivalent about the life he’s been born to live. And farther east a boy trains to become a soldier in the elite infantry of the khalif—to win glory in the war everyone knows is coming.
 
As these lives entwine, their fates—and those of many others—will hang in the balance, when the khalif sends out his massive army to take the great fortress that is the gateway to the western world... Read Online Book Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay Full Free

Review :

Praise for Children of Earth and Sky
“Guy Gavriel Kay has a wonderful talent. He tells stories in an invented world that is so rich in historical echoes that I found myself smiling with pleasure as I heard the echoes, while engrossed in the story. Warmly recommended.”—Edward Rutherfurd, New York Times bestselling author of Paris: The Novel
“Kay triumphs at creating complex political landscapes and then populating them with characters who make the stakes important and the struggles real. Another magnificent ­history-that-never-was from a master.”—Library Journal (starred review)

Praise for the novels of Guy Gavriel Kay
 
“Kay is peerless in plucking elements from history and using them to weave a wholly fantastical tale that feels like a translation of some freshly unearthed scroll from a time we have yet to discover.”—Miami Herald
 
“Game of Thrones in China.”—Salon.com
 
“With River of Stars, Kay transports readers to a dazzling court and the ravages of war, with language almost impossibly multilayered in its nuance and tone, offering a series of insights that exquisitely build on each other.”—The Huffington Post
 
“Under Heaven is virtually everything a reader could want in a book: a thrilling adventure, a love story, a coming-of-age tale, a military chronicle, a court-intrigue drama, a tragedy and on and on. It is a sumptuous feast of storytelling, a beautifully written tale with a beating, breaking heart at its core that will have readers in tears by its final pages.”—Globe and Mail (Canada)
 
“Historical fantasy of the highest order, the work of a man who may well be the reigning master of the form.”—The Washington Post Book World


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Online Reading Mothering Sunday: A Romance from Graham Swift

A luminous, intensely moving tale that begins with a secret lovers’ assignation in the spring of 1924, then unfolds to reveal the whole of a remarkable life. 
            
Twenty-two-year-old Jane Fairchild has worked as a maid at an English country house since she was sixteen. For almost all of those years she has been the clandestine lover to Paul Sheringham, young heir of a neighboring house. The two now meet on an unseasonably warm March day—Mothering Sunday—a day that will change Jane’s life forever. 
            
As the narrative moves back and forth from 1924 to the end of the century, what we know and understand about Jane—about the way she loves, thinks, feels, sees, remembers—expands with every vividly captured moment. Her story is one of profound self-discovery, and through her, Graham Swift has created an emotionally soaring, deeply affecting work of fiction. Read Online Book Mothering Sunday: A Romance from Graham Swift Full Free

Review :

“A demonstration of what this Booker winner can do.”
—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
 
 “Save some tissues for Graham Swift’s latest, an exquisite, emotionally resonant romance.”
—Entertainment Weekly

"Intense . . . the lush, sorroful prose gives considerable pleasure."
—Sophie Gee, The New York Times Book Review“Graham Swift’s slim, incantatory new book is one of those deceptively spare tales (like Julian Barnes’ The Sense of an Ending) that punch well above their weight. . . . More than just a story about crossing ‘impossible barriers’ like class and education it is a love song to books, and to finding words, language, and a voice. . . . It is a book you’ll want to read more than once—and then urge on your friends.”
—Heller McAlpin, NPR
“Swift accomplishes a great deal in such a tight narrative. . . . A sort of deeper Downton Abbey . . . It can be read in a sitting or two, and could make your day.”
—Robert Cremins, Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Mothering Sunday is a dazzling read: sexy, stylish, subversive. You finish it and immediately read it again.”
—Jackie McGlone, The Herald (Scotland)

“A kind of feminist Cinderella . . . haunting . . . possesses a new emotional intensity.”
—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
 
“In examining Jane’s fears and her joys, her dreams and her dreads, Swift captures—in all its complexity—what it means to love someone you know will hurt you. But Mothering Sunday is about more than that. It is about every unrealized future, about ‘all the scenes that never occur, but wait in the wings of possibility’ . . . a touching, profound and—above all—intimate portrayal of a relationship from the perspective of a woman whom it indelibly changed.”
—Drew Schwartz, Readers Digest


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Online Reading Lost Among the Living from Simone St. James

England, 1921. Three years after her husband, Alex, disappeared, shot down over Germany, Jo Manders still mourns his loss. Working as a paid companion to Alex's wealthy, condescending aunt, Dottie Forsyth, Jo travels to the family’s estate in the Sussex countryside. But there is much she never knew about her husband’s origins…and the revelation of a mysterious death in the Forsyths’ past is just the beginning…
 
All is not well at Wych Elm House. Dottie's husband is distant, and her son was grievously injured in the war. Footsteps follow Jo down empty halls, and items in her bedroom are eerily rearranged. The locals say the family is cursed, and that a ghost in the woods has never rested. And when Jo discovers her husband’s darkest secrets, she wonders if she ever really knew him.  Isolated in a place of deception and grief, she must find the truth or lose herself forever.
 
And then a familiar stranger arrives at Wych Elm House… Read Online Book Lost Among the Living from Simone St. James Full Free

Review :

Praise for Lost Among the Living
“Though all of St. James’s books are splendid, this is her finest since The Haunting of Maddy Clare. The suspense level is top-notch, and the romance is one of the author’s very best.”—Library Journal
 
“Readers who enjoyed the classic Rebecca or even witnessed the Alfred Hitchcock film version, will absolutely love this story…A book that could very well one day become its own classic…This is the perfect blend of history and mystery, with a little paranormal activity and romance thrown in for the ride.”—Suspense Magazine 

Praise for the Award-Winning Novels of Simone St. James
 
“Downright scary and atmospheric. I flew through the pages.”—Lisa Gardner, New York Times Bestselling Author of Crash and Burn
 
“Chilling romantic suspense that evokes the lost era between the world wars.”—Susanna Kearsley, New York Times Bestselling Author of A Desperate Fortune
 
“Drips with atmosphere and emotion.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“Psychic Ellie Winter and her partner, war-damaged James Hawley, have terrific chemistry.”—Susan Elia MacNeal, New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope Mysteries 
 
“A 21st-century version of Mary Stewart...St. James layers the atmosphere with the requisite dread, and one can’t help but read on...Just the right mix of suspense, creepiness, and empathy.”—National Post (Toronto)


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