Bookcaffe

Don Tillman is getting married. He just doesn’t know who to yet.But he has designed the Wife Project, using a sixteen-page questionnaire to help him find the perfect partner. She will most definitely not be a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also fiery & intelligent & beautiful. And on a quest of her own to find her biological father—a search that Don, a professor of genetics, might just be able to help her with.The Wife Project teaches Don some unexpected things. Why earlobe length is an inadequate predictor of sexual attraction. Why quick-dry clothes aren’t appropriate attire in New York. Why he’s never been on a second date. And why, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love: love finds you

In‎ northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnusdottir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of two men.Agnes is sent to wait out the time leading to her execution on the farm of District Officer Jon Jonsson, his wife & their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderess in their midst, the family avoids speaking w/ Agnes. Only Toti, the young assistant reverend appointed as Agnes's spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her, as he attempts to salvage her soul. As the summer months fall away to winter & the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes's ill-fated tale of longing & betrayal begins to emerge. And as the days to her execution draw closer, the question burns: did she or didn't she?

'Seek & ye shall find.' With these words echoing in his head, eminent Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon awakes in a hospital bed w/ no recollection of where he is or how he got there. Nor can he explain the origin of the macabre object that is found hidden in his belongings. A threat to his life will propel him & a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, into a breakneck chase across the city of Florence. Only Langdon's knowledge of hidden passageways & ancient secrets that lie behind its historic facade can save them from the clutches of their unknown pursuers. With only a few lines from Dante's dark & epic masterpiece, The Inferno, to guide them, they must decipher a sequence of codes buried deep within some of the most celebrated artefacts of the Renaissance - sculptures, paintings, buildings - to find the answers to a puzzle which may, or may not, help them save the world from a terrifying threat... Set against an extraordinary landscape inspired by one of history's most ominous literary classics, Inferno is Dan Brown's most compelling & thought-provoking novel yet, a breathless race-against-time thriller that will grab you from page one & not let you go until you close the book.

'Seek & ye shall find.' With these words echoing in his head, eminent Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon awakes in a hospital bed w/ no recollection of where he is or how he got there. Nor can he explain the origin of the macabre object that is found hidden in his belongings. A threat to his life will propel him & a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, into a breakneck chase across the city of Florence. Only Langdon's knowledge of hidden passageways & ancient secrets that lie behind its historic facade can save them from the clutches of their unknown pursuers. With only a few lines from Dante's dark & epic masterpiece, The Inferno, to guide them, they must decipher a sequence of codes buried deep within some of the most celebrated artefacts of the Renaissance - sculptures, paintings, buildings - to find the answers to a puzzle which may, or may not, help them save the world from a terrifying threat... Set against an extraordinary landscape inspired by one of history's most ominous literary classics, Inferno is Dan Brown's most compelling & thought-provoking novel yet, a breathless race-against-time thriller that will grab you from page one & not let you go until you close the book.

This mesmerizing Australian novel has been a bestselling book around the world, & Hollywood movie rights were recently snapped up by Dreamworks, w/ David Heyman (Harry Potter) set to produce. Winner of the Indie Awards 'Book of the Year' 2013. They break the rules & follow their hearts. What happens next will break yours. 1926. Tom Sherbourne is a young lighthouse keeper on a remote island off Western Australia. The only inhabitants of Janus Rock, he & his wife Isabel live a quiet life, cocooned from the rest of the world. Then one April morning a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man & a crying infant - & the path of the couple's lives hits an unthinkable crossroads. Only years later do they discover the devastating consequences of the decision they made that day - as the baby's real story unfolds ... Recently voted Historical Novel of the Year 2012 by GoodReads' reading community.

In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnusdottir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of two men.Agnes is sent to wait out the time leading to her execution on the farm of District Officer Jon Jonsson, his wife & their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderess in their midst, the family avoids speaking w/ Agnes. Only Toti, the young assistant reverend appointed as Agnes's spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her, as he attempts to salvage her soul. As the summer months fall away to winter & the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes's ill-fated tale of longing & betrayal begins to emerge. And as the days to her execution draw closer, the question burns: did she or didn't she?

Don Tillman is getting married. He just doesn’t know who to yet.But he has designed the Wife Project, using a sixteen-page questionnaire to help him find the perfect partner. She will most definitely not be a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also fiery & intelligent & beautiful. And on a quest of her own to find her biological father—a search that Don, a professor of genetics, might just be able to help her with.The Wife Project teaches Don some unexpected things. Why earlobe length is an inadequate predictor of sexual attraction. Why quick-dry clothes aren’t appropriate attire in New York. Why he’s never been on a second date. And why, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love: love finds you.

"Murder, mystery & romance weave a web of intrigue through the tensions & prejudices of wartime Australia. A rewarding read, I loved it." Liz Byrski It's January 1943. Australia is at war & Perth is buzzing. US troops have money, accents like movie stars, tailored uniforms & good manners. It's the 'American occupation' & many Perth women are having the time of their lives. Not Meg Eaton, however. The war has brought her nothing but heartbreak. Until, in the middle of a Perth heat-wave, she meets her dead lover's brother & discovers a body in her neighbour's back yard - murdered - & her life changes forever

There are two sides to every story. This is THE US No. 1 bestselling novel that everyone is talking about. . . 'What are you thinking, Amy?' The question I've asked most often during our marriage, if not out loud, if not to the person who could answer. I suppose these questions stormcloud over every marriage: 'What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?' Just how well can you ever know the person you love? This is the question that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife? And what was in that half-wrapped box left so casually on their marital bed? In this novel, marriage truly is the art of war.

Don Tillman is getting married. He just doesn’t know who to yet. But he has designed the Wife Project, using a sixteen-page questionnaire to help him find the perfect partner. She will most definitely not be a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also fiery & intelligent & beautiful. And on a quest of her own to find her biological father—a search that Don, a professor of genetics, might just be able to help her with.the Wife Project teaches Don some unexpected things. Why earlobe length is an inadequate predictor of sexual attraction. Why quick-dry clothes aren’t appropriate attire in New York. Why he’s never been on a second date. And why, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love: love finds you.

An‎ unforgettable novel that brings to life a new mother's worst fears.Tony is worried. His wife, Anna, isn't coping w/ their newborn. Anna had wanted a child so badly and, when Jack was born, they were both so happy. They'd come home from the hospital a family. Was it really only six weeks ago?But Anna hasn't been herself since. One moment she's crying, the next she seems almost too positive. It must be normal w/ a baby, Tony thought; she's just adjusting. He had been busy at work. It would sort itself out. But now Anna & Jack are missing. And Tony realises that something is really wrong...What happens to this family will break your heart & leave you breathless.

An epic story of love.From Joe Wright the director of 'Atonement' & 'Pride & Prejudice' A screenplay by Tome Stoppard Anna Karenina seems to have everything - beauty, wealth, popularity, & an adored son.But she feels that her life is empty until the moment she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky. Their subsequent affair scandalizes society & family alike, & soon brings jealousy & bitterness in it's wake. Contrasting w/ this tale of love & self-destruction is the vividly observed story of Levin, a man striving to find contentment & a maning to his life - & also a self-portrait of Tolstoy himself.

“The floorboards were hard & uneven as she knelt beside the Saratoga. Squeezing the corroded latch, Gin carefully eased open the lid, trying to predict the treasures inside. The lining was shabby & mottled w/ mildew, & drifts of mustiness filled the air as she began to unearth the contents from the shrouding dust. Mostly books, she found, a few toys, & a fat-cheeked doll lying naked on top. What had she expected?” Local author Lynne Leonhardt’s stunning first novel has met w/ fantastic reviews since its publication, & well & truly deserves to be at the top of anyone’s ‘To-Read’ wishlist.

Don Tillman is getting married. He just doesn’t know who to yet. But he has designed the Wife Project, using a sixteen-page questionnaire to help him find the perfect partner. She will most definitely not be a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also fiery & intelligent & beautiful. And on a quest of her own to find her biological father—a search that Don, a professor of genetics, might just be able to help her with.The Wife Project teaches Don some unexpected things. Why earlobe length is an inadequate predictor of sexual attraction. Why quick-dry clothes aren’t appropriate attire in New York. Why he’s never been on a second date. And why, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love: love finds you.

In a suburb called Success, failure is not an option. Harry & Louisa look like an ordinary couple. They live in an ordinary house in an ordinary street in a suburb called Success. Harry says it is better to let sleeping dogs lie. But Buster their dog isn't one for lying still, & even Harry can't resist digging up the lawnmower he finds buried in the yard. Louisa, too, wishes things would just stay as they are. But sometimes, if you dig a little deeper, past the losses, the secret longings, the broken dreams, you find the most surprising things.

A compelling prelude to Great Expectations, telling compelling story of Miss Havisham's early life, before heartbreak came to define her entirely.Catherine Havisham was born into privilege. Handsome, imperious, she is the daughter of a wealthy brewer, & lives in luxury in Satis House. But she is never far from the smell of hops & the arresting letters on the brewhouse wall - Havisham. A reminder of all she owes to the family name & the family business.Sent by her father to stay w/ the Chadwycks, Catherine discovers literature, music & masquerades - elegant pastimes to remove the taint of new money. But for all her growing sophistication Catherine is anything but worldly, & when a charismatic stranger pays her attention, everything - her heart, her future, the very Havisham name - is vulnerable.It is a masterly tribute to one of Dickens's most celebrated & iconic characters.

Berlin 1920. Two babies are born. Two brothers. United & indivisible, sharing everything. Twins in all but blood.As Germany marches into its Nazi Armageddon, the ties of family, friendship & love are tested to the very limits of endurance. And the brothers are faced w/ an unimaginable choice.... Which one of them will survive?Ben Elton's most personal novel to date, Two Brothers transports the reader to the time of history's darkest hour.

When modest Quaker Honor Bright sails from Bristol w/ her sister, she is fleeing heartache for a new life in America, far from home. But tragedy leaves her alone & vulnerable, torn between two worlds & dependent on the kindness of strangers. Life in 1850s Ohio is precarious & unsentimental. The sun is too hot, the thunderstorms too violent, the snow too deep. The roads are spattered w/ mud & spit. The woods are home to skunks & porcupines & raccoons. They also shelter slaves escaping north to freedom. Should Honor hide runaways from the ruthless men who hunt them down? The Quaker community she has joined may oppose slavery in principle, but does it have the courage to help her defy the law? As she struggles to find her place & her voice, Honor must decide what she is willing to risk for her beliefs. Set in the tangled forests & sunlit cornfields of Ohio, Tracy Chevalier’s vivid novel is the story of bad men & spirited women, surprising marriages & unlikely friendships, & the remarkable power of defiance.

Discontented‎ w/ her life of poverty on a failing farm in the Eastern United States, Dellarobia, a young mother, impulsively seeks out an affair. Instead, on the Appalachian mountains above her farm, she discovers something much more profoundly life-changing - a beautiful & terrible marvel of nature. As the world around her is suddenly transformed by a seeming miracle, can the old certainties they have lived by for centuries remain unchallenged?

1926. Tom Sherbourne is a young lighthouse keeper on a remote island off Western Australia. The only inhabitants of Janus Rock, he & his wife Isabel live a quiet life, cocooned from the rest of the world. One April morning a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man & a crying infant - & the path of the couple's lives hits an unthinkable crossroads.Only years later do they discover the devastating consequences of the decision they made that day - as the baby's real story unfolds...

“The floorboards were hard & uneven as she knelt beside the Saratoga. Squeezing the corroded latch, Gin carefully eased open the lid, trying to predict the treasures inside. The lining was shabby & mottled w/ mildew, & drifts of mustiness filled the air as she began to unearth the contents from the shrouding dust. Mostly books, she found, a few toys, & a fat-cheeked doll lying naked on top. What had she expected?” Local author Lynne Leonhardt’s stunning first novel has met w/ fantastic reviews since its publication, & well & truly deserves to be at the top of anyone’s ‘To-Read’ wishlist.

1961:‎ On a sweltering summer's day, while her family picnics by the stream on their Suffolk farm, sixteen-year-old Laurel hides out in her childhood tree house dreaming of a boy called Billy, a move to London, & the bright future she can't wait to seize. But before the idyllic afternoon is over, Laurel will have witnessed a shocking crime that changes everything.2011: Now a much-loved actress, Laurel finds herself overwhelmed by shades of the past. Haunted by memories, & the mystery of what she saw that day, she returns to her family home & begins to piece together a secret history. A tale of three strangers from vastly different worlds - Dorothy, Vivien & Jimmy - who are brought together by chance in wartime London & whose lives become fiercely & fatefully entwined.

It is less than twenty-four hours since Charlie received the phone call from his mother & in those hours his only thought has been that Whisky must not die. He must not die because he, Charlie, needs more time. He & Whisky have not been friends, have not talked or laughed together for months, years. But he has never thought it will end like this. He has always thought there will be time.

In Bring up the Bodies sequel to the Man Booker Prize-winning Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel explores one of the most mystifying & frightening episodes in English history: the destruction of Anne Boleyn. When Henry visits Wolf Hall, Cromwell watches as Henry falls in love w/ the silent, plain Jane Seymour. The minister sees what is at stake: not just the king’s pleasure, but the safety of the nation. As he eases a way through the sexual politics of the court, its miasma of gossip, he must negotiate a 'truth’ that will satisfy Henry & secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge undamaged from the bloody theatre of Anne’s final days. This new novel is a speaking picture, an audacious vision of Tudor England that sheds its light on the modern world. It is the work of one of our great writers at the height of her powers.

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, w/ a cobbled market square & an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war. Rich at war w/ poor, teenagers at war w/ their parents, wives at war w/ their husbands, teachers at war w/ their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught w/ passion, duplicity & unexpected revelations? A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.

Dear‎ Sir/Ma'am, Please find enclosed this AMBER AMULET. That must sound unusual to a citizen, but you will have to trust me on this count because the science is too detailed for me to outline here. All you need to know is that the AMBER AMULET will eliminate your unhappiness by counteracting it w/ POSITIVE ENERGY. This should see you straight. Fear not, you're in safe hands now.Take care, The Masked Avenger

Clover, Addison, Mia & Jane were college roommates until their graduation in 1989. Now, twenty years later, their lives are in free fall.Clover, once a securities broker w/ Lehman Brothers, living the Manhattan dream, is out of a job, newly married & fretting about her chances of having a baby. Addison's marriage to a novelist w/ writers' block is as stale as her artistic 'career'. Mia's acting ambitions never got off the ground & she now stays home w/ her four children, renovating & acquiring faster than her Hollywood director husband can pay the bills. Jane, once the Paris bureau chief for a newspaper, now the victim of budget cuts, has been blindsided by different sorts of loss.The four friends have kept up w/ one another via the red book, a class report published every five years, in which alumni write brief updates about their lives. But there's the story we tell the world & then there's the real story…

Former model turned forensic psychologist & PI Mak Vanderwall is missing, presumed dead in Paris. By hiring a hit man to kill her, the powerful & corrupt Cavanagh family aimed to silence her for good. But after narrowly escaping death, Mak has taken over her would-be killer's world. She is very much alive. And transformed ...Back in Sydney Mak's former flame, criminal profiler Andy Flynn is on the trail of a vicious rapist & murderer w/ possible ties to the infamous 'Stiletto Killer'. He may have struck before & will certainly do so again. And while Andy struggles to cope in a world without Mak, little does he realise she is on her way back. And this time she's ready to make her own justice.

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, w/ a cobbled market square & an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war. Rich at war w/ poor, teenagers at war w/ their parents, wives at war w/ their husbands, teachers at war w/ their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught w/ passion, duplicity & unexpected revelations? A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.

From the critically acclaimed, bestselling author of "Birdsong," new fiction about love & war--five transporting stories & five unforgettable lives, linked across centuries. In Second World War Poland, a young prisoner closes his eyes & pictures going to bat on a sunlit English cricket ground. Across the yard of a Victorian poorhouse, a man is too ashamed to acknowledge the son he gave away. In a 19th-century French village, an old servant understands--suddenly & w/ awe--the meaning of the Bible story her master is reading to her. On a summer evening in the Catskills in 1971, a skinny girl steps out of a Chevy w/ a guitar & w/ a song that will send shivers through her listeners' skulls. A few years from now, in Italy, a gifted scientist discovers links between time & the human brain & between her lover's novel & his life. Throughout the five masterpieces of fiction that make up "A Possible Life," exquisitely drawn & unforgettable characters risk their bodies, hearts & minds in pursuit of the manna of human connection.

Set in hardscrabble farming country & around the country show high-jumping circuit that prevailed in rural New South Wales prior to the Second World War, Foal's Bread tells the story of two generations of the Nancarrow family & their fortunes as dictated by the vicissitudes of the land.It is a love story of impossible beauty & sadness, a chronicle of dreams 'turned inside out', & miracles that never last, framed against a world both tender & unspeakably hard. Written in luminous prose & w/ an aching affinity for the landscape the book describes, Foal's Bread is the work of a born writer at the height of her considerable powers. It is a stunning work of remarkable originality & power, one that confirms Gillian Mears' reputation as one of our most exciting & acclaimed writers.

Britain, 1972. Serena Frome, the beautiful daughter of an Anglican bishop, finds herself being groomed for the intelligence services in her final year at Cambridge. The cultural cold war continues & the country is being torn apart by industrial unrest & terrorism. Serena is sent on a 'secret mission' which brings her into the literary world of Tom Haley, a promising young writer. First she loves his stories, then she begins to love the man. Can she maintain the fiction of her undercover life? To answer this question, Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage...Trust no one. McEwan's mastery dazzles us in this superbly deft & witty story of betrayal & intrigue, love, & the invented self.

Paul Lohman & his wife, Claire, are going out to dinner w/ Paul's brother Serge, a charismatic & ambitious politician, & his wife, Babette. Paul knows the evening will not be fun. The restaurant will be over-priced & pretentious, the head waiter will bore on about the organically certified free-range this & artisan-fed that, & almost everything about Serge, especially his success, will infuriate Paul. But as the evening wears on it becomes clear that tonight's dinner will be even more difficult than usual. There is something the two couples have to discuss. It's about their teenage sons & the very bad thing they have been doing. And it's about how far two sets of parents will go to save their children from the consequences of their actions.

Nebraska - & Jack Reacher, huge, hulking & w/ a freshly busted nose, is still trying to hitch a ride east to Virginia. He's picked up by three strangers - two men & a woman. Immediately he knows they're all lying about something - & then they run into a police roadblock on the highway. But they get through. Because the three are innocent? Or because the three are now four? Is Reacher a decoy?Author Biography: Lee Child is one of the world's leading thriller writers. His novels consistently achieve the number one slot in hardback & paperback on bestsellers lists on both sides of the Atlantic, & are translated into over forty languages. His debut novel, Killing Floor, was written after he was made redundant from his television job in Manchester, & introduced his much-admired maverick hero, the former military cop Jack Reacher.He won the prestigious Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2011 prize w/ 61 Hours. Born in Coventry, he now lives in America.

1926. Tom Sherbourne is a young lighthouse keeper on a remote island off Western Australia. The only inhabitants of Janus Rock, he & his wife Isabel live a quiet life, cocooned from the rest of the world. One April morning a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man & a crying infant - & the path of the couple's lives hits an unthinkable crossroads. Only years later do they discover the devastating consequences of the decision they made that day - as the baby's real story unfolds...

Susan Swingler is the step-daughter of one of Australia's most revered writers – Elizabeth Jolley. Abandoned by her father Leonard at the age of four, Susan had no contact w/ the Jolley family until they found & reclaimed her at the age of twenty-one. Why they were kept apart is the subject of this startling new memoir. The House of Fiction tells the story of Swingler's quest to find her father. As she painstakingly traces & documents clues to a better understanding of Leonard, she inadvertently unravels an intricate fiction created by Elizabeth Jolley to protect those she loved.

We are in Prague, in 1942. Two men have been enlisted to kill the head of the Gestapo. This is Operation Anthropoid: two Czechoslovakian parachutists sent by London plan to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich - head of the Nazi secret services, 'the hangman of Prague', 'the blond beast', 'the most dangerous man in the Third Reich'. Heydrich works for Hitler's most powerful henchman, Heinrich Himmler, but in the SS they say 'HHhH': 'Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich' - Himmler's brain is called Heydrich.All the characters in HHhH existed then or still exist now. All the events depicted are true. But alongside the nerve-shredding story of the preparations for the attack runs another story: when you are writing about real people, how do you resist the temptation to make things up?

On an autumn day in 2006, on the Isle of Wight, Jack Luxton, former Devon farmer & now the proprietor of a seaside caravan park, receives the news that his soldier brother Tom, not seen for years, has been killed in Iraq. For Jack & his wife Ellie this will have a potentially catastrophic impact. For Jack in particular it means a crucial journey – to receive his brother's remains, but also into his own most secret, troubling memories & into the land of his & Ellie's past. Wish You Were Here is both a gripping account of things that touch & test our human core & a resonant novel about a changing England. Rich w/ Graham Swift's love of the local, full of humour & tenderness in the face of tragedy, it is also, inescapably, about a wider, afflicted world. Moving towards an almost unbearably tense climax, it allows us to feel the stuff of headlines – the return of a dead soldier from a foreign war – as heart-wrenching personal truth

Since his retirement, sixty-two year old Harold Fry has done nothing but mow the lawn, & infuriate his wife by filling in the easy answers on her Telegraph crossword. Then an unexpected letter arrives from a woman he hasn't seen in twenty years who's dying of cancer. Harold realises that sending a reply isn't good enough. He is going to walk; all the way from Devon to Berwick on Tweed. So long as he keeps walking, his friend Queenie will keep living. It is an impulsive, terrifying, beautiful & irrational act of faith made by a man who has spent most of his life in a chair. As he confronts the mistakes & losses of his past, & the tragic secret at the heart of his marriage, Harold's inner journey will prove as transformative as his physical one. Left behind, Harold's wife, Maureen, will also go on a journey. And what has begun as a story about two wasted lives becomes a celebration of a man on his two feet, & the power of connecting.

Shattered by the death of his wife Amanda, antiquarian bookseller Peter Byerly is drifting through life aimlessly when he stumbles on the Victorian miniature that so forcefully reminds him of her. Peter becomes obsessed w/ learning the picture’s origins. But as he follows the trail back, first to the Victorian era & then to Shakespeare’s time, he learns much more than that. The truth about his own past, for example; & even possibly the key to the mystery of who really did write Shakespeare’s plays.For lovers of Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind, a powerful story of history, love, obsession & literature.

It’s‎ the summer of 1971, not far from the stone-fruit capital of New South Wales, where Mr Wigg lives on what is left of his family farm. Mrs Wigg has been gone almost a year & he thinks about her every day. He misses his daughter too, & wonders when he’ll see her again.His son is on at him to move into town but Mr Wigg has his fruit trees & his chooks to look after. He spends his time working in the orchard, cooking & preserving his produce, & when it’s on, watching the cricket. Things are changing though, w/ Australia & England playing a one-day match, & his new neighbours planting grapes for wine. His grandchildren visit often: to cook, eat & hear his stories. And there’s one special project he has to finish…

In 2007 Australia Labor was one of the most successful centre left political parties in the world. Freshly triumphant from a federal election, it controlled states across Australia. Labor’s frontbench was full of young, smart & progressive activists. Their leader’s personal popularity rating was sky high. They had inherited a booming economy & the promise of a bright future.Six years later, the party is in a death spiral, facing humiliating defeat in the forthcoming election. Observers across the country are asking: how did it come to this?

'You‎ know you are in the hands of someone who can tell a story ... fantastic' ZADIE SMITH Pak Jun Do knows he is special. He knows he must be the son of the master of the orphanage, not some kid dumped by his parents - it was obvious from the way his father singled him out for beatings. He knows he is special when he is picked as a spy & kidnapper for his country, the glorious Democratic Republic of North Korea. He knows he must find his true love, Sun Moon, the greatest opera star who ever lived, before it's too late. He knows he's not like the other prisoners in the camp. He's going to get out soon.