DescriptionWhen The Moon's a Balloon was first published in 1971, it received huge acclaim. The book became a classic and has gone on to sell over five million copies worldwide. Rich in hilarious anecdote, it tells the story of Niven's school and Sandhurst days, his posting to Malta with the Highland Light Infantry, and how he escaped the army for a new life in the States. There he joined New York high society, before crossing the continent, lured by Hollywood. He returned to Britain to serve during the Second World War, but then made Hollywood his home. A self-confessed name dropper, Niven's encounters range from garden walks with Churchill to finding Greta Garbo swimming naked in his pool.
DescriptionProbably the most famous of Edith Wharton's novels, Ethan Frome contrasts sharply with her usual ironic contemplation of the fashionable New York society to which she herself belonged and whose strengths and weaknesses she understood so well. Ethan Frome is a keenly-etched portrait of the simple inhabitants of a 19th-century New England village. Ethan, a gaunt, patient New Englander, is a man tormented by a passionate love for his wife's young cousin, Mattie. Restricted by the bonds of marriage and the fear of public condemnation, his desperate quest for happiness ultimately leads to pain and despair. Ethan's story, with its tragic implications of what might have been, has had an irresistible fascination over the past century.
DescriptionA dinner party at an English mansion with some stuffy, not-very-close friends is not exactly Jude's cup of tea. But the practically mummified torso of a woman found in the cellar is much more up Jude's alley. Once again, the two middle-aged women from Fethering, Jude and her reluctant neighbor, Carole, find themselves embroiled in another puzzling whodunit. As in their debut, the acclaimed The Body on the Beach, the ladies from Fethering once again proceed totally outside the bumbling police investigation in a somehow utterly credible way, gaining access and insight where the police can't.
DescriptionWhen Catherine Morland, a country clergyman's daughter, is invited to spend a season in Bath with the fashionable high society, little does she imagine the delights and perils that await her. Captivated and disconcerted by what she finds, and introduced to the joys of "Gothic novels" by her new friend, Isabella, Catherine longs for mystery and romance. When she is invited to stay with the beguiling Henry Tilney and his family at Northanger Abbey, she expects mystery and intrigue at every turn. However, the truth turns out to be even stranger than fiction.
DescriptionJo Slater has it all. The queen of Manhattan society, she has dealt successfully with a tricky period in which she lost her husband, her fortune, and her reputation. But she bounced back, and now, newly single in the greatest city in the world, there is not a cloud in the sky. Then Russell Cole, an old friend just married to a much younger woman, goes missing while yachting in Barbados. His wife, Carla, tries to befriend Jo, but Jo is suspicious. Carla's past is murky, and now, with her billionaire husband's money at her disposal, she seems set on conquering the highest level of New York's social scene. Suddenly, those who oppose her start dying off, and Jo decides to take matters into her own hands.
DescriptionHigh atop a snow-covered hill, the stately old Wyatt mansion is perched like a crown, its stone spires pointing upward, its stained glass windows glowing like colorful jewels. Such opulence means success and, surely, happiness. But on the eve of wealthy p…
