DescriptionAt the festival of Osiris, loyal subjects of the pharaoh gather to pay homage to their leader. Only Taita, a wise and formidably gifted enunch slave, sees him as a symbol of the kingdom's fading glory. Danger surounds all those who oppose the ruling elite. But together with his proteges, Lostris, the beautiful 14-year-old daughter of his master Lord Intef, and the proud young army officer Tanus, Taita begins the long and dangerous journey towards his own glorious dream: to restore the majesty of the Pharaoh of Pharaohs on the glittering banks of the nile.
DescriptionThis is the delightfully intimate story of the tenth-century Byzantine princess, Theophano, wife of Otto II, the Holy Roman Emperor. When her husband was killed in battle, Theophano became Regent for her infant son, Otto III, and ruled the Holy Roman Empire for a decade. The novel's rousing climax is one of the great Dark Ages wars of succession, when Theophano's son became a pawn in the hands of the Frankish king. A rigorously accurate historical novel, The Eagle's Daughter is also a lush romance, a tale of Theophano's Aunt Asapasia's very dangerous love affair with Otto the Great's Moorish physician. Asapasia was a royal princess in her own right, a widow who was companion and advisor to Theophano. Through her eyes the listener sees the contrast between the surviving Byzantine Empire and the re-emerging Western Empire.
DescriptionIn Madrid in the 1620s, a man must live by his wits, and often by his sword. For this is a time when court intrigue is high, when the decadent young king has dragged the country into a series of disastrous wars, and citizens live in fear of the infamous Spanish Inquisition. In this political hotbed of hired assassins, court players, political moles, smugglers, and pirates, Captain Alatriste hires out his skills as a dashing swordsman with a mind as sharp as his blade. He is approached by two masked men to fake an attack on a pair of travellers who are stealing into Madrid in the dead of night. But things take a different turn when the Captain realises that this is no ordinary job, but is part of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels.
DescriptionWith acclaimed works like The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty, Irish author Sebastian Barry has earned a reputation as a "master storyteller" ( The Wall Street Journal ). In A Long Long Way he has created an unforgettable portrait of the horrors of war through the story of Willie Dunne, a young man who leaves his native Dublin in 1914 to join the Allies on the Western Front. Caught between the catastrophic violence he encounters there and the growing political tension at home over Irish independence, Willie finds himself confronting unbearable choices regarding family, patriotism, and the devotion he feels toward his regiment. A deeply affecting portrayal of personal struggle and the consequences of war, this is one of Barry's most powerful accomplishments.
DescriptionLondon, 1806: William Thornhill, a waterman on the River Thames, makes a mistake for which he and his family are made to pay dearly. His sentence: to be transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. The Thornhills arrive in this harsh and alien land, which feels like a death sentence. But among the convicts there is a rumour that freedom can be bought, that "unclaimed land" up the Hawkesbury offers an opportunity to start afresh, far away from the township of Sydney. When William takes a hundred acres for himself he is shocked to find aboriginal people already living on the river. Soon Thornhill, a man neither better nor worse than most, has to make the most difficult decision of his life.
DescriptionUnable to inherit his father's title, Joscelin de Gael, the beloved bastard son of William Ironheart, is serving Henry II when he encounters the lady Linnet de Montsorrel. On her husband's death, Linnet is bestowed on Joscelin as a reward for his loyalty. While Joscelin's half-brothers plot to overthrow their own father, revelations of past loves and family secrets threaten Linnet and Joscelin's relationship. This is a thrilling novel of bitter family conflict, turbulent with the sounds, scents, and violence of the 12th century.
DescriptionIn her critically praised debut novel, The 20th Wife, Indu Sundaresan introduced the love story of Emperor Jahangir and Mehrunnisa. The story continues in this lush sequel, when Mehrunnisa comes into Jahangir's harem as his 20th and final wife. This time, Jahangir has married for love, and members of his court are worried that Mehrunnisa could exert control over their futures. Their concerns are well founded. Despite the rivalry of the imperial harem, which has plotted against her from the beginning, Mehrunnisa soon becomes the most powerful woman in the Mughal Empire. She rules from behind the veil, securing her status by forming a junta of sorts with her father, brother, and stepson and by risking all, even her daughter, to get what she wants. But she never loses the love of the man who has bestowed this power upon her.
DescriptionSouthern Anatolia, AD 260: The town of Edessa, a Roman outpost, is on its last legs, besieged by the Persian troops of Shapur I. Roman Emperor Licinius Valerianus agrees to meet his adversary to draw up a peace treaty, but it is only a trap, and the Emper…
DescriptionThis sequel to and the conclusion of The Manor continues the portrayal of a period the author describes as the epoch between the Polish insurrection of 1863 and the end of the nineteenth century when the Jews began to play an important role in Polish industry, commerce, the arts and sciences. All the spiritual and intellectual ideas that triumphed in the modern era had their roots in the world of that time. The human condition, in a particular time and place - man's estate - is the theme of this major novel. As one character says, "It's not child's play to be born, to marry, to bring forth generations, to grow old, to die."…
DescriptionFrom a foxhole on Guadalcanal, shared with former champ Barney Ross, to the glitzy underworld of Hollywood in the '40s, Nate Heller fights his memories and "the outfit". Something happened at the Canal, something Heller's blocking out. What he can't block, though, is the wound he received, the million-dollar wound, the one that got him home. Back in the States, and back in Chicago, he becomes involved once again with Frank Nitti, during the gang boss's last violent days, and with the gangland attempts to take over the movie unions. The home front is every bit as violent as the war-torn Pacific, and even the solace of fan-dancer Sally Rand can do nothing to ease Heller, who is haunted by the death of a friend in Guadalcanal and surrounded by the mayhem of gangland murders.
