In Russia during the year 1915, at the age of 16, Georgy Jachmenev steps in front of an assassin's bullet intended for the heart of a senior member of the Russian Imperial Family. He is instantly proclaimed a hero. Before the week is out, his life as the son of a peasant farmer is changed forever when he is escorted to St Petersburg to take up his new position - as bodyguard to Alexei Romanov, the only son of Tsar Nicholas II. Sixty five years later, visiting his wife Zoya as she lies dying in a London hospital, memories of the life they have lived together flood his mind. Their marriage, while tender, has been marked by tragedy, the loss of loved ones, and experiences of exile that neither can forget. "The House of Special Purpose" is a novel about a young man ripped from a loving home and thrust into the heart of a dying empire. Privy to the secrets of Nicholas and Alexandra, the machinations of Rasputin and the events which led to the final collapse of the autocracy, Georgy is a witness and participant in a drama which will echo down the century. His is also a story of a marriage in which a husband finds it impossible to live in the present and a wife unable to reconcile herself with the past. Part love story, part historical epic, part tragedy, the novel moves from revolutionary St Petersburg to Paris after the First World War, and from London during the Blitz to the eastern coast of Finland during the 1980s, before returning to a quiet hospital bed where Georgy and Zoya's story must finally be resolved.
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (Voice $28 Signed)
"A fresh present-day story infused with an original take on popular history. Forget broomsticks and pointy hats; here are witches that could well be walking among us today. This debut novel flows with poetic charm and eloquence that achieves high literary merit while concocting a gripping supernatural puzzler. Katherine Howe's talent is spellbinding."
--Matthew Pearl, author of The Poe Shadow and The Dante Club
A spellbinding, beautifully written novel that moves between contemporary times and one of the most fascinating and disturbing periods in American history-the Salem witch trials.
Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie's grandmother's abandoned home near Salem, she can't refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest--to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.
As the pieces of Deliverance's harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem's dark past then she could have ever imagined.
Written with astonishing conviction and grace, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane travels seamlessly between the witch trials of the 1690s and a modern woman's story of mystery, intrigue, and revelation.The Warning Bell by Tom Macaulay (Orion $35)
For Iain Madoc it all began when he was eight years old and his father took him out on a boat trip. Something George Madoc saw or heard out on the water that day seemed to change him, and after that it was as if Iain didn't have a real father at all. Only later did Iain come to understand that it had all started long before, when George Madoc had commanded an RAF Air-Sea Rescue boat ferrying SOE agents between the south coast and occupied France. One night in April 1944 an operation to bring back a French agent went terribly wrong, and when George finally made it home two months later, he was unable to speak about what had happened. Now, as his mother lies dying, Iain is finally given a clue to unlocking the mystery of what so traumatised his father that he turned away from his own son. The wreck of High Speed Launch 2548 - his father's boat - has been found near the Breton village of St Cyriac, and with it, perhaps, the key to unlocking George Madoc's memories. Desperate to understand, Iain goes to St Cyriac determined to discover the truth. But St Cyriac will not give up its secrets easily. For some people the past is still dangerously alive, and Iain soon finds that his own family may have to pay the price of uncovering it.
The Information Officer by Mark Mills (HarperCollins $45)
The much-anticipated new historical crime thriller from the award-winning author of the No 1 bestseller 'The Savage Garden' "You want to know who I am? I'm the last living soul you'll ever set eyes on" Summer, 1942. For the people of Malta, suffering daily bombing raids, the British are the last line of defence against the Nazis. And it is Max Chadwick's job as the information officer to ensure the news the islanders receive maintains morale. So when Max is given proof suggesting a British officer is murdering local women, he knows the consequences of discovery are dire. With the violence on the war-ravaged island escalating daily, he embarks on a private investigation, hidden from the eyes of superiors, friends and the woman he loves. But Max finds himself torn between patriotic duty and personal honour in his efforts to track down the killer! an elusive figure always one step ahead of his hunter.
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