“Sarah Jio weaves past and present in this eminently readable novel about love, gratitude, and forgiveness. I tore through the pages!”—New York Times bestselling author Christina Baker Kline Two women are connected across time by the city of Paris, a mysterious stack of love letters, and shocking secrets sweeping from World War II to the present—for readers of Sarah’s Key and The Nightingale. When Caroline wakes up in a Paris hospital with no memory of her past, she’s confused to learn that for years she’s lived a sad, reclusive life in a sprawling apartment on the rue Cler. Slowly regaining vague memories of a man and a young child, she vows to piece her life back together—though she can’t help but feel she may be in danger. A budding friendship with the chef of a charming nearby restaurant takes her mind off her foggy past, as does a startling mystery from decades prior. In Nazi-occupied Paris, a young widow named Céline is trying to build a new life for her daughter while working in her father’s flower shop and hoping to find love again. Then a ruthless German officer discovers her Jewish ancestry and Céline is forced to play a dangerous game to secure the safety of her loved ones. When her worst fears come true, she must fight back in order to save the person she loves most: her daughter. When Caroline discovers Céline’s letters tucked away in a closet, she realizes that her apartment harbors dark secrets—and that she may have more in common with Céline than she could have ever imagined. All the Flowers in Paris is an emotionally captivating novel rooted in the resiliency and strength of the human spirit, the steadfastness of a mother’s love, and the many complex layers of the heart—especially its capacity to forgive. “Heart-stopping . . . Fans of emotional, romantic stories set during World War II will enjoy this heartbreaking tale of love and loss.”—Booklist

A stunning, powerful debut novel set against the backdrop of the Cambodian War, perfect for fans of Chris Cleave and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. Soon the family's world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus. Over the next four years, as she endures the deaths of family members, starvation, and brutal forced labour, Raami clings to the only remaining vestige of childhood - the mythical legends and poems told to her by her father. In a climate of systematic violence where memory is sickness and justification for execution, Raami fights for her improbable survival. Displaying the author's extraordinary gift for language, In the Shadow of the Banyanis testament to the transcendent power of narrative and a brilliantly wrought tale of human resilience. 'In the Shadow of the Banyanis one of the most extraordinary and beautiful acts of storytelling I have ever encountered' Chris Cleave, author of The Other Hand 'Ratner is a fearless writer, and the novel explores important themes such as power, the relationship between love and guilt, and class. Most remarkably, it depicts the lives of characters forced to live in extreme circumstances, and investigates how that changes them. To read In the Shadow of the Banyan is to be left with a profound sense of being witness to a tragedy of history' Guardian 'This is an extraordinary debut … as beautiful as it is heartbreaking' Mail on Sunday

Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf's fourth novel, offers the reader an impression of a single June day in London in 1923. Clarissa Dalloway, the wife of a Conservative member of parliament, is preparing to give an evening party, while the shell-shocked Septimus Warren Smith hears the birds in Regent's Park chattering in Greek. There seems to be nothing, except perhaps London, to link Clarissa and Septimus. She is middle-aged and prosperous, with a sheltered happy life behind her; Smith is young, poor, and driven to hatred of himself and the whole human race. Yet both share a terror of existence, and sense the pull of death. The world of Mrs Dalloway is evoked in Woolf's famous stream of consciousness style, in a lyrical and haunting language which has made this, from its publication in 1925, one of her most popular novels.

A haunting, magical novel about joy, grief, courage and transformation from the international bestselling author of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. ‘On the afternoon that Esther Wilding drove homeward along the coast, a year after her sister had walked into the sea and disappeared, the light was painfully golden.’ The last time Esther Wilding’s beloved older sister Aura was seen, she was walking along the shore towards the sea. In the wake of Aura’s disappearance, Esther’s family struggles to live with their loss. To seek the truth about her sister’s death, Esther reluctantly travels from Lutruwita/Tasmania, to Copenhagen, and then to the Faroe Islands, following the trail of the stories Aura left behind: seven fairy tales about selkies, swans and women, alongside cryptic verses Aura wrote and had secretly tattooed on her body. The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding is a sweeping, deeply beautiful and profoundly moving novel about the far reaches of sisterly love, the power of wearing your heart on your skin and the ways life can transform when we find the courage to feel the fullness of both grief and joy.

Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas to you all! This festive season, we are playing the Santa, and offering you our own Christmas basket of holiday goodies: the greatest Christmas novels and magical Christmas Tales: Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (L. Frank Baum) The Little City of Hope (F. Marion Crawford) Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) The Wonderful Wizard of OZ (L. Frank Baum) Little Lord Fauntleroy (Frances Hodgson Burnett) Christmas with Grandma Elsie (Martha Finley) Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud Montgomery) The Christmas Angel (Abbie Farwell Brown) At the Back of the North Wind (George MacDonald) Black Beauty (Anna Sewell) The Christmas Child (Hesba Stretton) The Wonderful Life - Story of the life and death of our Lord (Hesba Stretton) The Tailor of Gloucester (Beatrix Potter) The Ice Queen (Ernest Ingersoll) A Merry Christmas (Louisa May Alcott) The Gift of the Magi (O. Henry) The Fir Tree (Hans Christian Andersen) The Little Match Girl (Hans Christian Andersen) The Holy Night (Selma Lagerlöf) Little Gretchen and the Wooden Shoe (Elizabeth Harrison) A Letter from Santa Claus (Mark Twain) The Elves and the Shoemaker (Brothers Grimm) Mother Holle (Brothers Grimm) A Kidnapped Santa Claus (L. Frank Baum) The Shepherds and the Angels (Bible) The Heavenly Christmas Tree (Fyodor Dostoevsky) A Russian Christmas Party (Leo Tolstoy) Vanka (Anton Chekhov) The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (E. T. A. Hoffmann) A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) The Chimes (Charles Dickens) The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood (Robinson Perrault) The Blue Bird (Madame d'Aulnoy) Christmas Every Day (William Dean Howells) The Pony Engine and the Pacific Express (William Dean Howells) The Pumpkin Glory (William Dean Howells) Christmas Eve & Christmas Day (Edward Everett Hale) A Visit From Saint Nicholas (Clement Moore) Christmas - A Story (Zona Gale) The Story of the Other Wise Man (Henry van Dyke) Where Love Is, God Is (Leo Tolstoy) Christmas Roses (Anne Douglas Sedgwick)....

The best scholarship on the development of contemporary Japan This collection presents well over 100 scholarly articles on modern Japanese society, written by leading scholars in the field. These selections have been drawn from the most distinguished scholarly journals as well as from journals that are less well known among specialists; and the articles represent the best and most important scholarship on their particular topic. An understanding of the present through the lens of the past The field of modern Japan studies has grown steadily as Westerners have recognized the importance of Japan as a lading world economic force and an emerging regional power. The post-1945 economic success of the Japanese has, however, been achieved in the context of that nation's history, social structure, educational enterprise and political environment. It is impossible to understand the postwar economic miracle without an appreciation of these elements. Japan's economic emergence has brought about and in some cases, exacerbated already existing tensions, and these tensions have, in turn, had a significant impact on Japanese economic life. The series is designed to give readers a basic understanding of modern Japan-its institutions and its people-as we stand on the threshold of a new century, often referred to as the Pacific Century.

Eine Geschichte wie man sie kennt, zwei verliebte junge Amerikaner, fliehen aus ihrer Heimat in Mississippi um durchzubrennen und wegzurennen von ihrem Alltag, aber ist es immer so einfach?

Write Scenes that Move Your Story Forward In Make a Scene, author Jordan E. Rosenfeld takes you through the fundamentals of strong scene construction and explains how other essential fiction-writing techniques, such as character, plot, and dramatic tension, must function within the framework of individual scenes in order to provide substance and structure to the overall story. You'll learn how to: • Craft an opening scene that hooks readers and foreshadows supporting scenes • Develop various scene types - from the suspenseful to the dramatic to the contemplative - that are distinct and layered • Tailor character and plot around specific scene types to better convey the nuances of your storyline • Create resonating climactic and final scenes that stay with readers long after they've finished your work