Fans of Rosamunde Pilcher, Maeve Binchy and Fiona Valpy will love this incredibly poignant and emotionally resonant novel of friendship and fate from multi-million copy seller and Sunday Times bestselling author Susan Sallis. WHAT READERS ARE SAYING! 'So very well written, couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review 'A wonderful story that is a must-read' -- ***** Reader review 'A compelling read' -- ***** Reader review 'Love this book - I've read it several times' -- ***** Reader review 'Excellent story - true Susan Sallis' -- ***** Reader review ******************************************************************************************** SOME BONDS ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO BREAK... They discovered the empty cottage in 1940 - when they were still at school, four teenage friends from wildly different backgrounds and with the war casting its shadow over their lives. The cottage became a place of refuge for them - symbolising their loyalty to one another which held in the face of jealousy, passion, tragedy, and betrayal. It was to the cottage that Monica came, pregnant, alone, frightened, and it was there that their story really began. For Bessie, born secretly and shamefully to one of them, raised by another, and loved by them all, came to represent what was the very best in their lives...

From New York Times bestselling author Ellery Adams, the third installment in her beguiling cozy mystery series featuring librarian-turned-bookseller Nora Pennington who has a penchant for bibliotherapy and solving crimes. While people visit Miracle Springs for healing treatments, it's Nora who helps them find peace by prescribing the perfect book along with a fresh-baked scone. After all, sometimes the key to happiness, friendship--or solving a murder--can simply be found within the pages of the right book. It's been a very wet spring in Miracle Springs, North Carolina, and the rain has been relentless--and a flood of trouble is about to be unleashed... As the owner of Miracle Books, Nora Pennington figures all the wet weather this spring is at least good for business. The local inns are packed with stranded travelers, and among them Nora finds both new customers and a new friend, the sixty-something Sheldon, who starts helping out at the store. Since a little rain never hurt anyone, Nora rides her bike over to the flea market one sodden day and buys a bowl from Danny, a Cherokee potter. It'll make a great present for Nora's EMT boyfriend. But the next day, a little rain turns into a lot of rain, and the Miracle River overflows its banks. Amid the wreckage of a collapsed footbridge, a body lies within the churning water. Nora and the sheriff both doubt the ruling of accidental drowning, and Nora decides it's time for the Secret, Book, and Scone Society to spring into action. When another body turns up, it becomes clearer that Danny's death can't be blamed on a natural disaster. A crucial clue may lie within the stone walls of the Inn of Mist and Roses: a diary, over a century old and spattered with candle wax, that leads Nora and her friends through a maze of intrigue--and onto the trail of a murderer...

This lovingly designed, fit-in-the-palm-of-your-hand book suggests simple ways every woman can take a break from her frenetic daily schedule and enjoy a few moments of pampering alone or with family and friends. Author Diana Rosen suggests dozens of creative ways to use the light and scent of candles to add a touch of the extraordinary to soft evenings spent alone or with loved ones.

“MY CHILDREN NEED A MOTHER, BUT I DO NOT NEED A WIFE.” Dr. Sarre van Diederijk did a lot to restore Alethea’s damaged pride when Nick Penrose badly hurt and humiliated her. So a short time later, when he asked her to marry him and go to Holland to live, she accepted. After all, Sarre was a very nice, kind man, and Alethea might actually be happier with him than she would have been with Nick, even though love wasn’t part of the deal. But once in Holland, Alethea discovered that happiness and love could blossom when you least expected it.

This selection of six contemporary plays explores a wide range of issues — familial, social, mythological, political — with women centre stage. The plays are distinct from each other in structure, theme and style, but are bound together by a common thread — the position and role of women in family, social and political systems. Issues such as sexual abuse, in-law relationships, the trauma of ageing, the struggle for women’s empowerment, love and passion, desire and revenge, and dynastic politics are discussed through the varying perspectives of a number of characters, bringing an immediacy and urgency to the subjects under consideration. What is significant about the plays is that they highlight the manipulation of the English language resulting with the introduction of an ‘Indian’ syntax. Multilingualism is used to offset the so-called ‘westernisation’ that has been the by-product of the systematic globalisation of ‘third world’ countries. While the plays are meant to be staged, they are also very reader-friendly and will be entertaining as well as educative for the general reader.