“A perfect book”—and basis for the Maggie Smith film—about a teacher who makes a lasting impression on her female students in the years before World War II (Chicago Tribune). “Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life!” So asserts Jean Brodie, a magnetic, dubious, and sometimes comic teacher at the conservative Marcia Blaine School for Girls in Edinburgh. Brodie selects six favorite pupils to mold—and she doesn’t stop with just their intellectual lives. She has a plan for them all, including how they will live, whom they will love, and what sacrifices they will make to uphold her ideals. When the girls reach adulthood and begin to find their own destinies, Jean Brodie’s indelible imprint is a gift to some, and a curse to others. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is Spark’s masterpiece, a novel that offers one of twentieth-century English literature’s most iconic and complex characters—a woman at once admirable and sinister, benevolent and conniving. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Muriel Spark including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s archive at the National Library of Scotland.

Tracy Waterhouse leads a quiet, ordered life as a retired police detective -- a life that takes a surprising turn when she encounters Kelly Cross, a habitual offender, dragging a young child through town. Both appear miserable and better off without each other -- or so decides Tracy, in a snap decision that surprises herself as much as Kelly. Suddenly burdened with a small child, Tracy soon learns her parental inexperience is actually the least of her problems, as much larger ones loom for her and her young charge. Meanwhile, Jackson Brodie, the beloved detective of novels such as Case Histories, is embarking on a different sort of rescue: that of an abused dog. Dog in tow, Jackson is about to learn, along with Tracy, that no good deed goes unpunished.

"A scintillating debut from a major new voice in fiction, alive with music, sex, and fame, Songs in Ursa Major is a love story set in 1969 at the crossroads of rock and folk, for fans of Daisy Jones & The Six"--

Iconoclastic detective Jackson Brodie returns in a triumphant new novel about secrets, sex, and lies. Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village, in the occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son and an aging Labrador, both at the discretion of his ex-partner Julia. It's picturesque, but there's something darker lurking behind the scenes. Jackson's current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his suspicious wife, is fairly standard-issue, but a chance encounter with a desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister network -- and back across the path of his old friend Reggie. Old secrets and new lies intersect in this breathtaking novel by one of the most dazzling and surprising writers at work today. "Thank goodness the long Jackson Brodie hiatus is over." --Janet Maslin, New York Times

"Brodie is whip smart; merging pop-culture references with vulnerable, personal experiences to create a collection that reads like a hilarious catch-up call with an old friend. What a pleasure to hear from this fresh, extremely relevant point of view." Abbi Jacobson, CO-CREATOR / WRITER / STAR of BROAD CITY "I wish Brodie was the voice of my inner monologue; narrating me through life with her fierce intelligence and never-ending pop culture references. Instead, I'll just settle for this extremely relatable, unashamedly funny, powerful and beautifully vulnerable book No Way! Okay, Fine." - Courtney Barnett, ARIA award winning and Grammy nominated songwriter and musician. 'I identified early on that my role in relationships was the sidekick, the platonic female cast member in an all-male production, or the friend who was relied on selectively when other options were unavailable. I was the comic relief or the stand-in, never the lead. I knew this, I felt it, I wrote it down, but I didn't dare say it aloud because that would prove that I cared and caring wasn't cool.' From the small town in regional Australia where she was told that 'girls can't play the drums' to New York City and back again, Brodie has spent her life searching screens, books, music and magazines for bodies like hers, girls who loved each other, and women who didn't follow the silent instructions to shrink or hide that they've received since literal birth. This is the story of life as a young woman through the lenses of feminism and pop culture. Brodie's story will make you re-evaluate the power of pop culture in our lives - and maybe you will laugh and cry along the way. 'Brodie Lancaster is a thoughtful and patient writer, and this book is a generous, deep dive into her psyche. Brodie's thoughts about her body, her friends and lovers, her choices and fears are all presented with the same staccato blast of pop culture touchstones, and if you love boy bands/the internet/reality television/the Gilmore Girls/literally every other thing that is good in the world, you will adore this book.' - Emma Straub, bestselling author of THE VACATIONERS and MODERN LOVERS.

The first book in Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie Mysteries series, called "The best mystery of the decade" by Stephen King, finds private investigator Jackson Brodie following three seemingly unconnected family mysteries in Edinburg. Case one: A little girl goes missing in the night. Case two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to a maniac's apparently random attack. Case three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband - until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape. Thirty years after the first incident, as private investigator Jackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startling connections and discoveries emerge . . .

International Bestseller When Will There Be Good News? is the brilliant new novel from the acclaimed author of Case Histories and One Good Turn, once again featuring private investigator Jackson Brodie. Thirty years ago, six-year-old Joanna witnessed the brutal murders of her mother, brother and sister, before escaping into a field, and running for her life. Now, the man convicted of the crime is being released from prison, meaning Dr. Joanna Hunter has one more reason to dwell on the pain of that day, especially with her own infant son to protect. Sixteen-year-old Reggie, recently orphaned and wise beyond her years, works as a nanny for Joanna Hunter, but has no idea of the woman’s horrific past. All Reggie knows is that Dr. Hunter cares more about her baby than life itself, and that the two of them make up just the sort of family Reggie wished she had: that unbreakable bond, that safe port in the storm. When Dr. Hunter goes missing, Reggie seems to be the only person who is worried, despite the decidedly shifty business interests of Joanna’s husband, Neil, and the unknown whereabouts of the newly freed murderer, Andrew Decker. Across town, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe is looking for a missing person of her own, murderer David Needler, whose family lives in terror that he will return to finish the job he started. So it’s not surprising that she listens to Reggie’s outrageous thoughts on Dr. Hunter’s disappearance with only mild attention. But when ex-police officer and Private Investigator, Jackson Brodie arrives on the scene, with connections to Reggie and Joanna Hunter of his own, the details begin to snap into place. And, as Louise knows, once Jackson is involved there’s no telling how many criminal threads he will be able to pull together—or how many could potentially end up wrapped around his own neck. In an extraordinary virtuoso display, Kate Atkinson has produced one of the most engrossing, masterful, and piercingly insightful novels of this or any year. It is also as hilarious as it is heartbreaking, as Atkinson weaves in and out of the lives of her eccentric, grief-plagued, and often all-too-human cast. Yet out of the excesses of her characters and extreme events that shake their worlds comes a relatively simple message, about being good, loyal, and true. When Will There Be Good News? shows us what it means to survive the past and the present, and to have the strength to just keep on keeping on.

The first paperback edition of the classic biography of the founder of the Mormon church, this book attempts to answer the questions that continue to surround Joseph Smith. Was he a genuine prophet, or a gifted fabulist who became enthralled by the products of his imagination and ended up being martyred for them? 24 pages of photos. Map.

Bombs and Bombings is the definitive text regarding the construction of bombs and the motivation for bombings in the U.S. Although some law enforcement-sensitive material is excluded from this book, it still presents a thorough understanding of why bombs and bombings remain a constant threat. The chemistry of explosives and how such affects the performance of explosives are an essential part of the text. The reader is taken through a short course on explosive engineering and the chemistry of explosives. A brief history of bombings provides insight as to how improvised explosive devices were used to shape history and how the situations of the early 1900s are repeating themselves today. While many believe that suicide bombings are something seen only in the Middle East, this text explores the suicide bombings in the U.S. and the motivation of the bombers. Various profiles of several famous bombers such as the Unabomber and the Mad Bomber are reviewed along with other psychological issues that might inspire bombers. The use of bombs to disperse radioactive materials in the radiation dispersion device configuration is addressed along with the technique used to disperse chemical and biological agents with explosives. Booby traps, especially those targeting law enforcement, are explained, and methods to detect booby traps are developed to allow a rudimentary understanding of the process. Methods to identify clandestine laboratories manufacturing explosives or other drugs such as methamphetamine are identified providing the reader with an understanding of the items to identify and differentiate the types of laboratories. Numerous bombings are examined providing an insight as to why and how the attacks were successful. Mitigation techniques such as using alcohol resistant aqueous film-forming foam to suppress blast and fragment formation are explained along with deployment methods. The text is richly illustrated with photographs depicting IEDs, explosives, and booby traps to assist in the identification of suspicious objects, suspect packages, or potential mail bombs. The book provides and overview that those involved in law enforcement, security, and counterterrorism will find elucidating and beneficial in bomb-related operations and mitigation efforts.