'Who in their right mind wants to go to boarding school?' Meet Alice Stone, an adventure-seeking twelve-year old who wants to go, and not just to any school. Convincing her parents to send her to Kylemore Abbey School for Girls, Alice gets more than she bargains for when she stumbles upon Ruth Stoker. But Ruth isn't any ordinary student at Kylemore. So begins the mysterious bond between Ruth and Alice, as Alice settles into school in the bleak but beautiful heart of Connemara. Alice soon discovers that becoming a true K-Girl is not so easy, even if you have a ghost for a friend.

Would you let someone die if you could prevent it? Alice and Ruth's special bond permits them to explore days of Kylemore's past, when their school was a Victorian estate owned by the ill-fated Henry family. But such adventuring has its consequences. With the arrival of an illusive matron, two-faced twins and the mystery of a new haunting, life in second year gets a lot more complicated.Of one thing Alice is sure, being a K-Girl is never dull, expecially when you can time-travel.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Maeve Binchy is a grand storyteller in the finest Irish tradition."—The Plain Dealer The Journey . . . Every Friday night a lilac-colored minibus leaves Dublin for the Irish country town of Rathdoon with seven weekend commuters on board. All of them, from the joking bank porter to the rich doctor’s daughter, have their reasons for making the journey. The Destination . . . Rathdoon is the kind of Irish village where family histories are shared and scandals don’t stay secret for long. And this weekend, when the bus pulls in, the riders find the unexpected waiting for them . . . as each of their private lives unfolds to reveal a sharp betrayal of the heart, a young man’s crime, and a chance for new dreams among the eight intriguing men and women on . . . The Lilac Bus

A diary and collection of accompanying watercolors throw rare light on a hitherto unpublished great garden at an important time in its history Geraldine, Countess of Mayo made an exquisite and extremely important garden in Ireland between l890 and l925, when she had to leave the family estate. The garden was subsequently completely destroyed. Her gardening diaries span more than 30 years. They are brought together here with watercolors of the gardens and the plants she brought from all over the world, evoking a paradise now gone forever. The diaries are a lively insight into the world of gardening at the turn of the 20th century--the problems she faced, the triumphs, and the disasters. The watercolors, done at the time by her father, are immensely accomplished, and because they have never been kept in the light are as fresh and bright as the day they were executed. Lady Mayo is an engaging reporter who was genuinely passionate about her creation and this comes through in everything she writes, while the watercolors, many painted on the pages of her diary, are truly exceptional.

Adopting a life story approach, this book explores the memories of those who attended Irish secondary schools prior to 1967. It serves to initiate and enhance the practice of remembering secondary school education amongst those who attended secondary schools not just in Ireland, but around the world.

The author's record of months of solitude in a cottage among the bogs and boulders in Connemara. Hilarious digression on the ownership of books (see p. 83) and on p. 95 she confesses to having spent "literally her last shilling" in a second-hand bookshop. Also discusses the possible destruction of the peat bogs (p. 147), and has a sweet dig at D. H. Lawrence.