Brilliance of the Moon is the third book in the Tales of the Otori series by Lian Hearn. Set in the beautifully imagined medieval Japan, this thrilling follow-up to Grass for His Pillow and Across the Nightingale Floor delves deeper into the complex loyalties that bind its characters from birth.

Filled with adventure and surprising twists of plot and fortune, this final volume travels beyond the Three Countries, exploring the outside influences that threaten to intrude upon this isolated realm. Join Lord Otori Takeo and Lady Shirakawa Kaede as they navigate the challenges posed by the corrupt Otori lords, the newly-risen lord, and the Tribe, who have honed their supernatural skills to see Takeo defeated.

It is a climactic end to the trilogy, as painful and beautiful as all the rest. Experience the magic and intrigue of the Otori clan in this captivating tale.

In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence - when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper.

Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King's men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known.

At the center of the drama, with Washington, are two young American patriots, who, at first, knew no more of war than what they had read in books - Nathaniel Green, a Quaker who was made a general at thirty-three, and Henry Knox, a twenty-five-year-old bookseller who had the preposterous idea of hauling the guns of Fort Ticonderoga overland to Boston in the dead of Winter.

But it is the American commander-in-chief who stands foremost - Washington, who had never before led an army in battle. Written as a companion work to his celebrated biography of John Adams, David McCullough's 1776 is another landmark in the literature of American history.

Empress Orchid sweeps readers into the heart of the Forbidden City to tell the fascinating story of a young concubine who becomes China’s last empress. The novel introduces the beautiful Tzu Hsi, known as Orchid, and weaves an epic of a country girl who seizes power through seduction, murder, and endless intrigue.

When China is threatened by enemies, she alone seems capable of holding the country together. This is a novel of high drama and lyricism, providing an extraordinary look inside the Forbidden City during its last days of imperial glory. It breathes life into one of the most important women in history.

Richly detailed and completely gripping, this story portrays a flawed yet utterly compelling woman who survived, and ultimately dominated, a male world. Through her life, readers are introduced to the world of the Chinese court and the sexual and political lives of the royal concubines.

Hortense Joseph arrives in London from Jamaica in 1948 with her life in her suitcase, her heart broken, her resolve intact. Her husband, Gilbert Joseph, returns from the war expecting to be received as a hero, but finds his status as a black man in Britain to be second class. His white landlady, Queenie, raised as a farmer's daughter, befriends Gilbert, and later Hortense, with innocence and courage, until the unexpected arrival of her husband, Bernard, who returns from combat with issues of his own to resolve.

Told in these four voices, Small Island is a courageous novel of tender emotion and sparkling wit, of crossings taken and passages lost, of shattering compassion and of reckless optimism in the face of insurmountable barriers---in short, an encapsulation of the immigrant's life.

Bestselling author Bernard Cornwell takes us back four thousand years, to a vibrant world of ritual and sacrifice that is at once timeless and wholly original. This historical novel unlocks the mystery of Britain's most haunting and puzzling structure and tells a tale of three brothers—fierce rivals—who are uneasily united in their quest to create a temple to their gods.

Lengar, the eldest brother, kills his own father to become chief of his tribe. Camaban, the illegitimate middle brother, is determined to have a massive temple built in his own honor. And Saban, the youngest, who actually builds Stonehenge, must act as mediator between the other two.

Stonehenge is the enthrallingly dramatic story of patricide, betrayal, and murder; of bloody brotherly rivalry; and of the never-ending quest for power, wealth, and spiritual fulfillment.

Insecure siblings fighting for their parents’ attention; bickering spouses who can’t stand to be together or apart; adultery and sexual experimentation; even the struggle to balance work and family: These are themes as much at home in our time as they were in the twelfth century.

In James Goldman’s classic play The Lion in Winter, domestic turmoil rises to an art form. Keenly self-aware and motivated as much by spite as by any sense of duty, Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine maneuver against each other to position their favorite son in line for succession.

By imagining the inner lives of Henry, Eleanor, and their sons, John, Geoffrey, and Richard, Goldman created the quintessential drama of family strife and competing ambitions, a work that gives visceral, modern-day relevance to the intrigues of Angevin England.

Combining keen historical and psychological insight with delicious, mordant wit, the stage play has become a touchstone of today’s theater scene.

In the summer of 1856, three companies of handcarts were outfitted and sent west from Iowa to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. All went well, and they arrived without undue incident. But two additional companies - one captained by James G. Willie, and the other by Edward Martin - left England late in the season. When they arrived at Iowa City, they were long past the time for safe departure across the plains. By the time they left Florence, Nebraska, with still more than a thousand miles to go, it was near the end of August. As if that were not serious enough, President Brigham Young thought that the arrival of the third company ended the migration for that season and ordered the resupply wagons back to Salt Lake.

Fire of the Covenant is the story of those handcart pioneers and their exodus to the Salt Lake Valley. Author Gerald N. Lund has used the same techniques present in The Work and the Glory series to blend fictional characters into the tapestry of actual historical events, making this a story filled with all the elements of great drama - tragedy, triumph, pathos, courage, sacrifice, surrender and faith.

You believe me, don't you, Nathan. It was not a question, but a statement, filled with wonder. It stunned Nathan. You believe it all. I can see it on your face. For a moment, time seemed suspended as Nathan probed the inward recesses of his soul. There was still the incredulousness, still the sense of hearing something that couldn't possibly be true. And yet he knew it was. He knew without the least shadow of doubt that everything Joseph was telling him was true. And so, finally, with a wonder of his own, he said, Yes, Joseph, I believe you.

Pillar of Light — the first volume in the series The Work and the Glory — begins the epic story of the Benjamin Steed family. In the 1820s, they move from Vermont to Palmyra Township in upstate New York in search of better farmland. There they meet a young man named Joseph Smith and are thrown into the maelstrom of conflict and controversy that swirls around him. Did he really see the Father and the Son in a pillar of light? Has he truly been visited by angelic messengers? What is all this talk about gold plates and new scripture? In short, is he a prophet and seer or a monumental fraud? The answers each one gives to these questions — intensely personal, potentially divisive — will dramatically affect the lives of the Steeds forever after.

Author Gerald N. Lund masterfully weaves together historical reality and high-powered fiction. This combination seems to make the reader an eyewitness to the early scenes of the Restoration, thus deepening one's understanding and appreciation of those momentous events. The well-drawn plot and fictional characters present a moving, gripping story. Meet Benjamin and Mary Ann Steed, devoted to each other as man and wife, yet at odds over religion; Joshua, their volatile son, who rebels and heads for trouble; the sensitive Nathan, their second son, in whom Joseph Smith's message strikes a responsive chord; and the beautiful Lydia McBride, who captures the hearts of both Joshua and Nathan.

This book skillfully explores the inmost motivations of Joseph Smith and his early followers and the responses of typical contemporary families to the claims he made. These people come to life in this powerful historical novel, a story that captures both the heartache and the happiness that came in the wake of Joseph's experience with the pillar of light.

The Fixer (1966) is Bernard Malamud's best-known and most acclaimed novel—one that makes manifest his roots in Russian fiction, especially that of Isaac Babel. Set in Kiev in 1911 during a period of heightened anti-Semitism, the novel tells the story of Yakov Bok, a Jewish handyman blamed for the brutal murder of a young Russian boy. Bok leaves his village to try his luck in Kiev, and after denying his Jewish identity, finds himself working for a member of the anti-Semitic Black Hundreds Society. When the boy is found nearly drained of blood in a cave, the Black Hundreds accuse the Jews of ritual murder. Arrested and imprisoned, Bok refuses to confess to a crime that he did not commit.

What becomes of this man under pressure, for whom acquittal is made to seem as hopeless as conviction, is the subject of a terrifying masterpiece of twentieth-century fiction.

Hannah thinks tonight's Passover Seder will be the same as always. But this year, she will be mysteriously transported into the past, where only she knows the unspeakable horrors that await.

Hannah resents the stories of her Jewish heritage until time travel places her in the middle of a small Jewish village in Nazi-occupied Poland. As she experiences the horrors of a concentration camp, she learns why she—and we—need to remember the past.

This critically acclaimed novel from the multi-award-winning author Jane Yolen adds much to understanding the effects of the Holocaust, which will reverberate throughout history, today and tomorrow. Readers will come away with a sense of tragic history that both disturbs and compels.

Winter, 1553. Pursued by the Inquisition, Hannah Green, a fourteen-year-old Jewish girl, is forced to flee with her father from their home in Spain. But Hannah is no ordinary refugee; she has the gift of “Sight,” the ability to foresee the future, priceless in the troubled times of the Tudor court.

Hannah is adopted by the glamorous Robert Dudley, the charismatic son of King Edward’s protector, who brings her to court as a “holy fool” for Queen Mary and, ultimately, Queen Elizabeth. Hired as a fool but working as a spy; promised in wedlock but in love with her master; endangered by the laws against heresy, treason, and witchcraft, Hannah must choose between the safe life of a commoner and the dangerous intrigues of the royal family that are inextricably bound up with her own yearnings and desires.

Teeming with vibrant period detail and peopled by characters seamlessly woven into the sweeping tapestry of history, The Queen’s Fool is a rich and emotionally resonant gem from a masterful storyteller.

İnce Memed 1 is a captivating tale that unfolds over a span of thirty-two years, telling the story of Memed, a man who rises against tyranny, and the vibrant life, nature, and colors of Çukurova. In the words of Yaşar Kemal, it is the novel of a man born with the 'worm of rebellion' inside him, a 'compelled man.'

Forced to leave his village due to the oppression of Abdi Ağa, Memed rescues Hatçe, who is about to be married off to the Ağa's nephew. After wounding Abdi Ağa and killing his nephew, Memed joins the bandit Deli Durdu, but soon parts ways due to Durdu's cruelty. Transforming from an ordinary village boy into a bandit for the oppressors and a savior for the villagers, Memed's journey is both epic and transformative.

This book brilliantly portrays a way of life and the portrait of a people, making it an unforgettable and exceptional read.

102 Minutes tells the dramatic and moving account of the struggle for life inside the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001, when every minute counted.

At 8:46 am, 14,000 people were inside the twin towers—reading e-mails, making trades, eating croissants at Windows on the World. Over the next 102 minutes, each would become part of a drama for the ages, one witnessed only by the people who lived it—until now.

New York Times reporters Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn have taken a revealing approach. Reported from the perspectives of those inside the towers, 102 Minutes captures the little-known stories of ordinary people who took extraordinary steps to save themselves and others.

Dwyer and Flynn rely on hundreds of interviews with rescuers, thousands of pages of oral histories, and countless phone, e-mail, and emergency radio transcripts. They cross a bridge of voices to go inside the infernos, seeing cataclysm and heroism, one person at a time, to tell the affecting, authoritative saga of the men and women—the nearly 12,000 who escaped and the 2,749 who perished—as they made 102 minutes count as never before.

Richard II, written in 1595, occupies a significant place in the Shakespeare canon. It marks the transition from the earlier history plays dominated by civil war and stark power to a more nuanced representation of the political conflicts of England's past where character and politics are inextricably intertwined. It is the first of four connected plays—including 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, and Henry V—generally considered Shakespeare's finest history plays.

The drama of Richard II centers on the power struggle between the grandiloquent King Richard and the plain-spoken, blunt Henry Bolingbroke, who is banished from Britain at the beginning of the play. But when Henry's father John of Gaunt dies, Richard confiscates his property with no regard to his son's rights. Bolingbroke returns to confront the king, who surrenders his crown and is imprisoned in Pomfret Castle, where he is soon murdered.

This new edition in the acclaimed Oxford Shakespeare series features a freshly edited version of the text. The wide-ranging introduction describes the play's historical circumstances, both the period that it dramatizes (the start of the wars of the roses) and the period in which it was written (late Elizabethan England), and the play's political significance in its own time and our own. It also focuses on the play's richly poetic language and its success over the centuries as a play for the stage. Extensive explanatory notes help readers at all levels understand and appreciate the language, characters, and dramatic action.

Sometimes grim, sometimes uproarious, and always captivating, Iceland’s Bell by Nobel Laureate Halldór Laxness is at once an updating of the traditional Icelandic saga and a caustic social satire.

At the close of the 17th century, Iceland is an oppressed Danish colony, suffering from extreme poverty, famine, and plague. A farmer and accused cord-thief named Jon Hreggvidsson makes an improper joke about the Danish king and soon after finds himself a fugitive charged with the murder of the king’s hangman.

In the years that follow, the hapless but resilient rogue Hreggvidsson becomes a pawn entangled in political and personal conflicts playing out on a far grander scale. Chief among these is the star-crossed love affair between Snaefridur, known as “Iceland’s Sun”, a beautiful, headstrong young noblewoman, and Arnas Arnaeus, the king’s antiquarian, an aristocrat whose worldly manner conceals a fierce devotion to his downtrodden countrymen.

As their personal struggle plays itself out on an international stage, Iceland’s Bell creates a Dickensian canvas of heroism and venality, violence and tragedy, charged with narrative enchantment on every page.

The Great Fire is a sweeping story of men and women struggling to reclaim their lives in the aftermath of world conflict. This is Shirley Hazzard's first novel since The Transit of Venus. The conflagration of her title is the Second World War.

In war-torn Asia and stricken Europe, men and women, still young but veterans of harsh experience, must reinvent their lives and expectations, and learn, from their past, to dream again. Some will fulfill their destinies, others will falter. At the center of the story, Aldred Leith, a brave and brilliant soldier, finds that survival and worldly achievement are not enough. Helen Driscoll, a young girl living in occupied Japan and tending her dying brother, falls in love, and in the process discovers herself.

In the looming shadow of world enmities resumed, and of Asia's coming centrality in world affairs, a man and a woman seek to recover self-reliance, balance, and tenderness, struggling to reclaim their humanity.

The son of a prosperous landowner and a former slave, Paul-Edward Logan is unlike any other boy he knows. His white father has acknowledged him and raised him openly—something unusual in post-Civil War Georgia. But as he grows into a man, he learns that life for someone like him is not easy.

Black people distrust him because he looks white. White people discriminate against him when they learn of his black heritage. Even within his own family, he faces betrayal and degradation.

So at the age of fourteen, he sets out toward the only dream he has ever had: to find land every bit as good as his father's and make it his own.

Once again inspired by her own history, Ms. Taylor brings truth and power to the newest addition to the Logan family stories.

Meridon, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory, is the final book of the extraordinary Wideacre trilogy. As the heir to the great estate comes home at last, Meridon knows she does not belong in the dirty, vagabond life of a gypsy bareback rider. The half-remembered vision of another life burns in her heart, even as her beloved sister, Dandy, risks everything for their future.

Alone, Meridon follows the urgings of her dream, riding in the moonlight past the rusted gates, up the winding drive to a house—clutching the golden clasp of the necklace that was her birthright—home at last to Wideacre. The lost heir of one of England's great estates takes her place as its mistress.

Meridon is a rich, impassioned tapestry of a young woman's journey from dreams to glittering drawing rooms and elaborate deceits, from a simple hope to a deep and fulfilling love. Set in the savage contrasts of Georgian England—a time alive with treachery, grandeur, and intrigue—Meridon is Philippa Gregory's masterwork.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory comes the stunning first novel of a thrilling trilogy about the Lacey family, and the captivating woman at the heart of a power-hungry estate willing to go to any means to protect her family name.

Beatrice Lacey, as strong-minded as she is beautiful, refuses to conform to the social customs of her time. Destined to lose her heritage and beloved Wideacre estate once she is wed, Beatrice will use any means necessary to protect her ancestral name. Seduction, betrayal, even murder—Beatrice's passion is without apology or conscience. "She is a Lacey of Wideacre," her father warns, "and whatever she does, however she behaves, will always be fitting."

Yet even as Beatrice's scheming seems about to yield her dream, she is haunted by the one living person who knows the extent of her plans...and her capacity for evil.

Sumptuously set in Georgian England, Wideacre is intensely gripping, rich in texture, and full of color and authenticity. It is a saga as irresistible in its singular magic as its heroine.

Banished to the Empire's farthest outpost, veteran warrior Paulinus Maximus defends The Wall of Britannia from the constant onslaught of belligerent barbarian tribes. Bravery, loyalty, experience, and success lead to Maximus' appointment as "General of the West" by the Roman emperor, the ambition of a lifetime.

But with the title comes a caveat: Maximus needs to muster and command a single legion to defend the perilous Rhine frontier. On the opposite side of the Rhine River, tribal nations are uniting; hundreds of thousands mass in preparation for the conquest of Gaul, and from there, a sweep down into Rome itself. Only a wide river and a wily general keep them in check.

With discipline, deception, persuasion, and surprise, Maximus holds the line against an increasingly desperate and innumerable foe. Friends, allies, and even enemies urge Maximus to proclaim himself emperor. He refuses, bound by an oath of duty, honor, and sacrifice to Rome, a city he has never seen. But then circumstance intervenes. Now, Maximus will accept the purple robe of emperor, if his scrappy legion can deliver this last crucial victory against insurmountable odds. The very fate of Rome hangs in the balance.

The Tea Rose is a towering old-fashioned story, imbued with a modern sensibility, of a family's destruction, of murder and revenge, of love lost and won again, and of one determined woman's quest to survive and triumph. East London, 1888-a city apart. A place of shadow and light where thieves, whores, and dreamers mingle, where children play in the cobbled streets by day and a killer stalks at night, where bright hopes meet the darkest truths. Here, by the whispering waters of the Thames, a bright and defiant young woman dares to dream of a life beyond tumbledown wharves, gaslit alleys, and the grim and crumbling dwellings of the poor. Fiona Finnegan, a worker in a tea factory, hopes to own a shop one day, together with her lifelong love, Joe Bristow, a costermonger's son. With nothing but their faith in each other to spur them on, Fiona and Joe struggle, save, and sacrifice to achieve their dreams. But Fiona's dreams are shattered when the actions of a dark and brutal man take from her nearly everything-and everyone-she holds dear. Fearing her own death at the dark man's hands, she is forced to flee London for New York. There, her indomitable spirit-and the ghosts of her past-propel her rise from a modest west side shopfront to the top of Manhattan's tea trade. Authentic and moving, Jennifer Donnelly's The Tea Rose is an unforgettable novel.

Gods and Generals is the New York Times bestselling prequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning classic The Killer Angels. In this brilliantly written epic novel, Jeff Shaara traces the lives, passions, and careers of the great military leaders from the first gathering clouds of the Civil War.

Here is Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a hopelessly by-the-book military instructor and devout Christian who becomes the greatest commander of the Civil War; Winfield Scott Hancock, a captain of quartermasters who quickly establishes himself as one of the finest leaders of the Union army; Joshua Chamberlain, who gives up his promising academic career and goes on to become one of the most heroic soldiers in American history; and Robert E. Lee, never believing until too late that a civil war would ever truly come to pass.

Profound in its insights into the minds and hearts of those who fought in the war, Gods and Generals creates a vivid portrait of the soldiers, the battlefields, and the tumultuous times that forever shaped the nation.

Ikääntynyt Aliide Truu asuu yksin taloaan Viron maaseudulla. Maa on itsenäistynyt edellisenä vuonna ja maareformi on alkanut. Vanhan naisen arjen katkaisee pihalle pyörtynyt parikymppinen Zara. Tultuaan tajuihinsa Zara kertoo pakenevansa väkivaltaista miestään. Kohtaaminen nostaa Aliiden mieleen repivät muistot nuoruuden traagisesta rakkaudesta ja valinnoista, jotka sinetöivät hänen lähimpiensä kohtalon. Omiin epätoivoisiin ratkaisuihinsa pakotetun Zaran tilanne puolestaan osoittaa, että vaikka aika on toinen, vaino ei ole loppunut, muuttanut vain muotoaan.

Puhdistuksen syvintä ydintä on petos, johon epätoivoiset tunteet ajavat. Romaani avaa myös Viron vaiettua lähihistoriaa yhden suvun kokemusten kautta. Kirja antaa äänen sodan, kommunismin ja sorron uhreille. 1940-luvulla koettujen nöyryytysten ohella teoksessa nousee esiin nykynaisiin epävakaissa yhteiskunnallisissa olosuhteissa kohdistuva hyväksikäyttö.

Marie Antoinette: The Journey is a brilliantly written work of impeccable scholarship by one of our finest biographers, Antonia Fraser. This book delves into the life of the iconic eighteenth-century French queen, Marie Antoinette, whose excesses have become legendary.

Marie Antoinette was famously blamed for instigating the French Revolution. However, her journey, beginning as a fourteen-year-old sent from Vienna to marry the future Louis XVI, reveals a woman of greater complexity and character than previously understood. We witness her transformation from an ill-educated girl seeking refuge in pleasure to a magnificent, courageous woman who defied her enemies at her trial with consummate intelligence.

Sent by her mother, Austrian Empress Maria Teresa, to Versailles, Marie Antoinette was expected to further Austrian interests. Yet, she was more inclined towards a philanthropic role, patronizing the arts, especially music. Despite accusations of political interference, Marie Antoinette longed for a family and endured public humiliation before giving birth to her first child.

Antonia Fraser weaves a richly detailed account of Marie Antoinette's poignant journey, drawing on family letters and archival materials. This book avoids the hagiography of some admirers and the misogyny of many critics, providing an utterly riveting and intensely moving narrative.

Based on the troubadour culture that rose in Provence during the High Middle Ages, this panoramic, absorbing novel beautifully creates an alternate version of the medieval world.

The matriarchal, cultured land of Arbonne is rent by a feud between its two most powerful dukes, the noble troubadour Bertran de Talair and Urte de Miraval, over long-dead Aelis, lover of one, wife of the other and once heir to the country's throne.

To the north lies the militaristic Gorhaut, whose inhabitants worship the militant god Corannos and are ruled by corrupt, womanizing King Ademar. His chief advisor, the high priest of Corannos, is determined to eradicate the worship of a female deity, whose followers live to the south.

Into this cauldron of brewing disaster comes the mysterious Gorhaut mercenary Blaise, who takes service with Bertran and averts an attempt on his life. The revelation of Blaise's lineage and a claim for sanctuary by his sister-in-law sets the stage for a brutal clash between the two cultures. Intertwined is the tale of a young woman troubadour whose role suggests the sweep of the drama to come.

Sugar, 19, a prostitute in Victorian London, yearns for a better life. From the brutal brothel-keeper Mrs. Castaway, she ascends in society. The affections of self-involved perfume magnate William Rackham soon smell like love. Her social rise attracts preening socialites, drunken journalists, untrustworthy servants, vile guttersnipes, and whores of all kinds.

The Story of Lucy Gault is a brilliant, subtle, and moving story of love, guilt, and forgiveness by the highly acclaimed author William Trevor.

The Gault family leads a life of privilege in early 1920s Ireland. However, the threat of violence forces the parents of nine-year-old Lucy to decide to leave for England, her mother's home. Lucy cannot bear the thought of leaving Lahardane, their country house with its beautiful land and nearby beach, and a dog she has befriended.

On the day before they are to leave, Lucy runs away, hoping to convince her parents to stay. Instead, she sets off a series of tragic misunderstandings that affect all of Lahardane's inhabitants for the rest of their lives.

The Family is a captivating novel set in the vibrant and tumultuous world of fifteenth-century Rome. This masterpiece, completed by Mario Puzo and Carol Gino, immerses readers in the heart of the Renaissance, a time when power, luxury, and betrayal were intertwined.

At the center of this enthralling tale is Rodrigo Borgia, known to history as Pope Alexander VI. His insatiable desires for dominance, opulence, and passion are only rivaled by his profound love for his family. The Borgias, a notorious crime family, navigate the dangerous waters of Italian politics, where the stakes are high, and loyalty is paramount.

Rodrigo's children each play a pivotal role in this intricate narrative. Cesare Borgia, a fierce and ambitious warrior, is both a friend and inspiration to Machiavelli. Lucrezia Borgia, known for her beauty and cunning, uses her marriage alliances to unite nations and stir hearts. Meanwhile, the unloved Jofre and the irascible Juan add their own layers of complexity to the story.

Throughout the novel, historical figures such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Ferdinand and Isabella make appearances, enriching the tapestry of this historical drama.

The Family is more than just a story of crime and power; it is a symphony of human emotions, from pride and romance to jealousy and murderous rage. This novel, two decades in the making, stands as a testament to Mario Puzo's legacy as one of the greatest storytellers of our time.

Originally published in 1942 and now rediscovered to international acclaim, this taut and exquisitely structured novel by the Hungarian master Sándor Márai conjures the melancholy glamour of a decaying empire and the disillusioned wisdom of its last heirs.

In a secluded woodland castle, an old General prepares to receive a rare visitor, a man who was once his closest friend but whom he has not seen in forty-one years. Over the ensuing hours, host and guest will fight a duel of words and silences, accusations and evasions. They will exhume the memory of their friendship and that of the General’s beautiful, long-dead wife. And they will return to the time the three of them last sat together following a hunt in the nearby forest—a hunt in which no game was taken but during which something was lost forever.

Embers is a classic of modern European literature, a work whose poignant evocation of the past also seems like a prophetic glimpse into the moral abyss of the present.

Mary Saunders, a lower-class London schoolgirl, was born into rough cloth but hungered for lace and the trappings of a higher station than her family would ever know. In 18th-century England, Mary's shrewd instincts will get her only so far, and she despairs of the plans made for her to carve out a trade as a seamstress or a maid. Unwilling to bend to such a destiny, Mary strikes out on a painful, fateful journey all her own.

Inspired by the obscure historical figure Mary Saunders, Slammerkin is a provocative, graphic tale and a rich feast of a historical novel. Author Emma Donoghue probes the gap between a young girl's quest for freedom and a better life and the shackles that society imposes on her.

From the author of the masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front, The Black Obelisk is a classic novel of the troubling aftermath of World War I in Germany. A hardened young veteran from the First World War, Ludwig now works for a monument company, selling stone markers to the survivors of deceased loved ones. Though ambivalent about his job, he suspects there’s more to life than earning a living off other people’s misfortunes.

A self-professed poet, Ludwig soon senses a growing change in his fatherland, a brutality brought upon it by inflation. When he falls in love with the beautiful but troubled Isabelle, Ludwig hopes he has found a soul who will offer him salvation—who will free him from his obsession to find meaning in a war-torn world. But there comes a time in every man’s life when he must choose to live—despite the prevailing thread of history horrifically repeating itself.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is an epic saga of brotherhood and rivalry, of loyalty and treachery, of victory and death, forming part of the indelible core of classical Chinese culture and continues to fascinate modern-day readers.

In 220 EC, the 400-year-old rule of the mighty Han dynasty came to an end and three kingdoms contested for control of China. Liu Pei, the legitimate heir to the Han throne, elects to fight for his birthright and enlists the aid of his sworn brothers, the impulsive giant Chang Fei and the invincible knight Kuan Yu. The brave band faces a formidable array of enemies, foremost among them the treacherous and bloodthirsty Ts'ao Ts'ao.

The bold struggle of the three heroes seems doomed until the reclusive wizard Chuko Liang offers his counsel, and the tide begins to turn.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is China's oldest novel and the first of a great tradition of historical fiction. Believed to have been compiled by the playwright Lo Kuan-chung in the late fourteenth century, it is indebted to the great San-kuo chi (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms) completed by the historian Ch'en Shou just before his death in 297 CE. The novel first appeared in print in 1522.

The Passion of Artemisia is a captivating novel that brings to life one of the few female post-Renaissance painters to achieve fame during her own era, despite facing immense struggles. Artemisia Gentileschi led a remarkably "modern" life, filled with both extraordinary highs and challenging lows.

From her public humiliation in a rape trial at the age of eighteen to her father's betrayal, Artemisia's life was a testament to her resilience and talent. Her marriage of convenience, motherhood, and growing fame as an artist are depicted with rich details, set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, Genoa, and Naples.

Inhabited by historical characters such as Galileo and Cosimo de' Medici II, this novel paints a vivid picture of life as a seventeenth-century painter. Susan Vreeland crafts an inspiring story about one woman's lifelong struggle to reconcile career and family, passion and genius.

Join Artemisia on her journey as she navigates the world of art and society, living as a bold and brilliant woman who paid a high price for her independence.

The Tragedy of Man is a remarkable literary work by the Hungarian author Imre Madách, first published in 1861. This play, composed in verse, has become a staple of Hungarian theater and has been translated and adapted into many languages and media.

The play follows Adam and Eve as they appear in various guises in episodes throughout history, growing in self-awareness and wisdom as they navigate the complexities of human existence.

Naguib Mahfouz’s magnificent epic trilogy of colonial Egypt appears here in one volume for the first time. The Nobel Prize-winning writer's masterwork is the engrossing story of a Muslim family in Cairo during Britain's occupation of Egypt in the early decades of the twentieth century.

The novels of The Cairo Trilogy trace three generations of the family of tyrannical patriarch Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, who rules his household with a strict hand while living a secret life of self-indulgence. Palace Walk introduces us to his gentle, oppressed wife, Amina, his cloistered daughters, Aisha and Khadija, and his three sons–the tragic and idealistic Fahmy, the dissolute hedonist Yasin, and the soul-searching intellectual Kamal.

Al-Sayyid Ahmad’s rebellious children struggle to move beyond his domination in Palace of Desire, as the world around them opens to the currents of modernity and political and domestic turmoil brought by the 1920s. Sugar Street brings Mahfouz’s vivid tapestry of an evolving Egypt to a dramatic climax as the aging patriarch sees one grandson become a Communist, one a Muslim fundamentalist, and one the lover of a powerful politician.

Throughout the trilogy, the family's trials mirror those of their turbulent country during the years spanning the two World Wars, as change comes to a society that has resisted it for centuries. Filled with compelling drama, earthy humor, and remarkable insight, The Cairo Trilogy is the achievement of a master storyteller.

Ambition and jealousy all set to music. Devout court composer Antonio Salieri plots against his rival, the dissolute but supremely talented Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. How far will Salieri go to achieve the fame that Mozart disregards?

This play features a full cast with performances by:

• Steven Brand as Baron van Swieten
• James Callis as Mozart
• Michael Emerson as Salieri
• Darren Richardson as Venticello 2
• Alan Shearman as Count Orsini-Rosenberg
• Mark Jude Sullivan as Venticello 1
• Simon Templeman as Joseph II
• Brian Tichnell as Count Johann Kilian Von Strack
• Jocelyn Towne as Constanze

Directed by Rosalind Ayres. Recorded in Los Angeles before a live audience at The James Bridges Theater, UCLA in September of 2016.

The inhabitants of a Greek village, ruled by the Turks, plan to enact the life of Christ in a mystery play but are overwhelmed by their task. A group of refugees, fleeing from the ruins of their plundered homes, arrive asking for protection - and suddenly the drama of the Passion becomes reality.

The Last of the Wine takes you on a captivating journey through ancient Greece. Follow the lives of two young Athenians, Alexias and Lysis, as they compete in the palaestra, embark on a quest to the Olympic games, and fight in the wars against Sparta. Their path also leads them to the teachings of the great philosopher, Socrates.

As their relationship deepens, Mary Renault masterfully conveys Greek culture and illustrates the profound impact of Socratic philosophy, whose influence has transcended epochs.

In the Name of Salome by Julia Alvarez is a compelling exploration of the mother-daughter relationship, set against the backdrop of Caribbean history. This masterful novel alternates between the lives of Salomé Ureña, a revered Dominican poet, and her daughter Camila Henriquez Urena.

Salomé, known for her passionate poetry and political influence, becomes a national icon at a young age. Her life is marked by the tension between her public persona and her private desires, particularly her love for a man named Papancho.

Camila, in contrast, grows up in the shadow of her mother's legacy, dedicating her life to teaching rather than revolution. Yet, as she approaches retirement, she is drawn back to her roots, uncovering the truths of her mother's sacrifices and finding her own place in the world.

This beautifully written story spans over a century, highlighting the shifting political landscape of the Dominican Republic and the personal struggles of its characters. Alvarez's prose is rich with metaphor and emotion, capturing the essence of love, sacrifice, and the quest for identity.

Ultimately, In the Name of Salome is a tale of love and idealism, where the personal and political intertwine, leaving a lasting impact on both the characters and the readers.

No one is safe...

In 1936, Nazi darkness descends upon Europe. Every person is only one step away from being swept into the nightmarish tide of evil. Blond Elisa Lindheim, a violinist with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, adopts an Aryan stage name for protection. But her closest friend, Leah, a talented Jewish cellist, is in perilous position.

There are those who choose to fight Hitler's madness: Elisa's father Theo, a courageous American reporter named John Murphy, Winston Churchill the British statesman, a farm family in the Tyrolean Alps, and the Jewish Underground. But will all their efforts be enough to stop the coming Holocaust?

And now Elisa must decide. If she becomes part of the Underground, she will risk everything... and put everyone she loves in danger.

The Fortress is a captivating novel set in 18th century Sarajevo under Ottoman rule. The story follows a soldier named Ahmet Shabo who returns from the wars in Russia, carrying the heavy burden of losing nearly his entire unit, either to battle or suicide.

A Muslim by faith, he marries a Christian girl whose love and support become his anchor as he navigates a society steeped in political intrigue and cultural tension. His journey through personal and societal challenges leads him to dabble in politics, culminating in a daring raid to rescue a friend from jail.

This novel offers a profound reflection on the human condition and the resilience of the spirit amidst adversity.

The Raging Quiet is a compelling and romantic story set in the tiny village of Tocurra. The plot revolves around a newcomer, Marnie, who befriends a young man named Raver, whose deafness has left him isolated from his fellow villagers. Marnie and Raver learn to communicate through a series of hand gestures, forming a special, silent bond.

However, when a death shakes the village, their unique connection causes suspicion of witchcraft. The story unfolds in a medieval setting, where God is cherished and witches are feared. Marnie's journey from a widow to a friend and protector of Raver is both heartwarming and revealing.

This novel is perfect for young readers, offering a mix of romance, drama, and adventure. It highlights the power of friendship and communication beyond words, making it an ideal feature for a month of romance.

Jessica is based on the inspiring true story of a young girl's fight for justice against tremendous odds. A tomboy, Jessica is the pride of her father, as they work together on the struggling family farm. One quiet day, the peace of the bush is devastated by a terrible murder. Only Jessica is able to save the killer from the lynch mob – but will justice prevail in the courts?

Nine months later, a baby is born... with Jessica determined to guard the secret of the father's identity. The rivalry of Jessica and her beautiful sister for the love of the same man will echo throughout their lives – until finally the truth must be told.

Set in the harsh Australian bush against the outbreak of World War I, this novel is heartbreaking in its innocence, and shattering in its brutality.

Le Comte de Monte-Cristo I is a gripping adventure that takes readers through the tumultuous journey of Edmond Dantès. In this first volume, Dantès experiences a dramatic fall, both literally and figuratively, as he is unjustly imprisoned and later makes his daring escape.

"On fit encore quatre ou cinq pas en montant toujours, puis Dantès sentit qu'on le prenait par la tête et par les pieds et qu'on le balançait." These words mark the beginning of Dantès' descent into despair, as he is cast into the sea, bound to a heavy weight.

With a heart-stopping narrative, Dumas weaves a tale of revenge, hope, and the relentless pursuit of justice. This classic piece of French literature is a testament to the enduring power of determination and resilience.

All that matters for Cadi Forbes is finding the one man who can set her free from the sin that plagues her, the sin that has stolen her mother's love from her and made her wish she could flee life and its terrible injustice. But Cadi doesn't know that the “sin eater” is seeking as well.

Before their journeys are over, Cadi and the sin eater must face themselves, each other, and the One who will demand everything from them in exchange for the answers they seek. A captivating tale of suffering, seeking, and redemption.

After years of hiding and surviving near-death in a concentration camp, Ross is finally safe. Now living in New York City among old friends, far from Europe’s chilling atrocities, Ross soon meets Natasha, a beautiful model and fellow émigré, a warm heart to help him forget his cold memories.

Yet even as the war draws to its violent close, Ross cannot find peace. Demons still pursue him. Whether they are ghosts from the past or the guilt of surviving, he does not know. For he is only beginning to understand that freedom is far from easy—and that paradise, however perfect, has a price.

A Woman of Independent Means is a captivating novel that takes readers on a journey through the life of Bess Steed Garner at the turn of the century, a time when women had few choices. Bess inherits a legacy—not only of wealth but of determination and desire, making her truly a woman of independent means.

From the early 1900s through the 1960s, we accompany Bess as she endures life's trials and triumphs with unfailing courage and indomitable spirit: the sacrifices love sometimes requires of the heart, the flaws and rewards of marriage, the often-tested bond between mother and child, and the will to defy a society that demands conformity.

This richly woven story, told in letters, follows Bess from her childhood in 1899 to her death in 1977. It's an inspirational tale of a woman who stands firm against the pressures of her time, offering a unique perspective on the evolution of women's roles throughout the 20th century.

In The Winter King and Enemy of God, Bernard Cornwell demonstrated his astonishing ability to make the oft-told legend of King Arthur fresh and new for our time. Now, in this riveting final volume of The Warlord Chronicles, Cornwell tells the unforgettable tale of Arthur's final struggles against the Saxons and his last attempts to triumph over a ruined marriage and ravaged dreams.

This is the tale not only of a broken love remade, but also of forces both earthly and unearthly that threaten everything Arthur stands for. Peopled by princesses and bards, by warriors and magicians, Excalibur is the story of love, war, loyalty, and betrayal—the work of a magnificent storyteller at the height of his powers.