FICTION

The American BoysOlivia Spooner is the number one bestselling author of two historical novels, The Girl from London and The Songbirds of Florence. She is also the author of two contemporary novels, A Way Back to Happy and A Bumpy Year. A former bookshop owner, Olivia is a strong advocate for the importance of books and reading. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand, with her family.

The Matchbox Girl: Lose Yourself In This Autumn'S Most Captivating Historical Novel From the multi-award-winning author a beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel telling the story of a young girl's battle for survival and search for the truth in occupied Vienna 'A shimmering masterwork' Alice Austen 'An extraordinary novel about resilience' Amanda Craig 'A mesmerising tapestry woven across history' Gina Rippon 'Gripping and profound. A masterful work of rare complexity that lingers and haunts' Christine LeunensAdelheid Brunner does not speak. She writes and draws instead and her ambition is to own one thousand matchboxes. Her grandmother cannot make sense of this, but Adelheid will stop at nothing to achieve her dream. She makes herself invisible, hiding in cupboards with her pet rat, Franz Joseph, listening in on conversations she can't fully comprehend.Then she meets Dr Asperger, a man who lets children play all day and who recognises the importance of matchboxes. He invites Adelheid to come and live at the Vienna paediatric clinic, where she and other children like herself will live under observation.But the date is 1938 and the place is Vienna a city of political instability, a place of increasing fear and violence. When the Nazis march into the city, a new world is created and difficult choices must be made.Why are the clinic's children disappearing, and where do they go? Adelheid starts to suspect that some of Dr Asperger's games are played for the highest stakes. In order to survive, she must play a game whose rules she cannot yet understand. Triumphant and tragic, soulful and spirited, The Matchbox Girl is a burningly brilliant book that brings the stories of a generation of lost children into the light. 'A vividly imagined story told with real drive and heart' Rachel Seiffert 'Unique and profoundly human' Emma Darwin 'One of the most charismatic and companionable narrators I've ever come across' Toby Litt 'The sheer brilliance of Alice Jolly's writing stopped me in my tracks, stole my breath' Angela Findlay 'An important, powerful book, so real I couldn't put it down' Kathleen Jones

DuskRobbie Arnott is the author of Limberlost, The Rain Heron and Flames. He's a two-time winner of The Age Book of the Year, and has also been awarded the Voss Literary Prize. He's been named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist, and has twice been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, as well as the Dylan Thomas Prize. He lives in Hobart with his wife and daughter.

The Bell And The Blade Paullina Simons is the author of sixteen internationally bestselling novels, one non-fiction memoir, a cookbook, and two children's books. Born and raised in the former Soviet Union, Paullina immigrated with her family to the United States in the mid-seventies. She received her Bachelor's degree in political science from Kansas University. She has lived in Rome, London, Dallas, and now lives in New York with her husband and four children.

Crimson Velvet Heart is a visionary novel that delves into Adelade's strange and enthralling life. Carmel Bird's exquisite language and deep understanding of history and human nature beautifully capture the spirit and mystery of love and loss.

Sinners An electrifying tale of rage and resistance that gives voice to the tragic and remarkable story of a young Roman noblewoman, Beatrice CenciRome, 1599. A young noblewoman accused of murder, awaits execution. Imprisoned in the Corte Savella, she has captured the hearts and sympathy of all Rome.This is the true and tragic tale of Beatrice Cenci.History has sold her short. She is no doe-eyed victim of her father's brutality, nor the cunning murderer who plotted her father's demise. No, this Beatrice - a woman pregnant by her lover, incarcerated in a remote castle by her father, and brim-full of white-hot rage - is both innocent and guilty, saint and sinner.And she will stand tall in the face of the violence of men, no matter the cost.

The Tarot Reader Of Versailles Two women. An extraordinary power. An explosive bond.In a time of revolution, their fates will lie in the turn of a card . . .It is the early days of the French Revolution and, on the streets of Paris, terror reigns.Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand is a young woman with an extraordinary power - through her tarot cards, she can commune with the dead, revolutionaries and the aristocracy alike seeking her out to divine their fortunes. Lenormand is loyal to Marie Antoinette and the dauphin of France, but she has seen the queen's fate in the cards and must take care that it doesn't become her own.Then, one fateful day, she comes across Cait, a scullery maid from Ireland who has travelled to Paris for love. Cait has powers too - she can read people's pasts as Lenormand reads their futures. The two young women share an electrifying connection, drawn to each other's abilities. But Cait is hiding something. What will she do - and who will she betray - to bring revolution to the shores of her beloved Ireland too?Inspired by the astonishing true story of Marie-Anne Adelaide Lenormand, The Tarot Reader of Versailles is a sweeping, powerful novel where allegiances, betrayals and even fate itself can be forged or broken by the turn of a card . . .

The Other Queen Pre-order BOLEYN TRAITOR now – Philippa Gregory’s landmark return to the Tudor court, coming Autumn 2025…A dramatic novel of passion, politics and betrayal from the author of The Other Boleyn Girl.They can fear me, and they can hate me. They can even deny me. But they cannot kill me.1568. The Virgin Queen Elizabeth I has ruled England for ten years, but refuses to name a successor, despite the rival claims that threaten her kingdom.Bess of Hardwick, the new Countess of Shrewsbury, has secured her future with her fourth marriage to George Talbot. Ambitious and shrewd, Bess anticipates royal favour when she and the Earl are asked to give sanctuary to the fugitive Mary Queen of Scots.But the Scottish queen rails against house arrest in a desolate castle and plots to regain her throne. The castle becomes the epicentre of intrigue against Elizabeth, the Earl blinded by admiration for the other queen. Even Bess’s own loyalty is thrown into question. If Elizabeth's spymaster William Cecil links the Talbots to the growing conspiracy to free Mary, they will all face the Tower…

The Boleyn Inheritance Pre-order BOLEYN TRAITOR now – Philippa Gregory’s landmark return to the Tudor court, coming Autumn 2025 …From the bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory, comes a wonderfully atmospheric evocation of the court of Henry VIII and his final queens.The king will decide who will live and who will die; he has the power of God now.1539. Henry VIII must take his fourth wife and the dangerous prize is won by Anne of Cleves. A German princess by birth, Anne is to be Henry’s pawn in the Protestant alliance against Rome, but the marriage falters from the start. Henry finds nothing to admire in his new queen, setting himself against his advisors and nobles to pay court to young Katherine Howard.The new queen begins to sense a trap closing around her. And Jane Boleyn, summoned to the inner circle once more by her uncle the Duke of Norfolk, finds a fractious court haunted by the Boleyn legacy of death and deceit.Nothing is certain in a kingdom ruled by an increasingly tyrannical king.

The Constant PrincessPre-order BOLEYN TRAITOR now – Philippa Gregory’s landmark return to the Tudor court, coming Autumn 2025 …A splendid and sumptuous historical novel from the internationally bestselling author, Philippa Gregory, telling of the early life of Katherine of Aragon.I was born a princess, destined to be queen, and I know my duty.1491. Henry VII’s eldest son Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, has been betrothed since childhood to the Spanish princess Katherine of Aragon. Their marriage will cement the alliance Henry Tudor craves to secure his country.But when Arthur’s sudden death leaves an 11-year-old boy heir to the kingdom, Henry Tudor must choose whether to send Katherine back to Spain, or to marry her himself. Katherine has no son from her brief marriage to secure her future; her substantial dowry and his powerful contract are at stake.Henry has reckoned without the determination of a young woman set on fulfilling her own destiny to be a queen – and the ambition of Prince Harry, the future Henry VIII.Don't miss THE SPANISH PRINCESS on Amazon Prime, based on The Constant Princess and The King's Curse …

The Virgin'S LoverPre-order BOLEYN TRAITOR now – Philippa Gregory’s landmark return to the Tudor court, coming Autumn 2025 …A sumptuous historical novel set in the court of Elizabeth I, from Sunday Times No.1 bestseller Philippa Gregory, the author of The Other Boleyn Girl.Now I can be the queen that my mother intended me to be . . . the queen I was born to be.1558. After years of waiting, Princess Elizabeth accedes to the throne of England.But the country is divided, the restoration of the Protestant faith ignites opposition from the church and beyond, and court remains a treacherous place.Many believe that Elizabeth must marry if she is to survive. For Robert Dudley, Elizabeth’s ascension is a glorious new dawn, and he quickly positions himself as the young queen’s favourite. Dudley is a man of powerful lineage; his father had been a kingmaker at the court of Henry VIII. But Dudley has many enemies, amongst them William Cecil, the queen’s most trusted advisor.As powerful families vie for stakes in the emerging kingdom, Elizabeth must secure her own future.

The Queen'S Fool Pre-order BOLEYN TRAITOR now – Philippa Gregory’s landmark return to the Tudor court, coming Autumn 2025...A stunning novel set in the Tudor court, from the Sunday Times No.1 bestseller Philippa Gregory."I would have been a fool indeed to tell the truth in this court of liars…"1553. King Edward is on his deathbed, and the future of the Tudor dynasty swings perilously.Forced out of Spain by the Inquisition, Hannah Green arrives in a volatile kingdom. She is identified as a seer and sworn into the service of Robert Dudley, the son of King Edward’s protector and a key player at court. Her task: to keep watch on Princess Mary, the forgotten heir.Mary’s grip on the Crown is fragile. Elizabeth, Mary’s half-sister, is ready to take England’s throne. Caught in the rivalry between the daughters of Henry VIII, Hannah must navigate her way through a treacherous court if she is to survive.

The Other Boleyn Girl1521. Henry VIII rules over a fashionable court alive with pageant and celebration, the lack of a son his only threat. When young Mary Boleyn arrives at court, she becomes his new mistress, an unwitting pawn in the ambitions of the powerful Boleyn and Howard families.As Henry’s interest begins to wane, the Boleyns scheme to put forward Mary’s sister, Anne. Yet Anne Boleyn, newly returned from the French court, won’t agree to be Henry’s mistress – only his wife.Pitting the king’s desperation for an heir against the advice of his powerful advisors, Wolsey and Cromwell, what follows will change the course of a country’s history.

PilbaraA stunning tale of loyalty and survival from a master storyteller ...In this ancient, harsh place, faint hearts will not last.The Pilbara, late 1800s: Frontier country, the wild west of Australia - a lawless, violent place where treachery is a way of life.Widower Charles Burton arrives in this forbidding corner of the world with his three young children. They've travelled half the globe, from the lush rolling hills and dales of Yorkshire, on a mission to save their family's sheep and cattle property. Rebuilding the fortunes of Burton Station will ask everything of Charles and his children, particularly daughter Victoria, who will at times threaten to bring about their downfall.Here in the oldest landscape on earth, survival has always proved a battle. And when greed takes over, the battle only intensifies. Aboriginal people are robbed of their lands and their very way of life as every new arrival fights for the riches on offer - the grazing territory, the pearls and the gold. Amid all this brutality, the Burtons and their allies must fight to conquer the savagery that surrounds them.From Yorkshire to Cossack in Western Australia, and London to Tahiti in French Polynesia, Pilbara is the tale of a family on a mission to restore the honor of its name.