The Book Guild Ltd

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of one of the finest violins ever made, The Natashka, draws in unlikely accomplices: Matti Spivack, a brilliant violinist who believes the Natashka to be his by right; his conductor friend, Mike Sokolov; and Maya Solomon, a member of the orchestra, whose grandmother claims to have owned the elusive Natashka.The mysterious Natashka casts a dangerous shadow over their lives. The missing violin has haunted musicians and violin makers ever since the death of its last owner. Reluctantly, Maya joins the search for the violin, putting herself and her grandmother in the path of danger.Maya finds herself unable to control the passion Matti provokes in her. She is intensely drawn to him while at the same time is repelled by his arrogance.

Is Britain the most doom-ridden it''s ever been? It may feel that way. But it’s a tie.Between famine and plague, revolt and reinvention, Dedskull is a collection of interlinked tales set in Northamptonshire between 1315 and 1348, each following the elusive soldier, Dedskull, as he drifts through moments of crisis, bearing witness to how ordinary people respond when survival is at stake.Drawing on real events and legends, the stories explore brutal winters, social unrest, economic experiments, environmental destruction, and the first stirrings of the modern world. Dedskull is sometimes saviour, sometimes judge, sometimes merely observer, tipping the balance between disaster and survival… or not.

Raegan Oaks has spent her life fighting invisible battles of pain with no name, and grief that never lets her breathe. When betrayal shatters the fragile bridge she’s built with her flatmate, Ethan Zarik, she flees into the night towards an ancient oak, which mysteriously opens to the realm of Liravel: a world of magic long thought lost.There, beneath its epic sky and ancient peaks, embers of power begin to spark, shadows whisper her name, and a dangerous Fae warrior sees what she cannot…Back in the mortal world, Ethan is unravelling, haunted by nightmares and clawed by demons and darkness he can barely control. When fate rips their worlds apart, he surrenders to the monster within, knowing it’s the only way to tear open the realms to reach her.Two souls bound by a curse older than time.Light and shadow. Love and ruin.And a starlit flame that could reduce even the darkness to ash.

It’s 2023, and life in Cambridge is good for Chester “Cheshire” Sommer. He has it all; however, he can’t help but feel that he deserves… more. When a flawless version of himself begins speaking to him in dreams, Chester listens. Other Chester understands his hunger for power and his resentment towards his watchful younger sister, Faye. When Chester discovers the legend of a supernatural staircase hidden in the woods, he makes a wish that warps reality, causing Faye to vanish from his life and granting Other Chester a will of his own. Together, they chase fame and validation, convinced they’re destined for greatness. But ambition curdles into obsession, and perfection demands a terrible price. Chester soon discovers that wanting more than what came before can destroy everything that comes after.

1828, Suffolk.Twenty-four-year-old Jane Groom is left devastated when her world collapses after being dismissed from her respectable post as housekeeper at Worthley Rectory. With few prospects and her family circumstances increasingly precarious, Jane must navigate the dangers faced by an unprotected young woman seeking employment.She accepts a position at Worthley Hall, home of the affable yet troubled Squire Jonathan Bartlett, and soon finds herself drawn into the tangled affairs of the influential Bartletts and the formidable Bacon family of nearby Redgrove. As whispers of scandal and betrayal circulate, Jane becomes both confidante and pawn, in the path of the calculating Philip Bacon.When secrets from her mother’s past resurface and Jane’s safety is threatened, she is forced to question whom she can trust and where she truly belongs.With her reputation and future at stake, Jane must decide whether to flee Worthley forever, or claim the life she was never meant to have.

At sixty-three, Anne Hough stepped aboard a Clipper Race yacht and into an experience that would test her as never before. This is a vivid account of fortitude, resilience, and adventure, following Anne and her crew as they race around the world’s great oceans in often treacherous conditions.From the fanfare of departure under Tower Bridge to the isolation of the Southern Ocean, from hurricanes and doldrums to record-breaking ocean sprints, the story captures life on a racing yacht pushed relentlessly to its limits. Crew blogs woven throughout give intimate, personal insight.Seen through the eyes of both sailor and crew, this is not just a chronicle of a race, but of human endurance: the strain of teamwork, the pull of home, and the beauty of the natural world when viewed from a boat surfing down giant waves at over twenty knots

Thursday 1st September 2039. On the centenary of the Second World War, atheist scientist Chris Deckers exploits the planet’s most powerful computer to reveal something so cataclysmic it makes five thousand years of recorded human history – wars, empires, revolutions, the lot – look like an underwhelming warm-up act.ERROR 404: GOD NOT FOUND.Yup. According to the most intelligent intelligence on the planet, the big old guy, as advertised, is a big old lie, dreamt up by Bronze Age shepherds who figured the only way to stop everyone coveting their oxen was to invent a punitive sky parent with an eggshell ego. And they left irrefutable evidence of their shaggy God story behind.Deckers should be rejoicing as his rational Eden is born. Instead, the baby’s screaming. Civilisation has lost its existential marbles and the God-shaped hole he crowbarred open is being rapidly filled by something far more sinister.In a race to save humanity’s soul, Deckers must face the one question he never thought to ask. What if faith matters more than facts?

At fifteen, headstrong Jane is growing up in a quiet village in East Sussex, dreaming of travel and a life beyond the familiar. When war erupts in 1939, those dreams are swept into motion. Leaving school behind, Jane steps into adulthood far sooner than she ever expected, and a chance encounter with injured RAF pilots changes everything. Told in Jane’s own voice, this biographical novel charts an extraordinary journey from V1 and V2 attacks in Kent to the heat and danger of Ceylon and Singapore. Jane confronts death, grief and moral conflict as she tends wounded airmen, liberated prisoners of war and even former enemies. Along the way she experiences friendship and love as well as devastating loss, emerging fiercely independent and forever changed.

Backstage Confidential lifts the curtain on West End Theatre from a viewpoint rarely heard: the wings. Beginning his career at seventeen, Eden Phillips rose to become London’s youngest head flyman before veering into acting, writing and publishing — yet always remained an observer of the theatre’s hidden world. With warmth and wit, he evokes backstage work in the 1960s and ’70s: rigging sets, working the flys, operating revolves and tackling the countless unseen tasks that keep a show running. Along the way he encounters an array of theatrical greats, from Sir Noël Coward, Sir John Gielgud and Dame Judi Dench to directors Hal Prince and Harold Pinter. A lively, humorous and affectionate insider’s glimpse into a golden age of British theatre.

The Battle of Towton, March 1461. In the aftermath of England’s bloodiest battle, Bethany Mortimer leaves Towton Hall, her beloved husband, and newly crowned Edward IV in search of those who continue their treachery. Making her way to Warwick Castle, she reunites with her loyal retainers to track those who would see the House of York destroyed. Still haunted by the slaughter at Wakefield just months earlier, Bethany embraces her new calling as a Yorkist spy. But as their journey unfolds, the stakes rise: a plot to abduct Edward’s only surviving brothers, Richard and George, threatens the very survival of the dynasty. Travelling Roman roads through hostile hamlets, Bethany and her companions cross a divided land. Their hunt leads them to Coventry, where the true culprits are unmasked and justice delivered. With enemies vanquished and Yorkist power secured, the realm prepares for a coronation unlike any before…

Salamanca, 1812. Lord Wellington has triumphed over the French in battle, yet victory brings little peace. The Peninsular War rages on and a revelation of conspiracy threatens to shatter Britain’s fragile alliance with Spain. Colonel Thomas Mablethorpe, an intelligence officer for the War Office, feels wasted at his current assignment as a translator. So when a summons arrives from Army Headquarters, he seizes the chance to prove his worth once more. Resourceful, discreet and quietly relentless, Mablethorpe excels at one thing above all: solving problems. This time, however, the problem may be impossible. Someone within Wellington’s General Staff is a French spy. To expose the traitor, the Colonel must tread the perilous ground between three uneasy allies whilst travelling across a ravaged land scarred by years of war, where every friend might be an enemy, and every truth comes at a cost.

First among equals before the Norman Conquest, the ancient See of Winchester was soon overtaken by Canterbury, York and London following the defeat of the Anglo-Saxons at Hastings. Despite this, it retained its wealth and prestige through its geographical position and the bishop’s unrivalled proximity to kings at Westminster and archbishops at Lambeth – thanks to the diocese’s hold on the Thames’ south bank and its base at Southwark. This helped ensure that successive bishops were drawn from among the finest medieval administrators. Frequently serving as Chancellors or Treasurers of England, they had immense opportunity to influence the development of early English government. They played key roles in shaping an effective legal and financial system, in securing Magna Carta and in promoting an embryonic Parliament. A bishop of Winchester was present at most, if not all, major events under the Norman and early Plantagenet monarchs. The Winchester bishop’s removal of the hapless Edward II paved the way for the long and illustrious reign of his son, Edward III.

In a land torn by crusade and rebellion, honour is earned in blood. 1205. Richard Fitz Simon has fled England after his title was usurped, joining the Livonian Order of Swordbrothers – a German brotherhood of warrior-monks fighting to bring the word of God to the pagan frontier. After slaying the Lithuanian champion at the Battle of Rodenpois, Richard is celebrated by the Order and their Semigallian allies. Yet his position remains precarious. Jealous rivals question his right to stand among the brotherhood, and his master, Knight-brother Rudolf, is enraged by Richard’s disobedience. When dark secrets from Lübeck resurface, Richard also finds himself at odds with Bishop Albert, head of the Christian mission in Livonia. As he struggles to reconcile faith, duty and identity, he is drawn into a brutal world of suspicion, hardship and bloodshed. Sent on an expedition to build a castle deep in the wilderness, Richard soon sees tensions erupt – and the path he has chosen threatens to destroy everything he has fought to become.

When struggling author Dina falls through a portal into the mythical and forgotten land of Zagras, she’s thrust into a world of danger, magic and buried truths. With the help of Greg, a cynical, alcoholic centaur, and Drustan, a dethroned prince, Dina searches for a way home while trying to unravel how and why she ended up here. Hunted and haunted by mysterious beings, Dina’s journey leads her to The Library of the Untold; a vast and enchanted archive containing every story ever lived. There, she discovers her own book… but there’s a warning written by her future self. Dina must decide whether to return home or embrace the myth she’s become.

“Mendacem memorem esse oportet.” A liar should have a good memory. – QuintilianJune 1944: In the chaos following D-Day, a British Intelligence mission in Bordeaux ends in betrayal and death. Captain B.B. Harrison and his network are destroyed; the guilty walk free and the truth is buried beneath layers of deceit. December 1979: Amid Britain’s ‘Winter of Discontent’, sixteen-year-old Benedict Harrison lives in the shadow of family lies and forgotten stories. When he’s invited to stay with his infamous great-aunt, the artist Gail Miller, he steps into a world of secrets leading back to the war. Together, Gail and Benedict must unearth long-buried family secrets – but the key lies with one man: the moribund Victor Cross, a former spymaster. But can they uncover the truth before it’s too lat? n a story of betrayal, falsehood and fragile trust, Emilion explores how the lies we inherit shape who we become…

Gianni Angelini’s dedication, skill, resilience and adaptability have left an enduring mark on the field of cardiac surgery. From humble beginnings in Tuscany, his childhood dream of becoming an airline pilot was dashed by a congenital eye defect, which redirected him towards a career in medicine. Guided by his family’s modest background, this decision took him across continents and through some of the most challenging and rewarding experiences in modern healthcare. His steadfast leadership during the Bristol Babies Scandal reflected his deep commitment to patients and clinical excellence. This memoir is more than a chronicle of surgical milestones; it is a compelling collection of true stories, revealing the emotional and psychological realities of life as a surgeon. Honest, reflective and inspiring, it explores both mistakes and triumphs, offering rare insight into the human side of surgery. A Knife to the Heart reminds us that behind every mask lies a person with dreams, fears and an unwavering commitment to making a difference.